Punting and Pickles


So as part of our Preserving the Sanity in Herbst Ferien, we rented a car for a week. On Monday we drove about an hour southwest of Berlin and visited the Spreewald. a forest that contains the Spree river delta. Historically, it was where the farmers would load up their harvests and then punt up to Berlin to sell their goods (it took two days to punt into town). Luebben, is a cute town crossed by waterways and bridges.

This was our kahn or punt just as we were taking off. I can't think of a place in the US that would come up with these details like tables and lap blankets and centerpieces on a boat ride. It is so German and so charming. The boat ride lasted about two hours and the kids were into it for about five minutes. To be fair, anyone who has ridden a punt before knows that it is peaceful, relaxing, and a good way to rest your feet. Anyone who has ever seen Sebastian at naptime when he is not asleep knows that this was an explosive combination. The nadir was probably when I consented to let Will listen to an iPod at one point. Less pathetic parts were when we got to go through the locks or schleusen and when we got to punt to a Spreewald version of a drive thru.

We bought the local specialty, pickles (Spreewald pickles are featured in Goodbye Lenin) and they were phenomenal! I am not even a lover of pickles, but these were really yummy and crunchy. I bet that they would light up really well if you stuck them into an old lamp cord and made an electric pickle (but perhaps you wouldn't do that with 240 electricity, no?). We also got the kids ice cream, and as you can see, ice cream and pickles is not just for pregnant women any more. The kids loved this part of the ride, and if that wasn't enough, they found that their popsicle sticks contained gum inside them (as I told Rob "That's just what this trip was missing. Gum." Gum has been strictly verboten in our house since I started finding it stuck under the counter several months ago). But we survived the rest of the trip without getting it in anyone's hair or dropping it in the water. We drove home and shared plum cake and Spreewald pickles with our students for FHE.

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