And now for more of this never ending Christmas tale:
After the long night of partying, we were able to sleep in. I set my alarm for noon because I knew I could sleep a whole lot longer if I didn’t set it. Rolf slept longer (until about 1 or so if I remember right). For the rest of the day we just took it easy and rested because we had to get up early the next day (Thursday).
The next morning Rolf and I woke up early because his dad had offered to take us around with him as he worked. If I understood everything correctly, his job is to drain the irrigation water from farm lands and to drive around the area and check various water systems (pipes, canals, dams, etc) to make sure everything is running smoothly. He wanted to take me along so I could see the countryside and more of the area that they live in. It was actually very interesting. The first stop we made was a dam in a small river that had to be adjusted. Then we went and got some breakfast (a bratwurst and coffee) from a gas station. From there we wandered around the country for rest of the day. I got to see a lot of good country that I otherwise would never have seen and I also of course got to see lots of small towns and old buildings that were really interesting. Some of the more interesting buildings that I saw were a huge palace that was built around 1677 and several old (and in some cases giant) cathedrals. I also got to see a town that has a very mediæval influence to it. The mediæval town wall still stands and the streets, buildings and marketplace are kept to look mediæval, which I find really nice. We also visited a town that is largely used as a home for mentally handicapped people. They just roamed about the street, somethings using a strange means of transportation. I posted pictures of some of the more interesting things here.
After we had been out for about 10 hours or so (it may have been longer, I can’t recall exactly), we went back to Rolf’s dad’s office he could do the final paperwork for the day and so we could exchange cars (he had driven us around in a company car). Then we headed back to their house and had dinner. Rolf and I then got ready to go out again. This time we went to Schwerin which is a city about an hour northeast of Lübz where Rolf’s parents live. We picked up one of Rolf’s friends, then we headed to Schwerin. We met a bunch of others at a restaurant/bar. After about 2 hours there, we then went on to a club. Most of us didn’t actually drink because by then we were sick of drinking and wanted to make sure we made the most of the New Year’s day party that we had planned (I didn’t drink again actually until the New Year’s day party). We didn’t stay at the club for very long. We only stayed until about 2 or 3 am, then Rolf and I went back home and went to bed.
The next day, we got up fairly early again (around 10) because Rolf’s parents wanted to show me Schwerin. Schwerin is the capital of their province or state or whatever it’s called in English (it’s called Bundesland in German). We all piled into Rolf’s mother’s car (which was also a company car; she works for das Deutsche Rote Kreuz, or the German Red Cross) and drove the hour to Schwerin. We went directly to a huge shopping center called Schlosspark Center (meaning Castle Park center). From there, we went to see the palace in Schwerin. This palace isn’t as old as the one I saw the day before, but I have to admit that I found it much more beautiful. It was built sometime in the 19th century and they are just finishing up restoration of it. I took an enormous amount of pictures of it and some of them I uploaded here. We then walked around for quite a while and briefly stopped for something warm to drink because it was fairly cold outside (I had a hot which chocolate). After that, we walked along the main shopping strip in Schwerin then went back to the car.
By then, it was dinner time and Rolf’s parents wanted to take me out to a particular Hungarian restaurant to eat. I was really looking forward to it because Rolf told me about a really good steak you can get there and I haven’t had a steak at all in a long time. After about 40 minutes of driving, we got there only to find out that the entire place was booked by various people and that it was “by reservation only” that night. So that meant that we got back into the car then drove to a different small town to a different restaurant that was also booked out. Luckily one of the tables in the basement was open for a couple more hours, so they let us sit down there. After a while, instead of taking our orders, one of the waiters came down and told us about another table upstairs that was now free and not reserved, so we moved there. Fortunately they also had steak, so I got that. It was extremely good too, but extremely expensive (almost 20 euros for the meal). Everything there was extremely expensive, but apparently cheaper than the Hungarian restaurant that we were going to go to. Rolf’s parents wouldn’t let me pay for it even though I offered. The building the restaurant was in was also interesting because it had been built in the 17th century and was originally a barn or something like that. After eating, we then went back to Rolf’s parents’ house and relaxed the rest of the night. Rolf and I also packed and got ready for our trip to Berlin the next day (Saturday).
I think I’ll stop there for now. Hopefully I’ll be done explaining my Christmas break by March. That’s the goal anyway.
