Visiting Family in Germany Part 2

Today was another fantastic day in northern Germany. I woke up this morning, and after showering and getting ready, I walked out to the dining room to offer my help making breakfast and see the most beautiful set-up already prepared. This morning, my breakfast LITERALLY was served on a silver plater. We had fresh-squeezed grapefruit/orange juice, bread rolls, toast with jam, marmalade, or liver spread, cooked eggs in a little ceramic egg-holder, sausage, and cheeses. Not to mention fresh coffee and fruit tea. It was a breakfast fit for a queen! After a nice, leisurely meal, we put on our coats (I had to layer 5 fleeces and a wind-breaker and was still freezing!), and headed to the old town of Lüneburg. This town has so much history, some of the building we were looking at that now hold cafes, restaurants, or little boutiques, were built in the 1400's! Jasper and Suzanne showed me around the oldest parts of the town, as well as the newer ones. We went inside two of the three huge and beautiful cathedrals, and took a tour of the city hall. Lüneburg was one of the few lucky villages left undisturbed during WWII, so the historical aspect is still 100% in tact and visible. I was lucky enough to see the town on Farmer's market day. In front of city hall, vendors sold the most tasty looking fruit and vegetables, even peaches! Where are those even coming from?? There was also a few curry and bratwurst stands that reminded me of the Christmas markets in Berlin. We walked around all of the streets, and I got a very good feel for the town. The architecture is very standard through Northern Germany, but unlike what I had seen before, where the bottom floors of big houses were all stables, then the second or third floor was where the family lived, and the entire attic was for storage. I have lots of pictures from the town which I will up-load and post once I am back home in Barcelona. We stopped around 1 o'clock for some lunch and ate at and old converted mansion, turned German cafe, where we managed to stuff what small crack had opened in our stomachs since our breakfast feast. We toured around the town a bit more after lunch, and they pointed out to me the main buildings in the town, and the history behind them all. We finished walking around at about 4 and headed back to their home just in time for coffee and cake (I will explode!!!) and then prepared for some family to visit for dinner. The family who came was Jasper's nephew Felix and his girlfriend. They are both in their late 20's, early 30's and we fabulous people. We all sat around the table and talked while Suzanne served a tomato and creme soup, and then a bread and cheese/sausage/salmon/liver spread/tomato/butter display. After that, we ate the marmalade and creme dessert again, and then had some more German wine. I think I will be in a food coma for the next week or so, but considering my fanciest meals in Barcelona come in a plastic wrapper with microwave instructions, I suppose it is okay to indulge :)
I swapped e-mails with my new found "cousin" Felix, and they are trying to plan a trip to California soon, so it would be a lot of fun to show them around!
Tomorrow we are waking up early to eat breakfast before driving an hour to Hamburg for the concert. Afterwards we meet Jasper's sister in the afternoon, and then head back here. I don't know what is planned for Monday, but I think they might have work, so I suppose I will play it by ear. It has been so nice to get such an authentic feel for German life, and small villages in the country-side. It is so seldom to hear absolute silence, and here at night it is so quiet I have to snap my fingers to make sure I haven't gone deaf! Also, although it isn't snowing, it is about 2 degrees Celsius, which is about 35 degrees Fahrenheit, as the high for the day. Yesterday we rode on the Autobahn as well, which was really exciting for me! Jasper was driving about 180 km/h (112 mph) the whole way home from Hamburg, and cars were still zipping by us much faster! I cannot believe that they have far less automobile fatalities then anywhere in the U.S. with 65 mph limits.
Well, today was lots of fun, and tiring in the best way. I am off to sleep, very excited for what tomorrow will bring!
Love, Meghan