Mirow, Mecklenburg/Vorpommern

On Friday, 9th November 2o12, the day after our arrival in Meck/Pom, Peter Uwe and Astrid went with us to Mirow. We were to visit there the ‘Palais of the three Queens’. On the way we stopped somewhere for lunch. I had Zander ,  a very delicious kind of fish. My meal was a bit expensive, but well worth it.

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A street in Mirow

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The ‘Torhaus’ building dates back to 1588.

Barock Castle from 1760 in Mirow
Barock Castle from 1760 in Mirow

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We had fun pretending to be a knight and a lady!

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Peter took photos of all these English translations.
Peter took photos of all these English translations.

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Another view of Peter Uwe's and Anstrid's 'Dorfstrasse'.
Another view of Peter Uwe’s and Anstrid’s ‘Dorfstrasse’.
Another view of the apple tree at the back of their house.
Another view of the apple tree at the back of their house.
Some borders along their property
Some borders along their property

Visiting Röbel

My previous post was about Röbel. It was great fun visiting this pleasant little town at the Western edge of  Lake Müritz. We had a lovely lunch in a restaurant near the water as seen in the previous post. We stopped also in the center of Röbel where Peter was immediately inspired to take a few pictures.

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Back home
Back home
A view of the 'Dorfstrasse'
A view of the ‘Dorfstrasse’
Peter noticed this somewhere in the huge backyard
Peter noticed this somewhere in the huge backyard
Apple-Tree in November. Even this close to winter the apples on this tree still had a delicious taste.
Apple-Tree in November. Even this close to winter the apples on this tree still had a delicious taste.

Röbel/Müritz

Röbel/Müritz ist eine Kleinstadt im Südwesten des Landkreises Mecklenburgische Seenplatte in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern am Westufer der Müritz.

The above I googled. It means that Röbel is a small town belonging to Mecklenburg/Vorpommern. I think ‘Seenplatte’ means that a lot of lakes are in this area. You find Röbel on the west side of Lake Müritz. Lake Müritz is the largest lake in Germany.

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Beautiful Meck Pom

Another part of the "Dorfstrasse".
Another part of the “Dorfstrasse”.

I loved our stay in Mecklenburg Vorpommern. As I said, we stayed at the place of my brother Peter Uwe and his wife Astrid. We had a really good time with them as you can see from all the pictures. A lot of their surroundings and their lifestyle reminded me a bit of our life in Australia. They took us on many outings. We saw quite a few castles in the area. Castles like the ones in Meck Pom for sure you cannot find anywhere in Australia. It shows how there is a totally different historical background.  To experience a bit of their history by visiting these castles was quite intriguing. A lot of the castles are lovingly restored and are great tourist attractions.

Wherever we went we were able to get good tasting meals at reasonable prices and with excellent service. Astrid proved to be a wonderful cook too whenever there was a chance to cook something at home. Remember we were on the go a lot. When we had been eating out during the day, Peter Uwe and Astrid served for supper usually some lovely rye bread and a choice of wurst and chesses. Astrid often prepared a salad to go with it.

We had the unit on the second floor right next to our hosts’ unit. For breakfast early in the morning we would go over to their dining room. They usually had breakfast already waiting for us. Peter Uwe always helped his wife with the preparation of breakfast. We had our own well supplied kitchen in our unit. However we never had to use it for cooking. But it was good that we were able to make us coffee or tea.

In the evening we usually stayed with Peter Uwe and Astrid in their unit, just talking about a lot of things, looking at photos or watching a movie. We didn’t spend all that much time in our own unit. But when I felt a bit tired after a long outing during the day I could lie down and rest for a while in this very quiet beautiful bedroom of ours. By the way, the bedroom had a huge wardrobe and ample drawers to put things away. There were more bedrooms above our unit. But of course, we did not need to use them at all. The place was large enough for four to six people, so my brother told us. When Corinna, Peter Uwe’s daughter,  visits with her whole family, there’s always enough room. In summer extra guests can be accommodated in a little hut further away from the main-house.

Where the little hut is there’s also a laundry. Under its roof there’s space to dry the washing in the open. On average plenty of sunshine reaches this hut. This is why solar panels were placed on the hut’s roof rather then on the roof of the main-house which doesn’t seem to get quite as much sun. Peter Uwe explained to us that these solar panels save on electricity costs for all three building. Yes, there is a third building, which used to be a barn and which is a huge comfortable dwelling for one family now.

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This is "die Dorfstrasse", village road.
This is “die Dorfstrasse”, village road.
They go for an excursion through the village.
They go for an excursion through the village.
My brother loves this dog who belongs to one of his tenants.
My brother loves this dog who belongs to one of his tenants.
A short walk towards one of the lakes.
A short walk towards one of the lakes.
We cannot walk through here
We cannot walk through here
We take a shortcut
We take a shortcut
We arrive at the lake.
We arrive at the lake.
Peter discovered these flowers near the fence.
Peter discovered these flowers near the fence.
One of Astrid's sumptuous meals: Filled mushrooms and a platter of vegies.
One of Astrid’s sumptuous meals: Filled mushrooms and a platter of vegies.
One of the castles
One of the castles

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The solar panels
The solar panels

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At a restaurant in a nearby village
At a restaurant in a nearby village
We had this for desert
We had this for desert

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Mecklenburg/Vorpommern

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DSCN5400I still didn’t publish anything yet about the Bode Museum in Berlin. But before I do this I want to finally start publishing something about Mecklenburg/Vorpommern where my brother Peter Uwe lives with his wife Astrid. We spent some lovely eight days with them just before it was time to travel back to Australia.

Peter Uwe picked us up from the Hansa Viertel in Berlin with all our luggage. This was on Thursday, 8th November 2012. They live in a small village in Meck/Pom. In my post about Berlin-Borgsdorf I published a sign near a street in Borgsdorf which indicated that this street was a bike-track leading right through to Kopenhagen, Denmark. Well, this bike-track leads actually also through the little village where Peter Uwe and Astrid reside.

If people want to take a week’s rest in beautiful Meck/Pom they can book in at my brother’s place. Peter Uwe used to have a number of units available for holiday makers. But most of them he has rented out now to permanent residents. The unit, where Peter and I stayed, is usually reserved for holiday makers.  A board indicates when it is vacant.  One day we noticed the ‘vacant’ sign was still up. We pointed this out to Peter Uwe. It took him just a sec to turn the sign over indicating ‘occupied’. Peter said, that they had made sure anyway that the unit would be reserved for our stay with him and Astrid.

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Pictures from January 2013

It seems we didn’t take many pictures in January. There aren’t any pictures from our visit with friends and the friends visiting us. But there are a few picture from the funeral of one of our friends, also a few pictures how things in the garden have grown.

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One of the church windows.It was an extremely hot day. Still a lot of people turned up for the Mass.
One of the church windows.
It was an extremely hot day. Still a lot of people turned up for the Mass.

 

Peter always works hard to keep down the tree growth around our house.
Peter always works hard to keep down the tree growth around our house.
This picture is taken from our front door.
This picture is taken from our front door.
It seems this elephant is guarding our front door.
It seems this elephant is guarding our front door.
Luscious growth in our little backyard garden.
Luscious growth in our little backyard garden.

Siobhan Patrick – Soprano

This Berlin Bear with the Sydney Opera House displayed on it greeted us at the Goethe Institute in Sydney/Woollahra
This Berlin Bear with the Sydney Opera House displayed on it greeted us at the Goethe Institute in Sydney/Woollahra

Des Herzens stillem Glück

3 pm Sunday 3 February 2013

Goethe-Institut – 90 Ocean Street, Woollahra (Sydney), NSW, Australia

 

A fund raising concert with songs from the 18th to the 20th century by Mozart, Schubert, Strauss, Haydn, Gounod, Wagner, Puccini, Bax, Floyd, Rorem, Heggie. Besides our friend Siobhan  a friend of Siobhan’s, Alison Manifold, participated. Alison is also an accomplished Soprano singer.

At the Piano was Francis Greep, two Cello players were guest artists.

After the concert cups of tea were offered and the artists mingled with the crowd to talk about the concert. We were able to take some pictures with Siobhan.

The last two songs had the titles: “I will always love you.” and “My true love hath my heart”.

Thanks to the generous support of the Australia Council for the Arts, Siobhan is able to move to Vienna in March for a fantastic career opportunity.

Peter and I as well as our daughter Caroline enjoyed the concert very much. We wish Siobhan all the best for her stay in Vienna!

Peter with Caroline at the Goethe Institute
Peter with Caroline at the Goethe Institute

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We had arrived very early for the concert. The terrace looked very inviting to us.
We had arrived very early for the concert. The terrace looked very inviting to us.
Peter soon went looking to take some photos
Peter soon went looking to take some photos

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Peter took some photos during the concert.
Peter took some photos during the concert.

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After the concert Siobhan came to talk to us.
After the concert Siobhan came to talk to us.

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Siobhan has a Graduate Diploma of Music (Opera) from the Westerm Australian Academy of Performing Arts and an Honours degree in Masthematics from Jams Cook University. Her experience spans opera, Oratorio, music theatre, cabaret, string quartets and Irish bands.