Moin Moin

 

We are getting into our last weekend in Germany. After visiting and spending almost the entire day in  Miniatur Wunderland we spent another night in Hamburg and left early the next morning by train, back to Münster where we met up with my brother and his partner in the afternoon and evening. The next morning we left for Ostfriesland (East Frisia) in the Northwestern part of Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony). The last time I spent in Ostfriesland was for our Bartz Family reunion on the island of Spiekeroog in June 2014. This time we went in the middle of November, a rather gloomy month in Germany when the weather can be described with just one word: grey. You can also add damp and cold. All those four-letter words...

A defining feature of East Frisia is that it is not dominated by a larger city. There are five midsize towns and five small towns as well as a multitude of villages and small communities - and there is a chain of islands off the coast, including before-mentioned Spiekeroog. The vernacular in East Frisia is Ostfriesisches Platt (East Frisian Low German) which I can understand a little bit, but cannot speak. The Platt dialect is being found in many regional varieties; where I grew up Sauerländer Platt was spoken. Platt is only spoken in the Northern parts of Germany. Bilingualism is promoted by the East Frisian Landscape, for example through assistance with bilingual teaching in kindergartens and elementary schools by the Plattdütskbüro. The standard greeting in East Frisia is “Moin” and is used at any time of the day or night.

Located so close to the North Sea seafood is something you can get at every corner (almost). We went to Greetsiel and the first thing we did is going to the Fischbude (fish stall) and getting a Krabbenbrötchen (roll with North Sea shrimps) and Kibbeling (battered and deep fried cod nuggets). Oh, it was so delicious! 

We walked through Greetsiel which is a very charming village. We visited little unique shops and I enjoyed all the little details.

It wasn't far to the harbour. The fisherboats and Krabbenkutter (shrimp trawler) were all lined up at the dock. Many people here make their living from fishing - and tourism in the summer.

Beautiful houses at the waterfront with lots of restaurants and cafés. All these houses are well cared for - people are proud of their homes and village. Reminders of the sea were never far.

Buildings are built of brick and often have interesting little details as well as old gates and doors.

A canal runs right through the village, the Neues Greetsieler Außentief. It is lined by houses, little shops and cafés and lots of trees.

As it should be, the church is in the historical center of the village - it has a very beautiful old tower. But that was not the only thing that was interesting about this church.

In the churchyard is one of the historical iron bells that were replaced by three bronze bells.

When you look at the church from this side you don't really see anything remarkable - it's just a beautiful building.

However, if you stand right next to it and look along its side, the strong lateral inclination of the church walls catches the eye. I wasn't able to find out the reason for this - maybe it's because it's very old. The church dates back to the 14th century. It isn't unstable, though - we were able to go inside and there is also a rather big organ hanging from the ceiling inside.

Greetsiel is famous for its windmills that you can see from some places within the village.

This one was very beautiful.

After we had walked around the village for a while we decided to drive out to the Pilsumer Leuchtturm (lighthouse). Despite the grey weather and overcast sky we could see the lighthouse from quite a way back due to its happy colors. It was proudly standing on the dyke.

It was cold and windy (Ostfriesland is one of the windiest regions in Germany), nevertheless, we decided to walk out to the lighthouse. We didn't walk on top of the dyke, but opted for the slightly less windy route next to it. Looking at Kaefer you get an idea how cold it was.

Despite the cold, Kaefer and the Geek still were in the mood for some goofyness, and I enjoyed taking pictures of their goofyness. What the heck are they doing here?

This:

Isn't this a pretty little lighthouse? So happy with its brilliant colors.

From the dyke we had a wide view acroos the land - well, at least as far as the clouds would allow. Many wind turbines are found all over Ostfriesland. This is the perfect location for this source of renewable energy.

We drove back to Greetsiel and stopped at the canal so we could take a few more pictures of the Zwillingsmühlen (twin mills). I think both are very picturesque, especially on this grey day.

We went back into Greetsiel for an early dinner. We found a lovely little restaurant called Moin Moin where we had the most delicious local food. Krabbensuppe (shrimp soup), Krabbenbrot mit Spiegelei (dark bread with North Sea shrimp and fried egg) and as dessert Zimt Panna Cotta mit Ostfriesischer Bohnensuppe (cinnamon Panna Cotta with rum-soaked raisins). It was so good!

The food was accompanied by a Bavarian Weißbier which was a perfect companion. Of course this is for Bleubeard and Elizabeth's T Tuesday.

It was such a lovely day! After our delicious dinner we drove to Aurich (one of the five midsize towns) where we had a beautiful vacation rental for two nights. I wouldn't mind coming back!