Last weekend we went for an outing to the Spreewald. We drove the Berliner Ring A 13 direction Cottbus taking the exit Luebben. From Berlin Wilmersdorf it takes less than an hour.
Luebben -at the heart of Spreewald - is a cute little town offering diverse cultural and leisure activities.
Schloss Luebben (castle)
We reached our hotel and then later went to the harbor in Luebben. Very near the museum castle Luebben. At the entrance of the harbor we took a boats tour - the famous "Kahnfahrt" in the many canals of the Spree. You can go in traditional boats and take different tours, even a tour at night. We went for a round trip for two hours but they also offer longer tours. Our boats driver was very talkative -probably they all have to be- and he mostly seemed to complain about the tourists renting canoes. Often they don't know how to canoe probably and give the boat drivers like him a hard time ... at least according to him. We were lucky to have nice sunny weather, and not too many mosquitoes. It was also busy in the canals and some boats with young guys obviously had a lot too drink and were rocking the boat. Their poor driver had to balance the boat
We enjoyed our boats tour. It was very calming and relaxing.
The boats can "park" on the side at the stalls for a rest and taste of traditional pickled cucumbers
You can see a "Heuschober"
A box to keep the fishes cool especially at the time when there were no fridges
We stopped at Lehde for a small break but only to get eaten up by mosquito However there is a museum where you can learn about Spreewald history but we didn't have enough time to visit it.
Back on land:
Near the harbor there is a small traditional market selling hand made baskets, pottery items and of course various pickled cucumbers.
Bread baked in a wooden oven
All the famous Spreewald specialties on sale
Most famous is the pickled cucumber in vinegar (saure Gurke) but the cucumbers are also pickled in mustard (Senfgurke) or garlic (Knoblauchgurke) or Chilly or pepper (Pfeffergurke) or other herbs.
