This was one of the three days on the trip that we didn't have a reserved place to stay. We were headed to Neustrelitz, Germany to hear Mark sing in La Traviata, but didn't have to be there for 2 days. We drove until we were ready to stop... we were in what was, until 25 years ago, part of the Soviet Union, and there were few places to stay. The towns looked dead, hardly anybody on the streets. Then we happened on an incredible place in Wittenberg. It was rather eerie. A nice, newly remodeled, modern but quaint... out our wall to wall first floor windows was a duck pond shrouded in weeping willows, that I swear were laughing at me.
But... but... there were hardly any lights in town, it was now getting dark. There was almost nobody in the streets, and very few cars. The town was clean and orderly, but like so many towns trying to adjust to being part of the western world, the economy was in the dumps and there were few opportunities for people. At any rate, we were famished, but it didn't look hopeful as we didn't think anyone was open. The lady that checked us in at the hotel left as soon as she showed us to our room. We had this place to ourselves all night... much like what happened to us in Mitikas, Greece. But we were hungry.
We drove around, hoping against hope, no lights and hardly anyone about. Then finally saw a Chinese restaurant with the lights on, but it was just now 9:00. Well, they were open till 10:00, had a great Chinese buffet, nice ambiance, a very Chinese man who seemed to own the place and spoke only German. And we got lots of stares, being the strangers in town. But the food was great, and what looked like a questionable night for lodging and food turned out wonderfully.
We were both a little taken aback at the stark difference on the two sides of that divisive, imaginary line. Big change moves slowly, I guess. It's only been a generation. Cultural mores and fear run deep. Hopefully as the world economy heals, they will experience some resurgence here. Obviously somebody thought it was worth making this nice hotel in the middle of this seemingly forgotten town. The town is about 18,000 people, and there are some precision engineering and tech businesses in the area.
Ah, just reading on Wikipedia that Wittenberge was a concentration camp for 2 1/2 years during the war. And in 1903, Singer Sewing Machine Company set up shop in Wittenberge. Times do change.
In October of this year, the Nobel Prize for Literature was awarded to Svetlana Alexievich of Belarus. The quote below from the New York Times, by Valzhyna Mort, rings so true.
"Listening to the voices in her (Alexievich) latest book, "Secondhand Time," which explores the consequences of the collapse of the Soviet Union on it's citizens' collective psyche, it becomes clear that one cannot step from slavery directly into freedom. Just as a baby has to learn to fall asleep, they have to learn how to be free."
On to Germany...
We saw quite a bit of wind power on our journeys...
And we happened on an oasis...
We were made a nice breakfast at the hotel, and then we were off to hear Mark sing.
