Local fish

I met Imre this morning. We took a tram to the U5 then jumped into an S-Bahn and got out at Strausberg Stadt. Away from Berlin at last. Imre also suffered from a bad cold and was getting over it, as I was with my cold, so we agreed to disappear into the countryside and breath some fresh air.

Regular readers will know this is one of my favourite areas. It also has a number of lakes and in summer I/we start bicycle tours there. Today the weather was cold, grey and overcast. We stayed in the centre and retired to a restaurant I like near the ferry. Very good local food with friendly service.

As usual I focused on the fish dishes. I found one based on a fish caught in the area. Imre then switched from meat to fish. The waiter arrived then told me they had just taken delivery of fish from the lake next to where we were sitting. He also said it was not on the menu and may take a little longer to cook/prepare. I decided to gamble on that. Imre stayed with the other local fish offer.

The food finally arrived and what a pleasure to see Freddy the local Fish staring at me from a plate he shared with local vegetables and potatoes. We had correct fish knives so I had no problem to take off the skin and separate the fish from the bones. Mmmmmm.....was it tasty and Imre said he should have ordered the same. I let him taste some and he came back for more! A glass of cold white wine from the south of Germany was the perfect partner for the dish.

Later, we walked around the old centre and along part of the lakeside before slowly walking back to the S-Bahn and train back to Berlin. We both felt better and knew we had made the right decision to escape from the city. Imre was in Manila with his lady over Christmas and was wearing a t-shirt showing a 'Jeepney' which he likes to travel in. Perhaps you know this type of transport from your visits there or to other countries.

Finally, a joke to end the day. I recently got this and like the combination of words and style of cartoon. Also good for language learners - look at we'd plus main verb plus if and weren't and use of will and won't. Go on ..... order some fish and then smile!