This was the last thing worthy of mention we did up in Ostfriesland. We spent a ridiculous amount of time driving around looking for this red-and-yellow striped lighthouse thing, only to find out it really was less than 10 minutes from our vacation apartment door, and not in Pilsum at all. And when we got there, it was cold and blustery. I tried playing with perspective shots.
The next day, I was hoping to find something interesting to do kind of spontaneously in Wilhelmshaven, but we drove all the way there in crappy weather, didn’t like the looks of the town on our way in, hit a tourist info center at the mall, and promptly turned around and drove back to Greetsiel. At least our rental car had a USB port to hook up our iPods, so we didn’t have to listen to terrible German radio (honestly, how can you people with cars and functioning ears in Germany stand it?).
This proved invaluable again on the way back home to Regensburg, when our project 8-hour drive ballooned to 11, thanks to the miserable driving weather, the A7 freeway closing while we were on it, 4 lanes of traffic trying to squeeze off the freeway through one lane, and then following the trucks around the countryside on the Landstraßen to get back on the freeway.
All in all, not a very relaxing trip:
- My toe issues kept us from walking much along the dikes and completely out of the salt marshes and paddleboats on the canals
- Every twenty minutes a new rainstorm moved into position to keep everything soaked
- That drive back really drained us
I get the impression that Ostfriesland would be worth another try, but good luck to you if you’re not able to hike around much or get your feet wet.