Lübbenau, Germany

On Monday morning we headed out to Spreewald for the day.

Lübbenau is a town of just over 16.000 people about 82 km (51 miles) southeast of Berlin.  

Lübbenau dates back to at least 1315.  Though excavations have turned up evidence of settlements dating back to the 8th or 9th century.

It used to be part of the Kingdom of Bohemia from 1364 to 1635.

We started off with a guided boat tour of the canals on a traditional barge.

Since 1991 the Spreewald is a protected UNESCO biosphere Reserve and there are thousands of small waterways.

Along the way we stopped off to try the local pickles and lard on dark bread.

I swear that Spreewäldgurken are the best pickles in the world.  We made sure to pick up a few small buckets of pickles to take home for later.

The St. Nickolas church is in the middle of the old town.  The Protestant church built from 1738 - 1741.

Only at Spreewald can you find a pickle radler, a green pickle beer.  It wasn't terrible but I don't have a need to try another one.