We live in a fairly small town, although it's connected to other bigger villages and fairly close to many conveniences. One of the things we love about villages here is how they are essentially all structured in almost identical ways.
Our local bakery and some of the many enticing treats.
The farmer driving his truck around town. I guess he's getting ready for the harvest!
The local soccer field. It is a small field, but their season runs all year long, rain, snow or sunshine.
Germans houses typically do not have big backyards. It is more common to see a small front garden.
Orchids, orchids and more orchids.
The local drugstore. It's not unusual to see tiny shops decorate their front windows according to the season. This time it was Mardi Gras, or in German "Fasching"
A very typical German house in this area of Germany.
There is a main street where you always find a bakery or Bakarie. Usually villages also have a small grocery store, gas station and Sparkasse or Bank. If you're lucky, your village also has a Metzgerie, a butcher shop, with select cuts of beef (fairly expensive compared to American prices), and poultry and of course, sausages and deli meets some of which, for me at least, may take years before I'm adventurous enough to try!! There is also a small pub or Biergarten. You can usually see people seated outside the Biergarten, enjoying a a glass of their favorite Hefe weisen or light beer.
There are houses on the main street as well, but usually they are on smaller streets, which by the way are much narrower than in the U.S. The way villages are designed, it is sometimes easier to walk to the grocery than maneuver through streets in your big "American" SUV or worse, Mini-van, to buy your food. It is a welcome change to see ladies walk with their baskets or canvas grocery bags (paper and plastic bags are not given at grocery stores--you have to bring your own) to buy their bread, meat, and daily pantry items. You also see more cyclists, especially on weekends.
As you walk through a village, you may notice how almost every window displays an arrangement of flowers and plants, and especially orchids. Ironically enough, this tropical plant thrives in many German homes, some say the condensation created by radiators which are usually below windowsills and the cold weather outside plus the sun the orchids get by being placed next to a window create the perfect greenhouse conditions for the orchids to flourish.
Further away from the main street you might find a small green space with a modest playground area. German kids are not used to the big structures of the parks in the States. A couple of swings, a merry-go-round and perhaps a see-saw and a sandbox are good enough for the German children. That may be why you might also see children here climbing trees, going on hikes and riding their bikes--mostly alone or with friends. Germans are big on instilling independence on their children and it is not uncommon to see kids as little as 6 years-old walking to school on their own.
In some of the quieter, "sleepy" towns there is still a farmer at the very end of the village with a plot of land. There is a village not too far from ours that has a vending machine where you can purchase the milk from the farmer's cows and also local eggs. There's also a nod to the Christian roots and Stone Crosses honoring Jesus in some towns. The local farmer also might leave a plot at the end of his land to plant "blumen" or flowers. In the spring, you can find people picking flowers and leaving the money to pay for them inside a metal box. Picking flowers from the field is probably one of my favorite things to do with the children in the spring.
One thing I've noticed living in my town is the lack of noise :) There is seldom a car passing by with music blasting out. Sundays are considered family days. All stores, with the exception of restaurants, are closed. You do not see people mowing lawns, doing yard work or washing cars on Sundays. It is typically very quiet and you see an occasional person walking or going on a hike. Germans love the outdoors and some villages have a system of trails in the woods interconnected to one another. So you could go on a hike from your town and end up two or three villages over. The trails are very well marked and indicate the direction and towns you're walking towards.
Another popular thing to do on Sundays is to watch a futbal or soccer game. Although teams play year round, it is more common for the smaller town teams to play mostly in the spring, summer and fall. We're lucky that our village has a soccer team and a field not too far from our house. One of our goals is to go watch a soccer game this year.
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