The Germans are always somewhat surprised when I tell them that seeing farm animals was not a normal occurrence in my life back in Chicago. Living in the suburbs of a large American city did not present many opportunities for me to to visit a farm, because the urban and rural areas are completely separated from one another. It was especially evident to Sven when we drove from Chicago to Boston last summer, that the cities are surrounded by suburbs, which are surrounded by farming areas. It's completely different in Germany.
I'm not quite sure if the concept of suburbia even exists here. In fact, during the five minutes it takes to drive into Düsseldorf city from my home, I pass a sheep farm and a stretch of land that grows asparagus, lettuce, sunflowers, and Cinderella pumpkins, depending on what time of year it is. If I head five minutes in the opposite direction, I have reached the Rhine River. Düsseldorf is one of many cities in this Lower-Rhineland area.
Last week Sven and I were biking through the fields along the Rhine when we passed one of his CDU Party colleagues tending to the chickens on his very own biological farm. And that's where I held a chicken for the first time. As we continued on our bike tour, we stopped at the family's shop and purchased mirabelle plum marmalade and the most delicious honey I have ever tasted.
