The Second-best Greek Restaurant in Cottbus
- Dec 17, 2016
- 2 min read
Well, it’s been a while since I wrote a blog post.
Oops.
'Tis the season!
Winter came to Cottbus cold and early, in my opinion. I’m pretty sure the locals would call it “brisk autumn” or “bracing for the constitution” or some NONSENSE and also it would be in GERMAN so, again, nonsense. But at least it’s pretty.
Gettin' frosty
Anyway, aside from layering to the nines, I have actually been catching myself, occasionally, “enjoying” it. I mean no one does the Christmas season like the Germans apparently. The Weilnachtsmarkt (Christmas market) opens over a month in advance of the actual holiday (and I hope it NEVER ENDS) and they have a pre-Christmas holiday, St. Nikolaus day, where people give gifts of cake and candy. Hello, yes please. Of course I’m pretty sure the full story is that if you were bad during the year, you get ashes dumped on your head and then beaten with a stick. So.
But, truly, the highlight of the season for me, and the thing that makes the Christmas markets worth it even though you are literally loitering in the cold for hours, is: Glühwein. Be still my frozen heart. This hot mulled wine has become ubiquitous at events on all levels, including personal milestones such as “I finally did my laundry- time for a Glühwein” and the celebratory “We went to class! So responsible! Let’s drink Glühwein!” and is even sold in the campus café.
Some time ago, a group of us also went to check out the Dresden Weilnachtsmarkt, which is one of the more famous ones in Germany. It is particularly known for its Stollen, which is a sweet cake-bread thing with nuts and raisins and powdered sugar. You make it, like, days to weeks in advance of eating it and apparently that is important. It’s…fine*. But Dresden is very cool (!) and I can’t want to go back in the Spring.
Wilkommen in Dresden
Anyway, I am embarking upon my last couple days of German Christmas spirit now. Leading into the winter holiday break, I have two full days of class on Friday and Saturday. Classic BTU move.
Meanwhile, several weeks ago, a group of us went out for dinner and the best Greek restaurant in Cottbus had (heaven forbid) a wait, so we went to the one a block down and it was mostly just okay. Foreign-er food in a foreign country can be very strange (shoutout to the time a restaurant put a dollop of sauerkraut in my Thai curry!), but I just thought it was hilarious that we had to settle for the second-best Greek restaurant in Cottbus because it played out like some kind of Seinfeld plot, so I had to mention it here. And title the entire post about it.
Also, I think it is the only other Greek restaurant in Cottbus.
Oh, here's a last fun Xmas Market tradition for the road: these are all chocolate. WHY THO.
*Should be noted that according to Wikipedia, the earliest Stollen was made of just flour, oats, and water, so perhaps I am being harsh.
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