Rotenburg on the Wümme is the town you eat in on the way home. It is a calm, prosperous place of about twenty-two thousand people, set on a stretch of the Wümme where the river is wide enough for rowing boats, with a market square, a handful of old half-timbered houses and a surprising number of good bakeries. It lacks the tourist crowds of the better-known towns, and that is exactly what makes it a good place to sit down with a plate and a pot of coffee.
The local food is solid and unpretentious. In winter the regional dish is kale with Pinkel, a smoked, spiced sausage, served with boiled potatoes and mustard, and often followed by a schnapps. It is eaten after the first frost, according to local tradition, and there are even kale tours with a good deal of drinking. In summer, you will find asparagus, strawberries and fresh fish on menus, and every baker sells cakes in great variety. The roll with a slice of ham or cheese and a coffee is cheap and filling.
The road home from Rotenburg runs across the flat plain toward Hamburg and Bremen, past peat moors, birch scrub and big sheds for poultry and pigs. The landscape is open and sometimes bleak in winter, with big skies and a few lines of poplars, but in spring and summer it is green and soft. The roads are straight and fast, so the wind is the main hazard, and a sudden crosswind from a passing lorry can be felt. Surfaces are mostly good. In late afternoon the sun goes low and golden behind you, and the shadows of the poplars stretch across the road.
Practical matters are easy. Fuel stations are on the edges of town, supermarkets are in the centre, and parking is simple near the market. If you have time, a short walk along the Wümme to the old mill is a quiet reward, and the park nearby has benches and ducks. The town is a convenient place to rest before the last stretch of the day, and the drive back is easier on a full stomach. Dress for evening, since the air cools quickly once the sun drops.