Just as one is struggling into
conversation in defective German, a pike's head obtrudes itself over the
left shoulder, and it is necessary to twist in one's seat and go
through a gymnastic performance to take a helping.
Except in large cities the Germans are not given to feeding at
restaurants.
A golden rule, which may be held to apply all over Germany, is that it
is safe to take ladies wherever officers go _in uniform_.
The Rathskeller
In most German towns where there is a Rathhaus (a town hall) one finds
the Rathskeller, where beers or wine, according to the part of the
country, are the principal attraction, single dishes, cutlets, steaks,
cold meats, oysters, caviar being served more as an adjunct to the drink
than as an orthodox meal. The most noted of these Rathskeller are at
Bremen, Luebeck, and Hamburg, and that at Bremen is first in importance.
It is a mediaeval Gothic hall, built 1405-1410, and it holds the finest
stock of Rhine and Moselle wine in the world. The wine is kept in very
old casks. One of the cellars is of particular interest as being the
"Rose" one, where the magistrates used to sit in secret conclave, _sub
rosa_, beneath the great rose carved upon the ceiling. The German
Emperor generally pays a visit to the Rathskeller when he visits Bremen.
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