Living with the Locals
By Judy Evans
@JudyEv (381739)
Rockingham, Australia
December 6, 2015 4:10pm CST
The people we stayed with in Oberostendorf had excellent English and we were to get answers to some of the many questions we had. Oberostendorf is a village and also a municipality in Bavaria. It was one of the places we visited when touring Europe in a motor-home.
We learnt that the government had heavily subsidised the installation of solar panels. This accounted for the many solar panels we saw on buildings and sometimes set up in huge numbers in paddocks.
We learnt that some areas had no fences as it was more economic to cut hay and feed it to cattle in sheds than to allow them to graze. Hay might be cut four times a year in good seasons with some being made into silage.
The rather nasty smell which sometimes pervaded the countryside for stretches at a time came from the spreading of muck from the cowsheds. We thought that continually breathing this air couldn't have been healthy but at least we now knew the reason for the stench.
We learnt that farmers mostly lived in villages which accounted for houses in the village having large courtyards full of farm machinery. Our hosts' house had been the family home for several generations. Sheds and barns were built on to the main house. On the wall of one outhouse was a family 'tree', tracing the generations from an early ancestor.
We went for a walk and saw a beaver dam (I'd forgotten there were beavers in Europe), a deer hide, a beautiful dragonfly and a friendly goat, among other things. I also loved the nesting boxes attached to the side of a barn.
I created this video with the YouTube Slideshow Creator (http://www.youtube.com/upload)
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14 responses
@allknowing (153544)
• India
7 Dec 15
Cow dung as we call it is used as firewood. They make balls and flatten them and dry them in the sun. The smoke that emanates is good for health. Cow dung is also applied in courtyards which again cools the environment around. Most poor homes here use cow dung.
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@allknowing (153544)
• India
7 Dec 15
@JudyEv You are on the right track. Smell of cow dung is not obnoxious but as you say what you experienced may not have been pure cow dung.
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@JudyEv (381739)
• Rockingham, Australia
7 Dec 15
That's interesting. I know it is used to plaster walls in some countries too. And I believe the smoke keeps flies and mosquitoes away. Is this correct? I am used to cow dung and the smell from our milking cows when I was a child. I don't actually find it that objectionable. But this smell was a bit different. Maybe it is treated or made into a slurry so it can be spread over the paddocks more easily.
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@Marcyaz (35316)
• United States
6 Dec 15
That was an amazing video and you must have had a wonderful time while you were there.
My son spent three years in Germany and loved it and he came back home speaking the language as if he had been born there, his grandparents would have been so proud of him.
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@JudyEv (381739)
• Rockingham, Australia
7 Dec 15
I thought this too but I wasn't going to say so. We saw very few fences in many areas. And very few horses which was disappointing. I suppose they're all stabled somewhere. The girl we stayed with was in a vaulting team and their horse was kept at a big equestrian centre.
@JudyEv (381739)
• Rockingham, Australia
7 Dec 15
I didn't like the thought of the cows shut up even in nice weather. Shedding them does away with the need for fences too. The sheds are equipped with massive fans for the summer months.
@celticeagle (189793)
• Boise, Idaho
7 Dec 15
This was all very interesting as your stay there must have been.
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@celticeagle (189793)
• Boise, Idaho
7 Dec 15
@JudyEv ....These foreign spots are always interesting.
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@BelleStarr (61463)
• United States
7 Dec 15
I have smelled that pungent odor before and though it may be natural I agree smelling it all the time can't be good.
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@JudyEv (381739)
• Rockingham, Australia
7 Dec 15
We might be lucky enough to make another visit one day.
@JudyEv (381739)
• Rockingham, Australia
7 Dec 15
Some have biggish yards but otherwise they're stuck in the sheds. I shouldn't think it was very healthy either. If they want to let the cows out they run out an electric wire to create a field so perhaps they do that from time to time.
@JudyEv (381739)
• Rockingham, Australia
8 Dec 15
We were a bit put off with the smell. Maybe the locals get to the point where they don't really notice it.
@GreatMartin (23670)
• Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
7 Dec 15
"had heavily subsidised the installation of solar panels. " Did they say how it has effected the village as far as power has changed, money saved, etc.?
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@JudyEv (381739)
• Rockingham, Australia
7 Dec 15
We saw acres and acres of panels all through Europe and many windfarms as well. Some farmers have put up their own wind turbine. The subsidies have stopped now but I really don't know the overall impact on the general public. When Vince gets back I'll ask him in case he remembers. 
@moffittjc (128824)
• Gainesville, Florida
7 Dec 15
Although I've been to England, and briefly stepped foot on the shores of France, I haven't explored other parts of Europe. I've always dreamed of visiting Bavaria and other parts of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Maybe someday I'll have the time and money to go there!
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@moffittjc (128824)
• Gainesville, Florida
7 Dec 15
@JudyEv I've always pictured myself hiking in the mountains of Bavaria, and skiing in the Swiss Alps! Maybe someday I'll get that chance! I guess I should learn how to ski before I ever take that trip!
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@JudyEv (381739)
• Rockingham, Australia
7 Dec 15
@moffittjc Learning to ski would be a good start! We were travelling very slowly down a steep incline and a guy on a pushbike passed us! There were dozens and dozens of bikes on the roads.
@JudyEv (381739)
• Rockingham, Australia
7 Dec 15
Bavaria was very pretty. We even drove up through the mountains which we'd never considered before. Luckily the weather was almost always nice for us.
