This was the bit of the trip I was most nervous about - the cash in on the Amish communities that live around this area. I'm still not sure how to feel about it to be honest. We stayed in Strasburg, and I recommend keeping away from the bigger towns - Lancaster, Paradise, Intercourse, simply because Strasburg had enough to keep someone occupied (in my good opinion!), without the tourist buses. The Amish themselves seem to participate - running road side stalls, being drivers for Amish buggy rides, selling various crafts/food etc. The food is good, especially the baked goods. I don't know if that is a survival thing, or a taking the opportunity thing. In fact, I realised just how little I know about the Amish. I didn't even realise we were living within a two hour drive of major communities, for a start.
We opted for a bit of a drive in the countryside - on the small roads, just looking at farmland, workers etc. I don't think we got any 'good' photos, due to me feeling extremely reticent about being seen to be gawking. However, we got the photo above, of a wagon parked waiting for the lady who was running a shop to finish up. Also, lots of photos of farmland, including some quite large tobacco crops, which we had never seen before (big leafy crops, look like mutant cabbages)!
We were going to have a meal at a place that served sort of farm house fare at big tables that we were looking on as a cultural experience, but when we arrived we realised we were mistaken about the size of the operation (5 buses out the back, for a start), and retreated to the little restaurant next door to our hotel which was more than sufficient.
I liked this part of the world, still working out why, but possibly managing to see a horizon for the first time in a while had something to do with it.
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