Day 3: Creglingen Day 1:

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After eating breakfast, a bit late again, we packed up and checked out of the hostel, loaded up our car, and were on our way to our next stop, Creglingen. I got the car's navigation system working again and after a bit less than an hour on pleasant two-lane roads, we reached Creglingen. The DJH hostel was way up a side street just before you leave the town. It looked like a decent place from the outside, and there were a good many parking places along the street nearby. I had received an email from the hostel just that morning, saying that even though they had confirmed our reservations for 4 days from the 6th thru the 9th, they were fully booked on the 6th. With reason, I was a bit unhappy about receiving that email the morning we were to check in, but we went there anyways, partly because we didn't have anyplace else to go, and partly because I figured it must be a mistake.

We had arrived at the hostel a bit early, so the only people there we folks cleaning up, so they told us we should come back after Noon to speak to the staff. Since it wasn't quite 11am, we decided to walk down into the down and stroll around for a while. Manoli checked out 3 different grocery stores, one of her favorite past times when we travel. About 12:30pm, we headed back to the hostel to try and straighten things out. The lady reception explained to us that technically they did have two beds available, but in separate rooms and in rooms filled with young people, mostly children, and she rightly figured we would not care for that situation. The mistake occurred because the automated booking system saw two rooms available but the staff there realized when they reviewed the booking that an older couple like us would not want to stay in said rooms. We were told we could have a good room for the next three nights, but we'd want to find something else for this first night. Fortunately, the lady at the hostel reception explained this to us and offered to find a room for us in town for the first night. The second place she called agreed they had a room for the night, so off we went, to the Gasthaus Gruner Baum, on the other side of town from the hostel.

Just to be sure we could find it, and that they had parking, we walked down the hill, into town and up the other side, finding our lodging we no problems. They did have parking right across the street, and the room the lady showed us was quite nice. It was on only the 2nd floor, had a double bed (actually twin beds together again!), a nice bathroom with shower, WiFi, Cable TV, and a nearby balcony/terrace. The lady that ran the place seemed a bit abrupt and didn't seem to speak any English, but we took the room, without even asking the price! Manoli stayed in the room, watching a movie on NetFlix, while I walked back to the hostel to get the car and our luggage. I made one quick stop on the way back at the local Edeka grocery store to pick up a couple of cold drinks.

After toting our luggage and bags up to the room, Manoli wasn't hungry but knew I would be, so I walked back down into town to find something for lunch. I ended up going to the Frischemarkt Kämpf grocery store where I bought some macaroni salad, a small slab of cheese and a small can of pears. I also realized we didn't have any utensils, so I picked up a small bag of plastic spoons. I walked back to the room, ate my "lunch", and then we both took a short nap. After our nap, we headed out around 5pm to see what there was to see nearby. I already knew from my research that Creglingen had several decent sights, with a good many more nearby. The Thimble Museum (Fingerhutmuseum) was supposedly down the road perpendicular to the main highway, so we started walking that way. After a kilometer or so without seeing it, we gave up and headed back. When we'd checked out the church near the guesthouse, the sign told us in English that the world famous Mary's Altar was not there (where it supposedly had been), but at the Herrgottskirche, located on the road to Munster, a nearby town. On our way to the Thimble Museum, we noticed a sign on the side of the road point off to the right that said Herrgottskirche, so again, we set off looking for that. Again, we walked a kilometer or so down an ever-narrowing road without finding it, and ended up turning back towards town. It was a very pleasant stroll, with some quiant farmhouses, barns and gardens, so it wasn't a waste of time. Also, as we reentered the town from a different direction, we got to see the Lindleinturm-Museum. Unfortunatley, it is only open on Fridays and Saturdays, so we couldn't go in, but you'll see from the photo that it is a VERY unusual building! Before returning to the room, we noticed the Bistro am Turm and decided to stop for cappuccinos before returning to the room. This place was also quite different. The bistro itself was not that unusual, but it was attached to a tower, hence the word Turm, with rooms you could rent for 40 Euros a night. I almost wanted to stay there instead of the hostel after tonight. It just seemed like a cool thing to do.

After our capuccinos, we returned to the room to figure out what we were going to do about dinner. Manoli wasn't all that hungry and wanted just soup, so we ended up walking back down to the Gasthaus zum Hirschen because they looked promising on their website. Our guesthouse has a restaurant/tavern, but I guess it is only open certain times of the year. Manoli ordered a liver noodle soup which she thought was good, and I had a couple of bratwursts with delicous saurkraut. After dinner, we returned to our room, in the rain, so thank heavens Manoli thought to bring umbrellas, and relaxed. I wrote this blog while Manoli watched a movie on her phone on NetFlix. Yes, the WiFi reception is that good!

Tomorrow after breakfast in the guesthouse, and after we pay whatever the lady asks for the room (LOL), we'll load up the car and head out to see the Thimble Museum, famous Mary's Altar, and maybe another sight or two before we head to the DJH hostel to check in for our next 3 nights.

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