Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name...

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Thursday, May 1st:

We travelled from Bad Soden to Neuenhof today. The 200 km ride was somewhat hampered by a 10 km traffic jam caused by a combination of holiday traffic and a construction area on the autobahn. Did we mention we were chauffeured in a brand new BMW? Our hosts, the Beck's, who are old friends of my mom’s, picked us up and took us to their house in the old DDR for a couple of nights.

That evening, in true German fashion, a HUGE meal of Thuringer sausage and pork chops was served, enough to feed twice as many people than those actually seated at the table. Let's not forget about the bread and beer too... The evening was somewhat marred by the fact the Bavarian team (FC Bayern-Munchen) lost to the Russians in a crushing 4-nil massacre - soccer, for those who are clueless about the German premier league.

Around 10 PM, the Beck's son, Mario, and his girlfriend Kasia took us to the neighbourhood pub. Neuenhof is a town of just over 600, so it really is a neighbourhood pub. On this night, the place was packed. In part because May 1st is a holiday, but also because a group of about 15 motorcyclists had met a local in the midst of a traffic jam and been invited to the town. This effectively almost doubled the occupancy at the pub/inn/restaurant.

Erin was a hit with all the local denizens, who tried their best to speak to her in English, while Erin rolled out her best German skills. We exchanged email addresses and received invitations to visit next time we were in the country, also we wondered how many people would remember us once the German beer wore off! Regardless, we helped solidify the stereotype of the friendly Canadian...

Friday, May 2nd:

After going to bed at 1 AM, we were expected for breakfast at 0900 sharp! Siegfried, our host, cherishes punctuality, like any self respecting German man. Breakfasts here always consist of an assortment of fresh, warm bread, cheese, cold cuts and sausage...yet surprisingly, no fat people around...

After breakfast we left for the capital city of Thuringer, namely Erfurt, with Mario and Kasia. Erfurt is a beautiful classically German city with a near intact medieval inner city. Lots of "pedestrian/streetcar only" streets lined with shops, cafes and bakeries. There is also a large outdoor market watched over by the majestic Dom, a medieval cathedral which overlooks the city centre.

Though it rained briefly, the weather was ideal for exploring the city on foot. We had Bratwurst and some fresh baking for lunch. Erin also looked at some shoes until she saw PRADA on the label and thought better of it.

We drove back to Neuenhof and arrived around 5PM, with a little time to blog or nap before supper. You can go ahead and guess who was doing what...

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Photos

The A-5
On the Autobahn to Neuenhof

Bad Soden
With Pat's Grandma

Typical Town
Every German village looks like this!

Hospitality
Enough to feed an army

Where everybody knows your name
The Landhotel corner pub in Neuenhof

Erfurt
Pat pretending to read German

Erfurt
Erin looking at Blumen

Erfurt
Der Dom

Erfurt
Das Croissant

Erfurt
Burning off das Croissant going up the stairs

Comments

[Pat]

Do LOTS of walking!
Beautiful area! Reminds me a lot of Denmark...so does all the food! I gained 20 lbs in a month there so walk/bike ride a whole bunch.