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Published: March 5th 2008
Hi Friends and Family,
It’s our last day in Oberhof.
We’ve been having such a wonderful time. It’s just great to be here in the country.
Today, it was time to do some cultural stuff and some lets-get-dirty-in-the-snow stuff!
I checked out the possibilities of the day and rang up a lady that organised horse-pulled traps about the village. We had hired a private horse and buggy on the Aran Islands in EIRE ( The Republic of Ireland ) and that was a great experience. "The Small Young Gentleman" was three years old then and promptly fell asleep as soon as he was all tucked in. The Irish driver was so calm about things, that he opted to wait until "The Small Young Gentleman" woke up, which was two hours later and then we did the horse trip around the island! He was such a lovely man.
In this case, we made phone reservations for 11:00 and arrived at the village centre where one of the very few female owners and guides, was waiting for us. We were a collection of seven individuals on a Sunday morning. The trap was similar to those of old, and
inside were thick blankets which could be used to wrap around oneself. Drinks were also available and being Germany, that meant apple juice and beer!
It was a 2.5 hour ride that cost € 15 for adults and € 7,50 for children. We went all around the town of Oberhof and also to the famous Rondell where international championships are held. At lunch time, we stopped to feed the horses and to “refresh” ourselves at the “Thüringer Hütt” with thick homely soup, sausages and yet more beer.
Half-way through the trip we opted to jump off and take another look at other activities such as Snow Tubing which basically consists of your person stuffed in a tire. I was actually interested in hiring one of the “tubes” for a duration but they were not going out that day or funnily enough, that weekend. The other option of Ice-Rafting also looked quite daring. It basically consisted of 8-12 people in a raft that sped down at a speed of about 170 km an hour. It takes about 45 minutes to walk up but 2-3 minute to raft down. That sounded like fun but children under 7 were not allowed.
The Entertainment!
Our horse and cart.Shame!
However, it wasn’t all bad as next to this was a ski lift and next to the ski-lift was a field of snow appropriate for bobbing and boy did we bob! We went up and down that hill so many times.
We were wet.
We were filthy.
We were supposed to be going home today!
This field was actually a ski area that had melted snow and so couldn’t be skied nevertheless, the forest was right by and one small boy was going so fast that he veered off into a mass of branches and bushes. Luckily, I and a man were nearby and managed to climb down and pull the poor boy out before his father could get to him. He was extremely upset and scared. Luckily, he only had a few scratches but it was a lesson to us all. Yes, its fun but it can also be dangerous.
Soon, it was time to get a move on and I had promised „The Small Young Gentleman" a toffee apple instead of ice-cream and we still had to get out of our wet things. I had already packed and stored our luggage
but I had put dry clothes aside and with good reason!
Our train was leaving the Oberhof Station at 17:35, the last bus left at 16:00 so there was nothing left for it but to book a taxi for 17:00.
We paid our outstanding bill, gathered our luggage and jumped into the taxi.
We arrived in Berlin at 21:24, there was no way that we could stand “proper” food at this time, so we went to McDonalds and shared a double burger meal that we couldn’t even begin to finish. We wanted to give it to a homeless man that we saw. We searched for him but couldn’t find him any more and had to throw the rest of the meal into the dustbin.
What a waste!
We arrived home at about 22:30 and after putting "The Small Young Gentleman" to bed, I dumped the rest of our stuff and went to bed myself.
We had a great time and will be going back to Oberhof again.
My next trip will be to Portugal in three weeks time.
Watch this space!
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