Day 6

We woke up around ­­9 a.m., and after getting dressed, we headed around the corner to the local bakery (which had been closed on Sunday).  We figured this would be a good place to get something for breakfast.  However, as luck would have it, they were closed on Mondays.  Eric needed to get going to head down to the convention center to help set up the booth, so we came back to the apartment and he grabbed something quick from my traveling food stash, and then headed on his way. 

After he left, I set out to see what else I could find at the next closest bakery.  There was another bakery not too far from the apartment, near the castle.  There I bought some rolls and a Danish and headed back to the apartment with them.  After I got back, I decided I had better attempt to do the laundry.  Everything on the washing machine was obviously in German, but I figured how hard could it be.  We had a Bosch washing machine for years.  I made all my selections and hit start and every time it would just flash and then time out.  I was getting really frustrated… 

My next task was finding some butter or something to put on the rolls I had purchased.  The weather was overcast today, but there wasn’t a prediction for rain until closer to evening, so I headed out with my camera as well in case I came across any fabulous picture opportunities. 

I headed toward the Hauptmarkt (main market square), which I had not been to yet.  They have an open air market here every day but Sunday, where vendors sell everything from cheese, fresh produce, fresh flowers, plants, cookies and cakes, etc.  There was supposed to be a discount grocery store right next to it, so I figured that would be the place to go to find some butter.  After going into the store and buying some butter, I perused the open air market to see if there was anything that looked good.

The produce was all so fresh and ripe—more than likely picked the day before at a farm down the road.  I ended up buying some strawberries.  We think we pay a lot for produce—I paid 6,50 euros for a small basket of strawberries (probably close to $10).  I’m sure they were probably organic and they were perfectly red and ripe and more than likely just picked.  They were very good—not like what we buy in the grocery store in the states.

After my purchases, a wandered around a bit and then headed back to the apartment again.  On my way back I found a neat health food store that also had a café and bakery that served organic, vegan, and vegetarian food.  I stepped in and checked it out—the food smelled fabulous. 

After I got back to the apartment, I attempted to start the washing machine again to no avail.  I finally broke down and texted the owner to see if she could come up and show me how to make it work.  A short while later, she came up and showed me there was a valve on the sink that had to be turned so that the washing machine could draw water…So after all that, I finally got the laundry going.  As there was no dryer, I wanted to make sure I could get the load done and hung up on the drying rack to hopefully be dry by tomorrow.  I swear the washing machine ran for 2-3 hours before it was done and I could finally hang everything up. 

By the time the laundry got done it was probably around 3 or 4 in the afternoon.  I may have gone out one more time to wander around town before Eric came back from the convention center.  I went back and forth to the apartment so many times, I don’t even remember now. 

Eric didn’t make it back until close to 6 o’clock.  After he got back, we set out to find something for dinner.  We had found a very quaint Italian restaurant not too far away that looked really good.  I had looked it up online and it said you definitely needed reservations.

We stopped in and asked if they had a table for two (with no reservation).  We were sat in the back corner of a table that was already made out for seven people.  We had a very nice meal and about half-way through, a party of four that had made a reservation was sat at the table with us.  It was a very small restaurant and they obviously utilize every bit of space. 

After our dinner, I took Eric down to the Hauptmarkt to show him some of the sights and shops I had seen/found during my day’s wanderings.  A lot of the churches and parts of the old wall, bridges and castle are lit up at night, which are very pretty.  The nice thing about wandering around after dark is you kind of have the city to yourself as most of the tour groups are long gone by that time.  We found several spots that Eric will definitely have to come back to get some night shots. 

I showed Eric a short-cut I had found along the river that took us back to the apartment and not long after getting back, the rain began.  It rained quite heavily and more than likely rained all night long. 

Day 7

We woke up close to 7 a.m. (that was after a couple phone calls in the middle of the night, one a solicitor and one work-related), so not sure how much sleep Eric actually got.  For breakfast Eric ate the rolls I had bought for him at the bakery the day before and then he headed down to the convention center.  It was a very dark and dreary day again today.  It seems they have a lot of those around here. 

After Eric left, I set out to try out another couple bakeries to see who had the best rolls.  I bought a couple at the shop near the apartment and brought those back to the apartment and then headed down to the bakery near the Hauptmarkt to get a couple more.  I then checked out the stalls in the market again and bought some French sheep cheese (yummmm).  I figured I would have a cheese sandwich for lunch along with some of the strawberries I had left over as well.

I wandered around a bit and took a few photos on my phone and then it started to rain, so I figured I had better get back to the apartment.  I got back just in time and then the rain really set in.  It rained off and on all afternoon. 

I piddled around on the computer (amazing how much time you can spend looking at stuff) and hung out at the apartment.  The weather is supposed to get progressively better and warmer each day—and of course, I’m sure our last day in Germany will be perfect…

Eric got done at the show around 6 p.m. so I told him I would meet him at the Hauptmarkt.  We saw a falafel stand their yesterday that looked really good, so we decided to do that for dinner.  He decided to get off the subway at a different station and he called me from in front of one of the churches trying to figure out which direction to go.  I told him to meet me at one of the bridges over the river and then we made our way back to the falafel stand in the market square. 

We ordered our falafel wraps and took them back to the apartment for dinner.  They were really good and more than likely the cheapest meal we have had so far at 3,50 euros a piece.  We will probably do those again for sure. 

It was a long, but productive day, for Eric so he was anxious to get his shoes off and relax a bit before heading to bed to do it all over again tomorrow.