Romantik Hotel Kasfmannshof Bergen

... were. There is a saying somewhere in the Rhineland that if two people are to meet you at 11:14 and they are not there, either your watch is wrong or the people are not German. These two: Karine & Holgar are German, through and through. It took them 3 minutes for hugs and tears and then 3 hours to outline all the plans, the itinerary, the destinations: planes, trains & automobiles with a bike rental in between; cities, villages towns and a camp-site on the ...

... Celle, a place I last visited in 1991, and which I am really looking forward to. Oh yes, the fluorescent dog collar thing. I was coming out of the loo block when it was getting dark, and I felt something brush against my legs. I didn't see the black dog, only the pink fluorescent dog collar. You can imagine the start it gave me. Are these common? I have never seen one before. Certainly you come across them at outdoor music concerts and so on, but never on a dog. What a sensible idea!

... that close to, or over (no one seems to have been able to count) 40,000 people just dropped dead on the ground and were never buried. That is the most powerful image at Belson: the mass graves with the stone monuments on the front of each. 1000 total bodies buried here. 2,500 bodies buried here. And there aren't just a few of these. There were twenty to twenty-five mass grave-sites that I walked around along the lengthy path set within the memorial ...

... hatte doch ziemlich Angst! Naja, Spaß hatte ich auch (Siehe Bild). Es gibt viele tolle Attraktionen unter anderem auch richtig gute Tiershows mit Tieren, die sich merklich wohlfühlen. Es war ein toller Tag, aber Caro als "Freizeitparkexpertin" war nicht ganz von dem Heidepark überzeugt :-)

... Karsten! Anschließend haben wir das Celler Schloss besucht, sehr eindrucksvoll. Felix hat dann in zusammenarbeit mit Theo noch die Schlossenten mit Bio Ernie und Bert Keksen gefüttert! Beim Abendessen hat sich dann noch Besuch in Form einer Wüstenspringmaus eingestellt, die wirklich sehr süß war. Vielleicht zieht sie ja jetzt bei Karsten, Ilka, Felix und Theo auf die Veranda.

... ahead. Today I had only a little bit of rain as I left Uelzen. I also managed to take another detour, blindly following signs that promised a bike route to the B4. Not being the shortest option by a long shot, it did get me there, but I lost a little time in the progress. Luckily the sky got brighter fast and after an hour I had to shed my windstopper jacket as I got too hot. There was still a fairly compact cloud cover, but ...

... Dömitz, Dannenberg and Uelzen, I chose to keep going and try to find a bike shop. Just as I entered Ludwigslust, I encountered an older gentleman who seemed friendly, and more than a little curious about my kit. He directed me to the nearest (one of two) bike shop, and wished me good luck. The repair was fast and cheap, and in less than half an hour I was back on the road again with a new spoke, a re-trued rear wheel and a couple ...

... we sure wasted the day! Oh well. We went back to Stefan's ot pick up Laura's camera she left behind. Then Dan took us to "Old Germany," a part of town which has stayed with the traditional styles of design. It was gorgeous. I wish it was lighter out so I could have take pictures. But man, I would have loved to live there, I am sure it costed a pretty penny. Dan showed us a few old catholic churches, and we even went into one, even though it was closed, ooooooo. It was cool though ...

... s village and it was so exciting! We were cold and wet, so we went into a nearby cafe to grab a little treat. I got something that had dougnut type stuff with filling and was all wrapped in a hard layer of chocolate. Very good! After our treats, we went back to the grocery store to get some stuff for our Thanksgiving meal we were having that night. We rounded up a crate, YES crate, of german beer which was only about €5!! We hiked everything up stairs and then set ...

... about Germany after the war. After eating lunch at the Mensa, i went to Am Sande for my last day of shopping in Lueneburg to buy some presents. I spent an hour walking in and out of several stores before heading back to the university's computer lab. i stayed all afternoon in the lab until it was time for dinner at one of the university's restaurants. Since it was ...