Top Schlosshotel Weilburg

... br>
with sleeping Arrangements settled, we heAded out for dinner. i hAd that mAgicAl trAvel experience where you discover a brAnd new culinAry deight. get this- neuer wine, or new wine. this stuff is Aged for 1 short week, then served in pint glAsses. it tAstes like mikes **********Ade. me likey.

this morning we set off northbound up the wine road, or weinestrAsses. here is whAt you do- you drive to A teeny german ...

... Magi. This sarcophagus is said to hold the remains of the three kings who followed the star to Bethlehem where Jesus was born.

Also not to be missed, is the climb up the south tower. We climbed 533 steps to the (almost) top of one of the steeples. What a climb! The view was worth it though. We also got to see the massive bells that ring every 15 minutes.

... is the biggest meal of the day and dinner is usually lighter.

I also noticed that bakeries (Bäckereien) are much more commonplace here. Our German family buys their bread fresh and they slice it as they use it each meal. I like this. I wonder, how much does a bread slicer cost in the U.S.?

... Kasesuppe (cheese soup) and the usual wurst and potatoe salad. Her daughter, Stefanie and boyfriend, as well as her son, Christian, were there as well. We talked until 11:30pm, and then dragged ourselves off to bed. It was a pleasant start to the "Hurricane Relative Visiting". The kids took over Rita's bedroom, while Ken and I slept in her office. She slept on the couch...talk about giving!

... on a canon and having a beer.

We drove to Bad Nauheim, a town about 40 minutes from the airport. Marion had booked a hotel and we stayed there. We found a nice restaurant and ate outside once again. Dave had a delicious steak with chanterelles and rösti with of course beer and schnapps. Ann ate very lightly and enjoyed an apfel schorle! A very nice drink for a delicate stomach.

... really mean to Bruce on the phone, and I'm just about always yelling at the kids if they dare to come near me. I'd kill a drifter for a really great nights sleep.Have I mentioned how awful European pillows are????

Anyway, swimming and a cruise down the Rhine river today. Should be nice. Hopefully, I can get it together and snap out of the haze.

... secret because I initially thought that this somehow breached some unwritten rule of travelling that accommodation had to be a gloomy, squalid hostel at all times. I've since modified my stance to conclude that by finding such a cheap deal - the Hilton in Malmo worked out cheaper than staying at the hostel in Copenhagen - we were honouring the travelling principle of making a little money go as far as possible. We took this one step futher by scoffing a ...

For a minute there I thought I was going to lose my faith. But if last night was anything to go by, it's now restored in full. As different as we'll always be, German's aren't bad at all - though they did have me worried for a while. Some of them do smile. In fact some of them laugh heartily. And some of them are incredibly friendly, extremely hospitable and a lot of fun to be around. By dusk we ...

... trying a few different toppings for my rice, some yogurt stuff, and a delightful soup. I've found (and heard) that at the hotel, food is generally safe to eat, although fresh vegetables are still discouraged due to washing them in the water. However, sliced melons should be ok here, since the hotel takes careful precautions in cleaning their utensils and such. Once we get on a schedule for work, though, I might get hungry as office food isn't as good as hotel food ...

... too. We then ventured to Weilburg and Limburg to see some very old towns (where the buildings are actually leaning from warped wood!). It was so neat to see such old places! In Limburg exists The Cathedral of Limburg. It's just a beautiful structure and is so nice inside as well! It, too, has survived and been reconstructed after WWII. The original location was once occupied by a castle owned ...