Today was hard to wake up. After having been out on the dancefloor til about 4am (3am), we set the time forward today. There was a free breakfast available in the dining area so I headed down at 10am since checkout was at 11am. There were eggs, bacon, toast etc. I didn’t see anyone that I had been speaking with the previous night, so I wasn’t sure if anyone really spoke English well enough to have a breakfast conversation with, so I headed for a table that had the most people. There were Ulf’s friends from school and work there, and I made some new friends with interesting stories. A pair that had met online and been dating for the past 9 months were really fun to speak with. The guy was changing jobs into Logistics and the girl was a church counselor that organized youth trips.
We then spent some time getting the gifts from the gift table to a van of Judith’s cousin. They had a big utility van that made transporting everything back easily. I headed back to Marburg with them, and helped get everything into the house while Judith and Ulf stayed behind to tie up any other things at the castle.
The afternoon was quiet as we stayed around home to relax and clean up. People came over to say their goodbyes before heading back to Hamburg, Berlin, and other cities around Germany.
In the evening, we went out to the town to meet with Judith’s cousin and her husband and child. We went to a Swedish café called Edlund’s in the town center that was an ice cream shop as well. Of course, I ordered a huge sundae filled with coffee ice cream, actual chocolate pieces and chocolate syrup with about a pound of whipped cream. I didn’t think to not ask for that, as by the time I was finished, it was just a pile of whipped cream.
We then went across the street to the same restaurant we had been to before and I opted for the kid’s menu as I wasn’t very hungry. I got a Wiener Schnitzel and salad and it was plenty. We then bid farewell to the cousin and her family and headed back home for a quiet evening relaxing and talking about everyone and the events at the wedding. Judith and Ulf were going through some of the gifts that people had brought. It was interesting, because they had requested money, and apparently what’s customary is to create a creative way in presenting the money, and wrap it in clear cellophane to show your creation. There were Easter eggs hatched with money in them, a treasure chest on sand with money falling out, a painting of an ocean with an origami paper boat made from euro bills, a piggy bank full of coins. It was quite fun to see everyone’s creative creations.
One of the greatest gifts I saw was a travel brochure that was created by one of her closest friends, Mark. He works at a travel agency in Germany and created this complete guide to Judith’s and their trips throughout their child hood together. It showed pictures from Judith’s youth that she hadn’t even seen before and had stories of their times spent together as a group of 5 close friends. I had gotten to meet everyone before in 2002 when we visited Saarburg in the winter. It was really cool to see everyone again.
I then started looking at planning my Munich trip. I had bought my train ticket before I arrived to leave tomorrow so wanted to see how many days I’d like to stay. I’m so glad I got a travel guide before coming because I can’t believe I hadn’t realized that Dachau was just a short trip from Munich. All together I’m planning about 4 days in Munich and the environs to see the Ludwig Castles, Dachau, and of course, tour the city before heading to Switzerland.