Today is Sunday. I wonder how Penn State did yesterday? I don't even remember who they were supposed to play. (Penn State 34, Wisconsin 31)
We had coffee with Manuela and her son Philipp. Jeff and I were wondering about Philipp, since we slept in his bedroom, but didn't see him last night when we got in. Philipp is very polite and speaks surprisingly good English. We learn that he will be turning 13 in another week.
Philipp & Manuela
After coffee, Harald arrived to take us all to Cäsar's house for brunch. I got lost trying to pay attention to how we drove to Cäsar's house. I think his house is on the south end of town. It became apparent, as we arrived at Cäsar's house, that his hobby is gardening. His house is surrounded by gardens. More on that later.
We all gathered in Cäsar's house. Soon Cäsar's wife filled the table with all kinds of food. There were rolls, cheese, meats and different kinds of jellies. She also served soft-boiled eggs and placed them on a special kind of egg holder. I have never seen eggs served in this manner. While the eggs sit in this holder, you peal the shell off the top and eat the egg out of the shell. It's probably a common thing, but I usually never eat soft-boiled eggs, so I wouldn't know. (Since writing this I've gotten a lot of comments that this is indeed common!)
There was also an interesting blackberry juice on the table, so I had to give it a try. It was very tasty, as well. I wish I could find some of that back home!
After eating, I snuck out the back door into Cäsar's garden to have a look. The back yard was very tiny, but filled with many wonderful plants. In one end there was a small tool shed that was partially hidden by plants.
Along the back of the yard was a bank lined with tiny gnome statues. Bob had mentioned these in his article, so I was immediately drawn to them. I'll have to get some for my own garden at home!
Gnomes!
Before we left to take our tour of Marburg, Cäsar played a tourism video of Marburg. The video was very interesting. I was hoping to be able to find a copy to buy, but we never found to time to shop in Marburg. Harald explained that the VHS videos in Germany are of a unique format that won't play in the VCRs we have at home. Harald said he was able to convert them, though.
Finally, we headed off to Marburg. We parked in a lot along side of the Lahn river, next to Philipps University of Marburg.
Cäsar, Jeff & Marty
The others arrived with Harald and we began our climb up the hill and into the old-town section of Marburg. The weather was perfect for a hike. It was on the cool side, but that felt good as we hiked up hill. Our first stop was in the old University church. Then we hiked up a couple more blocks until we entered the town square. There we saw the town hall building which has a clock with a rooster on the top that flaps it's wings on the hour.
Also, in the middle of the square is a fountain with a statue of a man on a horse slaying a dragon.
Marburg is a fascinating town lined with old half-timbered buildings. There were many shops and restaurants in town.
Unfortunately, it was Sunday and most of the stores were closed. We continued through town continuing to climb up toward the castle that overlooks the town.
As we climbed ever higher, Cäsar made a point to stop to show us the ruins of an old Synagogue. There was a glass structure that we looked down into to see what looked like an old basement. There were some signs that told what we were looking at, but the were written in German, so I don't know what they said.
We continued up a steep cobblestone lane that led to the castle. When we reached the top, we stopped to take pictures at an area that had a great view of the entire valley. We couldn't help but notice a church that had a large steeple tower that was crooked at the top. I believe it was the Lutheran parish church of St. Mary's. The story is, due to the lack of funds, the top part was constructed out of wood, not stone. Over time, the sun and wind from the southwest caused the wood to shrink and thus lean to one side.
The tour of the castle was very interesting. It's official name is Landgrafenschloss and it's now a cultural museum. This was the site of the Marburger Religionsgespräch which was a religious discussion involving Martin Luther. The Internet is full of info about that, so I won't bore you with the details.
We wandered through the castle without any idea where we were going. One section had suits of armor and swords on display.
After the tour, we hiked back down the way we came in search of a bar to have our first beers of the day. Harald led us into the Early Bistro-Cafe. It was small, but was there was plenty of room for our group.
Next, Marburg Beer!
