Weiden

This was my second trip to Weiden, the first was again three years ago with Curtis. I have to say, I was glad I was able to show Julie some of the places I visited the first time I came to Europe. We stayed at Anna’s grandparent’s house, and were spoiled rotten. First off, they had a large array of food set out for us, all of which Julie and I had never had. After we got settled in our room, Anna, Michael, Julie and I went out to a local pub to meet up with some other friends. Unfortunately, they all showed up too late, as we were leaving the bar as they were coming in. We would have stayed longer, but Michael still needed to study that night, and we had a busy day planned for tomorrow. After a great sleep (and sleep in) we had our showers and were greeted with a great breakfast. So I had a boiled egg and a pretzel bun (awesome idea) and some coffee (3 cups I think). By the time Julie made her way upstairs and had breakfast, it was nearly time for us to head out to Michael’s house for lunch. Once again, I am unable to tell you what we ate, nevertheless, it was great. Michael’s dad was an English teacher and so it was fairly easy to communicate with him, his mom spoke English very well too, she even said a few words to Julie in French. There were many questions about Canada and our current trip. When lunch was finished, I was served my first espresso. Despite what I’ve heard about it being a very strong drink, it was rather good which surprised me. Since Michael had to study some more, we went back to Anna’s to pick up her grandmother before we headed out to visit Flossenburg, one of the extermination camps. It is very hard for Julie and I to say we are glad we went to this camp, we don’t regret going, but we wish we never had to go in the first place. Definitely something everyone should do, once. I won’t go into too much detail, but I will mention that it had a new museum which was pretty informative. With our moods down, we went to a garden center to buy some pet fish for Anna’s grandmother’s fish tank. Julie and I both found this weird, because they don’t actually have pet stores here, or I guess they do, but they are garden centers too. Later that night, Anna, Julie and I made our way to the town center to listen to Niko’s band. They were pretty good, playing cover songs of American bands. After their set, we wandered over to a bar to have some drinks. Michael’s bother happened to show up at this bar, so we got to meet him and his girlfriend. Many beers and many conversations later we headed back to Anna’s grandparents for some rest. The next morning Anna’s grandparents took us out for brunch at a local restaurant that has a great location. It is at the foot of a volcanic rock hill and overlooks the town. At the restaurant we tried a knodel that tasted to me, like stuffing. Since it was such a great day, we sat in the backyard and hung our laundry out to dry. We also had the time to call home and speak longer than a few minutes. We did end up heading into town to see some sites with Anna, but since it was a Sunday, most things were closed. Julie and I had a great weekend and are so grateful for all the hospitality shown to us and hope we can pay it in kind in the future. Back to Regensburg to get some Lederhoze and a Dindle!