DAY 3: GOSLAR
Both of us slept badly. When the alarm went off, we were not ready to get up, it being the middle of the night in Cincinnati.

After a nice breakfast with strong coffee, we picked up Julia and Mats and Peter drove an hour or so to Goslar, a mediaeval city.

We got out of the car and the wind and rain hit us. It was totally "Arschkalt" (ass cold.) I contemplated a dreary and cold tour of the city. Fortunately Peter suggested that we duck into the Kaiserpfalz. The place had some interesting paintings and spaces. It is very cool how recently the area has wanted to preserve and promote local history. It was impressive.



By the time we left the building, the weather had improved and we walked around, eventually finding the town square, which had a Weihnachtsmarkt, or Christmas market.

We had a nice Glühwein (mulled wine) and took in the smells and sights. I was a tad hungry and got a short baguette with warm wild salmon filling. Yum. (Note: some readers would not find this very delicious. But, I did. So, there!)

Another stand had the most delicious smelling garlic break. Jason ordered what he thought would be a long piece of garlic bread with "pepperoni," as shown on a sign. Jason did it in English. The kind man registered the order and took the money. Jason was a bit surprised when the guy handed him bread with pepperocini peppers on top!

I felt a bit bad, as I knew this one. He took a bite and liked it. Indeed, it was very tasty, probably the best option.

We took pictures and walked around.

Peter suggested that we go up to the top of the church. So, we ascended exactly 218 steps to the top. The view was worth the tiring efforts. I especially liked the Christmas lights.

One annoying factor of the day was that I had almost no Euros. Earlier in the day, I had tried to get money out of an ATM in Ilsede (where the family lives,) but it declined my request as I had gotten out so much money in Paris. (Yes, we had blown through like $250 in Paris, in one day, on miscellaneous. It's not hard at all!)
So, at one point, although a fresh German beer from tap sounded good, I was low on cash and didn't have one. Drats!

We continued to walk around as it began to get dark. Peter and Julia were very good hosts and I have to admit that Mats, just 4, was a very patient kid.

We met Julia's godfather and another friend of the family at a local German restaurant (which fortunately took credit cards, or so I hoped.) I always like to try new things. I'm not too familiar with venison, so I tried venison soup. The miniature portion was quite palatable, especially with the tall glass of local beer (for which I had been waiting for the entire day.)

Jason and I both ate Schnitzel with fried potatoes (which included bits of bacon.) I washed it down with a rather tall second beer.

The conversation was very light and fun. I liked the two guests and hugged them as we said goodbye some time later, in the dark snowy streets of Goslar.

The snow had piled up. I'm sure that Mats had made snowballs before, but I reminded him at how fun it was to take highly packed balls of snow and throw them at walls and at "mama." Julia didn't find this as amusing as Mats and I did. We walked back to the deserted parking lot to the car.

Peter, always the excellent, prudent and driver got us home without even the hint of a complaint.

We slept like tired dogs.
- posted by Matt @ 9:05 PM