– Day 27

            Not much to report today, besides the fact that we have no internet access tonight.  So, I will jot down a few notes, and post them from Dresden tomorrow.

            Because of the cold I picked up, I didn’t sleep much last night.  So, we took it very easy this morning as we left Regensberg.  We really didn’t see anything of the old city, so we have to cross that one off our list just like we did for Augsburg the other day.

            It was a good 4-hour drive from Regensberg to Freiberg.  Most of it was on the autobahn, and that made for easy driving.  I don’t know who told Mrs. Garmin that we wanted to take the scenic route instead of the easiest route, so we ended up on less than 2-lane roads for most of the way.  And, of course, some of the roads were closed.  So we heard “recalculating” very often.  At one point, the Garmin didn’t even know what direction to go, so Dea acted as navigator.  Once we got through the last part of the construction zone, the Garmin announced “Turn right at the next corner, and arrive at destination.”  We were that close, and didn’t have a clue!

            That was not the end of the adventure, however.  We saw the hotel, and there was a parking ramp right next door.  A natural, right?  Wrong!  It was a shopping center ramp.  We decided to go check in first, then figure out where to park.  Of all things, there was not a single door unlocked at the Brauhof Hotel!  Signs on the doors said that the restaurant opens at 5:00 p.m. (17:00).  Well, we were there about 13:30 (1:30 p.m.).  No way in!  Finally we discovered the hotel parking lot, moved the car, and I bugged some delivery men until one of them called the hotel number, and someone let us in, but he didn’t speak any English, just gave us a key and a registration form and left us in our room!

         That was really OK, because I wanted to rest in hopes of shaking the cold, and to recover from the drive.  So we napped and read for about 4-5 hours.  Then it was time to eat.  So we went downstairs to the restaurant for supper.

            I must digress.  Nine years ago, Paul and Barb and their son Philip and I stayed in this hotel, ate supper in the restaurant, and I had pork hocks and sauerkraut – the best sauerkraut I’ve ever had.  Before we left the states, in planning this trip, the first hotel reservation I made outside of Wittenberg was for this hotel!  Besides the same menu, they also have the best German  beer of all, in my opinion.  So, pork hocks, sauerkraut, and dark beer made up supper.  It was more than we could eat, however.  The pork hock had to be at least 6-8” in diameter, way more than I could handle.  But it was worth the trip!
            Tomorrow morning after breakfast, we will start being tourists again.  We have directions from the waiter on how to find the local cathedral.  Organ fans will be interested to know that there are two Gottfried Silbermann organs in the cathedral, plus a whole lot of really neat stuff.  We will go there first, then head towards Dresden.  Time permitting, we will stop at Meissen to see the porcelain works there, then check in to Dresden. 

          I must say that I am starting to feel human again – not totally, but much better than last night, and ready to be tourist again for a few days before we head home on Friday.

           In case some of you haven’t heard, we are grandparents again!  John and Jill are in the process of adopting a little Somalian baby, named him Micah Youssef.  He was  born on Sunday, and we think they will be able to take him home in a day or two.  Please pray for this growing family!