View Larger Map
Friday, July 12th – Saalfeld to Naumberg, 7120 km
When I go to check out the manager who speaks little English asks me to pay for last night’s dinner I never received. I am sill angry from last night’s confrontation. I protest and try to explain I did not get my dinner, but the waiter from last night is also working this morning. He has the advantage of speaking the language. The manager’s skill at speaking English seems to have deteriorated from weak to non-existent in the past 16 hours. The rest of the restaurant staff, who probably can’t be bothered attending to their guests anyway, gather around and have an entertaining (for them) conversation
I finally agreed I would pay for the meal if they gave it to me now cold. The manager, who suddenly remembers his English, tells me the schinkenplatte comes cold. Now I'm confused. Eventually I refuse to pay and they let me go.
I had hoped to leave my baggage at the hotel while I visited the Feengrotten, but now this option seems foolish and unreasonable. The registration desk for the Feengrotten lets me lock my bike at the entrance and they promise to watch my bags. While I am waiting for the tour to begin I am still thinking the hot chicken dinner last night. It was clearly not a cold platter. I dig my German/English dictionary out of my bag and find out schinken is not chicken, it's ham. So I did have the schinkenplatte. A flush of embarrassment washes over me. I am horrified with myself, a feeling I know will stay with me for a long time.The tour is assembled and ready to go. I try to set my shame aside and focus on the tour. I am provided an English brochure describing the Feengrotten that makes the tour more interesting. The woman guide leads the group down a narrow, steep stairway, which is a mine shaft begun 450 years ago and abandoned now for more than a century. Some of the lower 'caves' have become flooded into shallow lakes. It is a stark and claustrophobic maze of tunnels with few interesting features, except for the deepest, water-filled cave. On the far side of the 'lake' is a small hall filled with delicate stalactites and other decorative encrustations. It is flood lit like a theatre stage and we pause here for some time while the guide explains that this magical chamber was the inspiration for Wagner's "Faerie Symphony".
After the tour, I reclaim my bike and belongings and take on the traffic heading north-west to the town of Bad Blankenberg, which turns out to be one of the ugliest industrial towns I have ever seen. I pause for a bratwurst and cola, and to pick up a few groceries. Six kilometres further along I stop for a water refill in Rottenbach (if towns here aren't 'bad', they're 'rotten') and four men invite me for a juice and to chat with me about my trip. They are amazed how much I have done already, and that my trip is only a third over. They tip me off to another nearby regional attraction, the Klosterruine Paulinzella. It is free and its value equal to the price.
I sail down a hill into Bad Berka, trying to make good time, and I hit the ancient cobblestone in terrible repair. The jar from hitting the first hole knocks one of my rear panniers off my bike and I brake to a stop as fast as I can. I am grateful I do not have a flat tire 
or broken rim, or that I did not go flying off the bike myself. Former East Germany definitely has these new dangers. 
The skies burst open just beyond the town, but I push on. The air is cool but still warm enough when I am moving so I don't stay wet for long. Weimar, the titular town of the German Republic between the World Wars, is the next centre I pass through. The city is lovely but under port-reunification repair. Many streets are torn up and many buildings in scaffolding. 
After Weimar I head north-east to Naumberg. I become quite lost as several villages and roads are missing from my map or they are inaccurately portrayed. Many hostile states alter their maps to confound the enemy if the maps are used during an invasion, and I suspect altered information was used to make my map. Eventually, I find my way to the next town, Apolda, and back onto the highway to Naumburg. It is 8:15pm by the time I reach Naumberg. I find there is only one hotel, since this small city is neither a tourist or business destination. The hotel has only one triple-bed room available for 54 DM, so they refer me to a family in town with a room to let. Their name is Dittman, and they are pleased to put me up for the night. Their English is broken but they want to chat me up, especially their son Horst, but I am anxious to wash, change and find a place to eat before everything closes.
I feel obligated to invite Horst to accompany me while I look because he seems a bit depressed and in need of a friend. His mother has mentioned he has been schooled as an engineer but has been out of work in the devastated East German economy for the past two years. His physical shape and manner of dress matches his disoriented sense of purpose. He is soft and out of shape and seems to depend on his parents for both physical and emotional support. His one source of pride is his vast collection of postcards from around the world - specifically postcards of buildings. He has over 6,000. His collection used to be the 8th largest in East Germany but in the new reunified Germany his ranking, along with his spirits, has plummeted. Still, it is the only part of his life he is still motivated by. Horst is a bit tipsy tonight, which no doubt fuels his chattiness. The only place open is a pizza take-out, so we bring back pizza slices and colas to his home. His parents' eyes are filled with gratitude for the time I am spending with him. It is not just the extra income they are in need of. I give him three postcards from Luxembourg, my address in Toronto and my promise to send him all the building-related postcards from there that I can find next year if he writes. I feel much appreciated. In spite of my confrontation this morning, my late start, broken cobblestone, the rain shower and arriving here after dark, it has ended as a good day.
PHOTO 1: in the tunnels of the Feengrotten
PHOTO 2: "Fairy Cave" of the Feengrotten
PHOTO 3: Burg Greifenstein in Bad Blankenberg
PHOTO 4: Bad Berka
PHOTO 5: Klausterruine Paulinzella
PHOTO 6: bridge over Lim River
PHOTO 7: in Weimar
PHOTO 8: Weimar market
PHOTO 9: belfry in Weimar
PHOTO 10: on the way to Naumberg
PHOTO 11: street in Naumberg
No comments:
Post a Comment