Saturday, August 1

Today was our last day in Gotha, and the day that we left to go to Hamburg. Our train didn’t depart Gotha until 3:45, so we had time in the morning to go on individual trips or to hang out longer in the city. I choose to go to the Thuringian Forest with other members of the group. This required us to take the electric train south into the hills. We were ble to get out into the German countryside and relax a little. Our first stop on the route was Boxberg, where we were able to see a horse racing track that dates back to the Victorian Era. It was a turf track. The stands were not so big, but the track itself was long. I am not exactly sure how long it was as I saw no signs, but it was cool to get a look at a German racetrack. We then took a short walk to a small gasthaus that overlooked the hills, where I had another apfel schörle! Love them! Then, after petting and oohing and aahing over goats (we were in the country, and there wasn’t too much to see), we took a hike through the woods. It got a little scary because at one point, the path split in two, and we had no idea which one to take. Of course, we ended up taking the high road – literally. This one went up a hill. It was a bit much for the Old Mickster, but I made it! We then got back on the train and headed to the end of the line, a little town named Tabarz. I was excited about getting here because I was interested in picking up some German crafts, but unfortunately the stores were closed. I thought that was a little weird since it was a Saturday, a big shopping day in the U.S. but apparently not in Tabarz. After a stroll around town I went back to the train station to wait for the train back. I had a delicious iced chocolate to drink, and then once everyone made it to the station, we began to order lunch. There was a large menu, but I think the size of our group intimidated the shop owner, so the menu was quickly reduced to either bockwurst or currywurst. I had ordered slightly before the group order went in, so I got fries with my bock (think oversized hot dog), whereas others did not. We had to scarf it down pretty quickly as you couldn’t take food on the train. We got back to the hotel in Gotha in time to get our luggage, and head for the train station. We had two trains to take today, one to Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe, and there we switched for our train to Hamburg. All of this train riding was pretty uneventful, right up until we got to Hamburg, and the train had to stop because someone was on the tracks. I am not sure if they got hit or what, but we were there for a good bit waiting for things to get settled. We arrived in Hamburg around 8:30 or so, and by this point I was tired, thirsty, and hungry. Luckily we were able to check in and go right away to dinner. Okay, since you asked...pan fried fish with a mustard sauce over German potatoes, with a side salad. Scrum-diddly-umptious, as Ned Flanders might say. Hamburg looks lovely so far. We have a day of sightseeing planned tomorrow, and I get to sleep in a little!