On a day that nothing happened..

I almost didn't write an entry in the blog today. Somehow I'd managed to convince myself that we hadn't done anything. Then I started to think of all the things that we'd done without actually considering them as being noteworthy.. before long I'd guilted myself into sharing it all with you.

So share I must.. don't say you weren't warned.. you just might forget you ever read this. (Or wish you had)

Breakfast was like any other in Punxsutawney.. sorry Bad Heilbrunn. I polished off the last of the cornflakes. Apparently that one small serving bowl was supposed to last all week. With my double dipping it only made it to Thursday. Who knows what's in store for tomorrow?

I know that there's still a tiny amount of muesli left over. I would have finished that off too had it not been for the fact that they have chocolate chips in it. Can't quite find the appetite to eat chocolate for breakfast. Necessity may well change that.

Sarah and I needed to plan the rest of our stay, we could not decide whether we wanted to stay here or move to another Hotel in Bad Tolz for a few days. There's more to do there, and a good range of eating establishments. Even a Chinese restaurant and a couple of Pizzerias. Having researched on the Internet all the available Hotels we came to the conclusion that none were any different than where we are currently staying. They all have the same "twin" style of bed. Basically two single beds pushed together, complete with separate duvets. It's like having a sleep-over with friends when you were nine. Physical contact involves one of us crossing the divide and ultimately parts of your anatomy becoming numb from laying in the deep crevasse that runs down the middle. However I would like to clarify that I seldom had physical contact with my sleep-over friends at age nine. Unless you classify Chinese burns and pillow fights as physical contact.

Anyway.. we decided that packing everything up and moving 12Km's down the road for two nights just so we could be closer to somewhere to eat was silly. It's just as easy to catch a bus or a cab, much the same way as you would if you were going from Lower Hutt to Wellington for a night out. So we are staying here until late next week for me, and Tuesday for Sarah, when she flys home.

Tomorrow night we have booked a table for two at the "Magic Fondue" show here at the Hotel!

Yes, what else would one do if they had a penchant for cooking with cheese and prestidigitation? Well, you'd hold twice weekly magic shows for your guests, feed them warm cheese in a bucket, and charge them 30euro a head! What a cunning idea. I look forward to writing a glowing review for you all to read on Saturday.

Having organised the plan for the rest of our stay, we decided to head out for a short walk. Sarah's been getting up early in the mornings and going for a run, so she didn't want to walk too far. I assured her that we would just go out to the lane behind the Leonardis Klinik where we had ventured last week, make a series of right turns and we would eventually come out where we started. It could not be simpler [Sarah knows this theory well, however insisted it wasn't being well implemented].

About an hour into our "short walk" it became apparent that we had gone in a much larger orbit than expected. Sure, we had gone almost a full circle, but we were now completely on the other side of town, confronted with what looked like the beginnings of an autobahn, and a sign that said "Bad Heibrunn" with a large red cross through it . Bugger! We had to turn back and retrace our steps. To say I was not popular would have been a serious understatement. Made worse by my suggestion that a road that appeared to head directly towards home in fact dead ended after about a Kilometer. Again we back-tracked. Finally arriving back at the village over an hour later than planned.

Lunch time! We decided to stop at "The Villa in the Park" cafe for something to eat. The two female staff members sat alone in the cafe eating. We appeared to be the first customers of the day and it was already 1pm. Asked if she spoke English, the girl behind the counter gave the standard reply "a little" and saw us to our chosen table outside in the raised courtyard.

I'd accidentally walked in carrying a bottle of water which I left on our table. The second of the two waitresses, perhaps the manageress, came out and reprimanded me for having the water on the table. She seemed annoyed at having to speak to us in English, and when it came to describing the different choices in pasta, she resorted to pulling her pen apart in order to visually show us the tubular nature of rigatoni. Once we had placed our orders of tomato rigatoni for me and the carbonara version for Sarah, she seemed a lot happier.

Villa in the park cafe.

They don't seem to understand the word "lemonade" in Germany, so far no one has. However "Sprite" would appear to be a universal brand name and instantly recognised, as is Sarah's "Riesling" due to it being German in origin [for the uneducated amoung us], so ordering the drinks didn't involve quite the same level of theatrics.

I finished off my lunch with a large tub of icecream to takeaway, and we headed up the road to Tengelmans for more supplies.

On the way back we came across Pam waiting for the bus to Bad Tolz. We stopped and talked to her until her bus arrived. Pam seemed quite down, she leaves the Klinik tomorrow and returns to Toronto. However she's been told she needs to come back again in October for a month of radiation treatment. She doesn't like or want radiation and it showed. We both really felt for her. I'm not sure why she isn't considering having it done back in Canada, but the both the cost and the treatment seemed to be weighing heavily on her mind. The bus arrived, we said our farewells and we parted ways, probably to never to see her again. I wish her well. She's been a great buddy these last few weeks.

From there we walked to the information centre for advice on where to locate an Italian restaurant that we had been told about but could not find. Once again the man behind the counter gave the standard response when asked if he spoke English, two fingers held closely together followed by the words... "just a little". We asked him where the Italian restaurant was and he gave us instructions in perfect English along with marking it's position on a map. He couldn't resist the temptation of gibing us for wanting Italian food in Bavaria.. I told him I'd been here for a month.. I could have said more... that the food was inedible... vegetables I couldn't identify... things I've never even heard of let alone considered eating... but I resisted the urge. Happy in the knowledge that Pizza was now on the menu.

That's about it really.. another day in limbo... have you forgotten any of it yet?

Don't worry if you have, there's more of the same tomorrow.

Night.. Ron