BACK IN GERMANY - ACH DU LIEBER - AND YAY!!

Boy last night there were the strangest sounds coming from the stairway or below in the hotel where we stayed. It sounded like a train...but it wasn't...or a huge blower of some sort. Along with that there were a bunch of women talking really loud until 1:00 AM. Dad managed to sleep through it all, but I had a bit of a short night...listening to what sounded like the basement of the Klopeks!

Breakfast was "minimal"...well, that's being kind...it was the worst one we've had the whole time we've been here. Oh well. As we were checking out of the hotel I took some pictures of the place. It's stately in one regard, unusual in others, and a chocolate mess in the remaining:


Stately....very stately...they were getting ready for 3 separate wedding receptions tonight!



unusual....it has a strong asian motif (somehow asian and polish don't particularly blend well)



Stately:




Chocolate mess:



exterior - stately


stately gardens



It has been interesting to visit Poland, and good to be on the land that Johann and Anna came from....but my strong hope is that they got the hell out of this country at some time before they were annihilated. I'm actually hoping they are not buried in the cemetery where no one has a name. Our overall impression of Poland is that they are trying to make up for so much lost time. They are in the beginning stages of getting their infrastructure in place, but they are so far from playing with the big boys, that I don't know if there is really going to be a full blown catching up point. Examples: their fast highway...like the autobahn is really nice....altho it is all toll road...so you can sink some money into it (which was well worth it to us), but a lot of people here can't do that. The other roads are not only abysmal.... they are downright scary....about 1 1/4 lanes for 2 cars...the cars coming towards you are usually driving like bats out of hell...as are the crazy truck drivers...and they don't get over to their side of the road...you just have to get way off on the shoulder to avoid a head on collision. Small example...in the hotel rooms we often didn't even find any soap in the bathrooms and there was usually only 1 roll of toilet paper...no spares. The signs on the roads are impossible to figure out. They don't open their stores at the posted time. There are many more examples...but the bottom line is that the standards of Poland are no where near the standards of Germany, Austria, and other European countries. The people were nice enough and usually wanted to help, but they rarely smile and overall they don't seem to be very happy or have a sense of humor. They are off-standish and rarely make eye contact and don't greet you on the street or at breakfast or at a restaurant. Contrary to this, in Germany, when someone enters a restaurant they almost always say "guten tag" and at least acknowledge the presence of other people. And of course the clean standards are not up to par with say Germany....but then no one is as up to par as the Germans are....they are the most efficient and clean people on earth! Which is why we are so happy to be back in Germany today. But don't get us wrong...we had a lot of fun in Poland and learned a lot about the people. We wouldn't have wanted to miss a minute of our opportunities that we had there.

We crossed the border and immediately felt and saw the difference...beautiful countryside. We drove through little villages and found a restaurant for lunch..and I was off to the races with using my German once more! A bit rusty...but I love speaking German. I had a soup and a salad for lunch and Dad had beef goulash that made his eyes roll to the back of his head...so good! But the best part of the whole deal was the soup I got. Tomato soup...made with fresh tomatoes, sautéed onions, apricots, and balsamic vinegar swirled on the top. Who would have thought to mix tomatoes and apricots...but it was fabulous!


So we arrived in Bad Schandau and drove around for quite awhile looking for the therme...the spa here...but couldn't find it. Finally we pulled into a parking lot and I got out of the car and went into a fancy hotel and asked where the terme was...and oh, by the way, do you have a room available tonight? She said yes, and so we got a room, can park free in the hotel parking lot, we can buy tickets to the therme here at the desk...for a discount, and breakfast is included...yay! we hit the jackpot! And Dad said as always "It always works out" and I said what I always say "It sure does".

Here's what the outside of our room with room number looks like:


And the room


view from the faux balcony in our room:


very interesting stairs attached to the building


And yes folks, the bathroom in our room even has a bidet !!


And this is out the front door...and view from our window...very dangerous! ..it's a bakery!



We checked in and very shortly went to the therme. As usual, we were the spasmos of the place. We didn't know how to insert the coin to get through the gate and then we had to step into a closet type room...about half the size of a regular closet...that is BOTH of us got into the same changing room. Believe me it was cozy. When you enter the "room/closet" from one side you slide the latch and it locks it. Then you enter out the opposite side. It makes a big metal racket and you feel like the bulls coming out of the chute at a rodeo! At that point we each went separate ways to go through showers before entering the pool area. We had to wear flip flops in the pool area, but thank God we didn't have to put on one of those weirdo hats!!

We went from one pool to another in the spa and had so much fun...one pool had a flume...and I didn't even get stuck in it or get slammed into the wall. It still makes me laugh pretty hard though as I'm sailing around the circle! Another pool was outside with the fresh air and wonderful scenery...we loved it out there! Most of the pools had jets going or a few had a spigot that made a giant waterfall that pelts your back, if you so desire.

We tried going into the sauna but luckily before we opened the door, Dad noticed a sign that said take off all your clothes...that would have been interesting! All pools were salt water and made you very buoyant in the water...so you could float without any effort. Our favorite place by far was the sound and light room... where it was dimly lit...with a domed ceiling with various light patterns moving around on it. The pool itself was lit with various colors. There was nice music playing and everyone just floated in the water (so easy because of the heavy salt water) and laid there and looked up at the ceiling and just relaxed while zoning out. Then we discovered that if you put your head back so your ears were underwater, you could hear the music , but more than that it was like the music went through your whole body...and somehow you could hear yourself breathing ...in and out, in and out. It was a very relaxing experience. We decided that the only thing that would have made it any better would be if you had a special brownie or two before you got in!

So we soaked in the various pools until we looked like 2 prunes. We met back at the lockers and tried to figure out how to unlock our lockers...we didn't have keys...we had a bracelet with a coin in it...anyway, it was a trick, but we figured it out. So we decided to get separate closets/changing rooms because going in was a bit too cozy...we could hardly bend over to get our swimsuits on without bumping into each other and banging around on the walls. Well, there weren't very many rooms open as we were ready to leave so we decided to be cozy again. The problem was it was 10 times worse to take off wet suits, dry off, and get dressed. So it wasn't easy, my friends. If you thought we were ricocheting off the walls as we went in...that was nothing as to the scene that unfolded in there wrangling with wet suits. At one point Dad was trying to help me keep my long jeans off the wet floor as I was trying to get my foot into it. But my foot got stuck and it was quite a struggle and I got to laughing so hard I couldn't breath...and I was being too loud...which made me laugh harder! It was all quite a Keystone Cops scene! So we survived that then had to exit out using the little coins that came out of the bracelets. It wouldn't let us...so we had to get help to be released.

Finally we made it out and walked back to the hotel, dropped off our swimming bags...and went to a nearby gasthaus restaurant. Again, it was fun to order dinner in German...we both had chicken with mushrooms and onions, and of course beer. The beer we got was the grosse bier..the large beer!!






And then on the walk back to the hotel we passed a konditorei...full of wonderful desserts. We got 2 pieces to go...but unfortunately we were too full from dinner to eat them tonight...but we will have them tomorrow. When I asked if they had a plastic fork...they looked at me like I was crazy...then one of the women found a bag and was very pleased to give us 2. It's a combination of a fork and a knife...so I call it a fife.





here's a piece of plaumen kuchen (plum kuchen)


and mohn kuchen (poppy seed cake)


So sad these went uneaten tonight!

Dad just got back from going to the front desk of the hotel to ask for some bottled water...on his own...in German! This is turning a new page! Of course I had to drill him for about 10 minutes...and he had to keep repeating....ein mineral wasser bitte....ohne gas. So finally he felt ok about it and off he went. He came back with a big bottle of water. He said that he had spoken the German words, but the guy just looked at him and said, "big or small?" Hahaha!!