I was in no rush to get to the next town and still had plenty to see in Würzburg, so after breakfast I checked out and put my stuff in storage. The weather had reverted to what is now the normal for August–cold, gray, cloudy skies. I would make a crack about global warming, but then I’d have to punch myself for being a dumbass. Still, after getting accustomed to the hot, bright long days of June and a lifetime of experience telling me that August is the worst of summer, I am a bit surprised to find that it carries these autumnal notes, even as I travel southward.
I crossed the Alte Mainbrücke, which is famous for some reason but looks just like any other bridge with statues decorating it, to reach the other bank of the Main and head up the hill to the fortress. It was a pretty brisk walk uphill, but the views of the city were astounding. There wasn’t much of the fortress to actually see unless I wanted to sign up for a tour. However, as I was loitering in the gift shop, I overheard that one needed to call in advance to arrange an English speaking tour. One of the buildings housed a museum, but I didn’t feel like even poking my head in to see how much the tickets were. After wandering around like a chicken sans head and spending plenty of time in the prince’s garden admiring the view, I headed downhill because the ever so slight on and off again drizzle was starting to worry me.
I passed right by the town hall, called Grafeneckart rather than Rathaus, where I was unable to look at a small exhibit on the bombing of Würzburg because a tour group was occupying the entire space and I didn’t feel like waiting. I decided to visit the Musuem am Dom for a fix of art, all of which had a religious quality to it. Though the museum had a handful of medieval altar pieces, it mostly housed modern artists struggle with Christianity in jarring and complex ways. Unlike the top tourist attractions, I basically had the entire gallery to myself. Exiting the museum at noon, I realized I was just in time to catch the entirety of the daily (except Sundays) organ recital. It was not as good as the previous day, and somehow a bit of a sermon got inserted in the the “meditation piece.”
I had finished off the tacos for breakfast, so I wasn’t very hungry, but that didn’t stop me from stopping at the one ice cream counter selling gelato for a flat 1 euro a scoop. To be “healthier,” I went all in on the fruit sorbets and found it delightfully tart and refreshing. I could eat this everyday and never get bored with the endless variety of flavor and combinations.
Still wishing to kill a bit of time before heading on to Schweinfurt, I hung out in the common room of the hostel for about an hour working on my computer. After one quick trip to return my collection of plastic, aluminum, and glass containers, I finally collected all my belongings and walked over to the train station. Without trying to do so, I had perfect timing for the twice an hour local train in that direction.
Exiting the tiny train station in a small sized college town, I walked about ten minutes along the main road to find my Airbnb roughly halfway between the station and the old town. My ultracheap Airbnb was located on the fourth floor of a student flat, where I would be occupying the room of someone who was out on vacation. The other college students were hanging around town despite being on school holidays, so I got to meet them as the slowly woke up in the afternoon. Its probably a bad sign if someone is sleeping in until 3pm.
Despite the crummy weather and all around disparaging of Schweinfurt as a “why on earth would you want to go there” town, I figured I might as well have a walk around to say I’ve seen the place. I think you’d be hardpressed to find a city in Germany without an old town and they all carry their individual charms despite the sameness of cobblestones, streetside cafes and old, decorated buildings. I parked at a bakery for about an hour drinking a coffee and working furiously on German vocabulary. It’s like a fire has finally been set under me that I realized I have been halfassing my studies.
When I got kicked out (despite already sitting outside) because the bakery was closing (at 5pm), I took a different route through the town heading back to a large Kaufland supermarket to source some stuff for dinner. Though there was a shared kitchen, I was more interested in some light salad for dinner. Of course, once I saw the immense selection of Franconian wines, I figured I should pick up a bottle as well. I tried a variety called “Bacchus” that is halbtrocken (semi-sweet). It was quite good and paired well with the package of precubed cheeses and giant loaf of rye bread (which will hopefully last a few days).
Back in the flat, two of the guys had to go to a part time job and the third, my main contact point (funny how the Airbnb renter can outsource all the labor to roommates), went over to a friend’s house to hangout. I ran a load of laundry and chilled in my private room to binge watch the last three episodes of Babylon Berlin.
I fell asleep fairly early and did not hear any of the roommates return in the middle of the night.
| Museum am Dom | 4 |
| Fruit gelato | 2 |
| Hand cream | 1 |
| Pfand return | -0.58 |
| Train | 11.3 |
| Airbnb | (16.19 USD) |
| Coffee and snack | 3.6 |
| Kaufland groceries | 10.27 |
| Total: | 46.18 EUR (360.2 RMB) (USD 51.24) |
Running Total: 26731 RMB (USD 3795.53)
Daily Average: 366.2 RMB (USD 51.99)