I made myself coffee in the morning from the hostel provided stash and spent a good two+ hours grinding out Duolingo lessons. Two guests whom I had not previously seen came down, grunted good morning, and ate their breakfasts while glued to their phones. The future looks bright. Social media addiction and smart phones have already enslaved the entire global populace.
It had been so hot on Wednesday that a flier for a nearby Schwimmbad on the wall of fliers had caught my eye. I had been thinking of possibly coughing up the high prices to cool off in the afternoon, but the weather forecast predicted several bouts of possible rain. Fortunately for me, that meant I could spend the afternoon huddled over my computer somewhere.
Meanwhile, I went into town again for a more deliberate walk through the central sections and to visit the Bread Culture Museum, a collection of artworks and artifacts tracing the history and importance of bread making. It was quite fascinating although it lacked the one thing I had really been hoping for–a giant chart with a taxonomy of bread. The museum was housed in an old salt warehouse and there were two entire floors of exhibits with full descriptions in both German and English. Even the myriad paintings of farmers working in fields had insightful commentaries attached to them. The upper floor looked at the industrialization of food production (i.e. invention of artificial fertilizer) and projected sustainable food sources into the future.
Though I had been planning to eat just a light salad, the museum had me craving bread, so a visit to the supermarket yielded a salad, a small loaf, and a can of goulash soup. I ate back in the hostel and took a brief nap. I was still groggy in the afternoon when I grabbed my computer to head out. I looked at a nearby cafe and bakery but decided it would be better to drink my own supply of coffee, so I returned to the hostel and worked at the desk in the quiet common space for about two hours.
Having achieved my productivity quotient for the day, I stashed the computer and went back out for a small treat at the reasonably priced gelato place. As I flooded my brain with sugar, I contemplated the math behind the software I was developing. With some new insights, I went back to code them up and fiddled about until I realized I should have dinner.
I boiled up the final packet of rice and reheated the remaining curry for a fairly substantial dinner, once again left alone in the house. The manageress had been around and we had chatted a bit (again in German, but slightly more fluently on my half), but she went home once her tasks were done.
After dinner I stretched out on the couch and watched a movie on my laptop. I had been back and forth about whether to try a beer and ultimately went for two from the “minibar,” dropping a few coins in the “honesty” jar to pay for them.
At some point in the evening, a weird man stumbled in, bobbing and weaving as if he was on the mother of all benders. When I went upstairs, I saw he was browsing Facebook on his computer at the kitchen table. In the room, I realized my roommate had disappeared, packing up all his stuff which had previously been completely strewn about the room. How mysterious. Even more uncanny was the entry of someone claiming the third, rumpled bed. I can only assume it was the drunk from downstairs. There was a stretch of the night where he sat up on his bed, staring at me with murderous intent, one can only assume. I like visiting these small towns, but if they aren’t on the regular backpacker beat, you get the weirdest people staying in the hostels.
| Bread Culture Museum | 6 |
| Lunch | 4.61 |
| Spaghetti Eis | 6 |
| Beer and Twix | 3.1 |
| Total: | 19.74 EUR (154 RMB) (USD 21.56) |
Running Total: 31085.2 RMB (USD 4352.55)
Daily Average: 365.7 RMB (USD 51.21)