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The regions, towns and places, and their highlights, stories, traditions, customs and festivals

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A day as a local visitor:

Just coming out of the airport with a whole night of very little sleep behind us, it is still a couple hours driving time to our destination. Luckily I reserved a car with automatic, the last time I came off the Autobahn at the stop sign, I forgot to depress the clutch and stalled, embarrassing, did not remember that it had a stick shift.

So let’s take the car to the nearest Autobahn, yes, the adrenaline rush driving at the highest possible speed will keep you awake, but the last few miles over country roads stretch on forever. For that reason we suggest to stay close to the area where you flew into for your first nights stay. We get to our house in a small town close to the Czech border. After initial hellos with the neighbors, it is time for the first visit and here comes the first round of food. We can’t spend too much time here as the next family member and/or friend is already waiting, more food, more drinks, next stop coffee and cake as it is afternoon, on one day we counted, that we had to eat 7 times, real meals, not just snacks, as we did not want to insult our hosts.


Evening comes and it is time for the Dämmerschoppen (see Frühschoppen) to meet more friends there and relax.


The next morning starts with a walk (about 200 yards ) to the Baker to buy fresh Hard Rolls for breakfast, this is a must, as fresh rolls are one of the things we look forward to when we stay in Germany and with it we also need a few slices of Lunchmeat, a piece of Teawurst and some cheese for breakfast, so a stop at the Butcher shop next door is also a must.


After returning as often as we have, there are a few things planned in to revisit, like a castle here, a town there, the store selling beer mugs, the other store selling our favorite candies, buying the replacement woolen shawl from the manufacturer in a nearby city, even rummaging through the china factory outlet in our town. A visit to my old school and also at city hall to say hello to the mayor, who I already knew as a kid.

Lunch is usually the day’s main meal, as we do not want to do excessive cooking, we hit one of the many little restaurants in one of the surrounding villages, the food there is usually plentiful, wholesome, very tasty and all that at a decent price.

The afternoon will find us shopping, visiting or sightseeing and then the evening comes again.


Across from my house is a restaurant, all the locals refer to as the Greek. The proprietors are a couple from Greece, which settled in my town after I immigrated to the USA, the food there is mainly you guessed it, Greek and also Schnitzel, which is found on almost every menu. Through my return visits I met the owner and do consider him a friend. After sitting down everyone gets a shot of a special Ouzo he imports directly, food and beer - great time. We entertained ten people there with food, including drinks, for the equivalent of what it would cost at a regular restaurant here in the States for four people.

Acquaintances and friends usually stop by to talk and this concludes an average day.


One more little personal story

After my mother’s wake last year we decided to take some family and friends to his restaurant just for some drinks. It was a week night and he closes up early, so I told him that when he wants to get rid of us to call it a day, let us know and we would leave.

He came back with the answer, that when he is ready to go to bed he will give me the keys, we should stay as long as we want to and I should lock up the place when we leave.

Remember I only know him from my visits there, that is why I found this very amazing, but may be, that is life in a small hick town in Bavaria.


As you can see most of our time back there is spend eating and drinking, that is why it is no wonder that upon our return home to the USA we usually gained in excess of 10 pounds and it is definitely Diet time.