On Friday, Rachel and I went up to Marburg, which is north of Gießen, for a date day/night. It is only a 14 or 30 minute train ride (depending on if you get the fast train). We had gone before already but the trip had not been for long and there had been other people. Last time, we left the train station and took a turn that consisted of step stairs leading towards a cemetery and small chapel. We saw that the path continued and so we continued climbing until we reached the summit of one of the hills of Marburg. Looking across the valley from way up high and surrounded by trees was very cool. Quite peaceful as well since there were no other people around.
On this trip though, Rachel and I started making our way to the castle immediately. We passed St. Elizabeth's Church, which will be performing Verdi's Requiem soon (I'm thinking of attending). Marburg has retained its older architecture and road style and as such is very new for me. Roads twist up and down, stairs connect different street levels, building seems skewed based on the angle of the road and multiple generations of cobblestones pepper the ground. Beyond Elizabeth's church is a quiet group of streets with small shops and cafes. For a Friday, the streets here seemed oddly quiet, but I'm sure the dreary weather was a contributing factor. We stopped in one of these cafes and had chai lattes (amazing!) and a snack. After that, we worked our way step by step up to the castle. There are some pictures I hope I'll get to post once Rae gets them up because otherwise I can't say much. It's large, old, has grounds that you can wander (which we did), and is dominating this hill with a view to kill for. I promise pictures will be forthcoming.
After the castle, we made our way down the hill and went to a central plaza area for that shopping area I mentioned. There we sat and had some beer in a local establishment. There weren't a lot of people in there and it was nice to escape from the sprinkling rain for a time. A second round was inevitable and we talked for over hour. We then decided we were hungry and the most important part of date day/night was upon me - dinner.
We had passed a place earlier in our wandering named Barfuß, which means barefoot. Inside was a small, well lit and quiet restaurant. We were seated and Rachel immediately wanted Auflauf, which it seems (additional research pending) is a local dish and resembles a casserole. Needless to say I was nervous but we ordered and split the Spinach and Lachs Auflauf. Oh. My. Goodness. I hope that says it all. Having smoked salmon with potatoes, cheese, and spinach all cooked together was the most amazing thing ever. Of course, I didn't think it would fill me up so we also ordered two more entrees for us. One wiener schnitzel and filet mignon with accompanying fried potatoes and green noodles in a mushroom cream sauce (respectively) and we are pretty much dead. We don't know the policy, or if there is one, for doggie bags so we ate as much as we could. It was amazing though and I'm getting my own Auflauf next time.
We waddled our way back to the train station and caught the train home. All in all a pretty successful date and visit to another city. I hope to have those pictures up soon of the castle. Bis später!
1 comment:
Thanks Brian, now I am hungry for Auflauf!
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