Day 19: Short Stay in Erfurt

Our penultimate stop on our Interrail journey is called Erfurt. Before heading to Dortmund, we took a two-hour train ride from Dresden on our last Wednesday, but with a forty-minute delay, to Erfurt.

After a twenty-minute walk to our accommodation, we stored our large backpacks and set out to explore the old town with light luggage. It didn't take long for us to spot the first beautiful half-timbered houses. After a short time, we were standing right in front of a tourist information office. With the help of a city map and a quick orientation, we skillfully planned our way through the city.

The first and possibly most beautiful attraction was already located right next to the tourist information office: the Krämerbrücke. In the medieval style, tall and narrow half-timbered houses lined up seamlessly on both sides of the bridge. The bridge lives up to its name in every respect due to the many different shops, where art and handicraft objects are mainly sold to men and women. With wide eyes and hungry stomachs, we continued until we finally got stuck at a schnitzel restaurant. However, we opted for delicious cream soups, spare ribs, and a baked potato with spinach and feta there.

Satisfied but also slightly full, we continued our exploration along our route. Many other beautiful buildings accompanied us on the way to the Cathedral Square. Unfortunately, a perfect view of the two churches - the St. Mary's Cathedral and the St. Severi Church - was already blocked by fairground attractions being set up for the local Oktoberfest. After a short visit to the cathedral and the church, we strengthened ourselves with two Baumstriezel, which made the subsequent ascent to Petersberg Citadel very easy for us. During the tour of the citadel, we found two large swings that we naturally had to try out. Compared to our childhood, swinging was a bit more difficult here, and our arm muscles quickly reached their limits. After enough swinging, we enjoyed the beautiful view over the city, walked back towards the old town, and completed our route.

Before heading back to our accommodation, we treated ourselves to herbal tea, which tasted more like fruit tea, and warmed ourselves by a heat lamp. On the way home, we also met Sandman, who already sprinkled sand in Mini's eyes before 7:00 pm. Tired, we returned to our accommodation and completed our daily evening routine.