Erfurt

My train trip to Erfurt was...interesting. The ticket agent booked me on the correct train from Fulda to Erfurt, but booked me on the wrong day from Copenhagen to Fulda. This was unfortunate, as the couchette (bunk in a sleeping car) was already booked for the night. So I went down to the conductor and talked him into getting me a couchette for the night, which he did, and so slept comfortably for the few hours until he started waking me up hourly, starting at about 4 am or so to let me know the train was running late and I would not make my original connection, which was fine, as it got me into Erfurt about 2 hours before my friend finished at work.
My friend in Erfurt was an exchange student in Chelsea during my Junior year, and I had found her on Facebook and explained that I was coming out to Europe, so we were trying to coordinate schedules. As I had a few places I was committed to being, and she is in residency for neurosurgery, this was a bit complicated. However, these few days worked out for everyone, so I headed out.
She finished her work at the hospital and we grabbed some breakfast and then went walking around the Old City of Erfurt, did a little shopping, grabbed a coffee and then headed back to the apartment to meet her boyfriend when he got off work.
The first night we went out to get some authentic Turingen dinner, which was absolutely fantastic. add to that a few 1/2 liters of dark beer, and I was ready to pass out at about 9:30, which I did (apparently a few too many 4 am nights in a row or something, guess I´m getting old). The next day I walked around Erfurt, did a bit more shopping, grabbed a Thuringen roasted bratwurst (I got another one the next day, in the interest of full disclosure), and caught up on emails and calls. That night we went out to the supermarket to buy things for dinner, which ended up being a chicken and ham stir-fry in a sweet chili sauce, which was very sweet and not very chili. I also learned that I need to work on my pan frying skills, as I did a good job ripping up the noodles, but not a great job of actually frying them. But it turns out with a few good beers and a taste of the original East German cola, Vita, everything tastes pretty good. A bit of House in German, and I was ready to, and did, pass out.
The next day I headed over to Wiemar to see the home of Goethe, Zeiss, Luther, Strauss, Bach, Bauhaus, etc. It was a very picturesque, if touristy city, but I had quite a good time. I returned to my friend´s apartment for some afternoon blogging, pastries, tea and ordering of some very good Vietnamese take out. Her friend from work stopped by and I heard all about life in a German hospital, and had a very entertaining dinner. A few glasses of wine and the rest of the Vita cola bottle, and it was time for people to go to sleep. I finished up the night by finishing up this blog, so now everyone should be up to speed. Tomorrow it is off to Strasbourg, then Heidelberg, then off to Paris, which is the city of...something. Umm...lights maybe?