Your narrative has become tiresome...

Slept solidly last night, waking up around 7 AM local time. I’m sure that’s an anomaly, though, reflecting how tired I was from jet lag. I expect to start getting up around 5 AM or so starting tomorrow.

I showered and got dressed and headed downstairs to get some breakfast. The hotel has a breakfast buffet that is included in your stay. I was curious what it was going to be like. Turns out it is fantastic. The selections included eggs, sausage, more sausage, priscutto, cheeses, breads and rolls, jams and jellies, cereal, fruit salad, and whole fruit. Plus coffee! (By the way, the Germans love their coffee. Love it—coffee and espresso shops abound. You wonder if I am displaced…) After stuffing my face, I set out to walk around a bit and see what this place is like in daylight.

First thing first, I walked out to find the entrance to this old castle (schloss) about 150 feet to my right when I stepped out of the hotel. Gorgeous. It’s at the top of the hilltop and overlooks the whole city. It now serves as a museum, but you are able to walk around the grounds a bit—I may explore more in the next day or so. I was still able to enjoy the view and take in a large brass band that was playing at the university on the hilltop across town. Quite loud, but quite good.

I then set out down the hill and into the large square where the pub I visited last night was. As I walked down I saw a familiar face—Sasha Krot from the University of Hawaii. Now, Nina usually gets quite nervous when I mention that I saw Sasha, because it’s usually followed by “and I’ve got another conference to go to.” Not the case this time, though—for now… ;)

We chatted for a bit and decided to walk around and check out the sights. We walked to the university and through the streets, seeing the different shops and restaurants that were there (and closed—most places are on Sunday, apparently). We talked science quite a bit, then stopped for some coffee before heading back to our hotels. I needed to work on my talk and rest a bit before the conference reception in the early evening.

(Side note: just saw a commercial for “Deutschland’s Next Top Model mit Heidi Klum” that had Heidi Klum yelling at some woman in German. It was amusing.)

I then went to the reception for the conference. Pretty uneventful, to be honest—not necessarily a bad thing, mind you. We had different finger foods: meatballs, cheese, croissants stuffed with pork product, etc. Also drinks—though no beer! I was disappointed, though I did get to have German Riesling, which is never bad and then some espresso at the end of it all.

Overall, I’d have to say it was a pretty uneventful day, for which I apologize…it meant no interesting stories, no getting lost, no lugging suitcases all over town, no horrible language issues leading to eating questionable food. And for that, I apologize. I’ll try harder tomorrow.