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Sorry for the delay again, but if I stay that
busy I think two week updates will have to do. University started again and the
newspaper is keeping me busy as well. I am really sorry, but there is really
nothing I can do.
Chapter 10:A real castle
They arrived
in
“This
sucks. I need coffee”, Lorelai yammered and followed Luke into the press-shop.
“What are we doing in here?”, she asked then
“We need a
guide. I only read some things in the other, more general guide about
“Oh look,
there is one about
“We could
buy that as well then we can take a look at it tomorrow on the train and won’t
lose any time and can go right to sight-seeing”, Luke shrugged and took the
Bayreuth guide.
“You’ll be
carrying a whole library around with you when we get back”, Lorelai laughed.
“Well, I
always left the guides at the hotels. It’s not like we need them again”, Luke
informed her and walked to the register.
“What? We
bought all these expensive guides and you leave them at the hotels?”, Lorelai
asked surprised.
“You wanna
carry them around?”, Luke asked and raised his eyebrows.
“No”, she
admitted slowly.
“Good. Then
let’s buy the guides and stop complaining”, he told her and handed both books
to the woman.
“Das macht achtzehn Euro”, she said. Luke didn’t understand a word, but the register
showed 18€ and he handed over a twenty Euro bill.
“I’m
sorry?” Luke asked back, now really lost. The woman looked back equally lost
and then held up a bag.
“No, thank
you”, Lorelai shook her head and took the two books from her.
They walked
out of the building and stood right in front of a bus station. Opposite the
station was a big post office and a sushi restaurant with a very modern
sculpture in front, which was as high as the building. Luke opened the guide
and took a look at the map inside.
“The
city-centre is really close, we could walk there. I guess there will be some
coffee-stores and restaurants where we could have breakfast”, he informed
Lorelai then.
“What does
really close mean? The last time you said something is really close we had to
walk for half an hour!”
“I would
say ten minutes tops. It’s just down the street”, he shrugged.
“Okay,
let’s walk before I die of starvation and caffeine withdrawal”.
They walked
down the street, passed a supermarket, a hotel and a big crossing before the
reached a small place where several bank offices were situated. Busses stopped
in front of them and school kids seemed to be everywhere.
“Oh not
again”, Luke muttered, and changed the side of the street. When they walked
around the corner they found themselves in front of a café- Café Ponte the sign
said. Chairs and tables were standing outside and a small river passed right in
front of the place.
“Luke, it’s
open and it looks nice let’s have breakfast here”, Lorelai said and stopped him
by tugging on his shirt.
“I guess
this place is as good as any”, he shrugged unenthusiastically.
“Outside or
inside?” she asked.
“We can
stay here”, he shrugged and sat down on the nearest chair.
“Why are
you suddenly so grumpy?” she asked him and sat down as well.
“Might have
something to do with the fact that I had to get up in the middle of the night
to get a certain annoying brunette who had insisted to go out alone and then
got scared because of a guy who was hitting on her in a disco. I had to get up,
get dressed, take a cap, find the disco, get into the disco, search her for
over an hour because she locked herself into a cubicle at the bathroom and then
bring her back to the hotel, which wasn’t that easy because she was not only
crazy, but also drunk”, he said and yawned. Lorelai was still embarrassed about
that and wanted to thank him again and apologize again, but suddenly the waiter
showed up.
“Hallo.
Wissen Sie schon was Sie bekommen?”, the waiter suddenly appeared out of
nowhere.
“Uhm…
sorry, we don’t speak German”, Lorelai smiled at him.
“What can I
get you?” the man replied in English.
“I would
like to have a huge cup of coffee and scrambled eggs and sausages and bacon”,
Lorelai placed her order.
“I’m sorry
we don’t have that”, the man replied.
“You don’t
have coffee?” she asked and her eyes widened in shock.
“We do have
coffee, but we don’t offer sausages and bacon for breakfast”, he clarified.
“Then what
do you offer?” Luke asked, but it sounded more like a scowl.
“Rolls,
eggs, jam, croissants, yoghurt, fruit-salad…” the waiter started and Lorelai
interrupted him.
“You know
what? Why don’t you just get us a bit of everything? Something healthy for my
friend here and something more sugar laden for me. Is that possible?” she
asked.
“Yes, of
course. What would you like to drink Sir?” he turned to Luke.
“Do you
have tea?” Luke asked warily.
“Sure.
Peppermint, earl grey, cherry, strawberry, herbal,” the waiter started again,
and Luke interrupted him this time.
“Herbal tea
it is”, he said and the waiter went away. Luke took out his guide, whileLorelai
was gnawing at her lip, still thinking again how to make the former night up to
him.
“The old
opera is just across the street. We could stop there before going to the youth
hostel”, Luke informed her after some minutes in silence.
“Okay”, she
shrugged.
“Do you
even know what the old opera is?” he asked her with raised eye-brows, confused
that she agreed immediately.
“An old
opera?” she said and gave him a small smile.
“Of those
Baroque opera houses that have remained unchanged, the Margravial Opera House
Bayreuth is one of the most beautiful. Margravine Wilhelmine commissioned one
of the most famous families of theater architects, the Bolognese Giuseppe Galli
Bibiena and his son Carlo, to design its interior. With its 27 meters depth,
the stage of this opera house was the largest one in Germany until 1871 - a
superlative which also directed Richard Wagner's attention to Bayreuth”, he read out loud and she nodded.
“See,
that’s what I said: An old opera”, she grinned.
~*~
They
entered the opera through the light grey doors and found themselves in a room
with some books, postcards and a register.
“Grüß
Gott”, the man behind the register said.
“Hi, uhm,
we want two tickets for the sound and light show”, Luke said. The man only
nodded, told them the price, took the money and handed them the tickets.
“Five
Minuten” he said then and made an inviting gesture for them to enter the opera.
The room
was smaller than it had looked on the pictures, but gold seemed to be
everywhere. Small balconies with seats were on both sides of the room.
“Wow, look
at that”, Lorelai exclaimed.
“No wonder
they had to exploit their people”, Luke replied, but looked impressed as well.
They looked round the room and took their seats when suddenly the lights turned
off.
~*~
“That was fun”,
Lorelai laughed while they walked the narrow street up to the small city
centre.
“Yeah, I am
still laughing about the fact that you got us thrown out”, Luke deadpanned.
“What? I
told you the ghost of Wilhelmine suddenly possessed me and I had to sing on the
stage”, she said.
“You
realize that she was something like the queen here and not a singer so it can’t
be her ghost who possessed you,”he replied.
“God, who
is inside of my body then?” she asked and acted shocked.
“Some
lunatic who thinks she can sing operas on the stage of an actual opera”.
“Come on:
Admit it! It was fun!”, she said and nudged him.
“I think we should go and find a hostel or
something now before you will really get us arrested this time. Although.. then
we wouldn’t have to pay”, Luke teased and sat down on a bench in front of a
book-store to check his guide.
“Here it
says that they only have one small youth-hostel next to the university. It’s a
bit outside and we have to take the bus to get there”, he told her.
“Which bus?
There are buses driving by constantly”.
“Uhm..
number 6 in direction of the Campus and we have to get out “Kreuzsteinbad”.. or
something like that. Jeez, how can they pronounce that?”, he complained.
“Maybe it’s
easier to pronounce it if you actually know how to pronounce it”, Lorelai
shrugged and walked to the next bus-stop which was just a few metres away.
“Did that
make sense?” Luke asked confused and wrinkled his forehead.
“That made
perfect sense you just have to think about it”, she grinned and then pointed to
a bus that came. “6-Campus” it said and they got in and got their tickets.
~*~
“What is
this guy over there doing?”, she asked while they waited for bus number two to
arrive to get to the Eremitage after they had checked in the youth hostel and h
grabbed some lunch.
“I have no
idea”, Luke shook his head but kept looking at a man in a bus-driver outfit,
blue shirt, black slacks, with a walky-talky in his hand.
“Is the
crime-rate of the city that high that they have to have security people at the
bus stop?”, Lorelai whispered to Luke and her breath tickled his ear.
“I don’t
know”, he said after he had composed himself. Suddenly one bus after the other
came in and they stopped in two rows. One on each side of the station.
They
entered the bus they needed and sat down right behind the driver. Then they saw
the man talking into the walky- talky again and all bus doors closed and one
bus after the other left the station.
“Unbelievable”,
Luke muttered and shook his head, while Lorelai giggled.
~*~
Aimlessly
they walked around the city and looked for a place where they could eat after
they had spend all day wandering through the park of the Eremitage. There were
a lot of small bars where many students could be found, but no real restaurant
other than McDonalds. They passed a mall and saw a cinema.
“”Wow they
are really behind! That movie aired in the
“They are
really watching all the old stuff”, she shook her head but then stopped and lay
her hand on her chest and with the other grabbed Luke’s arm.
“Roxy-
American Diner”, the sign of the restaurant next to the cinema said and
strangely enough Luke also felt happy seeing it. He liked the healthy European
food most of the times, but it was nice to see the word “Diner” again.
~*~
The next
morning they took the first train to
“God, could
they add some more change of trains? This is annoying! We needed six hours for
350 kilometres, that’s ridiculous! Walking would have been faster and we’re
still not there yet”, Luke ranted when they got off at the
“Maybe we
could just stay here? Most the stuff we wanted to see is in
“You’re
right, we really should do that”, Luke agreed when they walked out of the
station. Right across the street they found a sign “Tourist information” and
they only needed to exchange one look before they went there to ask for a
hostel or a cheap hotel.
Ten minutes
later they came out with the address of a cheap hotel nearby and the directions
how to get there.
They
arrived at the hotel after a short walk and the room was very small, but clean.
They put down their back-packs, changed and took their money and guides with
them so they could start their sightseeing.
“Do you
have idea which train we have to take?” Lorelai asked him.
“The guide
says train number 5 in direction of
They had to
wait another ten minutes for the train and they were quiet. Both were exhausted
from the long and uncomfortable train-ride and were glad when the old train
finally arrived.
“What is it
exactly that we are going to visit?” Lorelai asked him after the first fifteen
minutes on the train.
“The castle
in
“Romantic?
Never thought I would hear the word out of your mouth”, Lorelai smiled.
“That’s
what the guide says”, Luke rolled his eyes and opened the guide. “Surrounded by
beautiful gardens, the majestic red sandstone building is situated 300 feet
above the city. The construction was begun around 1300 and lasted over 400
years. Later on, ramparts, outbuildings and palaces in all styles from Gothic
to High Renaissance were added. Over four centuries,
“And where
exactly is the word romantic?” she asked him with raised eyebrows.
“Huh, seems
like I read that somewhere else”, he said, but blushed.
~*~
They got
off the train and found themselves I the middle of
They walked
the thirty minutes up the hill, buses full of tourists passing them several
times, and Lorelai was glad they head left their heavy backpacks at the hotel.
When they
finally reached the top what they saw was so not what they had expected: There
were tourists everywhere. In large groups they were standing one beside the
other, listening to their guides who seemed to speak in all languages one could
imagine. They screamed at their groups because the other guides did as well and
so it was an incredible noise on top of that hill, although they hadn’t even
entered yet. This really wasn’t romantic or anything even close to it.
“This is
worse than
“Yeah even
the Japanese are again. Their guide still has that pink umbrella. You think
they followed us?” Lorelai asked.
“I don’t
think those are the same Japanese people we saw in
“Well it’s
the same pink umbrella”, Lorelai shrugged while they walked to the ticket
booth.
“Maybe
there’s a pink umbrella discounter in
They bought
the tickets and then entered through the gate. Inside the in the courtyard were
even more people and more guides.
“Uhm, where
do we start?” Lorelai asked and looked around her one time, searching a place
which wasn’t as crowded, but couldn’t find one.
“I think
here is as good place as any”, Luke said, already slightly unnerved by all
these people. He took his guide out and began the tour.
“It was
Prince Elector Ruprecht III (1398 - 1410) who had erect the first
representative building as a regal residence in the inner courtyard. The
exterior of the building, divided into a ground floor made of stone and
framework upper levels, seems quite unpretentious today. Another regal building
is located opposite to the
“The Prince
Electors of the 16th and 17th century turned the fortress into a castle and
added two representative palace buildings to the complex. The two dominant
buildings at the eastern and northern side of the courtyard were erected during
the rule of Ottheinrich and Friedrich IV. Under Friedrich V, the main building
of the westside was erected, the so called "
“The Castle
and its garden were destroyed, however, during the 30 Years' War,”
“Aha! That
explains a lot”, Lorelai said and crossed her arms in front of her chest while
she listened to Luke.
“Later, it
was rebuilt only to be destroyed once again by French troops. Prince Elector
Karl Theodor who resided in Schwetzingen tried to restore the castle to make it
inhabitable once again, but in vain: Lightning struck the castle in 1764”, Luke
informed her.
“Huh, seems
like fate didn’t like the castle”, Lorelai remarked.
“There is
no fate”, Luke said.
“Keep
reading”, she shot back and pointed to his guide before she crossed her arms
again.
“In the
centuries that followed, the Castle was misused as a quarry – Castle stones
helped to build new houses in
Today, the hall is used for festivities, e.g. dinner banquets, balls and
theatre performances and so on and so on”, Luke finished and closed his guide.
Lorelai
looked around one more time and then put her hands on her hips.
“Huh, tell
me again why this castle is so famous?” she asked Luke, when she had taken in
all the ruins around her. This really wasn’t a castle really. There were walls
missing, sometimes whole parts of the houses, sometimes there were suddenly
holes in the facade.
“Because
it’s on top of a mountain?” Luke suggested helplessly. He really had no idea
why all the guides had announced this to be one of the most beautiful places in
“You want
to stay here any longer or can we go?” Lorelai asked then.
“I guess we
can go. What a waste of time and money! Couldn’t the guide have said that all
there is are some ruins? We could have stayed longer in
“And what
are we gonna do now? Should we stay in
~*~
Back in
“Seems like
they are celebrating something”, Lorelai concluded while they made their way
through the crowds. They walked down Breite Strasse until they found themselves
in front of a huge castle.
“Now that
is a castle! Why isn’t that in your guide?” Lorelai asked Luke, surprised that
this intact building seemed to go unnoticed by tourists. There were only
students sitting on the grass in front of the building, reading and talking.
“Actually
it is in here, but without a picture or anything saying “tip””, Luke said after
flipping through his guide again. Excited Lorelai took it out of his hands and
read aloud.
“The
Large
parts of the Castle were destroyed during World War II. Reconstruction was
successfully completed in 1968. A large part of the castle is used by the
“Wow,
that’s cool. I guess Rory would love to study in an old castle with all it’s
history”, Lorelai gushed and handed the guide back to Luke.
“Aren’t
the buildings in Yale not old enough?”, Luke dismissed it.
“I
guess.. I don’t know. I have to ask Rory when she calls, she surely could tell
us when Yale was build”, Lorelai replied and a hint of sadness swung with her
words.
“You
miss her”, Luke stated.
“Yeah, I
really do. We’ve never been separated that long and out trip isn’t even half
way done yet”, she admitted and looked on to the ground.
“Hey, we
could always fly back earlier. Just say the word and I’ll book the flight”,
Luke tried to calm her.
“She
wouldn’t want us to come back earlier. I sometimes just get hit by missing her.
It’s over now, I’m good”, she told him and tried to smile.
“Why
don’t we walk back down there and see what they are celebrating. There were
different bands playing and all kinds of food”, he suggested.
“Sounds good”,
she said and this time she gave him a real smile.
While
they walked through the city they learned that this was an annual thing, where
the city celebrated it’s birthday. Several bands from the region were playing,
but they were really professional. Luke and Lorelai stopped by a stage where a
cover band was playing all kinds of songs and while Lorelai sang along with all
of them, Luke tried to look unimpressed, but tapped his foot with the beat.
They
made their way down the street called Planken and were nearly standing in front
of the Water-tower when Lorelai stopped.
“Are
these people too uncreative to give their streets actual names? Look there it
says P7 and then the next street is P8. I guess someone liked playing chess
when they build the city”, she said and wrinkled her forehead.“Ask your magic
guide maybe he knows an answer”, she added.
“The magic
guide says:” Luke started with raised eyebrows ” The Elector Friedrich IV of the
“So no
chess?” Lorelai asked.
“No chess”,
Luke shook his head. ”And hey listen to that,” he went on, suddenly strangely
excited “1886 Carl Benz drives the first motorized vehicle through the streets
of
„And that
is exciting why?“ Lorelai wanted to know.
“Jeez, you
really have no idea who Carl Benz was?” he sighed.
“No. I only
know Mercedes Benz”, she smiled proudly.
“Carl Benz
was the man who invented the first car. Later he named his company Mercedes Benz
after his daughter. Which means that this is the city were the cars were
invented”, Luke explained eagerly.
“Good to
know. Can we get something to eat now?”, she shrugged.
“Fine”, he
sighed, disappointed by the lack of excitement on her side.
They walked
back down the street and stopped at one of the booths to get two steaks with
rolls, which they ate in front of another stage where another band was playing.
They spend
the rest of the day in the city and listened to the music and Lorelai made her
way through all the things that one could eat there. By eleven at night the
bands stopped playing and Luke and Lorelai decided they should get back to the
hotel, because they had another exhausting train-ride ahead of them very early
the next morning to get to
TBC
Written by
karana, Gilmoregirl1979 and 23Zwerge
bravenet.com