Day #3 Easter Sunday - Fritzlar

Today is Easter Sunday. We woke to find the van had been visited by the Easter Bunny before we headed inside to share breakfast with Kerstin and Stefan (where the bunny had also left us a gift). After a few coffees we headed out for a quick drive to the nearby town of Fritzlar. Matt, Stefan and Zane went in our car, whilst Kerstin, Kerry, Darian and Kjell went in the Barthel car. We were truly not prepared for the speed of travelling with a local on the famous autobahn. Kerstin easily got up to 180km per hour (legally) and Matt got to 162km per hour... hold on to your seats!!! The trip took only around 15 minutes.... wonder why??? Incidentally, Darian loved the speed, asking “Can we go up to 200?”... Oh dear! Not sure we ever want that boy to get his driving licence...lol.

Once in Fritzlar we found a car park and headed in towards the Papstliche Basilica – Dom St. Peter, a beautiful old German cathedral, with some artefacts dating back to 1020. There was an Easter Service going at the time so we didn’t go for a big walk inside, but did manage to go in and have a quick look around before the entire congregation flowed out of the ancient building to finish their service in a walk around the town....truly spine tingling stuff. Once again, we had impeccable timing and managed to see this momentous occasion.

The entire town oozed German charm, with its preserved medieval buildings, cobbled roads, quaint shops and cafes. Oster Baum (Easter Trees) were on display in many areas of the courtyards. As we strolled around we noticed numbers written in chalk on some of the doors to buildings. Kerstin explained to us that these are a kind of blessing. The tradition behind it goes that a group of children from the Catholic Church come around after New Years to collect money for the church in memory of the Three Wise Kings. If the locals give money to the group their door is written on in the form of a blessing from God. It is considered an honour to have these markings (including the year that the money was given) on your door.
After our tour of Fritzlar we headed back to Kerstin and Stefan’s for a rest while Kjell had his afternoon sleep. This gave us time to upload some photos from the cameras, ready for the next photographic opportunities that will, no doubt, present themselves to us. Once Kjell finished his sleep Kerstin, Kjell and Kerry went for a visit to see Stefan’s mum, Kjell’s Omar. They enjoyed coffee and lovely German cake while the children enjoyed their Easter gifts.

For dinner we went to the local pub where we all enjoyed traditional German Fare. Kerry, Kerstin, Stefan and Zane had Wiener schnitzel with gravy and pommes frittes (fries), Darian had Bratwurst with pommes frittes and Matt braved a Schnitzel with chillies and hot sauce.....ouch... in words of Shaggy and Scooby “Them peppers is like hot, man!” Kjell had a serve of pommes... and loved them! Of course, what German meal would be complete without a little beer and red wine? Prost! (This is the German word for cheers for those of you who do not already know)
After dinner we all enjoyed the walk back to the house where we relaxed around the table for the evening with the neighbours, Holli and Biggi (nick names) as Zane, Darian, Marc and Jana all played the Wii. A great night!