Thursday was a day of rest and recovery. In fact, we barely got out of the house that day. We slept, ate, and did laundry.

Elena and Bobber in their house with Halloween decorations.

Once our laundry had been exposed to enough of the Friday morning sun to dry out, we packed up to leave Freiburg once again. We took a slow-moving scenic train from Freiburg to Neustadt and connected to another train to Ulm. This took us through the Black Forest and over a low range of mountains.

On the eastern slope of these mountains we saw an insignificant little mountain stream and followed it for some time as it grew. Later in the week, we’ll see this stream again as a major river. We were on the beginnings of the Danube River.

We chose to stay in Buchloe, as it seems to be a convenient train connection for tomorrow’s day trip to Neuchwanstein. But by the time we got there at around 7:30, there was no place open to get help finding a room.

Buchloe turns out to be a fairly un-touristed place.

The Bahnhof had its own bar. Obbie poked his head through the door and asked the bartender, “sprechen Sie Anglish?” A guy sitting at the bar turned and said, “yes.”

In non-English speaking countries, it’s good to make a habit of speaking slowly and in short and simple sentences. Obbie said, “We … look … for … room.”

The guy said “Speak normal English to me, man, don’t give me that bullshit,” in what turned out to be a Glasgow accent. His name was Chris, an ex-pat from Scotland (we didn’t ask why), who got us started on the path toward finding a room.

Obbie apologized for his initial encounter saying, “we’re not used to meeting native English speakers in this part of the world,” and Chris said, “neither am I,” to laughs all around.

Our two nights in Buchloe were spent at a Gasthaus across the street from the Rathaus. For DM100/night (<$50) we had a nice double room with our own toilet and shower and cable tv (but nothing in English), and a very good continental breakfast in the morning.

The older couple who owned the place didn’t speak that much English, but they were very friendly and accommodating.