Brauerei

That means "brewery" if you were struggling at all.

A different start to a Monday. Up at 6 and a quick check to see of my bus was running*. Down to the Bahnhof and three and a half hours later I was in Arnstadt.

That's 20km south of Erfurt. So, somewhere in Germany then.

I was at our biannual conference for the third time in the home of the Thüringer Bratwurst (I'm pretty sure everywhere in Thüringen is the home of the Thüringen Sausage) and the oldest Weizenbier Brewery in Germany.

In fact, the brewery was right next door to the Hotel. And we were given a "tour".

I say "tour" because it's difficult to tour 2 rooms. It's hard to sustain an aura of wonder and magic with so little material.

After the tour we were given a glass of Bier and let loose on a buffet that contained something I've not tried before and will hopefully never try again - suaerkraut with cream. I quite like Sauerkraut in small quantities. But creamy Sauerkraut is something I hope never to try again.

At some point in the evening, I held in a sneeze. This proved to be a mistake. By holding in the sneeze, I ruptured something under my left eye which produced a very interesting bloody looking bruise. This was to prove a source of amusement for everybody.

* there's a problem with our local bus company. They have a lot of drivers off sick and they say it will be like that until the end of May, and until then some buses might not run. But they can't tell you which ones...