A long weekend always is the best opportunity to travel. Here in Germany, Thursday, 03 June, Corpus Christi is an official holiday. This weekend I made my way towards the state Thuringia to the ‘city’ of Ilmenau.

Why I am going there? During my radio internship I had mentioned another intern there. She studies technical media in Ilmenau and since we were missing each other, we said we needed to see each other again. So I grabbed the family car, a bag, music for the ride, a navigation system I borrowed from a friend and drove off on Thursday morning.

Thursday, Day 1 – Arrival / Soccer (low-brows)
The morning started with a short stop in Fischbachtal. There a soccer tournament took place, in which two of my friends participated in. After the first round games I left towards my actual destination, Ilmenau. (Later I was informed that my friends did not get passed the quarterfinals with their team.)

After a two hour drive I arrived safely (and without getting lost once, thanks to my navigation system) on campus, where my friends lives. The rest of the day ended with champagne, a yummy pizza in an Italian restaurant and a visit to a nearby club. I am still amazed that the admission was only 50 cents. What rather shocked me, was that it took me over an hour, to find someone who could tell me how Germany’s soccer game ended that night! The time we went to bed, 4:30am speaks for itself though and for the club ;)

Friday, Day 2 – Kickelhahn-Poetry.

Last night was short. First we went for lunch to the university cafeteria, together with friends of the friend I was visiting. We ate Asian noodles with chicken and veggies, which was actually alright for university food. In Frankfurt, they make the Asian dishes directly in a Wok though, which I think is much better.
Afterwards I got a personal tour of the whole campus: Huge rooms, the giant magnifier and other facilities. Then we hiked up the Kickelhahn. On top there is a house, which German poet and writer Goethe built and wrote some of his famous words. Other than that it is amazingly green and pretty; including a almost 360 degree view over the area. After arriving on the top, we helped to film material for the university tv production. And of course walked around and discovered; I even climbed up this tower that was there and had an even more better view from up there.
In the early evening, I had my first geocaching experience. It was interesting, to see how it works, but I do not see me doing it again.
The evening ended rather relaxed with a BBQ and a DVD night.

Saturday, Day 3 – Hot, hotter, Ilmenau.

11 a.m – the time I / we got up. I do not really know when it was the last time that I slept this long. Actually, we had planned a “sightseeing” tour through the rest, seemingly unspectacular, of Ilmenau, but the weather was too humid and hot to go walking, so that we cancelled it.
Instead we had a lovely women’s chat with DVD’s and champagne.

Sunday, Day 4 – Erfurt and its residents.

Early in the morning we headed towards Erfurt, the state capitol of Thuringia to walk around a bit. It is a really nice, tiny city with many small, old buildings and cafés. And since Germany’s most famous children’s channel broadcasts from there, most of the figures can be found throughout the city. Even on the last day the sun was shining from the beginning of our sightseeing until the end. The tour ended with fruit salad and a really yummy brownie ice cream.

My drive home was beyond worse though. Some people should not be allowed to drive. Right at a major highway junction, two cars had an accident and caused 20km of traffic. It took me almost two full hours to get passed that.

Getaway Upshot: The area of Thuringia I visited has its charm. There is a lot of green area around the cities and a lot of culture to discover. It is a good destination for a weekend!