Sunday, June 6 - Trebsen, Neichen, Doeben, Grimma

Sunday is our last day in the Oelschuetz area and we don't really have a plan.  There is a hike/bike trail that passes through our village, so after our 3rd "mega-breakfast" of the week, we drove first to Trebsen for bottled water for the hike.  We drove around the midtown until I spotted a sign showing a lunch special.  I found the door into a small bar/restaurant where a couple of guys were having a beer and persuaded the barmaid to sell me a large bottle of water.  We also stopped to get photos of a stork on a nest with a couple of young. 

Then back to Neichen to park the car and start our walk.  Unfortunately, it was by now noonish and quite warm, but we managed to walk to Doeben, about 8 kilometers or 5 miles one way, which took us most of the afternoon, stopping several times to rest and once for a snack at an imbiss on the trail.

I also still wanted to see more of Wurzen, so after returning from our walk, we drove to Wurzen, stopping at Burkhartshain and Nemt on the way. 

In Burkhartshain we also found some Winklers and Buchheims in the cemetery and a sign noting that the Famile Buchheim could provide access to the church. 

Since it was getting late, we opted to go on to Wurzen.  At Wurzen, I was a bit surprised to find many of the buildings in the center of town to be pastel in color. 

We found Wurzen to be a very pretty town.  We parked near the center and walked around, finding two churches to visit, the first, Dom Marien,  and the second Wenceslaikirche.  There has been a church on this site since 961.  The current building dates from 1673, but services ended here in 1975.  Today half of the Wenceslaikirche had been restored to a church, the other half is used for concerts and exhibitions. 

We were fortunate to find a exhibit describing the end of WWII, when Germans living in Poland and Russia were expelled and returned to Germany with only what they could carry with them.  Since we were heading toward a part of Poland that had been settled by German people, this exhibit gave us background for the rest of our trip. 

After seeing this exhibit, we drove back to Grimma to the Pferdestall restaurant in Hotel Goldenes Schiff in Grimma for a fabulous dinner.  We have had quite a day and it was wonderful to relax on the patio and the meal - salmon and white asparagus, followed by chocolate sundaes - superb!