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August 20, 2005
Trip to Germany: Part 4 - A Hiberno-Saxon Wedding
The fourth day in Germany started with a train journey. The wedding was due to take place in the village of Oberbärenburg, which is near the town of Altenberg, near Dresden, so our first task was to get to Dresden. For this, we took a train.
We had bought tickets in advance using a ticket vending machine in Ostbahnhof on Wednesday. The vending machine was easy to use and in a few screens we had tickets. We booked in three groups, as although we were travelling to Dresden together, we were all coming back at different times. This meant we were split up on the train, which was a pity. Our assigned seats were easy to find. The carriages were well labeled and the platform had diagrams showing roughly what the layout of the train was going to be. Colm's family were also on the train and the wandering between compartments and chatting quickly passed the two hour journey. The train service itself was stereotypically German: it was clean, efficient (only a few spare seats), and absolutely punctual.
A 50 minute bus journey brought us to Oberbärenburg, where we checked into our hotel. Oberbärenburg seemed to be a holiday village. It was mostly comprised of hotels and guest houses nestled in forested hills. It wasn't too busy but I could easily imagine it being packed during the winter months: it had a ski resort feel. We passed a bob sleigh run on the bus. It is a good one: olympic bob sleigh teams train on it. The hotel we were staying in had letters of thanks from the USA and Italian olympic teams hung proudly in the lobby.
That evening we went to a barbecue, hosted by Heidi's parents. This was a really good idea as everyone got to know each other. Pork steaks and good sausages were eaten and beers, and later Long Island iced teas, were drank. Apparently, having a party for wedding guests on the day before the wedding is a German tradition. It is a good one in my view. It made the wedding more relaxed as everyone had met most of the other guests.
The wedding itself was an intimate affair. The 30, or so, guests sat in on a bilingual civil ceremony which was rather like a lighthearted marriage guidance session. The whole occasion was thoroughly recorded Peter, the official photographer for the day, who deployed professional grade photographic equipment to the situation in a professional manner.
The reception took place in a small restaurant, at the top of a hill, a few kilometers away. Transport there was by bimmelbahn, a tractor pulled carriage. This was slightly silly but a lot of fun. The carriage was open enough for numerous conversations to take place and the journey was long enough for that to happen, so the party started before the wedding reception did.
After a short wait for the bride and groom, and after they sawed a log in half, which is another German tradition, we sat down to dinner. This was excellent. The restaurant specialized in garlic dishes and all three courses had a garlic choice, even dessert. I have to say that garlic ice cream is delicious: pungent and sweet. After dinner there were speeches, for a while, and music and dancing that went on into the night. All in all, a memorable occasion.
Posted by JohnC at August 20, 2005 12:12 AM