It was much cooler last night so we had a good sleep and woke naturally at 7. This hotel was the only one with a set Cosmos breakfast. The breakfast room was empty when we arrived but we had caught up with about 6 of the group before we finished. It was nice to farewell them again and share travel stories.

We shared stories about driving in Italy with Anay from India . When staying in Sorrento his ordered minivan was not available so he had to have 6 people in a station wagon instead. After driving for a while he got an electronic message that the brakes were about to fail!! Naturally the Italian company was not at all concerned and just told him to drive the station wagon to them in Napoli. After complaining they sent an inexperienced 17 year old mechanic who couldn't find a problem so he sat in the driver’s seat with Anay beside him and raced the car to the nearest cliff and slammed on the brakes. Fortunately – there was no problem as they stopped inches from the edge!!!

We picked the car up early because we took the Cosmos bus to the airport – which also meant we could again thank Anita. She was going to train to Munich and start a new tour on Monday. The car is handed over empty of diesel and we were given a rundown of the car’s workings and shown the nearest gas station. We can return it empty.

Margo had suggested that we stop at the 'Town of Roses’ on our way to Marburg . Unfortunately the Tom-Tom (GPS) found another town of the same name 250 km away (because the town was so small) so we had to use the road signs. We did miss one turning but then found a café for lunch with a rose garden next door. We appreciated having a small car when looking to park.

The roses were well worth the stop as they all seemed to be both lovely and scented. Not all blooms were out as we were told it is a late season. Behind the rose garden was a wildflower garden and we spent a few minutes wandering around and watching others taking photos, smelling flowers and picnicking.

The Tom Tom then took us safely to Marburg. We had seen cars parked in an area that indicated no parking but some helpful locals told us in a combination of German, English and sign language that it was ok on Sunday. We all had thumbs up when we finished, very happy that communication had been successful. We gave our last NZ 20c to their daughter – with the tiki on it . They make good small gifts.

We then had cold drinks in a small pub – the owner had almost as little English as we have German but Sprite and Fanta are universal. John and he also managed to talk about football. When he found we were from New Zealand we were asked to sign his visitors book. Some people had put in tickets etc so John drew a small map of NZ and marked in Nelson. Meanwhile I was admiring the ‘frescos’ on the wall showing scenes of the historic centre in a darker brown on a lighter background.

We had about half an hour to look around the historic centre. We just wandered because we intend to visit it again tomorrow. We saw the old Town Hall, which seemed to have a cultural concert on, as well as other old buildings, on a smaller scale but as attractive as any we have seen on the trip. We also found a water spout with a mural of horses, a bronze book showing a page of ‘Emil and the Detectives’ with a page also in Braille and an attractive 3D bronze model of the historic centre .

The GPS took us to Margos’ and would have had us there just at the right time except we rang the wrong doorbell. We weren’t worried about the lack of reply because she had said she might be away collecting her son’s team from a tennis tournament. We were sitting on the steps admiring her view when we heard her voice telling us to come up one more level.

Unfortunately Margo met us at the door with her arm in a makeshift sling. She had tripped over at about midday and her upper arm and shoulder were very painful. She had had some advice from a medical friend that the sort of fall she had was unlikely to have broken her arm but that it would be hard to establish the exact problem until the swelling went down. She had had a painkiller but it was not fully effective and later, when a very dark bruise emerged, we drove her to the Apotheke (Chemist) to get other treatment. We asked if it was still convenient for us to stay but she said she had made a cake and prepared the room in the morning. We were allowed to help bring out cups and plates.

After admiring the view from the terrace we sat in her glassed verandah and had afternoon tea, mainly discussing travel. Daisy, a student from southern Hungary who is here for 3 weeks to improve her German also joined us. Valentine, her son, arrived and had won his tennis so she did have some good news.

We drove to the town for tea and the first problem was to find a park. We were in the student area and the streets and eating places were full mainly with students, all in white tops with German flags, trumpets in German colours and we even saw wing mirror covers in German colours. In some ways it would have been nice to stay and watch the game with an excited group, but it was much nicer to make our way back to Margo’s and watch the game with her. Well, I watched some and blogged some but John and Margo had a good time because it was a good game (and Germany won).