Erfurt

I woke up quite early on Saturday, the 24th of March so that I could catch an early train to Erfurt. I got to Erfurt again with no major problems (I love the German train system. It's way better than the British) and found my way to the accomodation booked for us by the conference organizers. The accomodation is a sort of student accomodation thing associated with the university but many of us at the conference liked to call it the "Cold War Palace" because honestly, it actually looked pretty scary from the outside (paint peeling off everywhere, these dingy windows.... unfortunately I didn't take a picture). I dropped off my stuff and then decided to spend the day exploring the town since I arrived a day early.
My Lonely Planet Germany book had a little walking tour laid out so I decided that would probably be the best way to see the town. I just sort of wandered, with my book, thus looking extremely like a tourist. Lots of people came up and spoke to me. They were all really nice. I spent my time mostly looking in Churches (this is the town where Martin Luther first preached and there are some amazing buildings). I ended up walking into one church while someone was having an organ lesson so I just sat and listened for a while. Amazing!
The town has this amazing cathedral on a hill which I had to of course go see. You weren't allowed to take pictures so I had to settle for a postcard. It really was an amazing building. It even still had all its icons on the outside which living where I do, is odd because all of the icons were smashed during the reformation here.
The walking tour finished in front of town hall and as I rounded the corner I heard music. A violist and a cellist were playing vivaldi in the square. Amazing! I sat and listened for about 15 minutes.
So, the conference.... well, it was great and I made some fantastic connections. I was talking with Richard Gordon (who is a huge name in Roman religion) and was whinning about these expensive books (about $100 per volume, it's 4 volumes) that I have to use all the time but are on short term loan at the library and its been really frustrating. He asked me for my address and said that he isn't using his copies right now so he would lend them to me. It was like meeting a movie star and now he's lending me books!!!! I know how nerdy that sounds but it is really awesome! Other than that, we just found some interesting brewpubs in town and just hung out. It really was a great time and made me even more inspired about my work. By the last day of the conference I really just wanted to head home and start writing. I got some really great ideas but we'll have to wait and see if they actually work in my research. Anyways, instead of heading back home I had one more stop... Weimar...