It snowed today. I mean SNOWED, like blizzarded. The day began with what I thought would be a leisurely stroll to the bus stop, but then it started to rain. And by the time the bus pulled up, it was pouring, blustering, thundering and lightening. Blah. Instead of taking the audio tour of Ansbach to learn about their mysterious citizen, Kasper Hauser from the 1700s, I opted for lunch at a little kondetori (pasta with mushroom sauce and a giant glob of butter). That's when it stopped lightening and thundering and started snowing. Well, at that point I realized hanging out at a cafe wasn't a horrible thing, and since I was reading Hemingway, I really didn't mind. When the weather paused for a moment I decided it was a good time to make a run for the castle and do an indoor tour of the residence.... The tour reminded me of a scene from a British period movie where a housekeeper gives a guest a tour of the manor while the owner is away. The tour guide only turned on lights in 8 of the 28 rooms, the rest of the time opening shades to let in the natural (albeit dark and stormy) light. And she couldn't be more annoyed with my foreignness, I've never seen a guide so thrilled to have Germans in her tour group, with them she clearly delighted in telling the history and little tidbits. With me, she pointed to the number that coincided with the room we were standing in on my English information brochure. Why I needed a guide is beyond me, perhaps I had a troublesome glint in my eye that made her think I would track slush on the parquet floors. Oh well the castle residence was beautiful and it belonged to Fredrich the Great's sister.