You never know who you're going to meet

I woke up to yet another day in which I truly had no idea so much would be in store for me. There's a visitor from Atlanta in town and while I'm not the one being visited it's been great to be invited along to see the sites of neighboring villages and hear stories of Candler happenings along the way.

Knowing someone with a car affords the opportunity to visit towns where the trains don't run. Our first major stop was to Fredelsloh a town full of artists most of whom make pottery. It was fun to visit the different shops and admire the pottery but by far the best was a pottery shop in which the first floor was a cozy restaurant and the upstairs was the workshop. The pieces were beautiful and delicate. We had the good fortune to meet the artist who shared that he had been working in the shop for 40 years. The shop itself has been there since the time before department stores and when it would have been necessary for those who lived in small villages to buy their tableware from the local potter. The artist talked us through the process of how the each piece is made made hand, that every three weeks they fire up the electric kiln and once a year they use the old wooden fire oven. He explained how the ashes were used to make different colors and designs in the pieces and was humble about how truly beautiful the pieces were. He made an impression on myself and fellow travelers as our experience in the shop came up several times during out day. You just never know who you're going to meet.

Potheads- village charm

A pottery display from a more traditional pottery store.

Following our visit to the town of pottery, we continued on to Einbeck, the town in which our tour guide for the day calls home. We received a well informed tour of the small town and I of course continued to admire the half-timbered houses. While the style of these houses is found in most every town in these parts, I'm learning that each town holds something unique to it, making it one of a kind. Here in Einbeck it was the old, large doors, and these were no barn houses rather individual homes who had received permission from the state to brew their own beer back in the 1700's or so and needed large doors that would allow them to bring the beer brewing equipment into their homes. I'm guessing that at one time the doors were a little more straighter than they are now.

This is possibly the oldest building I have seen to date. On it was the date 808, and our local expert seemed to agree that it was in fact the date for the building. That's pretty dang impressive if it is.

The date in question...