Traveling in winter time means that you usually do not see much sunshine during the work week. Such was the case tonight as it was already dark when I left the office well past normal quitting time.

This of course meant a long walk back to the hotel in the dark. I had to make a decision whether to take the longer path that was well lit or the shorter path that was dark and gloomy.

I decided to take the shorter path since I knew my way even through the dark.

After a short stop at the hotel I then headed into the city center to have nice dinner. I decide that I needed a nice cozy atmosphere and good comfort food so chose to eat at the Kartoffelhaus.

I decided to have a nice dish of pork, onions and potatoes. The Rostbrätel mit gebratenen Zwiebeln und Bratkartoffeln is a specialty of Thuringia and also one of my favorites. The Rostbrätel is a very flavorful cut of meat as it comes from the neck of the pig and is marinated before cooking.

The meal brought back some good memories of past visits to both Jena and the Kartoffelhaus.

I decide that since I had done a lot of walking that I could also have dessert so had a slice of Apfelstrudel with ice cream.

The Kartoffelhaus is on the market square which was very beautiful with the trees and buildings still lit up for the holidays.

Since it was cold and wet and I am jet lagged I didn’t wander around the city center for too long tonight. I walked back to the street train and headed back to the hotel after taking a few pictures in the market area.

This entryway is near the hotel and looks very interesting at different times of day and during different seasons. It would be nice to get a picture of it in the snow, but it doesn’t look like it will snow while I am here 🙂

Steven