When we arrived in Suhl, Thuringia to work on our Internet travel guide, we experienced end of May 2006 cold and rainy weather. A few days later this was replaced by an unusual heat wave.
However, we knew that every day of our tour through this "new" state which was part of the GDR before the unification of Germany will be filled with fun, exciting things to see, new experiences and many activities or events. I can confirm at the end of our trip that we never have been bored and time went much too fast. But not everything what we wanted to do we could achieve.
How can anybody see all of Europe in seven days?

We had a permanent accommodation in Suhl, the most important town in Southern Thuringia. Heinrichs is now part of Suhl.
The "Heinrichser Maifest" had its 12 th. anniversary this year and the money collected will help to renovate the historical town hall.
We arrived early enough not to miss the grand official opening at 2:00 pm and to familiarize us before with the program and to stroll through the alley with all the vendors and musicians.
We can not list the numerous events which take place in Thuringia. Just visit the tourist office of the town or village in which you stay and ask. If you are lucky you may find a person who can speak some English. I hope that the responsible officials in Ontario read this statement because they told us several times that everybody in Germany speaks English and that their is no need to attract them to our province in the German language.

We talked to many of the very friendly craftsmen. Elizabeth, my wife used her dictionary when needed and most the time the conversation ended with a big laugh. I was very proud of her because even I had sometimes problems to understand the local dialect. I was feeling like in Newfoundland where I often could not understand a single word but enjoyed the friendliness of the people.
Despite the bad weather the festival area became more and more crowded and the smell of barbecued sausages was in the air. Luckily, we did not eat lunch before going to the "Heinrichser Maifest".

Through the open windows of the old building

The Celtic background of this area is visible everywhere. We visited the "Celtic Spa" (Keltenbad) in Bad Salzungen and here many craftsmen dedicated their work to the Celts.