I decided to go to the hotel which Liszt honored. The proprietor put me
into Liszt's very room, where a framed letter of his hung on the wall....
This did not in the least overcome me, as I had several of Liszt's letters
at home. But what did overcome me was that I was charged four times the
price of any other hotel, on Liszt's account!
Weimar may be very pleasant in the season when the little Court sheds its
mild light about; but out of the season, especially at this time of the
year, when there is nothing but dried and fluttering leaves, students, and
dogs in the streets, I found it woeful. It was reeking of Schiller and
Goethe. For two marks you can have a pretty good idea of how these great
men lived and had their being. Everywhere we turned, and we turned
everywhere, there were statues, busts, autographs, writing-desks, beds,
and wash-stands which had belonged to them. I admired everything until my
vocabulary of exclamations was exhausted and my head whirled.
I told Howard, as young as he was, I would not have him Goethed and
Schillered, as he certainly would be if he stayed here; so I changed my
plans and made up my mind to accept the invitation of my friend the
Countess Westphal to make her a visit at her château in Westphalia. We
took a train which dropped us at her station, where she met us and drove
us to Fürstenberg.
Westphalia is renowned for its hams. Perhaps you don't know this,
therefore I tell you. It is also renowned for the independent spirit of
the Westphalians.