Germany, Days Four-Six

On my fourth day, Tuesday, I went into Wiesbaden with Christine with the intention of shopping. We ate lunch at a cafeteria where every week Christine goes to have the fish. I had a dish that was like marinated roast beef with potato dumplings and red cabbage sauerkraut. Of course, its name was something miserably long and impossible to remember so you’ll forgive me that I’ve forgotten it by now (indeed, I don’t think I ever really knew it). However, I enjoyed it very much.
We then went to an eyeglasses store where Christine tried on several pairs (so did I, just for fun) and I helped her choose between two styles. We also picked up some cologne at a large perfumery at Erin’s request (for her boyfriend?). Then we headed over to a clothing store, where I found a rather classic black dress that after trying on I decided I was going to buy. Christine had me hand it to her through the dressing room curtain to hang up and get in line with but when I found her again she had already purchased it for me! She said it was her present to me for “being the first out of the family to visit us.” It was so sweet! We also went to another store where I bought some black pants.
Later that night, after a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, I went to a grocery store with Christine. It was pretty interesting to see what they had available in comparison to both American and Florentine grocery stores. I thought it much more resembled American stores. Christine picked out a number of commercial sweets for me to try. We also went to a warehouse Sam’s Club type store called Metro to purchase articles for Christine’s bratwurst stand.
When I woke up on Wednesday, Jim told me not to eat because he was planning on going to the bakery and coming back with the bread for a traditional German-style breakfast. The bread was amazing and we ate it alternatively with butter and cheese or butter and jam. I remember most specifically a delicious roll with pumpkin seeds on top.
After getting ready, we went to Frankfurt and drove around, Jim pointing out buildings or sites of interest. We then went on to a small town, the name of which I cannot recall, to visit Christine’s stand. It was so cool! It was set up on one of the little Italian trucks I daily see rolling down the narrow streets in Florence. Of course, I had to try one of the wursts. It was so good! Christine drives all the way to Limburg to buy them.
We watched Christine’s steady stream of customers for a little while (I did some videotaping) before we got back in the Smart and drove the rest of the way to Heidelberg. It was beautiful! The town is built along the Neckar River but sort of splashes up the sides of the mountains that surround it, reaching the schloss (palace) that overlooks and crowns it. The castle was in much better condition up to WWII, when it suffered a bombing. We drove there first, winding up the mountain side until we found a bus parking lot where the attendant let us leave the car. We walked first to the edge of the schloss’ wall where there was a splendid view. I took some video of Heidelberg, in lieu of photographs. I guess that’s my apology for not having very many pictures of Germany, though I enjoyed it even more than some of my trips in Italy. Maybe I also wanted to just experience the place instead of using all of my time to photograph.
We then went in the castle’s courtyard area. Jim and I agreed that it looked very “Harry Potter-ish.” It spilled out onto a terrace that also had an incredible view of the valley. Jim pointed out a path visible on the opposite mountain called The Philosopher’s Way.
We went into a wine cellar where there was located the largest barrel I had ever seen or imagined seeing. It filled an entire room and had a platform built on top accessible by two staircases. We went up the stairs and looked around, mainly because the network of little walkways and the old spiral stairs at the end were so interesting. Leaving the cellar area, we walked across the courtyard to a series of rooms set up as a sort of apothecary museum (pretty random, I know). The large wall above the door to this museum was very interesting because all of the roof and glass were gone while the wall behind it was also missing, giving it the look of a movie set. Inside the museum, we could see some of the structure of the castle, which many times proved to be several feet thick where pierced by the occasional window. In a basement area there was also an alchemy lab set up, displaying much of the equipment used for distillations.
While we were looking at some various strange items used medicinally in the past, Jim pointed out a sentence in one of the descriptions, all of which were given in German. He began to tell me what it meant and I was able to really surprise him by translating the final word, “gift.” It means “poison” in English and I know it because my sister took German and was infinitely amused by this coincidental association.
We then left the interior and walked around the grounds, coming to a final, spectacular view that now encompassed not only the valley below but the schloss we had just explored. The light was also incredible, the sun having just started to disappear behind the mountains but still striking their tops across the valley.
We went back to the car and then down into the town proper where we found a parkhaus and then walked around the adorable buildings. We went into a hall church there, with its incredible emphasis on the vertical and its narrow, tall stained glass windows, plainly unlike the many Italian churches I had visited. Some of the stained glass was clearly a modern contribution, celebrating God in a strictly non-objective manner and with streamlined craftsmanship.
We then went to a lovely bridge over the Neckar that Jim had pointed out from one of our views above. It was called Old Bridge, although it really only originally dated from the 1700s. It was apparently destroyed just as WWII was ending, but rebuilt on the same plans. On one side it was flanked by a large gate with two little towers. It had a very nice, valley-level view of the town on the mountain and along the river. It was also quite cold by that time, the sun having sunk away almost completely.
We began looking for a place to eat, finding after a little search a homey German-style restaurant. It was so warm! Jim and I sat near the front and I was able to watch the patron in the restaurant as well as passersby outside. We sat and talked, he ordering a deer meat dish (I tried it and found that it was very good), me ordering beef and onions with spaetzle. We also had apple strudel with coffee for dessert. It was extremely hearty and delicious.
The next day I had to pack all of my things to leave in the afternoon. Jim suggested that, since it was in the area of Frankfurt-Haun, we should drive to a castle above Bernkastel-Kues, a town along the Mosel River. Of course this sounded like an excellent idea. On our drive, the weather oscillated between clear and “Grimmy,” settling on Grimmy around the area of the castle. We drove up an unbelievably narrow road (2-way, nonetheless), parked, and approached the castle from above. As we walked the sun was burning through the mists and slowly more and more of first the castle, then the surrounding vineyards, and finally the valley and town below were revealed. It was stunning. The castle was very plain and a bit ruinous but all the more ancient-looking for it. Inside, a restaurant had managed to place itself into one of the walls, setting tables out-of-doors for use during better weather. A terrace before the entrance looked over the whole valley below. The mountain walls were alarmingly steep, especially since they were covered with grapevines. I would not have wanted to try to walk up and down those lines, harvesting the grapes, for fear of falling and not stopping until sometime next year.
After trying my hardest to fully take in the golden trees and grape leaves, blue, sparkling river, lingering mists, and little red-roofed houses, we walked back to car in order to drive to and walk around the very well-preserved Bernkastel-Kues. We ended up finding a parking lot along the river and taking a sort of whirl-wind walk around the center, as my remaining time in Germany was running very short. But surrounding one of the squares were incredibly old half-timbers, excellently cared for, though often leaning. These were flanked by little narrow roads over which were often raised wire forms with twisting vines, still green and occasionally flowering. It really was a fairy-tale effect.
But now it was time for me to leave and we drove to the airport, getting there with a rather scant 45 minutes for my check-in. As there was no line, however, this did not matter and I was able to easily grab my boarding pass, say goodbye to Jim and get in line for the X-rays. I must admit, even though I was going back to Florence, a place I have dreamed of seeing, I was very sad to leave Germany. I’m so happy I got the chance to visit my uncle and aunt there.
The flight went smoothly. I sat by a married French couple about my own age and watched the approach and journey over the Alps between chapters in my book. Once in Pisa I had a bit of a hassle getting a train ticket back to Florence, but still made it back to my apartment before 9.