A last day in Germany

Last night had a few more strange dreams with co-workers in them, but not too bad. I had trouble getting up though as I was still very tired. But once I did, I was ok. I went upstairs to have a light breakfast in the hotel because I knew today was going to be a heavy eating day (not like the rest of them haven't been). I left to go to my train station and snapped a photo of this statue outside. The arm with the hammer actually moves up and down. To me, it is a perfect representation of the German industrialness (is that a word?).

I took the train to see another church. This one was St. Catherine's Church. It is the first independent Protestant church in the Gothic style built between 1678 and 1681. I was really interested to see the inside, but the doors were locked.

Directly across from the church is the Hauptwache, or Main Guardhouse, which is where the square it is in took its name. The building, built in 1729, is now a restaurant.

In true old meets new fashion, across from the church and the Hauptwache is a big shopping mall.

Star Wars characters at the Lego store.

A very strange statue in the pedestrian mall of the shopping area. If guess if I were outside with no clothes on in 42 degree weather, I'd be trying to keep the goods warm as well.

I did go in to a couple of the big department stores just to see what they were like. They're nothing different than the ones in the US except with a few designer names I didn't recognize. I was able to find a few "delicates" for myself, so I was happy.

I love the pedestrian areas here. It's a great open air feel with everyone walking around. You just don't get that feeling in the big cities like New York, Chicago, or San Francisco. Everyone milling about, no horns honking, no crosswalks. It's nice.

Disappointed with not being able to get in to the church and the Hauptwache, I saw a tower down the street and thought I'd investigate. Guess what? It's been turned in to a restaurant as well. But I found the tower in my guide book and it's called the Eschenheimer Turm (Eschenheimer Tower). Built in the early 15th century, the tower remains the finest example of the city's original 42 towers. The finest example has been turned in to a restaurant? I wonder what the others look like.

By the way, my guide book has been at my side every step of this trip. It has been invaluable in helping me find things to see, explaining them, and telling me what train stations to get off at to see them. I highly endorse it.

On to lunch!! I decided to go to a place listed in the guide book called Harvey's. The restaurant first achieved notoriety as a gay and lesbian hangout, deriving its name from Harvey Milk. But I guess the straight community has been coming as well. Didn't matter. I have straight friends and they're very nice. When I got off at the train station, I opened up the city map that I bought this morning. It's a piece of crap!! It doesn't list any of the small streets like the Munich map did. So I just picked a direction and walked until I found a streetcar station and looked on that map. Turns out I had gone in the opposite direction I needed to be. It's a good thing I've been eating so much. With all of the walking I've been doing, I'd have wasted away to nothing if I hadn't been stuffing my face. I've worked hard on my pot belly!!

I got to Harvey's and sat down next to a small group of people with a very old dog that I instantly connected with. I wanted to pet her and I could tell in her eyes that she wanted me to pet her too. But she was comfortably curled up on the floor, very quiet, dozing off and on. The restaurant itself was very nice. It was smaller than I expected and the music was a bit on the loungey side (but in a good way). I could picture my friend Carol in here with a drink in hand, chatting it up, singing with the crooners on the piped in music.

The only gay person I noticed in the place was my waiter. Of course, my American Gaydar is horrible, so I'm sure my European Gaydar is even worse. No matter, it wasn't really about the gay atmosphere. It was about the food. And with all the back tracking I had to do to get here, it better be good. And it was!

I had the spaghetti. I was, of course, expecting a big pile of spaghetti with red sauce and meatballs. But what I got was the spaghetti above with some sort of meat, basil pesto, and greens on top (with bread). Oh, was it good!!! It was warm, tastey, not what I was expecting, and just felt so good going down. Well worth the walk.

When the waiter was trying to explain the menu to me, he was trying to tell me that the schnitzel was not made of pork because the restaurant didn't serve it. Instead, it was made with beef. But he couldn't think of the word for beef, so he put his hands up by his head with his fingers pointed out to represent cow horns. I had to keep myself from laughing.

This restaurant was really off the beaten path. The area was very residential with lots of small shops and no real pedestrian traffic. This was NOT a tourist area, which made it kind of nice. I'd been in the sections with so many people so much, it was kind of refreshing to be in a place where I didn't have to bump in to people to get by them and I could slow down my walking.

After lunch I came back to my hotel for a nap. The hotel I'm in is very much the business person's hotel. Everyone is in suits and they all seem to be having power meetings. And there are a ton of Americans staying here. Suddenly, I don't feel like I'm in Europe any more. I have to leave the hotel to do that. Of course, I have to watch I don't bump my head when I leave my room. Did they design the doorways for hobbits?? Look how much I have to slump over so I don't hit my head! Look at how much fat I have hanging off my chin! That's dedication to eating, I tells ya!

Speaking of eating....after my nap, it was time for dinner! I had planned to eat at a nice restaurant for my last meal in Germany. But I also remembered the potato pancakes from the Christmas Market. I had to go. I just had to! So I went.

Mmmmmm. Three lumps of fried potato/onion goodness with a side of applesauce. They were better than I expected. And standing out in the cold, the steam was just rising right up off of them. I couldn't have thought of a better last meal (unless it involved bratwurst and bread). The pancakes were so crisp, they held up beautifully. I was worried they'd be soggy and I wouldn't be able to hold one with my hand (they don't give you utensils). But no, the structural integrity was perfect. You get that great crunch sound when you bite in to one. And the sweetness of the applesauce just brings it all home. GASP!!! I just remembered I didn't have a pretzel today!!! Oh sorrow of sorrows.

At the market, a small brass band was playing music from the top of one of the churches. I stood for a while and listened to them while people watching. I have no idea how long I stood there, but it was so nice. The Christmas Markets are very much a social affair. Groups of people meet and stand to drink the Guhlwein and have a bite to eat. I mean, this place is PACKED (especially for a weeknight). What I loved the most about tonight though was watching the merry-go-round. Not only were there kids riding, but adults too. And adults without kids! They were just having a good time. No public drunkeness, just people enjoying themselves. I had the biggest grin on my face seeing these adults just laugh and smile on the horses. It was a wonderful attitude to have.

I did manage to do a little shopping at one of the souvenir stores in the market. I found my stein! I don't have a picture because it, like the glass ornaments, was all wrapped up by the shop keeper for travel. I was right. It just called out to me as soon as I saw it. I'm very happy with it. I also got my mom her thimble and t-shirt. She usually gets one from all of my trips. She thinks she can add a shot glass to that list, but she's pushing her luck. I've spoiled her. But it's fun.

I wanted to have some sort of sweet thing to eat back in my room, so I grabbed a couple of desserts from one of the stalls on my way out.

I have no idea what they're called, but they certainly were sweet. And felt like they were a little on the stale side. Not the last food stuffs I want to remember from my trip. Hopefully I can get something better in the airport tomorrow morning.

On the way home from the Christmas Market, I met a couple of older American ladies on the train platform. They looked a little lost and were asking a local man for directions. Even after he was done, they still had a bit of a lost look on their faces. I wondered if I could help, so I asked them if they needed help reading the train system map. It turned out they were going to the same hotel I was. So we started chatting and I found out they were flight attendants for United and were actually based in San Francisco. We had a great time chatting on the train and walking back to the hotel.

So now it's time to pack. My flight is at 10:30 tomorrow morning, so I don't have to get up incredibly early. I have a lot to think about, and dream about, on the plane and will do a final re-cap of thoughts and other sundry things when I get home. After a rough start, I've thoroughly enjoyed my time here. I could definitely see myself coming back. I'll be ordering my Rosetta Stone for German this weekend.

Today's observations:

I miss petting a dog.

People actually use pay phones in Germany.

Frankfurt caters much more to the younger and business crowd than Munich.