Category Archives: Germany

Wutsburg – The Tale of the Stray Orange

That wretched Nicole! She gave me an Orange! I was harmlessly looking for the time and place for my ride share tomorrow and I find an orange among all the other bits and pieces she gave me!
Anyway, Wednesday morning the plan was to go into town and look around but I slept sound through a full 50% of the daylight hours so we wandered down at about 12:30. The town is so wonderful! Fairytale houses, foot wide passage ways and the mighty river Main criss crossed by cobbled streets and sloping lanes. First up we visited the castle! Which is now a mesuem about life back in the day. [[Lohr]] is the home to [[Snow White]] as well as having it’s own highway robber!
After picking Jamil up from the Kinderrgarden we wandered down to the river and back, past some wonderful buildings and had Chinese to eat, visited an old Church with memorial stones from the 1200’s and then headed to Nicoles mum’s house where she has the [[Internet]]. It’s in an annexed village south of the river, greener and with river side playgrounds. After some time on CouchSufing.org and RideShare.co.uk I decided that a bus to [[Gothenburg]] and a couch there for a day or to would be good. It took me another 2 days to get around to it, by which time the only bus was Monday evening. Good for my time in [[Germany]], but a bit more restricting in [[Sweden]]!
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Lohr am Main – What do you get if you put and English Jew in a kitchen with a German Palestinian?

Phew! I am exhausted. Physically, mentally, emotionally and nearly spiritually. Not the bad kind of exhausted, burt the fullfilled and ready to rest kind. Also the awful handwriting kind, I’d better make an effort or I’ll never be able to read this in future.
I spent a good proportion of my train ride today trying to find words to describe Nicole. She’s an the perfect balance between mature enough to appreciate life and young enough to enjoy it. Awesomely open minded and both interesting and interested, and the most generous person I’ve ever met! She met me at Lohr am Main Station last night at about 8pm, with her friend Martina. The train from [[Frankfurt]] was €20, cheap enough compared to the ICE (German Fast Trains) from [[Bussels]] which I decided was too much. ICE is nice enough, very space-shipy but essentially a [[pendalino]]. The local train from my connection was nicer only because it was empty – from sitting on the floor to having half a carrige to fart as I please….
Nicole has a son but no babysitter. Which suited me because I love kids and was probably too tired for clubbing. So we cooked and cooked and cooked, and then made some side dishes.
I made [[roast potatoes]] which would have made Avi proud, vegetables, gravy and as close to [[Israeli salad]] as I could with a cabbage and a tomato. Nicole made pumpkin soup, burnt some paprika, turkish coffee, Palastinian rice (without the chicken) and Martina made [[Falafel]]s and fruit salad. We could have fed the town, but we managed without them. Shortly after eating, and Nicol’s son Jamil throwing some rice around (he was too excited to have visitors to sleep), we chatted and pumped up an air bed – Nicole who had only just moved in and hadn’t quite sorted out all the furniture – and soon it was to a sound sleep all. Except Jamil, and therefore Nicole… ok so I slept like a baby.
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Frankfurt to Lohr Am Main

That train conductor so thought I was German! Not, unfortunately, because of my language skills. On the contrary, because I only Um’d, Ah’d and Grunted my way through bits of paper and wrong tickets.
It’s nearly 8 and dark outside the train – which is far warmer than it needs to be!
I’ve spend the day wandering around [[Frankfurt]], the [[River Main]] is fabulous, about as wide and fast as the Thames but not nearly as build up and enclosed. From the high bridges you can see all the church towers and sky scrapers, plus glimpses of buildings crying out for a closer look. So I headed for one particularly enticing steeple, which turned out to be The Dom – One of the more famous sights, and with good reason.
It’s incredible, beyond words and magnificantly big! Stepping through the large but humble door you are faces with a beachy pink column, embosses in such straight vertical lines you cant help but let your eyes follow them up, and up, and up until you are craning your neck to see the ceiling high above.
The building itself is faily simple iin design and decoration. The outside is adorned with a few large, almsot hyroglyphic shapes and reliefs of people. The inside is only pinky white lines on peachy or red brick surfaces. It’s clean but not stale, and plain yet awe inspiring.
The statues and ornaments are another thing. Dramatic scenes of Jesus and the apostles vividly carved into fully formed 3d figures. Intricate golden details on wooden picture frames. The small (and entirely in German) museum houses the most incredible objects, the purpose of which I can only guess are mostly for holding candles, but these are no ordinary candle holders. Fine gold shapes surrounded crystal lenses atop gem encrusted bases. All hundreds of years old.
I only saw a few pictures on postcards, but it looks as if much of the surrounding area was destroyed and the church damaged in the war. If that was the case, a remarkable rebuild had taken place!
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Frankfurt – The Germans are Coming! And I can’t wait to meet them!

Oh if you could see the sight I can see! I’m glad in many ways to not have a camera which would make a feeble attempt at capturing it. I am sat outside a cafe (With a coffee and a book) overlooking what I think is [[Frankfurt]]‘s central square.
In front of me in a relatively simple yet ornate off-white and pale red church. To my right is an ugly yet some how attractive concrete museum with pillars of ivy attempting to hide the blackening grey. Behincd the church the wonders unfold! A 6 story timber framed pointy building of deep browns and rich reds crossing over bright whites, perforated by dark windows twinkling with lights from inside. All topped off by steep slate grey roofs towering above the sloping cobbled square below.
Draps of people and snakes of tour groups slide past, high heels struggling on the aged stones heading to the designer shops who poke their noses into the square from the north.
I arrived in this most wonderous of cities at 2am this morning. My first impressions? Let’s start with second as I spent the first 30 minutes wandering around the red light district looking for the hostel mentioned in my book. Big, quiet and cheap enough (considering it included breakfast) the hostel that is.. I’m not sure ‘Dolly Dreams’ provided breakfast and clean sheets.
I picked up a prepaid German SIM and have exchanged a few texts with Nicole, my couch in [[Lohr Am Main]], and spoken to David. The plan up until a few minutes ago was to probably not see Rothenburg but to speed to Berlin and meet David on Friday.
However… I just met a guy from [[Wützburg]] (Alex) who took his Indonesian friend (Albert) there and they have rekindled my desire!
This coffee is so good, and only 2€ I have ordered another!
I saw a sign last night saying “All You Can Eat Sushi”. Wow! I’m going there! Can I find it today? Nay! So Breakfast #2, (after Tomato, Cucumber and very nice rolls with Jam at the hostel) was Humous and bread on a bench by the [[River Main]]. Next to a bridge with a boat hanging underneath it… No idea…!
I have a little stir fry left and I’ll be cooking at Nicoles tonight, but I may have to buy some soon! (I never did find that sushi bar). Anyway, my fingers are cold and Frankfurt is calling!
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