Rhine-ing and Dining

Roses for sale at the Giessen farmers' market

There are two inescapable qualities of Germany that have caused us to fall in love with the country: The beauty of the hillsides (both the towns and natural scenery) and the consistently high quality of the food and drink.

Starting with the beauty of Germany, there is so much to discuss here it will be hard to limit this post to only the architecture and the nature.

The buildings in Germany -- in large cities and small towns alike -- are magnificent! At all times we find ourselves walking among the quaint Germanic old-style buildings, marveling at the gothic-style churches and cathedrals, or staring in wonder at the castles. We love the detail that was put into each building: each window sill has something delicate painted around it, or a lovely flower bed holding it up. Each cathedral has been kept in top-notch condition, each doorway has some level of filigree to mark your entrance and exit. It is almost as if there is some law (and perhaps there is?) that buildings must be painted and restored every few years.

Germanic Buildings in the shopping district of Marburg

The natural beauty is hard to pass up, too. Because there is no problem here of urban sprawl (based on the way cities were built and then maintained with city centers and public transportation), train trips out looking out the window go something like this: You are looking at a patchwork of dark and light greens and yellows for farming, and every so often you see a city on a hill or in the distance. You can see the entire city in one place. It has a beginning and an end. It is contained. There are (seemingly) no suburbs. After ooh-ing and aah-ing at the town's cathedral spire and wood-beam sided Germanic buildings, the town ends and you are again looking at rolling, colorful hills until you see the next enclosed village. Amazingly compact and preserved in its own way.

A typical German hillside with a small town

Little did we know, but Germany also seems to have a fetish for fresh flowers. We have seen countless varieties, mainly roses. Everywhere we go seems to smell incredible because everywhere we go seems to be covered in flowers! There was a huge rose garden at the top of a castle we visited over the weekend.

Rose garden at Marburg Castle

We recently took a 4-hour boat tour on the Rhine River from the small town of Rüdesheim up to the larger city of Koblenz, and the rolling hillsides were quietly blanketed with forests and whispering trees, sleepy villages, imposing castles, and colorful cathedrals. It was filled with gorgeous panoramic views and we were enthralled the entire time. Everything just seemed to quiet and serene and perfect. Wow.

On the Rhine

Castles towered above small villages

Churches galore...

Click on the panoramic to see the Rhine in its splendid glory!
You won't regret it :)

*****
German food is the other constant enjoyment! We don't want to brag on Germany, but the food here is darned near perfect each and every meal. Breakfast has already been covered. Lunch and dinner are meals where the richness and description of entrees makes you all warm and fuzzy inside without even having taken a bite!

People here enjoy their food. In the pedestrian district where Linden and Rob live, there are dozens of eateries where you simply buy something small to snack on, and stand at a standing-only tall table, eat, enjoy, leave. You have many choices of what to eat, of course...everything from currywurst (bratwurst cut up with ketchup and curry powder), french fries and mayo, gelato, coffee, small glasses of beer, seafood, meat-cheese sandwiches, mini pizzas, crepes, and of course, bread, bread, and more bread. :) A favorite afternoon snacks is a pretzel.

We have had the pleasure of devouring a few delicious dinners and delightful drinks from breweries. Disappointment is not on the menu! James has made some interesting choices such as blutwurst (blood sausage), leberwurst (liverwurst), and veal gulash. Some more memorable meals for me were the potato and salmon soup, and 'Pizza alla diablo.' One day we only had gourmet cheese and chocolate....7 different types of gourmet chocolate to boot!

A meal of blood sausage, liverwurst, and mashed potatoes smothered in gravy.
MMMMmmmm!

"Prost!"

The beers have lived up to their German heritage. James could speak more to what makes them so great, but they are all fresh, on tap, and zesty! My current favorite is the bierbowle, which is a beer that has fruit in the bottom. It makes the beer taste fruity (strawberries, peaches, etc.). James is enjoying the local pilsner varieties.

Bierbowle: check out those berries in the foam!

All in all, we have absolutely, positively nothing but praise for everything we have eaten and drank in Germany. Everything about this vacation seems so pleasantly perfect!

German Joy

Just arrived in Frankfurt!

Outside of the main Frankfurt bus station

On July 1, James and I started what has thus far proven to be the greatest decision ever for summer plans: a trip to Germany! The flights went great, and since we are only traveling with our backpacks, customs and immigration were a breeze! The travel took so long, we actually arrived the morning of July 2, sleepy but excited, and revived by Rob and Linden Mueller, some of our best friends, who we will be living with while we are here! Linden and I have been best friends since the 4th grade, and when Rob and James entered our lives in college, the four of us got along swimmingly, and we have all stayed close through the years.

After flying into Frankfurt, we took the train to their town, Giessen, about 45 scenic minutes away. Linden had to go straight to work at the town's university (she only had to work through July 4, and then she gets a 3-month summer vacation break!). The Mullers are in Giessen because Linden is simultaneously working as an English teacher and getting her Ph.D. in Linguistics here. Rob works from home on the internet (kind of like James, except he has to work 8 hrs. a day; not free lance.). Their apartment is very cute and Euro. It's on the top floor, small and compact, but well-built for being small! The washer is in the bathroom, the refridgerator s hidden in the kitchen, and the Muellers have done a lot with their space. They completely furnished the place with IKEA furniture, which James and I love the look of. It's modern, practical, and aesthetically pleasing. Their apartment also looks right over onto the main pedestrian shopping district, which is full of cute clothing stores, bakeries, bratwurst stands, coffee shops, beer gardens, flower stores, and ice cream parlors. It is heavenly. What only makes it better is that everyone we see is young, attractive, fashionable, rides a bike, and seems much cooler than we could ever hope to be. We can't tell if this will be Europe in general, or if this is just a hip college town. It's sort of intimidating! on the other side of their apartment building there is a bar called "Bitchen" which is hilarious to us, but simply means "A little bit of Bitburger beer" but the translation makes the bar, well, bitchen!

In one of the many nice residential neighborhoods

Rob, James, and I more or less strolled around the pedestrian district, with James and I having to pick up our jaws every few feet from them falling off our faces based on what we saw. Each house could stand alone as fantastic. Each bakery was worthy of visiting. Each cute outfit begged to be tried on. Each flower needed to be smelled. Each coffee needed to be drank! We were honestly in a mixed state of delerium and euphoria from the lack of sleep and sheer joy of German life. We feel so glad that we will get to taste real German life in a smaller, non-tourist town instead of fast-paced metro Berlin or Munich where every one might be a tourist, and we might feel guilty about taking it at an easy pace.

Linden and I in front of some Beatles painted box

When Linden returned from work, we went to their favorite Doener (dooh-ner) hole-in-the-wall restaurant (the best kind of eatery, I think), truly Turkish-run! A doener is like a Gyro served in soft flat-bread, with lamb or beef, lettuce, red cabbage, cucumbers, onions, tomatoes, and a choice of garlic or yogurt sauce. They were humongous and tasty! We had our doeners with beer (cheaper than the water), was a filling and delicious meal. Then, because it stays light out until 10:00 pm (much better than the year-round 6:00 pm Guate curfew), the four of us wandered through some pretty neighborhood streets, with me snapping a picture every 2 feet of every building, because each building was different and full of its own detail! The mixture of old-style and ultra modern buildings kept us interested the entire time.

These two buildings, classic and modern, were right next to each other in a residential neighborhood.

We also found a beautiful church (one of many, I'm sure) in the neighborhood, too.


We found ourselves wiping stupid grins off our faces all of the time because we were so gosh-darned happy and amazed at the culture, lifestyle, and beauty of it all, guided by some of our best friends in the world. We feel so lucky to be on this vacation! After this long, long day, Rob and Linden let us sleep to our heart's desire, which ended up being 13 hours! Then, we were revived for Day 2, with no real jet lag leftover, ready for our next fun day in Germany!