Germany - Frankfurt area

Off to Germany I went. The trip to Munich and Aschaffenburg was easy, and Nadja was waiting for me at the station. As it was fairly late, we simply drove to her home outside Frankfurt in Maintau, where her husband had just arrived home from giving a final exam to his technical students. We sat around a had a bit of whiskey and talked about where our lives had taken us in the year since we had seen each other. Ralf and Nadja had gone to Mauritus, and because of overbooking, they had been asked by Emirates airline if they could fly a day early. Because they had agreed to extend their vacation in paradise by one day. the airline then gave them free tickets to anywhere to be used within a year. They were happily preparing to return to Mauritius, where they had found a group of friends, and had presented a lecture on the state of Marxism in Germany and the world.

The next day, while Ralf again worked with his students, Nadja and I went shopping for groceries for the meeting that she would be hosting for the group of Doctors who have a political organization of which she is executive director. Then we drove off to Ashaffenburg, stopping along the way at a Bavarian Beer Store, which had beers from all over Bavaria. Nadja picked up some mixed cases of Christmas and Winter beers, and I bought a few of the local beers to take along to Mannhiem when I went there. It is my second time at the store, and the place never fails to amaze me. Along with the beer, they gave Nadja two free mugs, and she gave one of them to me as a souvenir. I took some great pictures there, and later, and they have all disappeared from the camera. Again, learn to use a new camera before you take important picutes with it.

Anyway, we went on to Nadja's parent's house, where we were greeted with coffee and Christmas cookies. Her father is retired from Volvo, and they were a wonderful couple, with a lovely and warm house. We had been using their car, so her father dropped us off near the castle, and we walked around the castle into the old downtown area. The castle was not only huge, but also beautiful, looking over a bend in the river. It was closed to visitors, however we were able to get into the central court yard, and see through some windows to the interior.

Then we did a quick turn of the Christmas Market, looking for a little statue of Santa's (black) helper, similar to Black Peter in the Netherlands, but could nto find any. There were of course plenty of wurstel (sausage) and Gluwien (hot spiced red wine) booths around, but we tried to steer clear of them.

Then we did a tour of the Cathedral and the old part of town. The Cathedral of St. Peter and Alexander had some beautiful paintings by Mathis Gothard Niethard from the 16th century, and there was a group of elementary students practicing for a Christmas pageant. It was wonderful.

After wandering around a bit more in the town Nadja had grown up in, we stopped at the Schlappeseppel Brauhaus for a local beer. Ah, soo good. They also had a wonderful old poster of how beer is made, and I took a picture of it. Again, get to know your camera before you take important pictures.

Nadja's sister met us at the Brauhaus, and took us to her house, after picking up the beer that we had stashed at her parent's house. I was amazed when I got out of the car and looked in the window. Her husband was working on the computer, and there was a large thank you message on the screen from SOS Kinderdorf. This was a charity that my cousin Eva Kallir helped found and worked for, originally taking care of German and Austrian war orphans, and now taking care of dependent and neglected children around the world. Every Christmas I remember my mother putting a card on the tree from SOS Kinderdorf thanking her for her contribution. It brought back such nice memories for me. When I talked to Willy about it, he said that he makes a contribution to them every Christmas.

We sat down to a feast of wonderful German sausages and pates and breads and cheeses (and, by the way, beers and wines), and talked about America. Nadja's sister asked what I missed about America, and I said fresh peanut butter. She laughed. She had lived in Portland for six years while Willi worked there, and she started listing all that she missed, much of it having to do with the music scene, heavy metal, and that whole subculture. She then asked her husband what he missed about being in America, and he thought for a while, and then said nothing. Their son said he missed some of his friends, but he had new friends here, and was looking through a catalogue to determine what he would need to get for Christmas.

Nadja's sister then drove us home, where we had a nightcap, and Nadja prepared for the meeting the next day.


So it was off to Frankfurt, and as she hosted the meeting at Goethe University, I took the tram into the centro, bought my train ticket for the next day, and wandered through the Christmas Market. After being to a few Christmas Markets, I have found it much more fun to people watch than stuff watch, although I did succumb to the temptation of a Gluwien, and I also found a book store that had a wonderful selection of boxed sets of music for almost no money, so I bought Nadja and Ralf a collection of American Folk Music, and Carl a Dave Brubeck set. I also found the International Book Store (right where it always was) and got a new poster and a book by Enzo Apicella, a wonderful left wing cartoonist who is from Milan and now lives in London.

I met Nadja after the meeting, and we went to her house and picked up Ralf, and headed to the local Brauhaus for some of their local beer, along with a wonderful dinner of wild boar in a delicious sauce.

Thank you Ralf and Nadja for a wonderful stay at your house. I am so sorry that the pictures did not come out. Well, one did come out, of a great mural, near the sudbahnhof, I think.