Mannheim Day 2

My second day in Mannhiem, I used the morning to get a little bit more than my fill of the mall experience German Style. I walked over to the Rhine Neckar Centrum shopping center, and wandered through the mall for a bit. While the food stands had a particular German flavor to them (all sorts of good pastries on display), the stores were basically the same as American stores, and the clerks looked as hastled and underpaid as American store clerks, and the shoppers seemed as harried as American shoppers. I ended up filling my rucksack with fresh mall air, and then walked back to my hotel where I met Klaus.

Klaus had a mission for the afternoon. We had to go to the Rhine Pfalz wine area and pick up several cases of wine to be used as Christmas and New Year's gifts for the clients of my three friends. Now that is the kind of Christmas shopping I really love.
The winery looked like most wineries in Sicily and California that I have been in. Endless piles of bottled wine, barrelled wine, and cases of wine. I wonder how long I could live in one of those places if they locked me in with nothing but a cork screw and a barrel tapper. Hmmm, I wonder if I could get locked it. It might be worth it.
The woman who ran the winery was very knowledgeable, and even though Klaus had a particular shopping list for the thirty or so cases he needed to buy, and she was ready for him with the wine, and a little gift of wine for him, she also took the time to give me a taste of several of her wines. I suppose it is a good thing she did, as I ended up buying a mixed case of German wines to be shipped to me, for those times when I get tired of the wonderful wines of Sicily. She spoke some English, and we talked about the wineries she had visited in California, although she thought they could not compare at all favorably with her white wines. She might be right. I don't know, I just know they were good, and I was indeed surprised how good the whites were.

This gave me the idea of spending a week in the wine areas of Germany, or maybe of France, driving from small town to small town, staying in small hotels, and trying all the wines I could. I am trying to talk my friend Carl into just such a trip, maybe next fall. I am also hoping to take a course in wine tasting given by my friend Nino of Hostoria del Vicolo this winter.

After bring the wine back to the office, Lutz joined us on a trip to Speyer. Speyer is a Cathedral City, and the Cathedral is known for having the crypts of 8 German Kings and Emperors, including some who had the title of Holy Roman Emperor. A bit in front of the alter is a huge crown hanging from the ceiling, which I believe may represent the at times bitter feelings between the heads of state of Germany and the Vatican, which had sole authority for seating Holy Roman Emperors.

Fran and I had visited it once, and it is a beautiful Cathedral. This time, Lutz, Klaus, and I did not go in, but just walked by it. As we walked by, the bells began to peel, and the town filled with the noise of the ancient bells. It was about fifteen minutes of wonderful bell music. Walking through the lightly falling snow and the wondrous sound was almost a magical moment.

Across from the Cathedral started the Speyer Christmas Market. We walked through. In many ways, it was like all the other Christmas Markets I had seen, only more so. I tried to keep track of the stands, and I think there were more food and wine stands than there were gift stands. In that way it really reminded me of the Cracker Barrel Fair and the Memorial Day Salute in Fulton. Of course we had to stop and get a bratwurst fresh off the grill as we walked back toward the Cathedral and the Dom Brauhaus, for some of their great local beer.

The next day Petra told me that Klaus and Lutz always go to the Speyer Christmas Market because they have the best bratwurst. I will believe it, and trust their taste and the research they put into the subject.