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Published: March 14th 2007
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We arrived in Germany exhausted, and headed for the hotel where we waited for my cousin, Michael. Once he arrived, we went to the hotel restaurant for dinner, where I cheated a little and had steak and french fries. It was great to see Mike and listen to his stories about his recent travels and future plans. I was almost too tired to stay awake for the meal, but I managed to remain conscious through dinner, the ride to Mike's apartment, and talking until 11. Finally, I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer, and I crashed for thirteen hours straight.
The plan for Monday was for Mike to return home at lunch and spend the afternoon with me. After I showered and turned back into a human being, we walked outside into
Biebrich so that I could walk around while he ran an errand. Biebrich was small, but cute - I quickly learned that outside of the metropolis of
Frankfurt, it was important to attempt to speak some German and not just launch into English. Mike gave me some key phrases and pointed out the sights for me to catch, and I was on my way.
I was
still missing my new Barcelona friends, and feeling lonely in a place where I could hear no English, so I just walked along the street silently until I reached the
Rhine River. I could see
Mainz, the local college town, in the distance and there was a wonderful walkway with park benches to relax on and small docks for tour boats. I especially liked the statue of a woman sitting on a brick wall that looked so real it took me several minutes of surreptitious staring to figure out that it wasn't. Along the Rhine at the back end of the
Schlosspark Biebrich is a palace-type building. Its pinky-peach color stood out in stark contrast to the gray clouds of the day and I walked around it slowly, taking in the work being done on the fountains and the interesting architecture.
A woman speaking only German handed me a pamphlet that I think had something to do with the end of the world, and I was proud of myself for smiling and saying "danke."
I continued my stroll in the park to a small fountain, whose water was being blown around by the stiff breeze. Since I had time to
kill, I sat on a bench next to the water and did some thinking as I watched the runners and people out with their dogs. There was an awful lot of activity in the park for a Monday morning. After spending a while at the fountain, I walked down a tree-lined path towards the castle remains at the other end of the park. I had been surprised to learn a couple of things from Mike during our ride the night before: 1) there are a lot of tree-lined streets and parks in Germany (I guess I thought it would be more industrial and less natural); 2) there is no real urban sprawl - towns are very contained within themselves and are connected by farmlands and highways; 3) the autobahn is not one road, but a network of highways - it all makes a lot more sense now.
I finally arrived back at the little castle, where there were young kids exuberantly feeding the ducks in the pond. I snapped some pictures of the castle and figured out where to exit to end up by the Biergarten on the corner of Mike's street. I used the spare set of keys
to let myself in and waited for Mike to return.
When he did, he announced that today was to be my "
Wiesbaden day." We drove into Wiesbaden and parked at the Arms Hotel, where I had to show my passport when Mike showed his military ID. We walked into town and talked and I watched as the scenery gradually changed to reflect and older, more classical style as we neared the walkplatz and the center of town.
Mike was intent on giving me some of the best pictures, so we saw the cathedral there - with its dark brick color and tapered towers, it reminded me of the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona. It was wonderful to walk along the old cobbled streets and see the Kirpark, with its long grassy knolls and fountains, and walk through the lobby of the casino, with its muraled vaulted ceilings and marbled floors. It really was something to be in awe over.
After spending the afternoon walking around Wiesbaden, we headed back to Mike's place to take a break and watch a movie - that night, I was to meet his friends at dinner.
We arrived at the
Dortmunder first, an
authentic Wiesbaden restaurant. Dinner was lovely. I was regaled with stories of Mike's partying, ate real German food, but didn't practice any of my German. The highlight of the meal was when one of Mike's friends went to the bathroom and mixed up the German words for male and female - which would have been understandable, except that there was a picture of a little girl with pigtails on the potty on the door to the ladies room. We had a good chuckle over that!
After dinner, we headed to
Brown Sugar, a low key bar that reminded me of a tiki bar. We finished out the evening by wandering along looking at antiques in the windows of passing stores before heading home. Quite a first enjoyable day in Germany!
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Aunt Joan
non-member comment
Cool!
Hi, Lins! What a treat to read your blog about your first trip to Germany to see Mike only 2 months after he returned from Iraq! You're a special cousin and we know it picked up his spirits to have you visit. Great photos! God bless and protect you as you continue your travels for business and pleasure!