Bavaria: Beer, Bridges, and BMWs

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This'll be a long tale tell, and this confusing Deuscht keyboard is going to make it even longer to tell:

My last two days in Israel were thorougly exhausting since I made a last minute decision the night before I left to visit a friend of mine in Jerusalem at his new apartment. I made it there fairly late around 11PM and went to his house where I spent the whole night doing absolutely nothing but reminisciing etc, until at some unbelievably late hour I tried to sleep in the living room and failed miserably due to the youths lounging there. I got up at painfully at 6:30am and grumpily, cancelled my plans to visit the campus I was forced to live at for 3 months, found a bus and quickly found myself floundering in an unconcoius state all the way back to Tel-Aviv and figured out I slept through an entire traffic jam since the ride was over an hour an a half.
The rest of my last day in Israel was spent packing, unpacking, fussing, tossing an umbrella about, and most importantly I was eating Hummus all the while. I went out and about to the english used book store, and number of last minute biking while shopping errands as I enjoyed the odd weather of isolated rains falling at their wishes when and where they wanted.
Finally all packed and set that evening, my cousin Amit kindly gave me a final ride to the airport though I had intened to go by train, as I had come. I told him I'd be back in another 15 years with a large does of sarcasm, and we parted hoping that my next visit to Israel would be longer.
My flight worked out incredibly well. Seems tourism to Israel is dead after the war, so the plane had 100 seats(more than half) open, letting me able to bring some of my very excess baggage on board and place it next to me as I slept on my row of 3 chairs as we headed out at punctually at midnight. The flight attendents were all in good humour and showed off their English as I soon learned most of the German population has few qualms with. Less else to say on the flight since I soon was on the way to making up the yesternight's mistake. Waking up 4 hours later we began descending to Cologne-Bonn airport, some where in the western Germany known as the Rhineland.
At this point I started following a set of instructions given to me by cousin Omri as to how I was going to arrive at his place. But first it being 5AM I had to go find a comfortable couch and rest until my 6AM train came by. I was a little beaten by the airport archietechture being solelz from glass and giant iron bars in weird geometrical shapes. The ceiling above my couch was of shaded white glass and the shadows of people walking above me were quite amusing to watch as their feet pressed through, and their bodies flew over them in which ever direction the lights above threw them.
The immaculate machine like feel of Germany's perfeciton in all aspects was getting to me already, but I was consoled when the train ticketing machine stole 4 Euros from me in change and I had nothing to do but smile and ponder the touch of irony. The train/tram came more or less on time and completely empty and we soon made off with the high buzz it emitted all the way to ,*breathes*,
Neiderdollendross. I being completely messed in schedule considering the fact the hour is the same in Israel as in Germany, yet the sun shows up at 5 quite quickly and when I had reached *sigh* Neiderdollendross at 6:30 it was blacker than a raven's aura. I stood about the platform for sometime, hid my bags in a corner and took a short walk on the dead streets as to acustom myself with European air, promenades, and funny railroad crossings with pogo sticks that stopped the barriers from hitting the ground(they hop!).
At around 7AM, darkness still abiding, local church bells ran wild and reminded me the roots of this country with a nice harmony. Finally, as my instructions told me "A large man, large green hat, named Oliver, 7:15, outside platform" showed up in the form of a fairly average size with a small green cap, though the name Oliver seemed to fit the bill. He was part of my *exhale, inhale* Mitzfahrtcentrale...ShareRideCentral(or more sensibly, a paid, reserved hitchhike.) Oliver, a skinh-, I mean bald fellow still of youth was driving an hour past Nurnberg(500KMs away just to visit his girlfriend) and was going to deliver me about 400KMs to where Omri could receive me. Luckily, Oliver was a friendly, smart, and majored in English so we spoke for some time, and we both had a relative trait of traveling in India recently, though he in the south. I was not accustomed to Neider's tiny thin street that ran its middle and I flinched often as BMWs, Audis, and all those other shiny cars passed by quickly going to their work at 7:30. It was still dark, and the sky being densly overcast made it so I could not get a glimpse until around 8 when a dark blue filled in and I took in the Rhineland.

How to describe it? As a matter of fact I'd rather not, but I was heavily reminded of Iowa but with a more open setup. Towns being dotted left and right as they wished, the road curving heavily, forest covered hills in the distance constantly, and really really fast cars going gliding by quietly. Soon enough the clouds did their job, and rain was falling fairly consistently on us for sometime giving the Autobahn we reached and all the surroundings a heavy grey sheen to everything. After bypassing Frankfurt some hours later we jumped out at a rest stop, and I found out a few important things. It's colder in Bavaria than in the Rhineland, and bathrooms in Germany cost money though bushes don't. Eventually before noon, Oliver and I reached a gas station 40KMs before Nurnberg, waited outside freezing for sometime as we waited a few for Omri to arrive.
He came flying in soon enough, and I left Oliver quite pleased at paying what was once a great deal when I traveled 2 months earlier, but paying less than half the fare of the trains. The ride was a success and I quite envied the Germans for setting up so sensible a product as nation-wide lift service to save money, gas, and loneliness(though Omri mentioned he's heard of some horrible rides thanks to less than enjoyable drivers).
Anywho enough of the pandentic writing so I'll be abit brief: 4Kms later we had reached Höchstadt(you won't pronounce it right even if I made a guide) and have been observing rural Bavarian life since. And I must say it'pleny pleasant. Omri, his two daughters(they're great), and I went the first night to the synagouge on a dark, long, and windy ride to Bamberg, a nearby city with a law school and a great deal of nicely styled buildings. Met the odd Jewish population of the area with one actual local; many russians; an Israeli couple and kids; and an ancient American army officer from Chicago whose been in Germany for 30 years, and wants me to meet his daughter next time I come.
The next two days have been quite serene and impossible to complain about. I've done some long trips into the local forest which is just damn perfect other than the sounds from the highway on the far side, and the local fruit selection is a nice addition. A great highlight undoubtably was my first run at a pub, and as in every Bavarian town, it brews its own blend of really damn good beer, which for a reasonable price a pint will be thrown down in front of you in an uncanny atmosphere of wood, beer, smoke, irish music, and laughs. I gave a taste to the 3 main draughts of Heles(light), Pilz(dark), and Weider(sweet, mhmmm) all the while Omri giving me a heavy and thorough education on beer and its role here and abroad.

But enough, my hands are cramping rightfully so, and I must still make some more notes on locality and alocohol consumption, and cigarette vending machines on every block.
I have yet to make it to a German city so my impressions may be very awry, but I'll make it to Nurnberg sooner than later.

ma naem ist Davey




P.S. I can't access my email here so temporary contact is at [e-mail]

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Comments

[Deb Roberts Grego's mom]

thanks
Hey Davey, I'm really enjoying your writings, you have a style of your own and a book in the making.......though it's your adventures in Dingle I really look forward to, and if it's beer you like Ireland will be the place! All the best, Mom of Grego

[T]

Wow
Wow, thats really....interesting...actully, kinda cool!