Wilhelm Redeemed!

I found this statue of Kaiser Wilhelm I in a park downtown a while ago, but it has taken me a while to get back and take a picture of it. I felt that I had no choice but to post these after experiencing the vitriolic wrath of our own Wilhelm after I posted pictures of “Fancy” Wilhelm. Well this Wilhelm, appears to be a true Manly Man, and is wearing a proper pair of pants to boot.



It was Kaiser Wilhelm II who gave us the immortal saying, “Give me a woman who truly loves beer, and I will conquer the world.” He also brought us a little thing that people at the time used to call, “The war to end all wars”. I’d like to think that title was an attempt at sarcasm, because in hindsight it certainly seems foolish that anyone would believe that. Well perhaps, Neville Chamberlain believed it.


As an aside I would like to see sideburns like that come back into style…

I'll leave you with this quote that has been attributed to an unknown German Monk. I wonder if it was scratched into the back of one of the pews at the monastery.

He who drinks beer sleeps well.
He who sleeps well cannot sin.
He who does not sin goes to heaven.
Amen.

Wurstsalat

Friday a guy from work (Paul) and I went to lunch at the German “cantina/cafeteria” near work. They have display plates of all of the food they are serving that day near the entrance. Much of the time the displays are fairly recognizable; however, sometimes they can trick you. The previous two days nothing has looked very tantalizing (on Thursday a couple of us just turned around and went down the street for Döners). This 2-day stretch came as a surprise to me, because it had generally been pretty good in the past. So on Friday we are looking at the display plates and I see some type of salad on the top shelf. It looks like some kind of washed out pasta salad or something. It did not have much color to it, just a bland, pale, off-tan color. I might have mentioned how it didn’t look appetizing. Then I saw the name, “Wurstsalat”. It may have been the very same instant that Paul asked me if I liked bologna. He told me that Wurstsalat is a traditional Bavarian meal. I knew that I had to try it.

When I got it to the table, I looked at it again. What had looked like washed out pasta was actually gleamingly unctuous, delicious strips of wurst (OK, it was bologna, but they don’t call it that here). The wurst was cut into strips approximately 1/8” X 1/8” X 2”. Into this delicious looking base went some peppers, olives, onions, herbs, and an oil & vinegar dressing. It also had some lighter colored mystery meat-like-substance, but I was not able to identify it. It was served cold, and was really quite good.

Here’s a picture I got off the internet. It came from a site that may actually be dedicated to Wurstsalat, but as it is in German, I can’t verify that. The picture looks quite close to the lunch I had Friday. Just take away the bread and tomato.

Worms (re-corrected)

OK let's try this again...

Just in case you looked at the blog today and thought, "wow, that entry made even less sense than usual", it was because a big portion of it was missing. It has since been corrected.

So without further ado, I present the Worms entry of Tony's Okra Haven in its entirety...

Sunday I decided to take a small trip. I was looking at a book about Germany and saw that the town of Worms (pronounced Vorms) was the one of the areas that makes Liebfraumilch wine. I read that “(the wine style goes) back the two single vineyard sites in Worms, situated next to the Church of Our Lady (Unsere Liebe Frau) known even today as the "Liebfrauenstift" and the "Liebfrauenstift Kirchenstück ". These are the high-quality wines, examples in the USA will usually be by producer Valckenberg, who own most of the vineyard.” I don’t know if it’s supposed to be good, but I’ve liked the ones that I’ve tried. I do know that when I mentioned the style to Emily at the Wine Market in Louisville, she kind of pushed her nose into the air and said (somewhat emphatically, “you didn’t get it here.” Now, I’m not here to drink snooty wine, but I am willing to (just in case anyone decides that they want to come over and buy me a case drink some snooty wine).

I’ve also read that Worms is a neat little town, and being as how it’s not far from here (less than 40 km). I thought it would be a perfect Sunday afternoon trip. So I decided to check it out. I made it there in practically no time on the Autobahn. The Tacoma was cruising down the road at a respectable (or so I thought) 85-90 mph. The CD player was blarin’, the GPS was navigatin’, the cruise control was controllin’, and Audis and BMWs was passin’ me like I was standin’ still.

You need to look to the rear twice when you are on the Autobahn. The first time is just to see if there is a car there, and then you look away before you look back again. You need to do this get a feeling for how fast the car is coming. Let’s just say you’re cruising along at around 60 mph in the U.S. You look at the rear view mirror and see a car really coming up fast. Chances are that car is only going 50% faster than you are (that is roughly 90 mph for The Haven’s “computationally challenged” readers). Now consider that you are cruising along at about 75 mph on the Autobahn, and you look in your rear view and see a car. You look away and before you look back again, the car could be along side you. This guy could be going twice as fast as you are. Which is, as my buddy Dennis in Kentucky would call, “runnin’ like a scalded cat!”

Anyway, I made it to Worms and proceeded to check out the town &c. Being that this was a Sunday there were not many places open, but I did check out a few of the churches and such. The first was St. Peter’s Cathedral which, like most things around here see to be, was undergoing rehabilitations. However, being as it was originally built in the 12 century, I’m willing to cut it some slack. It is really beautiful. The interior is incredibly ornate in some places, and very stark and simple in others.

I also got a couple of pictures of St. Paul’s Church which used to be, and maybe still is, a Monastery.



Then it was on to see some remnants of the city wall. Apparently the city had recorded maps of it’s walls in the 10th century. A brochure I picked up says that Worms is the oldest town in Germany. Maybe I need to come back and pay more attention next time.



I walked down along the Rhein for a bit. When I got to the end of the path I looked over to my left and saw the Liebfrauenkirche itself.



I saw in another brochure that the church is supposed to have some great stained glass windows. I also saw on another website that there is a church just across the river from Wiesbaden that has windows by Marc Chagall. And another church just down the road a piece that has an ossuary in the back. According to the website it contains the bones of 20,000 skeletons that are from the years 1400 to 1750.

I’ve got to see that!

Hey Jimmy, look what I found along the Rhein in Worms…

But you can't push Willy 'round, Willy won't go...

I’ve decided to take the apartment in Wiesbaden. I realize that you are just wishing that I’d move in somewhere and quit rambling on about it. Well you can just piss off, because I’m going to ramble on some more today. I decided Friday, and am going to try to get an appointment with the housing office to review the lease this week. With any luck I’ll be able to move in this sometime around this coming weekend. This will put me in the apartment just in time for the one hundred and thirty third running of the Kentucky Derby. If I calculate correctly (and let’s face it, it’s not that tough of a calculation) the race should go off at around midnight here.

Can you think of a better way for me to get to know my neighbors? And possibly some members of the Wiesbaden police force?

Actually, I think there will only be one other person in the building. They are just starting to rent it, and my building was the first one done. The one on the side is almost done, and the one in the back will be ready in about 2 months. There are 11 units in the three buildings. My building has four. It’s really very nice, a whole lot nicer than I’m used to. In fact I was thinking yesterday that it’s probably too nice for me.

Oh well, too late … there goes the neighborhood.

I met with Frau Huber for lunch Saturday to give her my information for the lease. We ate at a little place in town that I had passed before, but I had never stopped in. I had the Frischer Spargel (fresh white asparagus) w/Schnitzel. I can now verify that the white asparagus does make your pee stink just as much as the green stuff does.

This lunch meeting put a stop to any plans to go somewhere this weekend. At least anywhere far. I wanted to take a train trip to Munich or Trier or someplace. I did go to the open-air market, and did a couple of laps around Wiesbaden before heading to the Paulaner for dinner (had the spaetzle again, and lord was it good).

During my walking around I took a picture of a statue that I had seen before. The title on the base says “Wilhelm I”. Since a favorite commenter to The Haven calls himself Wilhelm, I thought I’d get a picture of it. I think you’ll agree that Wilhelm I (or his statue at least) does strike quite a dashing figure.



But there was something that bothered me about it. Upon further inspection, it seems like Wilhelm was a bit of a “Fancy Boy”. Can I express my disappointment here?



I mean just look at that puffy skirt, or whatever it is. And are those tights? I took the second picture from a different angle to see if Willy’s “junk” was hanging out.

That doesn’t make me gay ... does it?



Extra points to the first to write in with the song and the band referred to

House in Hattenheim - *SOLD*

The guy with the house in Hattenheim sold the place. Tomorrow evening I go with Frau Huber to meet the landlord of the Penthouse. I'm going to try to get my truck into the parking garage. If it fits, I think I'll be living in Wiesbaden. If not, it looks like I'll be the dirty old man who lives downstairs from Big Boobs McGee.

It seems like this truck is running my life right now. And today I found out that my household goods got here 2 weeks ago. I had to call them. Of course as it seems to be the M.O. around here, the transporation office had no idea how to contact me. I must have filled out 20 forms with my new address on it before the movers left with my stuff. I guess this is all a part of the government's "Reduction of Paperwork Act".

Purchases and First Impressions

So after writing glowingly about the apartments in Hattenheim, and Agnes’ rack, another monkey wrench was thrown into my plans. Frau Huber showed me a place in Wiesbaden that was great. It’s relatively close to downtown, and is real close to the other apartment I looked at in Wiesbaden. It comprises the top two floors of a brand new building, and there is underground parking in the rear. It is also right across the street from, and has a pretty good view of the woman sunbathing in, a park. It has four balconies (two face the park), and floor to ceiling windows/sliding doors that take up the entire front and rear of the apartment. All of the windows have Venetian blinds built in between the panes of glass that are operated electrically. It’s got a good sized kitchen on the park side, two bedrooms upstairs, and a full bath on each floor. It is really pretty great. I’m going back to meet the landlord on Thursday. My only concern is that there are hardly any places in this area that have air conditioning, and it will be hot on the fourth floor of the building. If it gets too hot in Hattenheim, I could always crash in the basement

I’m still sort of leaning toward the house in Hattenheim, but this place definitely comes in a close second. Sorry Agnes. I should find out tomorrow if I can get the place in Hattenheim. If not, my decision is made. If it is offered to me…well…I might just have to go with Hattenheim. It would be the difference between a half hour commute and a 10 minute commute, but it might be worth it.

On a different note I picked up a couple of interesting items at the store this weekend. I bought a case of Paulaner Original Munchner Hell. It is a very good beer and comes in a sporty carrier.



But I didn’t know how sporty until I lifted up the side bars and look what happens…



It’s like magic I tell ya! Instead of looking like a complete klutz (and lush) lugging a case on my shoulder up the elevator, I can now gracefully stroll past the desk and up the stairs. Will wonders never cease?

Another great item I picked up was “Party Balls”. A jar of very small (ball shaped) sausages.



I just had to buy them when I saw them. And although I haven’t tried them yet, I’m sure they are great. They may even cause a spontaneous party to break out just by opening them. I think you'll have to agree, they do look somewhat “party-like” or at the very least, festive.

And what would Party Balls be without…



They have a Mini version; however, I thought I might impress the cute cashier by purchasing the Super size.







...it didn’t seem to work though…

Kloster Eberbach and Hoherodskopf

I looked at two more apartments this Saturday in Hattenheim which is a little town just down river from Eltville. Nice views from each place, and they are only about 200 meters from one another. The first one was an apartment and I would have the ground floor and the basement. Above me would be Agnes (with her enormous rack), and in the Penthouse is Peter the owner of the building. He’s a pilot with Lufthansa. Peter’s view from his back balcony is fantastic; mine would simply be nice because I’m much lower. There is a vineyard literally right outside of the back yard, and a view of (the remains of) a castle, and the Rhein River.

The other place I looked at was a house that is closer to the Rhein, but also closer to the road and the train tracks. Roughly the same view, but a quite a bit better because it has a 2nd floor balcony.

I should find out around the middle of the week if I can get the house or not (he’s got others looking at it as well). If I can’t get the house, I’ll take the apartment. Agnes cuts the grass and does the gardening, so there will be plenty of chances to catch her bending over from where I’ll be situated. She also seemed pretty pleased with the opportunity to have someone who likes to cook living in the building. I think she also had eyes on using my pickup truck.

I didn’t have an appointment to look at these places until 1500 (that’s 3:00 PM for you civilians and Americans). Since my appointments were later on in the day, I came out to Hattenheim early and drove around and took a walk for a bit in the vineyards. Hattenheim is a very small town and the streets there are very tight. Being that I have a pickup truck it was important to me to find an easy way into the apartments. I was driving through the constricted streets of this town, and people were diving into doorways to get out of the way. I felt like I might need to fold in my side mirrors to keep from scraping the windows on the houses. I managed to work out a way to get to the apartments without having to go through town, so I drove over and parked near the apartments. I was still about 20 minutes early, so I went for a little walk.

There is a wine restaurant just a ways down the street from the house I was going to look at, but it was closed. I noticed another wine place that a gentleman was walking out of. I walked over and he let me inside. As it turned out this was not a wine restaurant or even a bar, but was a retailer (maybe wholesaler) for the winery. I sat down in a chair and he asked me what kind of wine I wanted. I said that I wanted a “halb-trocken” or a semi-dry. He let me try about three of them before I had to leave. They were all good and I felt obliged to buy a couple of bottles. So I purchased 2 bottles (one was a 1.0 liter and the other a 0.75 liter bottle) for about $13. “Oh, I’ll be back” I said as I was leaving.

One of the guys I work with came out to look at the apartments with me. He speaks German pretty well, and could ask the questions that I couldn’t. His wife is also German, and she came along too. After we checked out the places we were planning to go up to Kloster Eberbach, which is an old monastery that has since turned into a hotel/restaurant/winery/meeting place/etc.

As we were leaving the apartments, I told Jeff which way to go to get to the Kloster. I was following him and we missed the turn. We reached a dead end, so we turned around. I told Jeff where he missed the turn, and we started back, only to miss it again. I flashed my high beams at him and pulled up along side him. He said that a sign said that it was a dead end. Being as how I do not know German and he does, I continued to follow him. And I followed him through the very narrow streets of Hattenheim that I was trying to avoid. It was tight, but the Tacoma and I managed to come through unscathed.

I think Kloster Eberbach was originally a Cloister (Kloster) of nuns, which became a monastery later on. The monks used to make wine there, but I think the whole deal has been taken over by the State now. They do still make a Kloster Eberbach wine, but I don’t think it’s made on premises. I posted a picture of one of there wines earlier. They also have there own beer; however, I’m not sure if they brew it themselves or if it is contract-brewed for them. It was pretty good though. I had a Helles, which is a pale lager bier. It was called Kloster Hell, which I thought was pretty funny.

We decided to grab a bite to eat. I saw that they had the Jellied Suckling Pig on the menu. How could I not order this? So I did. The jellied pig was basically little bits of meat that were cooked, then cooled and suspended in gelatin. It was served in ½ cm slices with an herb cream sauce, and some fried potatoes. It was all pretty good.

Sunday I went out with Jeff and his wife to visit a friend of hers northeast of Frankfurt. The plan was to have lunch and then do a little hike on a trail in the woods a couple of miles away. We stopped at a small bier garten for lunch. I had Spargel with Hollandaise sauce and pork schnitzel. Spargel is the German name for asparagus, only they don’t let the asparagus get green. I think that they do this either digging it up before it breaks the surface, or by constantly covering it and then digging it out. It basically prevents the photosynthesis from turning the plant green. If you’ve never had white asparagus, it has a much more subtle flavor and doesn’t get as woody as green asparagus does (if you don’t pick it soon enough). Spargel season is big around here, in fact it gets top billing on the menus. Instead of Schnitzle with asparagus, you get asparagus with sauce, and some schnitzle. I didn’t eat enough of the spargel to know if it makes your pee stink as much as normal asparagus; however, it is in season now so there will be plenty of opportunities. I may just have to take one for the team and experiment with it.

So we went out for a hike on this trail in an area called Hoherodskopf. A hiking club from the area had built this big tower called the Bismarckturm years ago on the highest point in the area.



The idea is that you have a 360-degree view from the top. We went up and I took some pictures, but it was a little hazy in the valleys, so they don’t show up very well.



Near the bottom of the monument there is a small sign that tells of Saint Bonifatius (Boniface). Apparently he used to baptize the heathens very near to there, and he is credited with bringing Christianity to Germany.





After the hike we went back to Jeff’s wife’s friend’s house and had coffee and gooseberry pie. The view from her place is just amazing. Apparently some German Prince used to own all the land around there. It is very rural and beautiful.

But then it became Monday and I had to go back to work…