Our last day in Germany! Who knew we would all survive? Despite being a very dreary and dark (and windy and occasionally rainy) day, Judith (per usual) ensured that Emily and I would have a good last day. We had spaetzel for lunch! For those unlucky souls who don’t know what spaetzel is – it is like German macaroni and cheese (but better!). Judith made it herself. All in all, it was a lovely meal and my favorite in Germany (though the Austrian cake-for-lunch meal was a close second). Another wonderful gastronomic tradition that Germans have is a little thing I like to call a “cake break”. Around 3 everyday they stop and have coffee, tea, and pastries. It’s like British tea-time, but somehow better (probably because of the cake instead of scones). So what with the spaetzel and the three o’clock cake break, I was in heaven.
After lunch, Judith took us to an art museum that is owned by a local magnate. It is also attached to Wurth (the magnate)’s factory (his company makes many industrial products – Judith mentioned screws at one point). The current exhibition was of modern art. Judith seemed to really enjoy most of it but Emily and I did not like it as much. Some of it was really great – Emily especially loved a landscape of Canola flowers (think lots of smudgy yellow). Some of it was typically terrible (or terribly typical) modern art. That is to say, it was blothy/shapeless and titled “unnamed”. Emily had strong opinions about the whole unnamed aspect – in her words, what is the point of creating something if it is totally open to all and every interpretations. I thought she made a good point. Also at one point, one of the docents told me not to touch the wall (it was technically a column, with no art on it). All in all, the trip to the museum was good – except for the persnickety docent.
After the museum we watched the Devil Wears Prada (a classic on any continent). Emily and I proceeded to quote our favorite line for the whole afternoon. In fact, don’t be surprised if you hear one of us say, “By all means, move at a glacial pace. You know how that thrills me” when we get back to Durham (or before). Later Emily and I went for a walk (in the country – because that’s were Judith lives, pastoral paradise). We talked a bit (and laughed a lot more) and grabbed some apples from the trees that lined the path. We also ate some plums. We think we even found Mangoldsall (the mystery vegetable that Judith’s village is named after)!! Basically we saw tons of fields of leafy greens (think kale but light green) and we determined that it must be Mangoldsall. We also saw many many large slugs – they were not nearly as comely as the Mangoldsall.
After the walk (and snack) we went with Judith to the bar where her older brother, Simon, works. It was decorated 70s style so there were lots of orange and brown striped things. It was pretty cool. When we walked in it was kind of empty (we got there around 8:30) but then the place filled up pretty quickly. Clearly they all came to see the crazy Americans. I had hot chocolate – it was very delicious. We stayed at the bar a VERY long time (especially considering the fact that we had to get up at 4:30 AM the next day). Towards the end of our stay Emily and I started to get goofier and louder. If I hadn’t have been so DANG tired, I probably would have tried to calm-it-down. But I was too tired. Emily and I many a funny story up about our friends and almost fell out of our bar stools laughing multiple times. People stared – it was kind of embarrassing. But like I said, we were too tired to care. Thankfully we finally went home and went to sleep. But I didn’t even look at my watch because I didn’t want to see how little time I would have for sleep.
Quotes of the day:
“Apple trees are not very comfortable.” – Emily Gall
Maggie: “Emily, are you excited about our trip to the German bar tonight?”
Emily: “I don’t know, I’ll tell you afterwards.”
Maggie: “I think we’ve been making a scene for the past 15 minutes.”
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| Emily in the apple tree |
Emily: “Try the past week.”
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