Germany: The Muzzerland

Day 1:

In the morning, Mandy and I went to cafe and people watched and found people to draw while eating crossaints and drinking coffee. There really is something nice about the local morning cafe run that it seems Parisiens take. It is like the inverse of hitting the pub on the way home.



After we checked out of our hotel, Mandy and I took the train to meet Isabel in Frankfurt. Isabel is an old friend and one of my favorite people in the world. She spent a year abroad as a foreign-exchange student at my high-school in Texas. We have corresponded in some form or another since high-school, but have have not seen each other in person in 14 years. But when we met, it was just like old times and extremely comfortable...other than the German on the TV it was like we were visiting friends next door. Arndt and Izzy were the best hosts, and we had a great time staying with them.



We way overpacked for the trip. My suitcase was probably 65 lbs+. Isabel and Arndt live at the top of a very nice building, so we had a nice workout bringing our luggage up to their place.



That night we walked to the grocery and Isabel and Arndt cooked us a nice German meal, we had bratwurst and some of Arndt's families homemade Schnapps.



DAY 2:

Our first morning there was St. Nicolaus day, and Isabel made little Nicolaus' for breakfast, that were quite pretty and tasty.


After breakfast we walked into town and went to the market to pick up some things for dinner that night. Frankfurt is an interesting city, it seems so much bigger than Austin, but according to Isabel the population is smaller. It think it is because the city is so compact and much older and built up than Austin. We had some nice champagne, and saw this fellow who was a walking hot dog stand. We also went to a comic store where I picked up a Captain America in German.

Me, Mandy, and Isabel in Frankfurt.

Afterwards we went exploring in the Frankfurt Christmas markets, these are really something to see with all manner of treats and crafts.

I think these guys were celebrating a soccer victory by singing and ingesting lots of Gluhwein.

That night Isabel and Arndt treated us again to some home cooking making Spaetzle, and we ended the evening making another attempt to kill the bottle of Arndt's family Schnapps.

The next morning, after taking a leisurely stroll through historic parts of the city and hitting a cafe, Mandy and I caught a train to Heidelberg. Here is a view of the "Philospher's Walk" from our hotel window. We never made the trek, because we are not philospher's and because it was really cold.

Heidelberg has a big Christmas market that my mother always wanted to go to, so we went by proxy.

We ate a lot of foods that I will now kill the spelling thereof: Flammkuchen, Kartoffelpuffer, bratwurst, curry fries, mandeln, and much more. I wanted to try one of everything.

The giant pyramid in Heidelberg

The wife imbibing.

The next day we explored the city some more and found industry standard souvenirs for some of the crew at Powerhouse. We had a great lunch, I had a grilled pan of meats (below) and ate the whole thing.

After lunch we took the train back to Frankfurt and lugged our luggage back to Isabel and Arndt's. We caught up with Isabel for some drinks and went to the market for some Raclette supplies.

Raclette is this tremendous melted cheese on pickles and meats that you melt yourself through this little device. I wish I would have taken pictures, so instead Mandy is getting a Raclette grill for Christmas, and we will have to have a party and take pictures then. Afterwards, we finally killed the bottle of Schnapps, and packed for the trip back home.

The flight home was miserable. I sketched people on the plane, watched 4 movies, and finished season 3 of the Venture Bros. and still was going stir crazy. When we got back to Texas we hit Hoovers for some southern comfort food and went to bed after not sleeping for 24+ hours.

All in all, it was a fabulous trip. I will miss Arndt and Isabel, and the cafes and art in France, but I think they make those return flights so bad to get you to be happy to be back home.