Karen and I begin our day in Aschaffenburg the proper way—in a pastry shop. Why are baked goods in Europe so much superior to those in the U.S.? The coffee too—it comes out of a do-it-yourself machine, but tastes 1000x better than Starbucks. Germans like to use apples in their desserts, by the way, and that is what those slices are.
We arrive at the Schloss Johannisburg castle by 9a.m., and take a quick tour through it. The place is huge. We both think that it might be a pain to actually live here—it would take 20 minutes just to get out of the house! Supposedly Napoleon lived here for a while, though the interior decorations are not nearly as fancy schmancy as his apartment at the Lourve. We rush through the museum. Having recently seen so many famous masterpieces, I feel that it’s ok to browse the paintings here quickly. An hour later, we make it out of the castle and walk around and visit the garden nearby. I think this castle’s exterior is its best feature.
Next up on the agenda: shopping. Don’t judge, it’s just a girl thing. Anyway, we get some really great deals, including shirts that cost only 4.90 euro. YES! When we are tired, we sit at a sidewalk cafe for some beverages. So what if it’s barely noon? I order a beer and tell myself this is Germany where beer never stops flowing. Besides, it’s grapefruit flavored, that makes it almost a soda.
We then visit two Catholic cathedrals: Stiftskirche and Sandgasse. Though modest in size, both are elaborately decorated. Karen tells me that in Germany, those who belong to a church have offering/tithes directly taken out of their pay checks and deposited into the church’s bank account, almost like a tax.
We stroll around town. It’s striking to me how many incredibly cute houses there are. As an added bonus, there are beer gardens tucked between these houses on just about every other block. I can’t help but think that life here must feel like a fairy tale come true. I mean really, look at this:
There is a folk festival in town for a few more days—kind of like a carnival. We eat a hearty lunch (I had this pork and onion dish in a tomato-based sauce) at the festival food stands, then go on a haunted house ride. Then I remember, I kind of hate haunted houses because I get really scared and scream super loudly. After that, the only way to comfort ourselves was another trip to a beer garden.
Feeling better, we head back to Karen’s house. Karen and I work on a craft project creating collectible post stamp cards while her husband works his magic in the kitchen again. German food is amazing. Today we eat inderrouladen--beef rolls with bacon and onions inside, slowly simmered for over 2 hours. Dinner is served with beer from a 300-year-old bavarian brewery. Again, the Germans know how to eat. I eat and eat and eat until I almost feel sickly full.
Oh did I mention that Karen taught me how to make tiramisu and we had some before dinner?
What a relaxing lifestyle. Germany, I think I love you.
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