Mainau—the jewel of Lake Constance

Early Friday morning, we load our luggage on the Bosch fellows' bus (to take us to Torino for ESOF later in the evening), and board a boat for a day trip to Mainau, an island on Lake Constance known for its beautiful gardens.  I’ve been on boat trips before—most recently on a half-day cruise in the Baltimore Inner Harbor.  Since I don’t know how to swim, I am generally disinterested in water-related activities…that is, until I saw the Sonnenkonigin, the “Sun Queen.”  Holy cow, you call this a boat?  This futuristic space-age looking massive 5-floor “boat” barely fits in the Lindau harbor.  The exterior is so shiny and clean that you can see the waterfront hotel in its reflection. 

 

As I board, I begin singing “I’m on a boat!” excitedly.  Alas, I am met with blank stares.  Really?  NO ONE knows about this T-Pain phenomenon?  Maybe I do spend too much time on youtube.

From the top deck, the view of Lindau is beautiful as ever.  Everything about it is so dreamlike.  I’m really going to miss this charming little town.

 

Inside the boat, I am even more impressed.  Four immaculately clean floors are elegantly decorated.  Each floor boasts its own buffet table and open bar (just water and juice for breakfast; because if you need an eye-opener, it would be a problem).  We sit and eat and I enjoy the free wifi for a while.  There is an MC, a live band, and later, a magician to entertain us.  Wow, really?  You already had me at “buffet,” all these are just icing on the cake, appreciated but not necessary. 

After breakfast, it’s time to explore.  I go outside, up and down, from the front to the back to fully soak in the sun from every angle—under sunscreen protection, of course.  The view afar is a bit hazy due to the morning fog.  The sky and water melt into each other, endlessly blue.  The mirror exterior of the boat is even more fascinating up close, mostly because I can’t believe how clean it is.  Spotless!  At this point I start going camera-happy.  Yes, even more so than usual. 

We arrive at Mainau a couple of hours later.  Before getting off, I snap a picture with the mascots, a griffin and a deer.  I believe they are mascots of the Baden-Wurttemberg state.  I’m not sure why a state would need mascots, but I like it.  Maybe we should adopt the idea in the US, so I can be an Oregon Tree Hugger, or a Maryland Crab Eater (Think these are awful? Allow me to introduce you to my high school mascot—the Fighting Fisherman/Fisherlady; and one of our rivals—the Tillamook Cheesemaker…oy…).

The Sun Queen docking at the Mainau Harbor is an unbelievably beautiful sight.  “Paradise Lost” comes to mind—just the title, not the story.  Again, I feel like I accidentally walked into a postcard.

Our only organized activity for the day is an “Energy and Sustainability” panel discussion with laureates and distinguished guests.  Environment conservation and energy sustainability have been a hot topic in the media in recent years and at this meeting—rightfully so.  It’s encouraging to see top notch scientists actively researching this topic and advocating for our planet.  The panelists present largely the same opinion, that we as a human race are heading toward a perilous direction, and our current rate of energy consumption is selfishly high and unsustainable.  Within the scientific community, most agree with this notion.  However, it remains a challenge to fully convince citizens globally that environmental issues are real and are of dire consequences, and that we must take responsibility and try to solve this problem. 

One interesting question comes from a student in the audience: “with distortion of the truth from some journalists, such as ‘Snow storm in Houston proves that global warming does not exist,’ how do we persuade the public that global warming is indeed a real phenomenon?”  Certain journalists, the panelists explain, sometimes bend the truth to sell their product.  We must do our part and present the overwhelming data that point to an unmistakable trend.  And one panelist brings up an interesting analogy: for those who believe that an increase in temperature by a few degrees is inconsequential, think of the human body: homeostasis is of utmost importance—an increase by a few degrees causes fever, and a few more degrees, death!  Planet Earth is much the same.  Although we might not feel the immediate effect of “a few degrees,” the ecological system has already seen a big change.  When the ice caps melt, we will lose cities, countries, our whole existence. 

And the solution?  Well, for such a complex problem, there is not one simple answer.  We must thinking of many new ways to reach energy sustainability.  Be it creating novel methods of obtaining alternative energy, or implementing existing environmentally-friendly systems (for example: wind energy), we must act fast and do it now.  Of course, everyone should also take part in conservation.  Now, this perfectly aligns with my “3 R” philosophy: reduce, reuse, recycle—in that order.  Dr. Yuan Tseh Lee suggests that we all cut back, because happiness comes not from materialistic possessions but from interpersonal relationships.  Very zen, right?  I agree with what he says, but even as environmentally conscious as I am, it would be very difficult for me to give up my car.  The infrastructure in Baltimore is just not developed enough for me to get to school/grocery stores/anywhere safely via public transportation/bike/walking.  I think this is where the government needs to step in and learn from Europe—public transportation there is so convenient, you barely need a car at all.  Better public transportation would make America even more awesome!

After the discussion, we have some free time to explore the island.  The entire island of Mainau is one giant garden, with a castle in the center. 

Even more impressive is a row of hot new black Audis parked in front of the castle.  Nobel laureates travel in style, apparently.  This is quite a scene, very baller.

By noon, the sun is scorching.  Benyam and I find a restaurant for a quick lunch.  After a week of man food (meat, beer, more meat), I am starting to miss my old days of 80% vegetarianism, so I order a salad for lunch.  This turns out to be a mistake.  I get a plate with a large pile of stuff, composed of little piles of different vegetables.  Why they are not mixed, I don’t know.  And there is popcorn in the salad.  Maybe I should stick to meat in Germany. 

On our way back to the castle, we run into the mascots.  Poor mascots, I am uncomfortably hot in a skirt, I can’t even imagine how they are feeling inside those furry suits.  And this scene immediately makes me fall to the ground laughing, or ROFLMAO, if you will: it is so difficult to walk and see in these costumes, that they each require a guide.  So there they are, walking with a funny gait similar to bilateral foot drop with compensation, and holding hands with their guide ladies.  Mad props for being such troopers, it certainly isn’t a job that I would sign up for.

The closing ceremony promptly begins at 3p in front of the castle.  Several VIPs make speeches about why science and technology are important for our society.  And then, Countess Bettina bids us farewell.  The 60th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting is over—sad, does that mean I have to go back to reality?  The media group comes to hand out a 6-page newsletter—literarily hot off the press—summarizing events from the week.  It is complete with thoughtfully written articles and many photos, including one from this morning’s boat ride on the cover.  Wow, they really set a new standard for efficiency.  When you want something done quickly, leave it to the Germans!

We have a bit more time to hang out on Mainau.  The afternoon heat is getting to me.  Instead of exploring the island on foot, I pick a spot in the shade and just simply enjoy the moment.  Then, look who comes to join me.  OH HAI PEACOCK!

I get an ice cream and am delighted to find that on the nutritional facts label, the units are listed both in kcal and kJ!  In the US food labels use Cal for energy units.  One Calorie is really 1000 calories, or 1kcal.  Of course if you want to go all SI about it, you would use joules, or in this case, kJ.  Since I am a total nerd, I am going to share this photo with you.  How cool is that!! 

On the boat ride back to Lindau, the fun continues.  I meet several new friends, including Akshat, who infamously wrote a parody of my blog entry about packing.  Upon learning that I study breast cancer, Akshat poses an interesting and controversial question: since funding for science is limited, and cancer research has already made much progress, should we temporarily reduce or stop funding cancer research and instead, spend the money on finding alternative energy and fuels?  Tough question.  Undoubtedly, both are important fields of research.  But what is more important?  Ensuring future survival or ending current suffering?  I don’t think I can choose.  While it is true that cancer research has come a long way, we are still far from fully understanding the various diseases that fall into this monstrous category, and finding cures.  So no, I say, we absolutely cannot stop funding scientific research in this area.  At the same time, we should also allocate more money to alternative energy research.  Science is important for all of humanity—I can only hope that those in power recognize this fact and provide more money and resources for research, because in the end, it benefits us all. 

After getting off the boat, the 50 Robert Bosch Stiftung Fellows board a bus to go to Torino for the ESOF2010 conference.  But first, I stop by a bar at the harbor one more time.  Since it is my last German beer for a while, I work up the courage to ask the bartender if I could pour my own beer.  He actually agrees to my ridiculous request!  So here it is , one more drink for the road.  Nine hour bus ride to Torino—piece of cake.

Farewell Mainau, Lindau, and Germany, I sure hope to visit you again soon!

Lindau—memories to last a lifetime

I tried to blog while in Lindau, I really did.  But functioning on at most 6 hours of sleep per day, I just could not allocate any time to blogging. 

Now that the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting is over, I can finally sit still for a moment and reflect on the experience.  And where do I begin?  The whole week felt like a dream.  Hanging out with 60 Nobel laureates and 600 young researchers on a beautiful medieval island over looking Lake Constance—pinch me, is this for real?

Nobel laureates, having reached the pinnacle of success, are treated like celebrities in the scientific community.  Needless to say, it’s interesting to meet them in person and realize that they, too, are humans with diverse backgrounds, personalities, and yes, hobbies.  Many of the laureates are still active in scientific research, although some have switched topics of studies or even fields.  A few laureates have moved onto other career options as educators and advocates.  During conversations with the laureates, I am surprise by how humble many of them are.  Winning the Nobel prize is a REALLLY BIG deal, yet they talk to us like colleagues and show genuine interest in what we have to say.

So what does it take to win the Nobel prize?  From what I’ve heard, luck does play a part.  Being in the right place at the right time helps.  But luck alone is not enough.  Chance favors the prepared mind.  Hard work, innovation, persistence, collaboration with collegaues, and passion for science are important factors too. 

Many of the lectures are available at lindau.nature.com, so I won’t go into the details of each talk.  Instead I will list my favorite moments, in chronological order:

Day 1:

• Meeting Dr. Jack Szostak (2009 physiology or medicine), and discussing his work on the Double Strand Break Repair (DSBR) model of meiotic recombination.  Dr. Szostak and my former PI, Dr. Franklin Stahl, co-authored the paper on the canonical DSBR model.  I read this paper many times during my undergraduate research days, and I finally meet the other author!  Dr. Szostak recalls spending the “most intense” weekend in Frank’s house in Eugene writing that paper, followed by some great skiing.  Work hard, play hard, right?
• Meeting Dr. Hamilton Smith (1978 physiology or medicine), who headed the project on the first synthetic cell (synthetic genome capable of driving self-replication, to be more precise) at the J. Craig Venter Institute.  When this paper came out in Science Magazine a few weeks ago, I was so excited that I posted the link on my facebook status.  And I finally get to ask him how they chose which 14 genes to omit.  The answer: it was random.
• At dinner, I am flanked by two Nobel laureates, Sir Harold Kroto (1996 chemistry) to my left, and Dr. Leland Hartwell (2001 physiology or medicine) to my right.  When does that EVER happen??! 
• The Bavarian polonaise dance: boys and girls line up, pair off, and dance slightly awkwardly…high school much?  It was quite intimidating at first, but I think Sergei, my dance partner, and I manage to do ok.  See the awkwardness for yourself here.
• The dance party continues after the polonaise.  I ask Dr. Agre for a dance, and he graciously agrees.  He is a great dancer, even though his last dance class took place in Reed Hall, when he was a student at Hopkins.  Clearly I’ve missed these lessons at Reed, as I step on his feet… twice. 

Day 2:

• Dr. Roger Tsien’s (2008 chemistry) talk, where he mentions that his group went on Crayola’s website to seek inspirations on naming of their fluorescent proteins.  I’ve worked with tdTomato in one of my graduate school rotation projects, and now I finally know where the name came from… a crayon, imagine that!
• Lunch with Dr. Peter Agre (2003 chemistry), and talking about marathons.  How many scientists-runners have you met?

• Asking Sir Tim Hunt (2001 physiology or medicine) for an autograph (so I’m a science groupie, please don’t judge me), and he draws me the cell cycle!
• Sir Harold Kroto’s talk, where he challenges young researchers to embrace modern technologies and take on a more active role in communication of science.  He also speaks of sustainability and environmental conservation issues—a frequently seen theme at this year’s meeting.  This was one of my favorite sessions.  It’s inspiring to see a world-class scientist becoming a social activist and making his voice heard.
• At the grill & chill dinner, we eat 3 different types of steaks and 2 types of sausages, and consume a large quantity of beer.  There is no bad beer in Germany.  Can you tell that my face is getting rounder?  I’ve probably gained at least 10 pounds by now, and it’s completely worth it. 

Day 3:

• Dr. Oliver Smithies (2007 physiology or medicine), who takes us on a journey of his scientific career by showing pages from his notebooks.  At age 85, he still does bench work and even makes his own buffers!  Here’s the page where he recorded that gene-targeting by homologous recombination works.  My PhD thesis, knock-in of oncogenic mutations in breast epithelial cells, uses a method based on his work.  How cool!!

• At Dr. Richard Ernst’s (1991 chemistry) discussion session, he challenges us to think more of mankind and less of ourselves in order to achieve energy sustainability.  This idea was met with some controversy from the audience.  Several students bring up that it’s human nature to be selfish—from a biological standpoint, we are born to be this way for survival.  So we will never have a world full of Mother Theresas and Gandhis.  I am reminded of the US pharmaceutical industry, where drug companies’ primary goal lies in profits, but in the process, conduct useful research and create new therapies.  I ask Dr. Ernst for his opinion on such situations, and he agrees that there are large ethical gray areas.  The key is to strike a balance between greed and altruism, and realize that as citizens of the world, we share the responsibility to preserve our Earth not only for current residents, but also future inhabitants.
• An evening concert featuring young musicians from all over the world.  Ok, the Stadtheater was a bit too warm, but the music was fantastic.  After dinner, we visit the beergarden again.  When in Germany, do as the Germans do!

Day 4:

• The morning talks in chemistry and physics are out of my league.  They are intriguing but I don’t understand much.  But then one physics talk presents fascinating biomedical applications.  I’m keeping this a secret for now, as it will likely be a part of my presentation at the upcoming Park Lab retreat.
• During lunch with Bosch Fellows who are going to ESOF, I speak fondly of my recent trip to Paris, only to scoffed at by a German guy: “Ugh, Paris smells like urine.”  Clearly, Germans have high standards for cleanliness.
• Dr. Agre gives a fascinating presentation of how he first got involved in basic science research and in more recent years, public health research.  And the link between these two seemingly unrelated fields? Aquaporin, of course.  After his talk, we, the Bmore crew, go to the podium to say goodbye (until we meet again in Torino).  His parting advice to me: “be careful in Italy, Grace, you can’t trust those Italian men.”   
• Sending books back to the US at Deutsche Post was definitely the low point of the week.  Germany achieves total perfection in every aspect, except their post office.  Long story short, we successfully ship out two boxes before the day is over.

• Fantastic Bavarian dinner.  There is music, dance performance, great food and beer, pretzels the size of my head, and most importantly, just before dinner I rescue a monkey, appropriately named Affee (German for monkey):

With that, our stay in Lindau comes to an end.  The meeting goes on for one more day at the island of Mainau, but early Friday morning, we say goodbye to Lindau.  What a whirlwind it’s been.  We come together to celebrate some of the greatest scientific discoveries, and in the process, establish friendships all across the globe.  To my surprise, inspiration comes from not only the laureates, but also my fellow scientists-in-training.  I asked a young chemist why he chose a career in science, and he says: “because I’m curious, I want to know more about the world around me.”  Indeed, curiosity is what led many of us to this business and continues to drive us.  It is a privilege to have the opportunity to discover truths through scientific methods, and advance the world with our knowledge.  I hope I always remember that, particularly on those awful days when every experiment seems to go awry.  Farewell Lindau, I am forever grateful for this experience.

Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting 2010—opening ceremony

First of all, allow me to share the view from my bedroom window.  My apartment is right next to the old town hall, and this is what I see when I wake up:

Lucky me!  In fact, that’s how I feel about this whole experience.  I almost can’t believe that I really am here.  On the way to the registration desk, I run into Jose, my fellow Hopkins attendee.  The registration process is a breeze, and we pick up this giant laureate portrait book.  In an email before the conference, we were warned that the book would be heavy.  But 16.5 pounds feel much heavier now that it’s actually in my hands.

  

Jose and I decide on the spot that we would ship these back to the U.S. rather than hauling them by ourselves to Torino, Milan, and Rome.  After putting these away in our hotel rooms, we head out for lunch.  I keep hearing about the amazing dÖner kebaps so we try one from the little shop next to the train station.  I cannot believe that for €3.30, I get this humongous sandwich nearly the size of my head (and I assure you, I have a rather large cranium!). 

Jose and I sit at a bench in front of the harbor to enjoy our lunch.  Birds gather at our feet to eat the crumbs.  They are not afraid of humans at all, even coming to our hands to take food, very cute.  This is the view during lunch:

We have a few hours before the opening ceremony begins, so we explore Lindau on foot, stopping occasionally for beer and ice cream.  On the other side of the island, we run into a family of swans chilling in the shade.  The babies look like fur balls.  Swans.  Did I really just casually run into some swans?

3p.m., it’s time.  The conference center is full of laureates, students, and journalists.  The air is buzzing with excitement.  I soon discover there are royal VIPs among us—Countess Bettina Bernadotte of Sweden, and Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of Thailand.  At the conference center we find Dr. Peter Agre, who nominated us for this opportunity (thanks a million!!).  Dr. Agre won the Nobel prize in Chemistry in 2003 for his discovery of aquaporin.  How he discovered aquaporin is quite an intriguing story.  Benyam is also here, representing Harvard.

During the ceremony, Countess Bettina speaks elegantly about the history of the Lindau meetings.  She and other speakers bring up the theme of communication and collaboration again and again.  This year’s meeting is the 3rd interdisciplinary meeting, where laureates and students in chemistry, physics, and physiology/medicine are all brought together.  Over 60 countries are represented.  The lectures, discussions, and conversations in the next few days will undoubtedly inspire and motivate us.  In science, when you are studying everything about just one thing, sometimes it’s easy to get lost in the small details and forget the big picture.  A step back and a fresh perspective often brings the best solution—look at the forest not the tree.  My lab is having a brainstorming retreat at the end of July, where each person will present one novel idea on breast cancer therapy.  I hope my fellow researchers, particularly those in chemistry and physics, help me find a cure.

After the ceremony, I have some free time while Benyam and Jose go to a Qiagen meet-and-greet.  I meet Tingting from China, and we chat over a cup of coffee.  She might be going to Stanford soon for postdoc training.  Maybe I will run into her in Palo Alto in the near future.  We explore the island a bit more, and come back to the conference center for dinner.  Oh delicious German food, I can never eat enough of you.

Swans of the edible kind:

The rest of the evening is, of course, devoted to World Cup matches.  Go Germany!

Frankfurt/Lindau—city rhythm and country melody

Bright and early, we set out for Frankfurt.  I experience the autobahn for the first time, it’s exhilarating.  I normally hate driving, but even I would enjoy driving in Germany.  The roads are smooth, and the drivers obey traffic laws—what a novel concept!  The autobahn has no speed limit.  We are in the fast lane, going on average at 200km per hour (125MPH), occasionally going up to the 220 range (that’s almost 140MPH!).  In no time, we make it to Frankfurt.  The city is brimming with pedestrians.  There is a diversity festival going on.  Everywhere we go, music plays loudly.  We go past the city opera to see the stock trading center—supposedly this is the biggest one in the European Union.  Nice place, but it’s got nothing on Wall Street.

Germany is all about preserving historic architecture.  Even in downtown Frankfurt, new buildings can only be added onto, not replace, the centuries-old houses.  The building in the photo below is a perfect example of the extreme measures they are willing to take.  When the city had to construct an underground train station in this spot, they tore down the house but numbered each brick.  Upon completion of the station, they rebuild the house with the original bricks in the exact same order.  Mad props to Germany.

We walk by the newest city galleria, or shopping mall, and I notice something interesting: a giant hole in the wall!

Our stroll takes us to a town square.  This area was destroyed after WWII and later rebuilt to look exactly like it used to.  I suddenly hear loud traditional Chinese music.  Whoah, definitely unexpected.  Turns out this is part of the diversity celebration. 

Finally, we get on the pedestrian bridge on the Main River and cross halfway to admire the city skyline.  After that we stop by a cafe to eat some Frankfurt sausage  and head back to the car.  In comparison to Paris, where there are also large crowds of people on the street, I think the difference is that in Paris, I saw mostly foreign tourists; where as in Frankfurt, most of these people are local residents or tourists from other parts of Germany.  Germans seem to really know how to enjoy life.  I admire their balanced work/play lifestyle.  Of course it’s easier to achieve that balance when you are blessed with beautiful weather and awesome beer everywhere you go.  I can see myself living in Germany happily—this, in my book, is one of the highest compliments for a country!

  

Karen and her husband drop me off at the train station.  I thank them profusely for being such gracious hosts and showing me the best of Aschaffenburg and Frankfurt.  I hope they will visit me, so I can show them the best of Baltimore… on second thought, scratch that, we’ll go to DC.

Onward to Lindau I go! What do you know, the train is late again.  This time, I only have 6 minutes to transition to the second train at Ulm.  I get in at 6:15, I curse a little under my breath, preparing for the second train, scheduled to leave at 6:12, to be already gone.  Luckily, it’s still there!  I sprint (ok, maybe it’s more like a jog, by now my luggage has gotten heavier) to the train and as soon as I get on, doors close and the train starts moving.  Whew.  I think my expectations for German trains were too high.  I’ve heard too many people boast that the trains here are ALWAYS on time, like on-the-dot on time.  I just have to realize that yes, in general they are punctual, but they are people not robots, so a ±5 minute is forgivable.

I reach Lindau just past 8p.m.  The walk to my apartment is easy.  When I get here, I don’t see the landlady.  She is supposed to meet me here to give me the key—we arranged it 2 months ago.  Uh oh, this is another classic Grace mistake—scheduling something weeks or months in advance without a confirmation the day before.  Fortunately I run into one of the media coordinators for the conference (forgive me if you read this, I don’t know how to spell your fancy European name), who helped me call the landlady.  In a few minutes she arrives and shows me the apartment.  She tells me that until my roommate arrives the next day, I am all on my own.  The rest of this building are business offices, which don’t open on Sundays.  She bids me goodbye but promises to come back the next morning to bring me a map. 

After she leaves, I unpack a bit and hop in the shower.  Literarily, as soon as I start to soap myself, I hear a knock on the door.  I completely freak out—ohmygawwwwwd, I thought there is no one else here, who is it how did they even get in the building?  I panic and don’t know what to do next.  Should I ignore it?  Oh, can’t, this person continues to knock.  Should I get dressed first?  Well, that takes at least 10 minutes since I have to dry off first.  So of course I do what in my mind is the most reasonable thing—wrap myself up in a towel and go answer the door.  Why I thought this is a good idea at the time is beyond me.  Had this been a bad person, how would I defend myself?  With my bare hands?  Alas, I am not Chuck Norris.  Fortunately, it’s my landlady dropping off the map. 

I finish my shower in peace, and head out to find dinner.  For a small island town, there sure are a lot of Asian cuisine choices: Thai, Chinese, Japanese.  I choose an Italian restaurant because they are playing the US-Ghana game on a projector.  The food is good, but the game not so much.  After dinner I go on a stroll by myself.  There is a live music performance by the harbor, but for the rest of the island, darkness has brought silence.  Under night sky, tranquility permeates the air. 

 

I stop by the harbor one more time to get a picture of the light house—the symbol of Lindau.  The moon is up, its reflection dances and sparkles on the water. 

I head back to the apartment to get some sleep.  Tomorrow is going to be a good day.

Aschaffenburg—living in a fairy tale

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.

Guten Tag from Germany—wow the Germans really know how to eat!

Remember when I marveled that German trains are ALWAYS on time?  Ok, not completely true.  As soon as I finish writing the last entry, the announcer says something about the train being delayed.  I can hardly understand her English over the intercom, so I don’t know why.  By the time my train gets into Frankfurt, it is 5:33p.  My connecting train to Aschaffenburg is supposed to leave at 5:34p.  Lucky for me, I encounter not one but TWO rare delays in Germany, and make it to the next train with a minute to spare (picture time!).  Whew. 

On the regional train, I immediately notice that Germans dress much more conservatively than the French, especially the men.  Gone are the tight pants marking every contour of well… everything, and tight pastel v-neck shirts.  Here the outfit of choice seems to be khakis pants and a button up shirt—short sleeved for the summer months.  I get to Aschaffenburg, my friend Karen is already waiting there with her husband.  We hop in the car and drive to their house.  On the way, the rolling green hills remind of the Oregon coast. 

Before going to their house, we stop by a supermarket to pick up a few more ingredients for dinner, and to my surprise, an ice cream/coffee shop.  MmmmMmmmm.  I wolf down a dessert that has espresso poured over ice cream.  There’s something crunchy in it too. I don’t know what it is and can’t remember the name, but it’s amazing.  My constant desire to take pictures of EVERYTHING is embarrassing.  But come on, I AM an Asian tourist, so I succumb to the urge.

We get to their house.  It sits at the foot of a hill with a patch of woods behind.  I hear birds chirping.  The air smells so fresh and clean.  Karen’s husband goes off to the kitchen to prepare an authentic German dinner, while Karen shows me her fascinating hobby of post card collection.  I finally understand what she was asking for in a post card from Paris.  Alas, I didn’t get it right. 

Soon, dinner is ready.  We eat in their backyard.  The sun is setting, a small breeze chills the air, yet the brick patio under our feet is warm from being in the sun all day.  Everything smells amazing.  The asparagus is huge—it must be a different variety than what I’ve seen in the U.S.  And the meat—ostrich steak.  Wow.  We toast to friendship with delicious wine from Milan, and the feast begins!  The Asparagus is served with a generous serving of Hollandaise sauce, and the steak, I’m pretty sure, is cooked with a touch of magic.  Everything tastes amazing—I am salivating as I write this.  At the end of the meal, I use bread to soak up the sauces from the plate and eat every last drop.  Karen is quite the chef herself, but she is one lucky girl to have a husband blessed with culinary talent.

After dinner, Karen teaches me how to make tiramisu.  She is great at baking, and even better at teaching.  I hand-beat the egg whites for the full experience.  I wish I had taken photos of each step, but making tiramisu requires my total attention.  Here is the almost-finished product.  After refrigerating overnight, we will add cocoa powder before serving it for dinner tomorrow. 

We’ll be touring Aschaffenburg tomorrow, known as “Bavarian Nice” for its mild climate.  Ah yes, bring it on, vacation, I am ready for you!