Our last Saturday night in Worms

I had seen all the signs advertising shopping until midnight on May 29. I didn't think much about it until I went downtown. It really was full blown street fair with bungee jumping in Ludwigsplatz. It was a really great evening.

I watched the bunjee jumping for quite a while. Only one time did they come back down without a jump. The poor guy looked like he was going to faint. It a good thing they put a tether on the jumpers until they get to the appropriate height.

I found a book about Worms in the 50s so I took it back to the apartment so Mr D could look at it. I decided to leave the cameras at home. I wish I hadn't. I came across an Elvis impersonator (sponsored by KIA) and a couple that sang a lot of popular songs. American oldies seem to be very popular although they did a decent version of 99 Luftbaloons by Nena.

I did have some sausage and pork steak from this Wurst stand. It was pretty good for "fair food".

Nibelungen Museum

This part of the Worms' city wall houses the Nibelungen Museum. The Nibelungen legend is a great saga that is set largely in Worms. There are differing versions of the story. The version I like is closer to Fritz Lang's 5 hour silent film than to Wagner's Ring Cycle operas.

The museum is modern. There are headsets available in English. One just needs to walk to the listenting stations and you get the narrator explaining the whole story in one tower and then different segments of the poem in the second tower. You sit in the chair and listen.

I think I mentioned earlier that I bought the Fritz Lang movie. It's five hours long and clips are used extensively in the museum. I even picked up some little dragons for souvenirs as a dragon is key to the story. It give a new meaning to "blood bath".

Eguisheim, France

We drove out to a village recommended by Rick Steves. Eguisheim is a totally charming French village. We didn't stay overnight but I can see the attraction. We were planning on dessert here but we were just too full from lunch.

French Urinals

I guess the French think that if a guy is standing he doesn't need all that much privacy. I did use it but wasn't that happy about it.

Colmar, France Old City

Colmar was a great place. Lots of little streets with half timber buildings. We had a late lunch be we were all too hungry to think about taking pictures. It was good food and definitely influenced by German cuisine. I had a ham hock, Mrs D had a chicken pot pie with a wonderful puff pastry and Mr D had beef stew made with wine. We were full until the end of the day.

Colmar, France

We drove a couple of hours South to Colmar. We were surprised to see a Statue of Liberty replica on the way into town. It turns out that Colmar is the hometown of the designer.

My attempt at a pub crawl....

ended with me coming back at 12:30 to a very awake Mrs D. She had been up worrying about me. She wanted Mr D to try to check on me. I guess things never change. I'm 48 and have been overseas a lot. But she was worried I would be harmed in the 4 blocks it took me to walk home.

Fuerst Dishes

The ravioli was ok but I thought it was the weakest dish.

The Wiener Schnitzel looked great. I was jealous of the lemon with anchovy and capers.

Mrs D's dish was classic for this time of year. Asparagus spears with hollandaise sauce, new potatoes and various sliced ham on the side. In the US we value thin stalks but in Germany that is not the case. I had a hard time cutting it up for Mrs D. They should include really sharp knives when serving it. The Germans also grow the asparagus in the dirt under black plastic. It's totally white. I'm not sure if that changes the taste.

Fuerst or the Boathouse

Back in the day, Mr D spent a lot of time on this floating Gasthaus. It served a lot of beer and had a dance floor. It's smaller and has been moved but it's the same place as 50+ years ago.

There is a fancy restaurant on top and a cheaper place on the bottom. We opted for the bottom. Mrs D had a plate of German asparagus, new potatoes and slices of ham on the side. Mr D had a Wiener Schnitzel with potato salad. I had ravioli served with lots of cut asparagus.

Our server was kind enough to snap a photo of us. She was a total looker. Even Mrs D remarked how she looked like Sandra Bullock. I thought she look like a family friend, Stasha. I don't think German was her first language.

Return to Alzey

The horse (nicknamed Max) represents Volker von Alzey. Volker is a character in the Nibelungenlied. Mrs D could only think how her great grandchild, Tyler, would enjoy sitting in the saddle. He is quite the cowboy.

I'll have to research it but fountains here always have some small creature like a mouse. I'm not sure what the meaning is.

We decided to have a quick lunch in Alzey. Mr D had a roll with smoked salmon, Mrs D had bean soup and I had a roll with Matje herring. Mrs D was happy as could be. She had been craving bean soup but we hadn't seen any since arriving in Germany. BTW, Matje herring is not pickled but salted and the packed in oil. I've learned that Dutch matjes are lower in salt than German matjes. I've probably eaten more fish in the last 3 weeks than in the last year.

As soon as we finished with the food we moved over a block to wach the fiddle player come out of the tower. It marks the hour and different music plays at different times. I didn't recognise the tune today but last time it was Yesterday by the Beatles

I think Alzey gets the prize for best smaller town we've visited.

Mrs D thinks German toilets are disgusting

This can be quite a shock for a first time visitor. Instead of a toilet bowl like in the US, a lot of German toilets have a shallow pool of water with the exit in the front. This creates a display shelf for you to examine what you have produced. Flushing pushes it forward and down the exit.

I kept threatening Mr & Mrs D with taking a picture of the real thing but in the end I spent a Euro and bought a Snickers bar to show you what I'm describing. As I've said before, Germans love their scat. Or is it that Americans have too many hang ups about it? And no, I didn't rinse it off and give it to Mr D. It ended up in the garbage.

Jewish Cemetary or Heileger Sand

This is the gravesite of Rabbi Meir of Rothenburg. A famous rabbi and poet.

Worms has the oldest surviving Jewish cemetary in Europe It was used from 1076 to 1940. I didn't follow protocol as I read the instruction to cover my head after we went through the cemetary.

An Evening am Ludwigsplatz Part 2

Waiting for his girlfriend. She showed up about 10 minutes later.

The lights came on as soon as the sun went down.