At Newark airport I breezed through security - sort of - the security officer first freaked because my passport expires in 08 (Oct), then he looked at the picture then at me. I, of course, smushed up my face a la Lucy and said, "see - it's really me." He actually got the reference and laughed. On my way to my terminal I released about 10 travel books. Had a horrible slice of pizza, bought 2 huge bottles of water and got onto my flight.
Okay flight...middle aisle with no one next to me, so my nearest seatmate (a flight attendant just off her last shift and flying for pleasure to Germany) and I took turns using the middle seat to sleep on. I actually got some sleep, which is rare for me on a plane. The best part was that I snagged a Hindu meal instead of the usual airline food crap. Basamati rice and 2 kinds of vegetarian curries. Arrived in Frankfurt only about 5 minutes late (surprising because we departed about 35 minutes late because someone got sick and had to be removed from the plane AND they had to find the Sicky's luggage.) Jane met me at the gate with a huge sign reading, "Mrs. Colin Firth." I bet people were a little disappointed...Jane had parked about 20 miles away in front of the wrong terminal but we caught a shuttle bus nearer to her car, walked over - picking up bottle caps for Cousin Dr. Donn, jumped in and took off for Gundelfingen.
On the way to G'fingen, we stopped at a rest area because Jane said the muesli there KICKS ASS. Which it totally did. We had huge bowls of this creamy, dreamy muesli topped off with rhubarb sauce and fresh fruit.
Arrived at Jane's new crib, which is ADORABLE. Really nice and comfortable, and I have my own room (I took a secret vote and I'm NEVER LEAVING.) The baby was out doing his rounds, so I didn't get to see him when we got here. On our way here we made a list of stuff we needed to pick up, so we walked into the village. There were FOUR (FOUR!) storkies in the nest on top of the church! And the village is just so full of flowers - just gorgeous. In the village we went to the PennyMarkt for figgy pudding (that's what we call the little ten-packs of fig liqueur we keep in the freezer), a baguette and we went to the apotheke and the bank. Naturally, we got home and realized we had forgotten spargel (asparagus) so we walked back. No spargel, but we went back to the PennyMarkt and picked up roasted red peppers, marinated artichokes & horseradish sauce.
Walked back home and went about setting up a beautiful buffet on the balcony (Jane's balcony is the greatest - it overlooks a green, private back yard.) We had smoked salmon (and I told Jane all about Ray's famous salmon spread - she will be wanting the recipe), baguette, 2 kinds of cheese, herb cream cheese stuffed cherry peppers, marinated roasted red peppers, almond-stuffed olives, marinated artichoke hearts, rye bread rounds, raspberries, strawberries, persimmon, horseradish sauce and Weinschorle (white wine spritzers).
By now it was nearly 6pm so we headed for the Eugen-Keidel Bad (thermal mineral baths.) Because Germany was one of the final four in the Euro Meisterschaft (some kind of soccer contest, supposed to be good for you,) the baths were empty. There were only a few women and a few guys...you know how I know they were gay? Because they weren't home watching soccer. (They call it "football" here. Crazy Europeans.) We immediately got into the part of the bath where there is a current that just pushes you around and around. You grab one of those floaty noodles and hang on - the current just moves you around in a large circle of the outer pool, while in the center there are whirlpool-like jets. We call it the "Love Canal." We also did the "Ricola" treatment, where you move from jet to jet (each one massaging a different part of your anatomy, starting with your ankles.) When it's time to move to the next one, a chime that has the exact pitch as "Riiiiiiii-coooooola." Of course, we sing along with it.
Jane took a little snooze poolside while I got in the large pool, which was COMPLETELY empty, and did a repeat of my "how do you make float so good" episode of a couple of years ago. I am such a good floater I could have taken a nap but I was afraid someone would jump in and try to save me.
When we were in the village earlier, we saw that they were setting up a huge screen in the cobbled town square (where they have the market), presumably to show the football game. After the mineral bath, we decided to go by and see what was up. The game was still on and the square was filled with rabid fans (the women had German flags painted on their cheeks. And one child had a German flag dyed mohawk hairdo.) Even though Jane & I are the poster children for the Sports Impaired, we said "This looks cultural...sad and demented but cultural..." so we sat down in the front and watched. Germany was playing Turkey, and the score was 1-1. Then Germany scored. WHOOO HOOO! Then Turkey scored. BOOOO-HOOO! Score was 2-2 with only five minutes to go...and...GERMANY SCORES! Oh my God it was so exciting! Almost as exciting as tug of war! We whooped and hollered with the rest of them and then we got the hell out. People were driving around honking, screaming... it was pretty cool.
Came back to Jane's crib, and had my birthday cake, which Jane had decorated with gnomes. It was awesome, homemade chocolate cake with raspberry sauce and fresh raspberries, and a glass of champagne with a raspberry in it. Watched an episode of Family Guy (Bill & Peter's Bogus Journey) and then one of Vicar of Dibley. Then the Vicar of Gundelfingen (Gerald) came in, got a little loving and split. He's a rambling guy. Went to bed and slept well.
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