Week 9, Day 1

last Thursday, I flew to Staufen (nr. Freiburg, actually to be more accurate I flew to Basel because you can't actually land in Staufen) for the wedding of Florian's mum and her boyfriend Hermann. On the Friday, Florian and I enjoyed a wonderful day at the Vita Classica Spa in Bad Krozingen, the village next to Staufen. I luuurve the spa. Not for the prudish mind, bathing clothes are strictly verboten, but as everyone else is in the same boat there's no embarrassment incurred or purving involved (except, that is, if you're gay / or you were the 2 unattractive french guys who spent their entire time ogling the attractive french woman, who incidentally stole my dressing gown, who was sunbathing naked). Yes - it was so warm on Friday that you could sunbathe next to the outdoor pool - absolute bliss. On Saturday morning the wedding of Bärbel (Florian's mum) and Hermann took place at the town hall - now more famous for its disastrous renovation works which have caused the ground in Staufen to swell and rise and produce huge cracks in its historic buildings than for being the place were Faust's 'Mephisto' went to ground (you can find out more about this humanitarian crisis and pledge your help to 'Hold Staufen Together' here - no joke). Anyway, I digress, The wedding was a very small, intimate affair with only 8 guests present, including the 2 witnesses, which was followed by a small, delicious brunch and a trip to the design museum just outside Basel. Then in the evening we went to Hirschen, a Michelin starred restaurant in Sulzburg, another village close to Staufen. Possibly the best meal I have ever eaten in my life. The menu is pictured, although hard to read.

Yesterday I visited a friend in Dresden. Pretty city with the old town on one side of the river Elbe (I believe) and the new town on the other side. Amazing to think that the buildings in the old town were all rebuilt after WWII, as to look at the colour of their brickwork you'd think they'd withstood centuries of pollution. Above is one of the views that Canaletto painted minus the traffic, and the safety handrail.


Actually this picture doesn't do justice to the weather yesterday. It was so sunny and warm in the late morning and early afternoon that my friend and I sat outside with our coats off to have coffee and then lunch. You just wouldn't think that December is less than a week away.


Today I visited the medical history museum at Charité. As medical museums go it was ok, although I was annoyed by the fact that I'd paid my 5 Euros and then couldn't go into one of the exhibit rooms because some camera crew were filming. I'll know when my german's really good when I can go and complain about these things. There was a special exhibition on dentistry, which left me feeling somewhat uneasy about the state my molars but very pleased that I was born in the second half of the 20th century.

My german is improving slowly, but I have a serious problem now responding to people who don't follow the script. If I walk into a shop and perform the usual greetings (hallo; guten tag) I appreciate it if shopkeepers don't then try and engage me in conversation which I cannot follow. Can they not see that I am happy just browsing? I did have a very successful trip to the shoe repairers last week though - asked him to mend the zips on my boots, re-heel and re-sole them, and sew the strap on my handbag all in German. An A+ for Emma.