Life: Idiotropic

Aachen: the final frontier.

Sorry... Trekkie moment.

Sitting here thinking of my to-do list and momentarily brain lapsed.

Scary.

So... ah-hem. Aachen.

I had the pleasure to going there today with a friend who'd never been there before, so I played tour guide and enjoyed an entirely child-free day.

Elise was picked up at noon by Kirk and dropped off at Tante Tinny's house where she stayed until I returned at three. Elise and Tinny did well together, so I hope to do this again - having a longer day provides the opportunity for an adventure whereas a 4 hour day makes for a very quick, not so relaxing trip - especially if you have the common misfortune of getting stuck behind a tractor on the drive home.

The obligatory first-stop in Aachen is, sorry to say, Starbucks. It's sad, but this is the only time where I go American. In all other situations, I will opt for the unknown or local fare. Here, I know my Starbucks and must have my triple Venti whatever-I'm-in-the-mood-for in a nice large mug while sitting in a predictably comfortable chair in a consistently clean establishment. Plus... the bathrooms are clean and free - something I will always value. (That being said, I think I may have found my Starbucks replacement.)

After a large hot coffee, we just took a leisurely walk around the town. Aachen is beautiful. It's Rathaus and Dom are exquisite. The shops and alleyways always have the most inviting windows decorated for the season. It just feels good to be there. And, it felt good to walk around ducking into shops here and there as I wanted to - without children to worry about.

There had been an on-going music festival in Aachen, so at every turn in any open space large enough for a stage, there was a stage and beer tents. And, in the square just nestled between the Rathaus and Charlemagne's Dom, there was a enormous Ferris wheel - taller than the government building itself. That was a fun photo op and if you look closely at the close up photo, you'll see a tiny man who'd come out of the red door at the top of the Rathaus, walked over to the corner, and took a picture too!

The other photo op of the day was of this bagel/bratwurst vendor who literally "wore" his stand. There was one very thin pole that gave him some support, but the counter space that housed all the food was assembled in a sort of ring that he wore around his waist. Interesting.

And, since some of the most beautiful things in Aachen are their storefront windows - notably their bakery and printen shops, here are a couple photos to salivate over. The Nobis shop had printen kites for the season.

The Middelberg Konditorei (a potential Starbucks replacement) displayed a beautiful cake decorated with darling marzipan hedgehogs. Drawn in by the window, I saw what was the most marvelous display of cakes and chocolates that I've seen (and tasted) in Germany. Oh... it was amazing. And if their coffee (yet to be tested) is as delicious as their cakes (I tried two), then Starbucks will have seen the last of me. Berries are always my top choice - even over chocolates as I usually find the chocolate flavors in cakes here to be a little too - something - not quite sure what - not enough chocolate flavor, I think. But today - Ahh... I think I heard celestial choirs singing. I had a raspberry cake - a good white cake with the gelatin and raspberry topping. It was good. Very good. But, it was good like Schleypen good (my favorite local bakery), so not worth a special trip for... but then... the choir. I took a bite of a chocolate mousse cake topped with assorted berries. The thick layer of mousse rested on a wafer thin shortbread cookie-like crust and that 3" layer of mousse was seriously the absolutely best chocolate mousse I've had ever. The consistency was perfect and that chocolate flavor was amazing - intense, but not so much I couldn't finish the cake - bitter, but not too bitter - just the right amount of sweet - and the most amazing real dark chocolate flavor. I can almost hear the choir now just thinking about it. This will be my next birthday cake. Oh, and yes... the berries on top were delicious too. :)

The other moments today I actually allude to in a later post -- a fabulous moment in a bookstore when I realize just how much I miss American bookstores, but take a few moments to peruse the English section and find some enticing titles for a later read -- and a silly moment at a cramped little scarf shop when the Spanish music overhead played with my language skills causing me to momentarily forget how to speak German and started to speak a rather odd mixture of Spanish and French.

Today was fun. I must do this again soon.