Kiwis unite

Mouse was making the mission over from Taiwan to Frankfurt a couple of weekends ago. Jaharmes arrived around lunch on Saturday by train, and Mouse shortly after by plane. We decided to pour the culture on that night, so we charged to a typical German restaurant for some gastronimic action. In typical German fashion, I was told that I couldn't have Sauerkraut with my Fleischkäse since it's not how it's done. The meal was great, and in my attempt to really impress them with Frankfurt's finest beverages I permitted them some Appelwine. That went over the line, and after their first sip, I got that confused and horrified stare and the "how could you have done such a thing to us" look. Admittedly I couldn't stomach it either since warm, Appelwine has a curious Hessen taste, but cold it's downright horried.

To be honest, I was a little worried about what I could show tourists in Frankfurt for a day. It's similar to the quandry that Wellington inhabitants have when they have to be the tourist guide. There's the chocolate fish cafe and Te Papa, but that's about it. During the night, it's no problem, since there are enough bars to keep anyone happy, either in Frankfurt or Wellington. Luckily I had prepared earlier a parade that had lasted for around 2 hours. This was called Fashing and was a celebration that's celebrated over most of southern Germany, especially along the Rhine river. The parade was choice-as to watch. Several of the characters in the procession had oversized peanut-looking dark brown heads. I never got to the bottom of it, but whatever, or whoever they were supposed to be, they didn't look too German. I'm probably just being ignorant of a whole bunch of culture and heritage though.

Later that afternoon, we went to the Städtel museum across in the Sachsenhausen area. I was surprised to find a couple of Picasso origionals and some nice sculpture work. It's definitely true that Frankfurt am Main is a museum town - heaps of them all along the Main river. There is even a communications musem which I'm looking forward to going to see at some stage. Not many others share my enthusism so I'll probably end up going on my own.

Later that night, after chowing down at another German restaurant and several wheat beers later, we headed back to town and watched Billy Connolly's Too old to Die Young tour on DVD for a few hours. It's definitely worth a watch if you get the chance.

Jaharmes had a lecture to get back for on Monday afternoon, so headed back to Strasbourg with Mouse in the morning.