A Pinay in Europe

Aachen Cathedral
The oldest cathedral in northern Europe. There is a chapel inside built by Charlemagne in 786.

I thought it was a shopping mall, but no, it’s a bookshop.
An area is fitted with a snack bar, long tables and settees for people to read and browse

Phone box

In Germany, “comfort” is the rule, like those white woolen seat warmers in this café

some of the goodies at a Bäckerei (Bakery)

Hi-tech shops are a joy to discover in the Fatherland

currywurst mit frischen pommes…(curry sausage with french fries)
even the plain “curry” word can sound very German!

Currywurst is a pork sausage served with special curry-tomato sauce (or curry and catsup sauce). it’s a big favorite by George W Bush and Madonna. There are stories told that they don’t leave Berlin without trying this specialty.

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What is the most favorite snack of the Germans?

Bratwurst mit brotchen! or grilled sausage in a roll!!

How does one eat it?  Standing!!!

A wurst seller carries the grill, the gas tank, the bread and sausages and other knick-knacks while cooking
and selling in a standing position!

 He stands on the street and actually does a very brisk business! Oh, he also carries an umbrella, in case it rains!  And that bag is probably where he keeps the bread!

A wurst menu poster

In the motorway, if you missed the border sign indicating “Deutschland”, you will easily recognize that you are already in the German autobahn (motorway) if, all of a sudden, some big, black, flashy cars come speeding fast you!!

Usually black or grey (hey, I don’t see such colours as red or blue or yellow here!) and usually sporting a car showroom shine and usually in the likes of a Mercedes, Porsche, BMX…..(Boy! this country is rich!) - these sleek cars glide fast so handsomely that instead of shrieking in fear that you suddenly find yourself in the center of a car race, you are actually enjoying every minute of it because this is a race of rich and elegant cars!

Next, you look at the plate numbers and you will also howl in awe!

Is that figure the amount in Euros they earn per day?

….or is it simply the year they got their driver’s license…. or sometimes, even the year of their birth (1980 etc)!

There is no speed limit in the German autobahn so one can drive as fast as their car can handle it. But in city or residential streets the speed limit signs are conspicuous - like 60- or 30-kmp
 On entering Aachen, a big crowd is gathered in a corner street - wow! a flea market is going on! Events like this are never passed up by yours truly! These are the places I can find great bargains! And I was right, I found a pizza tray, in earthenware material, made in Itay, just for 1 euro!

fleamarket

one can also sell his produce in flea markets

Cigarette machines.  They have similar cigarette machines in Spain. But in France, you only buy them from a Tabac or a cigarette shop where
the seller can scrutinize if you are within smoking age.

Sexy poster. Did I mention before that sexy posters in Germany abound?

A sexy photo even in a bar menu!

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Few years ago, during one of husband’s earlier stints in Belgium, we went to Aachen simply because it is the nearest biggest German town past the Belgian border. We didn’t investigate enough what would we be expecting to find there. If we did, we would have known and would have eventually searched for the shrine of Charlemagne inside the Aachen Cathedral. (But at least, we saw the famous and beautiful stained-glass window!).Aachen is quite a charming town, dotted with gothic architecture. The restaurants are pretty inviting, but we were fighting the temptation to get in, lest we will get disappointed again! You see, our very first try of German cuisine was in a small town just outside Luxembourg. The menu was all in German, and the waiter couldn’t speak English so we just did the crazy thing of randomly selecting a strangely-written name of a German dish. Lo and behold! - a boiled shredded cabbage with a seemingly half-cooked fat and meat was served. The presentation was quite unpalatable that i could not even force my throat to swallow a bit of it, hence, for the first time in my European life, i left a plate of untouched meal! (you see, i always think of hungry third-world countries so i make it a point not to leave food on my plate!).Luckily, we found a Chinese restaurant - our saviour from hunger that day!

That particular day, in Aachen, we had a bit of a scary taste how it was to live during the Nazi era!

We didn’t know that it was a very important day! At first, we noticed a lot of people arriving, with yellow scarves around their necks. Then the square started filling up. Kiosks selling sausages and beers were instantly set up!

Then the program started. It was all in German, and they started chanting in perfect synchrony. All of a sudden, they were all raising their right hands, as if sparring repeatedly….wait, i’ve seen this before, this was how Hitler was received in every places he went. Supporters raising their right arms, at a 45degree angle…accompanied by simultaneous chanting! the chants reminded me of Ku Klux Klan movies when white masks-covered men in white robes chanted while burning a white cross!

The football fans in Aachen were raising their right arms like this!

We then realized, it’s their way of welcoming their football team! A football game was scheduled that night!

Whew! that was really scary!

Football fans waiting for their idols while police patrol the area

the football heroes finally arrived in a motorcade. Notice the beer bottles on their hands!…..

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