Going back to India after a long stint over the summer in Wuerzburg inevitably generates some sighs... for all the sights and sounds that I will miss till I am back there again... here is a random listing of some of the things I miss when I am away from my home in the heart of Wuerzburg...
-- waking up in the morning to the ringing of church bells...the church bells chime not only every hour but ever quarter hour, so it chimes once at a quarter past, twice at half past, thrice at quarter to and four times plus the hour at the full hour. So at noon one could hear 12+4 chimes... To this one needs to factor in the fact that there are at least five churches (within earshot) of my flat. So you can imagine that might get a bit much especially when you are trying to concentrate on something, but mornings at six or seven are nice... they stop thankfully during the night...
-- walks along the river Main... those walks in either direction starting from my home keep me going and I need to go to the river at least once every couple of days... it is an easy walk and you often meet the same people -- joggers and walkers and people walking their dogs, except on weekends when big groups of friends or families arrive there and decide to have a grill party or play sand ball or what have you there... The views of across the river are beautiful, the imposing Festung Marienberg soon gives way to the lovely Kaeppele on the next hill if one turns left along the river. And if one turns right, one comes first to the Old Bridge with its many statues and its tourists drinking wine, then one comes to the Alte Krane as one walks along the pretty promenade with its many flower beds where students come with their takeaway pizzas and sushi to spend their evenings. The wider promenade along the other side of the river with its rows of gnarled trees soon gives to the huge parking lot leading on the Talavera.
-- walking down to one of the many lovely cafes on Sanderstrasse just around the corner from my home to meet friends or to have breakfast with a guest who is visiting...One comes to the pretty Cafe Marlene first, then another very sweet and tiny thing that is never open, followed by laid back Cafe Rudowitz, my favourite.
-- hosting my friends and family, especially friends from India and elsewhere... when they decide to visit me and stay with me in my mini-apartment... This summer it got a little excessive with friends visiting me back to back for about two weeks. But these friends are special and I enjoy hosting them, and it is much more meaningful to have them with me for a couple of days one by one rather than having all visit at the same time, which goes faster but then you don't get to spend time separately with each of them.
-- showing off my pretty little hometown in Germany to my guests from elsewhere, especially the UNESCO World Heritage Residenz and its sprawling gardens (especially in spring where the cherry trees blossom and create a magical world), the Cathedral with its strange mixture of old and new, the busy marketplace with the striking red and white Marienkappele and the historic Falkenhaus housing the city public library and the Tourist Information, the tiny but mystical Lusamgaertchen where a troubadour of the Middle ages Walther von der Vogelweide lies buried. There are any number of churches, many wedged next to each other in the historic centre of the city, small wonder that Wuerzburg is often nicknamed the City of 100 Churches!
-- the monthly DL ticket which gives me unlimited travel on all public transport (buses, trams, metro, regional trains, ferries) everywhere in the coutnry... and our day excursions with my friend Uta from closeby and with Tupul and Priyanka from Mainz. The best thing about the DL ticket is that you can also use it for using public transport in any German city -- so when you arrive in Munich or in Berlin, you dont need to worry about figuring out how to use the ticket machines and what tickets one would need to buy. I went to various places using the DL ticket this time -- for example to visit Sepp and Karin in Augsburg. And of course I can take off to Volkach or to IKEA from my home at a moment's notice if I wish to, using the DL ticket. Of course the DL ticket makes you lazy and makes you wait for the tram even when it would be better and healthier for you to walk.
-- exploring what is new on offer at the pretty Oxfam store just a stonethrow away from my home...I always find something small and pretty to buy -- mostly handmade items or embroidered tabelcloths to take back to India to give to my friends at Creative Hands... what happened when I once tried to donate something to them is another matter, and I have written about it in a separate blog. Although the culture of second hand charity shops is not so pronounced in Germany as it is in England, Oxfam is not the only charity in Wuerzburg. The Caritas, the Red Cross and the Inner Wheel also have their little set ups in the city but they are nowhere as big or as fancy as the Oxfam one. Of course there are big containers at prominent intersections in the city where one can dump unwanted clothes, shoes and other items of recycling like bottles etc. And there are the free book depots in the walking areas of most cities. And if that was not enough there is a huge establishment called Brauchbar which takes simply everything like crockery, kitchen equipment, furniture and toys that you might no longer need.
-- in the other direction is the huge TEDI which has a massive assortment of all things that you might ever need around the house at very small prices. Of course, most items are made in China, but that cannot be helped or changed anymore... There are many of these 1 euro shops in the city where one finds most of the stationery items and household itmes like light bulbs, cling films and stapler pins that one runs out of at regular intervals.
-- the two special shops, one called Fach'l which has the same concept as Crreative Hands but have a very pretty assortment of hand made products of very superior quality and at high prices... pottery, jewellery, glass work, wood work, metal work, dolls, flowers, paintings, home made food produce and so many other things... it is simply a pleasure to see the amazing creativity of the artists who display their products there...The second shop is called Zukunftshaus and it is a place not only to buy organic and sustainable products but it is also a place from where you can borrow a sewing machine or a hand drilling machine, or a lawn mower, it is a place where you can bring your machines for repair, and it is a place where you can give and exchange your unwanted items for something that you might need -- it costs nothing to take if you give something in exchange.
-- the music concerts at the Music University during term in May-June-July. Since the buildings of the university are also nearby, every Wednesday and Friday at 12 noon they have an hour long free music programme called Musik Publik during term time. And as the examinations approach towards the end of term, there are special concerts, both individual performances of Masters students or of group acts featuring entire classes of Bachelors students, that are a real feast to the ears... Of course there are also the regular operas, plays and music concerts that happen in the bigger halls of the Mainfrankentheater or of the Music University where one gets to see performances by great masters...
-- the plays at the quaint Chambinsky theatre, the even smaller Theater am Neuenerplatz, and the theatre and cinemas at the Burgerbrau... there are other smaller stages too and summer time is a good time to be in Wuerzburg. Of course everything comes to an abrupt halt in the summer -- mid July to mid September are often very empty months as everything closes for the summer break.
-- the many festivals, almost one every weekend, that happen in those summer weeks such as the Mozartfestival, the Bach festival, the Africa festival, the Strassenmusik festival and many other festivals of food, music and fun that happen in the city along the river and in the festival grounds at Talavera at that time...
-- the vast and extensive flea markets and craft melas in the Talavera over and above the regular farmers markets on Tuesdays and Saturdays selling locally and organically grown fruits and vegetables...
-- and for everything else, the little Penny tucked away behind the Italian ice-cream shop, and for Rote Grutze and the finer stuff the Edeka branch about 100 metres away...
-- talking about food, yes, there are some German specialities like Rote Grutze that I really love to eat, mixed with my daily portion of yoghurt. And for something savoury, there are the thin Pfannkuchen which are like Pizzas but with a very thin base, so that most of it is the topping. Then there are strawberries and cherries in the summer, the white asparagus that is available only till a certain date in June, the many different berries, figs, and exotic fruits that are readily available in the summer months.
-- and if I feel like some human contact, Uta and Anna live closeby, Anne Marie in beautiful Randersacker and Cornelia in charming Lohr are not so difficult to reach either... and all my former neighbours, especially Inge and Boris, in Volkach and the beautiful walk along the Main at Volkach by the side of the hill with the vineyards and the beautiful church of Maria in Weingarten, are only a bus ride away...
-- and my other friends who also just drop by -- the two Sarah, Lea and Ingrid not to speak of the ones already mentioned... because my home is so centrally located that it is easy for my friends to visit...
-- as strange as it might seem to an Indian, the order in the streets, the fact that the horn is used only rarely, that rules are followed, and that when there is a problem there is also help, is reassuring. Sometimes even the blaring sirens of the police vehicles and the ambulance makes me feel relieved, for I know that yes, nothing comes for free and the bills will come, but still help will be at hand when I need it and it will come quickly. I swear often about the huge amount of rules and regulations that they seem to have in Germany, but then it also means that when something happens one is not left guessing about what one should do and how best to do it...
-- and the best thing in Germany that I sorely miss back home is that when a German says he will come at three o'clock, he means he will be there at 3 o'clock.
These are some of the many things I miss when I am not in Germany...
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