On Sunday, I could hold neither Bonnie nor myself back -- the open Autobahn beckoned. One of my Chicago colleagues gave me a book titled, "Daytrips in Germany's Rhineland: 25 one-day adventure from Frankfurt and other bases throughout all of Germany's Rhineland and beyond." Nutshell, good times awaited us. At the time, I was under the (mistaken) impression that I was only allowed 850 km per month on Bonnie, in which case I needed to conserve precious kilometers. (In reality, I'm allowed a whopping 3,000 kilometers per month, so keep an eye out for future road trips!) So I headed for Darmstadt, which is only 35 km (about 22 miles) south of Frankfurt via the A5 Autobahn. Now, 22 miles on a highway without a speed limit could go by in the blink of an eye.
Of course, that blink of an eye can also end with some other vehicle on your tail and breathing down your neck. Now, Bonnie only has a speedometer measured in kilometers, unlike Tori who had a preference for miles but also listed the kilometer scale in smaller font. So, being a typical metric-ignorant American (of the US Americans -- no offense intended for the Canadians who are North Americans and understand kilometers just fine), I settled in at what seemed a comfortable pace (considering Bonnie is wearing her snowshoes and all) of 170-180 km/hour. Use of a conversion tool indicates Bonnie was proceeding at a steady clip of about, oh, 105-110 mpg. Oh.... And some cars were blowing past us like we were standing still! I think I and my burgeoning German lead foot are going to like it here! (Bonnie is SUCH an enabler.) Alas, I may need to trade down to something like a Smart car upon return to the US that will limit my ability to engage said lead foot.
Time out for a random question. I am, so far, aware of both an A5 and and A3 Autobahn. Curiously, those are also Audi models. Coincidence or not? Not sure, but I found it interesting. I doubt there is a Q7 or a TT, so probably just coincidence, but Germans seem to have a reason for everything, so my curiosity remains.
Darmstadt is a lovely town of 140,000 according to the book. I found a place to park and wandered around with a bit of structure. I have posted photos on Facebook for those who are interested. High points were the palace that was home to the rulers of the Grand Duchy of Hesse-Darmstadt until the early 1900s, the beautiful (even in winter) Herrngarten park (which someone told me later is a place where there is a large drug issue, though I only saw families with their children on sleds on some of the small hills) and the Russian Chapel (built in 1899 by Czar Nicholas II for his Hessian bride). Another tourist item located next to the Chapel is the Mathildenhöhe, an artist colony established around the turn of the century which features the Hochzeitstrum (Wedding Tower) that is apparently an art nouveau symbol of the city, but which I did not find nearly so compelling as the Chapel or Herrngarten.
Perhaps one of the lasting visual memories I will retain of this first visit to Darmstadt (I plan on visiting the Herrngarten in the summer) was one witnessed on the walk back to my car. I heard loud club type music and stopped to see what was going on. There was some guy in a cap (yes, a cape) standing on the steps of some building. Okay.... No one, including the people in the Starbucks across the narrow street (seriously, Darmstadtans, read yesterdays blog -- your German coffee is sooooo much better), seemed to be listening to the guy. "We're walking..., we're walking..., and were stopping." Because in front of us were the three young people in some type of period costume who you see pictured in today's blog photo. What may be difficult (impossible?) to see from this photo is that each of them is holding a cup of Starbucks in the left hand and a bottle of some sort of bottle in the right hand that appears to resemble a champagne bottle. Hmmm.... I snapped the photo as surreptitiously as possible, and continued walking. I then happened upon a group of three guys in their 50s or so getting out of a car and donning hats that I can only describe as reminiscent of a rooster's comb in bright colors. Hmmmm.... And on the drive out of the city I also saw a procession of people in other bizarre costumes. No idea what was going on, but I have no doubt I missed some kind of interesting event. One of my colleagues is from near Darmstadt and was equally confused with what I described to her.
If all this awaits me fewer than 22 miles away, imagine what may be out in the hinterlands! Can't wait to explore some more!!
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