Achtung Baby… the Fatherland Calls – Part One
So my next round of business travels takes me to the place of my family’s origin. I arrive a day late in Frankfurt Germany after missing my connector in Atlanta because of weather. I think this past trip will be the end of my allegiance to Delta Airlines. I was stuck on a tarmac in Knoxville Tennessee for four hours, but I digress.
The flight is 9 hours and 40 minutes, which is not too terribly bad given that this is the farthest flight into Europe I have taken. As luck would have it, the rental car company is out of vehicles and I am “forced” into taking a new, black, Mercedes-Benz SLK 200 convertible. It worked wonderfully as you can imagine. I have a fairly decent sports car for my upcoming travels on the famous German Autobahns. If you are at all curious, the top speed of a 2007, Mercedes-Benz SLK 200 is 232 km/hour. I was able to determine this fact on a stretch of road between Heidelberg and Trier. Don’t tell Rena…
Anyway, per usual, I have to arrive in Europe ready to “go to work”. I was able to check in to my hotel, grab a quick shower and change (unlike Ireland). I did not feel too bad and we were in back to back meetings all day long. Lucky for me, I did not have to drive very much, so the rest did me good.
The first evening ended in the Biergarten of the Red Ox, a “local favorite”. I was introduced to liver ball consume, and some over-cooked lamb. Not a great start from a culinary perspective, however, I do not think Deutchland is famous for food, but the Germans are certainly famous for their liquid gold. The evening was cool, and ended after we were asked to leave. It was a fantastic first day in Germany.
Day two was customer meetings and dinner with my team. I did have a couple of hours at the end of the day to explore the Schloss Heidelberg (Heidelberg Castle). It was a massive medieval structure that was mostly in ruins. The corn castle turrets were destroyed by Napoleon and his army because he did not want a fortified and defendable position on a major river (the Neckar). Thus, using some basic science and some explosives, they we able to pull the sides of the turrets off and essentially destroy the castles usefulness.
We used the remainder of the evening to entertain, and be entertained by some strategic partners that were in Germany for the end of the government’s busy season. We moved from garten to garten and ended the evening at the Destille, a college bar that has a large tree growing up inside its establishment. I also had the pleasure of meeting some locals, in particular, one gentleman who enlightened me on the German social and educational system. I did find it fascinating that the entire German educational system is based on a two tier system. At a given grade level (he did not say when), a teacher makes an arbitrary decision to place your child into one of two categories: usually if the child is white, from a wealthy family, and of German decent, they are likely slotted for the first track category - being one of higher education on a professional path (Doctor, Lawyer, Engineer) or if the child happens to be from a family of lesser financial status, is not of German heritage (he mentioned Muslims specifically) they are likely directed down track two or the path of a tradesman or similar style profession. I found that shocking and fascinating.
He then mentioned that he was in his fourth year of medical school (of five) where the total cost of his yearly tuition is $400.00. WOW!!! That buys three textbooks in the U.S.A. – maybe. And Heidelberg happens to house one of the best universities in Germany. Now, after all the taxes are paid, that makes a social government somewhat palatable. Canada (similar in government) does stick you for a load of taxes and the universities are still somewhat expensive, comparatively speaking, of course.
The night ended after too many steins and we needed to re-fuel. Actually our crew was on our way to an afterhours club in the city center, but I was stopped by two locals partaking in an enticing late night snack. Back in my own college days, it was not uncommon to stop for a greasy Donner (the more grease the better). However, tonight I would be forever changed. Two locals were devouring Yufkas. It was similar to a Donner in meat and sauce, but that was where the similarities stopped. First, the bread started as dough. They ran each person’s bread (after pounding it thin like pizza dough) through a fast cooking oven. The bread came out hot and fresh. They added the meat, the yogurt dill sauce, corn, cabbage, onions lettuce and tomato, hot sauce and spices. It was a symphony in my mouth. I received countless high fives from the locals who awaited my critique of its flavor. It scored a 10!!! (for “after beer” food, served by Turkish guys in a German town). The locals proceeded to mock my teammates for eating just regular Donners. This story seemed a lot funnier at 3 a.m. and after a few drinks, but I thought I would pass it along anyway.
So enough about my study in anthropology, I will refer back to my exploration of Germany. After finishing meetings on the third day, I jumped in my car about 4 p.m. and proceeded to make an Autobahn journey. I had no idea where I was going to go; I just knew that I would stop when I felt like it. That is one of the many benefits of having a GPS built into the car. I dropped the hammer down, and ended up the Western town of Trier. This town was established by Caesar Augustus and the Romans in the 3rd century. The main gate of the city center is fortified by the Porta Negra – the Black Gate. The gate was a massive black stone structure. There are pictures posted under the photo section. The city was beautiful but very commercial. The old city was now a façade for typical U.S. and European stores. I enjoyed my time there nonetheless. I hopped back in the car and went home.
This BLOG is getting really long…
To be continued.