Germany 1988 - Exploring Mainz and Wiesbaden
Saturday June 18, 1989. We ate another great Frustoch at the Mag Hotel and then went grocery shopping at a small store that was a few blocks from the hotel. We had asked Peter if it was OK to drink the water and he said it was alright, but we noticed that all of the people in the store were buying bottled water, so we decided to play it safe and we bought a few liters. This was great as we were really thirsty for just plain water. We bought a few things that would help us through a meal if we encountered any more store or restaurant closings in the near future. After the grocery store we went into Mainz to do some shopping and got stuck in a traffic jam in downtown Mainz while we were looking for a parking garage. We found that the stores are not open in the evening and they are only open until 2:00 pm (14:00 in European time). Therefore Saturday is a very busy shopping time. After finding a parking garage, Joan went browsing in the Kaufhof department store and Bob went to the Information center to pick up some maps and guides.
We ended up buying a very complete map book (road atlas) on Germany, socks for Bob, washcloth mitts (wash cloths are not used here). We then went to a Fish restaurant for a lunch of fish and chips. Again we had some troubles with the language. Joan was not very hungry so we saw a section on the menu called "Kliener". Joan ordered from these items and the waitress laughed and folded her arms and rocked. We then realized that this was the children's menu, not the small portions. She spoke no English so we pointed and said we will take this. It was good whatever it was. After lunch we toured the Saint Martins Cathedral, a 1,000 year old Catholic church which is also the Roman Catholic Center for the German Empire. We walked through the town market square where all kinds of food were being sold. Then we toured the Gutenburg Museum, this was very interesting with exhibits of different printing techniques and machines that have been used over the centuries up to the latest equipment being used today. Then it was time for an ice cream cone break and then into Saint Quintins Catholic Church, where Bob lit a candle for his Mom and Dad. As we walked around we saw a bride being driven about in a horse drawn carriage. They were white horses with white decorations on the harness and on their heads. The carriage was all white with many ribbons. It was very pretty. We also saw the bridal party in the narthex of a church waiting for the bells to stop chiming to start the processional. We found that day that most restaurants do not serve water or napkins. If you want water you need to order "Mineral Wasser", otherwise you drink beer, wine, coffee, etc. We then headed back to the parking garage and when Bob put the card into the automatic gate the arm went up without having to pay any money. We would find out later in the trip that this was not the usual case, there were many different ways to pay for parking. We then went to a spot that would turn out to be a favorite for us in Mainz. This was a parking lot that faced the Rhein. We could just sit there and enjoy watching the barges go by. There is a lot of river traffic on the Rhein, so there is always something to see. While watching this time we saw a man on one of the barges come out, unzip and piddle, over the side of the barge. We would find out as we continued our trip that there is not a lot of modesty when it comes time to go.
SUNDAY June 19, 1988. We had another excellent "Frustock" at the Mag, this time it was different as we were sent to another smaller room, because there were less people in the hotel for breakfast that morning. This was a little confusing until we realized why the dining facility that we were familiar with was closed. After we ate, we drove from Mainz to the city of Worms. Our first stop was Saint Peters Cathedral (Catholic), it was very large and impressive. Bob lit a candle there for Mom and Dad.
After Saint Peters we went to Magnees Krieche Lutheran Church. This was much smaller and simple in design. Both churches had been heavily damaged during WWII and been rebuilt. Following the tour of the churches we went to a museum to see artifacts from the Stone Age to recent times. This was quite interesting but all of the signs and notes were in German so we had to guess at some of the meanings. After that we went to have lunch but found the restaurants were closed as it was about 2:45pm. So we went to an Ice Cream shop and ordered vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce (in German) and received 4 scoops of ice cream, one of each flavor and no chocolate sauce. As we are finding out, the language barriers in restaurants are funny and challenging. We then walked to Lutherdenk-mal (memorial) and then to the Lutherkirche, this was quite a long walk, upon arrival we found that we couldn't get in. We then returned to Mainz via two lane back roads, on the way we again had some trouble finding the Hotel but we were lucky that it was a tall building with a very obvious lighted sign that could be seen from the roads that we were on. We parked at the hotel and walked down to a nearby Italian Restaurant (Luigis'). This was a very nice place and it was easier to order our meal because we know more of the Italian dishes then we knew German dishes in a German restaurant. While we were there we met 3 American college students who were looking for the old part of Mainz. We were a little help, we think. One of the students was from Washington and the other two were from Boston. After the dinner we strolled back to the hotel for another good night's sleep.
MONDAY June 20, 1988. Today after Frustock we went to Weisbaden to visit and do a little shopping. We stopped at the Haptbohnhoff (railroad station) to pick up some city maps and a guide book. We have found that this is usually the Zentrum (center) of town and there is usually an information center nearby. At these centers you can get information about the city and make lodging arrangements as needed. These centers are usually marked with a large "I" sign. We found that Weisbaden is famous for its baths. It is a place where many people have come to get relief for their ailments by soaking in the hot baths. The word "bad" in German is public baths. In our travels we found there are many towns in Germany with the word "bad" in their names. We stopped at the Bundepost (post office) to buy air mail stamps and then wandered around the downtown part of the city. We stopped to see a Lutheran Church which was at one time the center of Lutheranism in the area. We then went to the market square looking at government buildings. We met a German woman who spoke a little English and she told us, in a combination of English and German, how to get to Oberbad (sp) the Russian Orthodox Church. We tried several times to find the church by driving but finally we parked the car and took a water driven two car train up a steep hill to get to our destination.
The train was interesting because there were no motors. There were two cars connected by a long cable and pulleys. One car was at the bottom when the other was at the top. When one of the cars arrived at the top, the driver opened a water valve and filled a large tank with water. At the bottom the other driver released water from his tank. When the passengers were loaded and the top car water tank was full, the driver released the brake and the weight of the water and the passengers in the top car pulled the bottom car up. It worked very well. The church had gold covered spires that glistened in the sun. The church was very small and quite different but very beautiful on the inside. We were given a guide to use during our tour of the church but were not allowed to buy a copy, it had to be returned at the completion of our tour. As we wandered about we ended up in a book store where we decided to purchase a good dictionary. This was a very good move as we found that this would make things much easier as we went out on our own. It was very valuable and we did not go anywhere without it. After the shopping we headed back to our car to return to Mainz. That evening we went out to a local restaurant with Peter and Mike. The dinner was excellent and it was easy to order when we had excellent help. After dinner we took a long walk through "Old Mainz", this is a restored area and was very interesting. We also toured some gardens which were very beautiful and we also saw an Opera Theatre. This was to be our last night in Mainz for awhile and it was hard to say Auf-weidershein to them.
