First and foremost: Black Moss. Take a >1L stein and fill it with 1 part beer and 1 part cola. Add 2 shots of cherry liqueur. Pass around at a party and allow to simmer. Brings life and merriment to any party, and helps bring down language/cultural barriers.
Lara and I were invited along to the birthday party of our hosts’ best friend, which was tonight. Here us green Aussies were introduced to this Franconian cocktail which we enjoyed thoroughly. The people at this party were also lovely and friendly (and patient) with us foreigners.
Today we walked. We walked through Ansbach, through a really great museum; even if it was all auf Deutsch, the building, design of exhibit areas and the items themselves were all interesting and well executed. It’s called the Kasper Hauser museum as it dedicated one section to the story of Kasper Hauser. This guy was found on day in Nuremberg. Just found, walking down the street, popped out of nowhere it seemed. He couldn’t walk properly, couldn’t make conversation, and was carrying a (later identified as a forgery) letter. There were all sorts of official attempts to work out who he was, where he came from and how he came to be so traumatised (it was thought he’d been kept in a cage or small room, hence being unable to walk/talk).
There’s a little more to it though. The year after he was found (this is all early 19th century) he had his first of a few assassination attempts against him, and soon after an unknown but very rich English Lord came to town and inconspicuously took Kasper under his wing, giving him education, shelter and spreading a rumour that he was going to be taken back to England. All this started and fuelled the ideas that Kasper was an heir to the Franconian throne, and a rapidly rising heir seeing as all the others were strangely dying in the recent years.
At any rate, Kasper wasn’t destined for a royal position, he was murdered in Ansbach (lured into the forest bz the promise of information about his true identity) soon after. The police meticulously saved every scrap of evidence, and have recentlz checked his DANN from it against the line he was claimed to be from. The DNA results were inconclusive one way or another, so his identity is still unknown.
The part that made this worth the 2.5 paragraphs of background, at least to me, was the extension or abstraction of Kaiser’s story by which he became a symbol of the actual identity of mankind: "where from and where to".
In the afternoon we walked. At Bad Windsheim there is an open-air museum where almost 100 old buildings from around Middle Franconia have been moved to (disassembled then reassembled). It is quite interesting and can take up a good half day just walking through it. The different livings of the different centuries is shown quite readily and the museum employs people to farm, brew and do whatever else these old Franconians did, the way the old Franconians originally did it. Certainly good value.
Tomorrow is a rest day for us, before we leave for London on Thursday. I was feeling quite flu-y most of today and Lara’s also quite beat so we’re both very thankful for the opportunity to chill and rejuvenate with these wonderful people in their house.
I believe this Friday marks halfway through this journey. This time last week Lara and I had just bid farewell to most of our travelling companions that we had so far. That really feels like another world in another time, and I suppose in that sense, it would be easy from here to not return home. But don’t cry for me Argentina (read: Mum and other soppy friends... Steve?), our feet will find Terra Australis again before the end of the month.
Residence of our family friends,
Heilsbronn, Germany
Lara and I were invited along to the birthday party of our hosts’ best friend, which was tonight. Here us green Aussies were introduced to this Franconian cocktail which we enjoyed thoroughly. The people at this party were also lovely and friendly (and patient) with us foreigners.
Today we walked. We walked through Ansbach, through a really great museum; even if it was all auf Deutsch, the building, design of exhibit areas and the items themselves were all interesting and well executed. It’s called the Kasper Hauser museum as it dedicated one section to the story of Kasper Hauser. This guy was found on day in Nuremberg. Just found, walking down the street, popped out of nowhere it seemed. He couldn’t walk properly, couldn’t make conversation, and was carrying a (later identified as a forgery) letter. There were all sorts of official attempts to work out who he was, where he came from and how he came to be so traumatised (it was thought he’d been kept in a cage or small room, hence being unable to walk/talk).
There’s a little more to it though. The year after he was found (this is all early 19th century) he had his first of a few assassination attempts against him, and soon after an unknown but very rich English Lord came to town and inconspicuously took Kasper under his wing, giving him education, shelter and spreading a rumour that he was going to be taken back to England. All this started and fuelled the ideas that Kasper was an heir to the Franconian throne, and a rapidly rising heir seeing as all the others were strangely dying in the recent years.
At any rate, Kasper wasn’t destined for a royal position, he was murdered in Ansbach (lured into the forest bz the promise of information about his true identity) soon after. The police meticulously saved every scrap of evidence, and have recentlz checked his DANN from it against the line he was claimed to be from. The DNA results were inconclusive one way or another, so his identity is still unknown.
The part that made this worth the 2.5 paragraphs of background, at least to me, was the extension or abstraction of Kaiser’s story by which he became a symbol of the actual identity of mankind: "where from and where to".
In the afternoon we walked. At Bad Windsheim there is an open-air museum where almost 100 old buildings from around Middle Franconia have been moved to (disassembled then reassembled). It is quite interesting and can take up a good half day just walking through it. The different livings of the different centuries is shown quite readily and the museum employs people to farm, brew and do whatever else these old Franconians did, the way the old Franconians originally did it. Certainly good value.
Tomorrow is a rest day for us, before we leave for London on Thursday. I was feeling quite flu-y most of today and Lara’s also quite beat so we’re both very thankful for the opportunity to chill and rejuvenate with these wonderful people in their house.
I believe this Friday marks halfway through this journey. This time last week Lara and I had just bid farewell to most of our travelling companions that we had so far. That really feels like another world in another time, and I suppose in that sense, it would be easy from here to not return home. But don’t cry for me Argentina (read: Mum and other soppy friends... Steve?), our feet will find Terra Australis again before the end of the month.
Residence of our family friends,
Heilsbronn, Germany
posted by Tim at 8:05 pm
1 Comments:
If I stay I won't be bringing back the Magic Black Moss Stein. I couldn't do that do my friends.
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