If this trip gets any better, I might have to stay here.
Photos are here.
I left Mainz at about 8:30 this morning and headed straight for Frankfurt. (Yes, a person from Frankfurt is called a Frankfurter.) I had been on the fence about going to this dinosaur museum (Senckenburg) that has the biggest collection in Europe, but I was feeling full of vim and vigor (I am SO a believer in the continental breakfast), so threw my larger backpack in a locker and hoofed it (not steep this time) about a half mile to this museum. When I stepped into the main hall, I got chills.
There were about a dozen dinosaur skeletons all articulated right in front of me. I don't think I have to tell you that the ol' childhood fascination with dinosaurs never really wore off of me. Maybe it never really wore off of anyone. Anyway, I went room to room... ancient fish and swimming dinosaurs, wooly mammoths, whales, evolution of humans, volcanoes, earthquakes (they had a photo from 1989 that caught me off guard), and mummies. All awesome, but I was surprised that there wasn't more.
I thought I had seen all there was to see, but as I was going to the exit, I looked to my left. Up some stairs, I saw birds. I saw stuffed birds (taxidermy, not plush). As I went up the stairs and got closer and closer, I realized that there was a whole hall of the brilliant things... case after glass case of nearly all manner of bird, put on display after death because someone is a whiz with a needle and thread. Hundreds of them. I got near the end of the bird hall and caught a snake out of the corner of my eye. No thanks.
So they had birds... they had reptiles. I thought to myself that it would be really cool if they had mammals. I went down the stairs, looked up at the hall on the other side of the building. And they had... wait for it... MAMMALS! Tons of them. Large and small. Rare and common. All loosely grouped together by family. Notice the orangutan arm. Brilliant.
If it weren't for the reflections on the glass, these photos would be knockouts. Some of them are. For me, anyway.
For everyone's peace of mind, let's say they all died from natural causes and wanted to be donated to science. They were really, REALLY cool.
In the back of the building, there were a dozen or so scenes of stuffed animals in their habitats. I don't remember ever seeing a moose hang out at a temperate beach, but whatever.
All in all, a totally worthwhile side trip. Awesome, awesome, awesome. I know I'm going to lose some of you in those photos, but I'm so glad I have them.
So! I headed back to the station, where I waited for a late train. I did three train changes and finally arrived in the idyllic Rothenburg ob der Tauber, a medieval city full of half-timbered houses and plenty of tourist funtimes. It's gorgeous.
I had some kind of pork chop with potato dumplings and a glass of white wine for dinner. Dad, eat your heart out. I've been pretty much eating whatever I've wanted. I figure it doesn't matter too much what you do or don't have when you're walking an average of about 3 hours a day. I pretty much just have breakfast and dinner, though. And I've had a couple of desserts. I've made it policy to eat a whole lot at these continental breakfast buffets... never know exactly when the next meal is going to come. I haven't felt all full to the point of grossness since I've been traveling. And that's a very good thing.
So anyway, I'm sitting in my extraordinarily quaint hotel, the sun is going down, I went on a walk in the breathtaking castle garden after dinner, and I'm feeling super mellow. I just can't get over how pleasant it all is. I mean, come on. This is the kind of place after which they model theme parks. The bells on all the churches all chime at once, and the birds are going ape shit with their chirping out there.
As a side note, I've been having interesting dreams. When I first got to Europe, I had a couple in which I saw Rick Steves walking the streets of Amsterdam, and I stopped him to tell him the book I have is awesome. So, ok. The last few nights, I've been having dreams that I walk up to local people and start talking to them... in their language. We chat and generally have good times and they're impressed with how well I speak and it's wonderful. I had the impulse to just start speaking to someone in what seems like German to me today. These dreams, sadly, will not come true just yet.
I think I'm going to walk up the street to the dessert place that's been recommended to me. Oh boy!
I did miss the night watchman's tour tonight because of my stupid pocket watch, though. It's my traveling timepiece, and it may be on the way out. Maybe I'll get another timepiece here.
Sigh. Twitter. Sigh.
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