G&A: Day Three, Mon Aug 11

MON AUG 11

We woke up around 7:30am, had our usual breakfast in the hotel restaurant, and took off for the Margravial Opera House in Bayreuth. This was one of our destinations and we were able to buy these tickets paired with the New Palace the day before for the el cheapo price of 15 euros.

The fountain outside was pretty special:

The opera house was out of control. It was built by the Margrave and his wife for the wedding of their daughter in 1750. It was refurbished in the 1980s and is now a UNESCO site. It’s a working opera house and concert venue, though UNESCO only allows them to do 30 performances a year.

Everything is painted wood, which was the quickest method to get it done for that girl’s wedding:

A quick hop back to the hotel, we picked up our bags and went to the train station where we took a train from Bayreuth to Munich by way of Nuremberg. We got lunch in the station and ate on the train:

What is that? A tomato and mozzarella sandwich for me and a corn fritter sandwich for Scott. Who ever heard of such a thing yet he really enjoyed it. Our train was late leaving Bayreuth so we missed our train in Nuremberg but they added another train a half hour later so all was well. Those Germans, God love ‘em. Even when they screw it up they make it right in such a thorough and meticulous manner.

We settled into our rooms and had a couple of hours apart. Scott went for a walk and took a little nap, I unpacked my clothes and wrote quite a lot in my travelogue. We met up in Scott’s room at 5pm, got caught up, and went out in search of dinner. I also wanted to scout out the laundromat I planned to go to the next day, to make sure I understood how it worked.

Scott did a Google search our first full day in Germany to ask about the country of origin for the biggest percentage of immigrants in Germany. The answer is: Turkey. Our neighborhood in Munich had a strong Turkish presence. We walked around looking for a good restaurant and lo and behold ended up at a Turkish place, Restaurant Ranya. Super delicious. We both got the minced lamb kebabs with biriyani rice and salad. It came with two big pieces of that light-as-air puffy bread they have, similar to naan at an Indian restaurant but much lighter.

Our dishes came with two hefty slices of raw white onion. I said to Scott, “You know what my mom would say - - it’s OK to have raw onion as long as you BOTH have it.”

Scott had a beverage called ayran. I Googled it (what a friend we have in Google): “Ayran is a popular, refreshing Turkish beverage made from yogurt, water, and salt, sometimes with added mint.” I had a sip of it and found it fascinating but did not want any more. Scott loved it, drank it all, and will find a recipe when he gets home.

I took a stealthy photo of the cook because he was so damn sexy.

We paid the check and gave the server a nice tip. It was a small tip by US standards but clearly more than she usually gets. She asked us if we wanted tea - - Scott said yes and whadya know, it was free.

Here’s a conversation fragment from when we left the restaurant:

SCOTT: Did we do OK? As the white people in the restaurant?

ME: The token whiteys?

SCOTT: [laughs]

ME: Or do you prefer honky? Or cracker?

SCOTT: Or Whitey McWhiterson. Did we do OK?

ME: We were a credit to our race.

We went back to the hotel and hung out in Scott’s room for a little while. He wanted to go out and do more exploring. I did not. I was in bed around 9:30pm and fell asleep immediately.

Next day...