Aachen is downright awesome, historically and now. Here is where the coronation of Charlemagne was held on Christmas Day, 800 and 30+ kings after that. The chapel palace, pictured above, is Germany’s first World Heritage Site and is arguably the site where Europe first began to take shape. The present city retains its medieval feel in the old city, with winding cobblestone streets, plazas, and architecture. I thought I wanted to move to Münster before seeing Aachen, which has the additional advantage of being very close to the Belgium border and on a direct rail line to Paris. Plus, it didn’t feel as artificially medieval as Münster. One late afternoon Sara and I whiled away the hours with beer, wine, and people-watching in the shadow of the chapel:

Between cafés we did enter the chapel and saw the alter before which many kings had kneeled to pray:

Having dinner and drinks at this place on a cozy plaza next to the back of the chapel palace as the sun went down at 10PM (!) was among the best moments there:

Yep, I think we should retire to Aachen (once I learn German…)

We are finally back after our 11 days and 10 nights in Germany, so I can blog about it properly although in retrospect — internet access was very spotty there so I only managed the three previous via my iPhone via Flickr. Thus, like Billy Pilgrim, Goyablog has come unstuck in time. It jumps back to Münster, where we arrived on the third day after two days in Hamburg looking at bunkers and church ruins and before we went to Aachen. Our one day in Münster was well spent and could have easily turned into two or three. Our hotel was amid several small churches, one at which we attended Vespers just because we could. The clock pictured above was in the cathedral, pictured here:

The city museum, where we learned of the firebombing of the city

was very well put together — and free, sure sign of the place’s wealth and sense of civic boosterism. The city, which was rebuilt after the war according to the original medieval layout and general look, is très quaint, almost too much so. It treads a fine line between organic historical atmosphere and themed environment, but generally pulls it off successfully: winding cobblestone streets, narrow building facades, period ornamentation.

This contrasts with the high-end boutiques behind those facades (okay, so the souvenir postcard display and the “Woolworth” subverts the high-end boutique look). The result is a bit disconcerting, a kind of medieval chic that exudes money rather than the Black Death. Despite my critique of the place, I’d live there in a heartbeat (as medieval retro yuppie), or so I thought until we arrived at Aachen, the inner city of which — around Charlemagne’s chapel and the town hall — had a much more organic feel (despite its own partial rebuilding) and greater mix of pubs, cafés, restaurants, and shops and just as much winds and cobblestones. Münster, however, had the best sauerkraut I’ve ever tasted, at the pub next to the Rathaus here:

It also had a delightful open market on the Wednesday we were there.

We loaded up on licorice and olives and bread and strawberries for our train ride that day to Aachen.

Today we trained in from Aachen to Koln (Cologne, as in eau de) to visit the Nazi Documentation Center and City Museum there. We found time too for the spectacular cathedral, which survived the Allied bombing intact. We skipped touring bunkers there because we found a great book on them. Gotta go have a well-earned beer now…

We’ve been offline for a couple days now, but finally got a connection here in Aachen. We’re here mainly because things are too expensive in Cologne and here is where Charlemagne and 30 German kings were coronated. We had drinks and dinner literally in the shadow of the cathedral where part of his palace and throne (and part of his castle still exists.)

Sara and I have spent the last 48 hours touring WWII bunkers and memorial war ruins in Hamburg, collecting material on the July 1943 firebombing of the city. We had a nice time with two guys, Roland and Jurgen, from a local bunker preservation group who gave us a private tour. We then went to the city museum which had a small exhibit that included the above floor cut out of rubble with doll, no doubt staged. Today we saw the ruins of St. Nikolai church, an icon of the skyline and target point for the Allied bombing. It will be interesting to compare it to the A-bomb dome in Hiroshima. Rebuilt, Hamburg is a pleasant camel-laced port city of tree-lined streets and fresh fish. Food and wine have been good so far on our trip. Tomorrowwe leave for Munster. Internet access is spotty and I only have my iPhone, which can’t handle the Wordpress interface directly so I’ll be posting via Flicke when I can. Typing on this virtual keyboard is tedious too….

Today my old house sold. Or rather, there was half a closing — I’ll get my cut of the proceeds tomorrow. It took only 400 days on the market, but clearly it was waiting for the opening of the first water lily of the season in my (now my former) pond, which happened today. An opening and a closing in tandem. The house was sold for far less than it is worth, but of course the pond is priceless. I could scarcely care about the house itself — good riddance. But that pond I want to keep. It has my self all over and inside it. I know it and it knows me. Others won’t understand it. But alas, it cannot be transported to our current house. And so it will have to exist in photos and in memory as my one work of art, handmade.

West Virginia will not matter in the G.E. And all this emphasis on the race factor is so misleading. It’s not a black-or-white issue. In fact, I don’t think that race per se has been the determining factor — after all, how does one explain Obama’s overwhelming wins in states like Idaho (79% to 17%), haven for white supremacists? Oh yeah, it’s a caucus state and they don’t matter because caucuses bring out the loony activists who actually care about politics and thus inform themselves and work actively in electing their candidate. But according to the Clinton campaign, they don’t matter. God forbid that we have American voters who actually educate themselves on the issues and show passion and commitment to the process. Sorry, I’m ranting again (surprise!), but what this whole long Democratic primary process has brought out is how utterly undemocratic the primary process is. That’s the real story, CNN — do a piece on that.

After reading this article in the LA Times about the “troubles” West Virginia may give Barack Obama next Tuesday, I say good riddance to the 65+% of those polled who say they are voting for Clinton. Who would want to be associated with supporters who say things like:

“I’ve got 50-some guns, and I wasn’t crazy about Obama’s talk about small towns,” said Sam Vetter, 64, a farmer and lifelong Democrat who regrets voting for Bush in 2000. “Besides,” he added, “Obama just doesn’t sound right for an American president.”

Or how about this gem:

Hand-lettered campaign signs promoting Democrats running for family-court judge and assessor cluster along Hardy County’s winding roads. There are only a few signs for either Obama or Clinton, but in one yard, a placard with a red slash on it mocks, “Osama, Obama and Chelsea’s Mama.”

The sign belongs to Eric Hardy, 38, a former Democrat who works at a woodworking plant. Now a die-hard Republican and president of the West Virginia Coon Hunters Assn., Hardy opposes any Democrat “who wants to go after my guns.”

Obama “takes the cake,” he said, “because of, you know, who he is.” He suspects Obama for his “Muslim name,” and comments by his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., rankle him. “He’s just a mistake any way you look at him,” Hardy said.

Yo! Chelsea’s Mama! You can have ‘em, the whole lot of ‘em, all. Go off to West Virginia and talk about how many times your papa took you coon hunting when you were a kid, knock back a few beers, crack a few racist jokes, and you’re sure to crush Obama in the West Virginia primary. I see no pride in winning a state that where so-called Democrats are gun-toting, socially backward bigots. I would actually be embarrassed if Obama won West Virginia….

Last night I finally watched the very intriguing anime film Tekkon Kinkreet. It’s directed by ex-pat American anime man, Michael Arias, who has been hanging with Studio4°C for a long time. It’s based on the manga Black and White and features a superflat style of character design set against gorgeously imagined and realized settings:

Since it features these two orphaned street urchins (White and Black, above), it seemed fitting that abandoned Gray me take comfort in it. I won’t bother to try to recount the plot; I’ll only say it’s worth seeing. Kinetic, eye-grabbing, off-beat, colorful (in all senses).  As his directorial debut, Arias did pretty damn well.

After a little blogging and reading tonight I might watch something else, not sure what.

Pretty goofy, huh?

I’m ashamed to admit that I never got back to reading his latest, Against the Day, because of other busyness and my current reading — out loud to my wife almost every night for 15-20 minutes before lights out — of Neal Stephenson’s Baroque Cycle. Still, Gravity’s Rainbow is my #1 and I will always came back to it for writerly inspiration. I do wonder what he looks like nowadays and where — besides The Zone — he might be….

The one that the farmer’s older daughter is holding in front is the monster, the other is a “normal” goya for comparison. I will of course be making goya champuru tonight, although with the far inferior Indian bitter melon — it’s rare to get the south Chinese/Okinawan variety here in Nashville. And of course I’m wearing my made in Okinawa goya shirt today. And finally, I encourage you all to listen to a little Radio Go Go Goya! to celebrate today.

UPDATE: Here’s my goya champuru, while cooking:

It ended up being tasty, but the boys picked out all the goya while Sara did in fact eat it all.

Attention, all you people on decisional plateaus: please help put Hillary out of her misery and jump. Now. Please.

It’s green and so are goya, so I thought I’d cross-post this recent photo effort from my flickr stream.

Here is where you are wrong. You underestimate the Independents, like me, who is excited about a candidate willing to do business differently in Washington, which is why Obama got me and my husband’s attention. We both voted for Bush–twice. 

Do not like the politics of personal destruction as demonstrated by the Clintons. Would not have ever voted for her anyway. But Obama’s integrity and authenticity, even when he gets it wrong, has gotten our attention. It is nice to see a politician willing to take a chance and actually answer questions rather than dance around them like the rest, Hillary and Bill.

Two things to note: 1) It’s the Independents, stupid! (as I have been saying all along); 2) This Bush Independent is spot-on with her assessment of the Clintons versus Obama. My only modification of her statement is that they practice a politics of personal destruction designed to take everyone down if they can’t have it their way. In other words, it’s a ego-driven, meglomaniacal politics of destruction they practice, not one that puts the Common Good first. First comes the Clintons at any and all costs, then comes the business of serving the public. That Hillary hasn’t quit the race yet is proof of that. She cannot win the nomination without coup-by-superdelegates and trampling on the votes and voice of the people who participated in the primaries and caucuses.