Once again, we were very fortunate to have an amazing Airbnb host. She was absolutely incredible. We were greeted at the train station and brought to her home where we dropped our bags and were promptly taken on a tour around the area. We ended up stopping for a beer and got shelter just as it started to pour down and hail. It had been about 35 that day and a good storm came in to cool everything down. It was good marble sized hail, but didn’t last long. Just long enough for a pint and a good chat with our host Marion, her friend Christoph, and his son Simon. We got on to a conversation about architecture and space, the use of space, and neighbors. Andre began telling a story about one of our neighbors. He’s a good story teller because he’s so animated. So he launches into a story about how our neighbor is an opera singer and we often hear him practicing, which we really enjoy, but many people in our building do not. He’s very talented and I love to hear him sing. I guess some people just enjoy being cranky. Being a singer he does not like to breathe in smoke, however there are people in units below us who smoke and this infuriates him. When he gets super bitchy about it he sings things like, “Why don’t you make better choices with your life?”, and “Stop polluting my air you assholes.” and so on. One day he ended it with an impressively long and powerful, “Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck yooooooouuuuuuuu!” I live for moments like that, and Andre and I thoroughly enjoyed his performance/lecture, and Andre did a superb job of reenacting the entire thing (he really hit the F U ending). Cut to the walk home moments after said performance. 
Andre: “So Christoph, what do you do?”
Christoph: “I’m a pastor… but don’t worry about it.”
In my head there is just an infinite loop of Andre’s finale. Voice booming. Hands in the air.
It was mostly the way Christoph said it that made it so funny. He’s a great guy and I feel very fortunate that we got to spend time with all three of them!
But back to Marion, our host. She really was extremely thoughtful and kind. She left little notes for us around the place and put sweets by our bed. She even bought me a travel notebook. I have an amazing mother, but if I didn’t I would ask Marion to adopt me.
The next morning as I was faffing about I heard some music playing from the street below. I went to investigate. Cue the mad dash for my camera as I realized it was the Pied Piper and entourage. Marion had told me about this but I didn’t know when it occurred. Turns out it’s just on Sundays in the summer, so I was lucky to catch it with a bird’s eye view from our room. There were children following behind him dressed as mice and adults in costume from that time period. I loved it. Andre just kept doing his hair in the bathroom. He’s so much cooler than me.
If you’re not familiar with the Pied Piper, the story goes that in 1284 the town hired a rat catcher (the Pied Piper) to lure away the vermin that had overrun their village. The Pied Piper played, and got the rats to follow him out of the town into a river where they downed. But then they refused to pay him…. So he returned a year later and this time lured their children away, never to be seen again. It’s a great little bedtime story with an important moral.
As you tour around the center of Hameln you see the story is alive and well. Interspersed throughout the cobblestone paths are plates with brass rats. You can purchase rat killer liqueur, drink rat’s blood cocktails (a mix of champagne and blackcurrant juice), eat “rat’s tails” (pork, sliced thin), and of course buy a little rat to take home.
Oh, and they also do reenactments!
Other Random Things
I don’t know what the deal is with toilette paper in this country but it’s rough. 
No Charmin here. I’m not particular, but it’s something I have definitely noticed. Then we got to Marions. I don’t know where she buys her toilette paper but it’s awesome. It’s a random thing to get excited about toilet paper but in my defense, when have you ever come across Hawaiian themed toilet paper that smells like the tropics!
Spaghettieis – An unusual looking ice cream dessert created by Dario Fontanella, son of an Italian immigrant and owner of an ice cream parlor in Mannheim, Germany, in 1969. It has been a German specialty since then but is virtually never seen outside of Germany.
The original method called for pressing vanilla ice cream through a spaetzle press, creating “noodles,” strawberry sauce looks like tomato sauce, and coconut or white chocolate shavings play the Parmesan cheese role.
Ice cream treats are everywhere in Hameln.
I should also mention Orange. This is the phone provider we have gone through since arriving in Bruges. We both got hooked up with SIM cards and a plan with 4GB, unlimited texts and phone calls for €15 each. It’s good up to 30 days and then you can recharge. It’s been a life saver for living on the road airbnb style without any paper maps! Very different from being in hostels and hotels where there are plenty of people to help you.
Another random thing we’ve noticed in Europe is the windows. Specifically how they open. They can be tilted open from the top to about 10 degrees (just enough to let all the bugs in without getting any kind of pesky cool breeze). If the handle is turned in another direction then they open like a door.
I’m not sure what the rules are for nudity in Germany, specifically public nudity while in a private boat. We were taking a leisurely stroll around Hameln and crossing a bridge, when a boat passed under us. We looked down to notice that both men seated in the front clearly didn’t want any tan lines, while the ladies in the back were fully clothed… This is what happens the moment I put my camera back in my bag. I should know better!
GOOGLE TRANSLATE! I’m not sure why it took us so long to discover this. Apparently we just like to do things the hard way, and prefer charades and interpretive dance when trying to communicate. This app is fantastic. You can type in text, use speech to text, or just hover the camera over words on signs and menus and it instantly translates. It’s pretty genius, although it doesn’t always get it right. On one menu it translated an item as kitten strips. From what I’ve seen of Germany, they really enjoy their meat, but I’m sure they draw the line at kittens.
19 days in…
Onward to Berlin.
OMG friggin hilarious!!
The neighbor, the pastor, the appreciation of toilet paper, all of it…..so funny as well as informative. Loving it.
Makes me wish I had chosen to take year off and travel versus taking a year off and kicking back, relaxing in Canada.