Once again, on the way to breakfast with Jutta. These walks are telling the truth that’s a bit difficult to come by from Jutta herself, as her stamina is pretty soft, and these walks are tough on her. In conversation, she claims to walk to the park and the market all the time, but if she did, these little jaunts around the corner wouldn’t be so taxing. The truth is that dementia is taking its toll, and the idea that my mother-in-law will ever again be ready to rise to the challenge is sadly needing to become a long-forgotten memory. Good thing is that the three of us have built so many memorable times together that her long decline will have to be pushed out of our memories after she’s gone so we can relish the brilliant moments.
While signs of white supremacists are evident, especially with people’s clothing and tattoos, there are many signs across the city of an active community that is against intolerance. The sticker “Stadt Fur Alle” means “City For Everyone.”
This is the look of yarn-buying confusion where Caroline considers the right or left hand. Instead of regular yarn, she opted for reinforcement yarn that is used for strengthening heels in socks she is working on.
The Kleinmarkthalle “Small Market Hall” in Frankfurt, between the main shopping street and City Hall, has always been a favorite destination for Caroline and me. Back when we lived here, this was usually our last stop before going on a road trip. I think part of the appeal of markets like this is that the proximity of everything on display affords us a beautiful display of contrasts between colors and shapes, as in American grocery stores, everything is so spread out and the displays so large that you only really ever get to see an item or two within your general view.
Mushrooms, white asparagus, and more mushrooms; besides the portabellos, there’s really nothing else in this photo that we see very frequently in Arizona markets.
Deer, wild pig, and horse are just some of the meats and sausages here on display. At another stall, we picked up three different preparations of horse to eat along the way to France and Italy starting tomorrow.
We only had a very brief window of opportunity to connect with old friends on this trip to Germany, and Angela was someone Caroline just had to see. This is where the day began to get seriously random.
We met at Konstablerwache and headed right back to Kleinmarkthalle as Angela told us that there was a vendor there that had her favorite coffee: a cortado.
From our coffee stop, we headed to “Neue Altstadt” (New Old City) near Römer (City Hall).
This area of development has been a construction site for the past six years and has been met with some measure of controversy due to the imitation of the old style of building and that some wanted it to remain an open pedestrian area.
Shocking at first, I was soon growing comfortable with the idea of what this was, bridging the area between Römer and the Dom (Cathedral) here along the Main River.
This area just opened at the beginning of May and is yet to see tenants and businesses take their place. It could be interesting in a few years to return and see how it’s weathering and how it feels when it comes alive with people living and shopping here.
Angela brought us back over to Konstablerwache, where the Erzeugermarkt (Producers’ Market) takes place on Thursdays and Saturdays. This is the only place where she can find her favorite cheesecake EVER!
The flowers and strawberries have always stood out in my memories here at Erzeugermarkt.
When the weather is nice, the crowds can get large as most vendors here at the market are also preparing food to accompany a glass of apple wine or a tall beer.
Frankfurt is famous for the Bembel pitcher used for serving apple wine, another Frankfurt specialty.
The perfect accompaniment for a glass of apple wine.
It’s white asparagus season.
Rhubarb too.
This is the view from our dinner table at Seven Swans vegan restaurant along the banks of the Main River. We had a reservation for 7:00 but showed up at 6:30; good thing we did, as we were able to nab the window seats. There are only two seats per floor near the windows because the building is considered the narrowest in Frankfurt. The bar down on the first floor is likely the smallest in the region, too, only able to hold 16 patrons.
A bowl of fresh water, herbs, and flowers to rinse our hands prior to our meal, and Caroline was about to take the first sip of her Aperol Spritz.
Little did we expect to spend more than four hours at dinner tonight. From the spectacular view to the exquisite meal, each and every moment of our luxuriant evening hit the mark.
Everything served here is locally grown in nearby Bad Homburg on the restaurant’s farm. Even the dirt served with the potatoes. Of course, we had a bowl of water for washing the potatoes, but seeing they felt confident to serve their “earth apples – Austrian term” in the dirt, I felt that it was probably fairly healthy, so we just brushed them off and went with it.
Fresh, colorful, and everything on the plate is edible.
Parsnip with Cucumber and Mustard with a grape seed drizzle infused with herbs.
The Peas with Wild Garlic and Poppy Seed was a savory favorite. We were by now lost in how many dishes we’d had with our 6-course meal. What threw things off was that the Amuse-bouche with several teasers before we got started with the Leek with Kohlrabi and Birch leaves (not pictured).
We still had one more plate centered on asparagus and turnip tops before these two pea pods with pea sorbet were delivered.
Followed by a small portion of beet sorbet. These savory vegetable-based sorbets were a first for Caroline and me and hopefully not the last.
By the time a third dessert was brought out and before a cheese plate arrived, Caroline was on her sixth glass of wine as after the Aperol had been delivered she figured, “Why not try the wine pairing?” One good reason not to try a wine pairing with a six-course meal is at the end of the four hours she was pretty tipsy. The dessert seen here is a sweetened warm oats and cream dish that certainly belongs in the comfort food category.
This was the most elegant and expensive dinner (nearly €300 or about $350) Caroline and I have ever indulged in Frankfurt. Seven Swans is considered one of the seven best vegan restaurants on earth, and with good reason.