Whew. It's been a few days, hasn't it? I came back home on Sunday, and I do mean all of Sunday. It took twenty-one hours to go from my doorstep in Germany to the back door of my house here in Minneapolis. That's too many hours of traveling, to be honest. It's too many hours to be doing ANYthing, really.

I've spent the past few days settling back into my normal life, catching up with work, etc. I've been battling jetlag and the temptation to go to bed ridiculously early with projects. I started making my Halloween costume, which consists mainly of trying to recreate Lucy van Pelt's -- from Peanuts -- dress in three dimensions and with actual fabric and stuff. Dress-making is a time-eating trap, though. I thought I'd just cut out a few pieces, and then, before I knew it, I was 'just' threading the elastic through the sleeves, and it was nearly midnight. I only had a few details to add yesterday, and now I just need to sew on the buttons, and it will be finished.

I also made a loaf of very delicious pumpkin bread yesterday. I used, as always, Susan's Pumpkin Spice Bread Recipe, although I've always made it using oil in the past. This time, I used only applesauce, AND I used about half whole-wheat flour (out of necessity, as I ran out of white), and it's pretty good. I made it with tinned pumpkin puree, since I'd opened a can for something else, but, come Sunday, I'll be cooking my homegrown pumpkins to make my own puree (to freeze). They're just a bit too festive at the moment to be chopping them up.

-- So, the internet claims the Zeilgalerie has been around since 1992, but I never noticed it until this year. Maybe it was always behind a particularly large bit of the scaffolding that seems to migrate down and around but never leaves the Zeil, which is the main drag for chain-store shopping in Frankfurt. I'm glad I went in, though, because it's a stunning building. I come from a land where we put rollercoasters inside our malls, and I was still impressed. It's a bit dizzy-making, though. [I noticed a few days later, as Janet also pointed out, that this is the 'MyZeil' mall, and it did actually just open this year!]

-- I went to get dinner for take-away this evening at the same local kebab place I had my falafel sandwich the other day. That was the only other time I'd been there, but the same guy was working, and he remembered to speak to me in English (by his own volition; I didn't refuse to speak German, or anything). Makes a person feel like a regular. I'm probably one of very few Americans wearing a stripy scarf and constantly carrying a Kleenex, though. Memorable.

-- I've been sharing my hotel-apartment with Mister Legs, a spider with a tiny body, but with probably a good three-inch leg span (at least!). He hung out by the curtains for most of our time together (on the ceiling), and then one day appeared in the corner of a room, then a different one, and now... I'm not sure where he is. I'd be more comfortable if I DID know, but I'm feeling surprisingly nonchalant about it. That is, until sometime in the future, when I realize he's RIGHT... BEHIND... ME! (I saved you the trouble, Rob.)

-- I wasn't so impressed with the hotel breakfast at first (and I didn't have the time when the bookfair was on), but I've been going every day this week. Partly because I can have a tiny glass of orange juice AND free coffee, but also because the lady brings me a perfectly soft-boiled egg. They have never before been a part of my life, but now I'm considering staying here just for the eggs. Or maybe I'll hire her to be my live-in egg chef. Or maybe I'll just start making my own. Part of the enjoyment is the luxury of them simply appearing five minutes after I sit down, though.

-- I have kept absolutely no sort of schedule while I've been here, as far as when I sleep. Actually, apart from the few nights when I woke up at 3:00 in the morning, I've usually slept until 6:00-7:00am most days. But I'm pretty sure that lights-out has ranged from 10:30-1:30. That's not really of any interest, except that it's about a quarter after 10:00 right now, and I'm thinking, 'Hm, I could go to bed in just a little while. Or stay up for a few hours.' It hard to know if you're tired without some sort of reliable routine!

-- After staying indoors yesterday, I was ready to get out and make the most of my Wednesday. I went to Mainz and Wiesbaden and really did have a pretty good day. I finally made it to the Gutenberg Museum in Mainz; I guess I've only ever been there on Mondays in the past, when most museums are closed. It was interesting, and now I know that they keep their Gutenberg Bible collection in a giant vault. With some biiig doors.

-- I'd been looking for a camera bag for some time, and I hadn't been able to find a ready-made one that was just-right enough to justify spending money, but I couldn't work up the enthusiasm to make my own, with all the padding and zips I'd want. So when I saw this one in a camera store in Mainz on Monday, I was tempted to buy it, but everybody knows it's dumb to buy something in Europe if the same thing is sold in the US (it's always more expensive here). Some internet searching led me to believe that that particular Crumpler bag is actually only sold in Germany, though, so I excitedly purchased it this morning (in white, and NOT for 50 euros, thankfully). It's just what I wanted -- something made for a camera, with no extra 'bag' to weigh me down, yet with enough space for my wallet, keys, etc. Perfekt.

-- I also had a much less stressful conversation with the camera shop salesperson, as I first asked if I could try out the bag with my own camera and then apologized for my German being so horrible (in German, of course -- I might sound like an idiot, but I did study the language for seven years, so it's not like I can't speak at all). He simply said, 'Kein Problem!' and that was that. He still had to put up with my butchering, and I had to ask him to repeat things, but at least my crapness was out in the open. A life lesson, that.

-- Wiesbaden sure is a pretty town. It's hard to know where to start; there's a lot to look at. Mainz and Wiesbaden are situated on opposite sides of the Rhein, and I think Mainz will always be first in my heart. I had the absolute delight of chatting with somebody who's currently living in Mainz (though she's originally from further north in Germany) while I was at the bookfair, and when we were talking about the area, she gave a little eyeroll when she said, 'Wiesbaden' -- just as I would when talking about 'St Paul'. Like, 'Man, those guys are weird over there!' Maybe it's just because I come from a river-divided metro area, but I find mock rivalries like that very funny and charming. Wiesbaden, indeed.

-- I bought some organic applesauce the other day, and when I had some for the second time this evening, I had to check the ingredients. It's made of only apples, but the texture is so unlike any applesauce I've ever had; I would have sworn it contained... agar or something. It's just a bit too smooth and silky. I had to stand in the kitchen and perform scientific evaluations of it by the spoonful, straight from the jar. You know me: anything for science.

Well, I certainly had an exciting day today. Except not. It was gorgeous and sunny outside, but I wanted to give myself some time to recover from whatever germs I've got, so I just stayed in. I did venture out around lunchtime to procure a falafel sandwich for my lunch (I'm pretty sure the 'yogurt' sauce was mayo-based -- crazy, but also delicious) and have a short stroll. I stopped at the outdoor market for some fruit and veg, including a few pears and apples that have autumn written all over them.

The apples are amazing -- it's driving me crazy that I can't remember what variety they are! Something -ette, I know; possibly Reinette, which exists, but I thought it was three syllables, possibly beginning with a 'b'. Any apple experts have an idea? Not that I'll be able to get them once I leave, but you know. Knowledge. They're so crisp and sweet-tart, just like apples straight from the orchard.

A good portion of the rest of my day was spent listening to the radio (on-line) and knitting a hat. I used this pattern with quite a few adjustments, not the least of which was using an Aran weight yarn with US10.5 needles. The yarn I had was a slightly slubby wool, which matches (but isn't actually the exact same as) the beige in the scarf I finally finished a while back. The needles were a bit bigger than what was recommended for the yarn, but the main body of the hat look pretty good -- I wish I would have switched to smaller needles for the ribbing, but I was using just what I'd brought with me. I like the technique of the pattern, though -- a good one for when you've only got straight needles to hand.

I'm hoping to feel a bit better tomorrow and finally get round to seeing some museums in Mainz and Wiesbaden. It might be my last chance before the rain moves in!

-- Bookfair is over! Holiday is go! Hey, everybody, let's get sick! Dang it. I still headed into Mainz today for a nice walk around and a look at the shops. I need more money, is what I've decided. I don't know why Rob won't play the lottery with me (now you have to imagine me with a jabby stick, with which to further annoy Rob).

-- I had this Apfel Kolatsche for my afternoon snack, and it was a bit decadent, if you ask me. But why come to Germany if you're going to agonize over every pile of sugar and butter you put into your body, right? The base wasn't really sweet, and it had apples on it, so it was pretty much fruit on toast. And I hear streusel is packed with vitamins. You might remember that I'm particular about plates and dishes (but not in an obnoxious way -- oh no!), and while the tea cup I've been supplied with is rather nice, the one water glass in the cupboard seems a bit dodgy. So I've been drinking water from a newly-empty yogurt jar. Bonus -- just add the lid, and it becomes a travel mug!

-- Speaking of yogurt, I became overwhelmed with choice at the Biomarkt this afternoon. I finally settled on date+nuts (I can't remember what kind of nut, and I'm sick, so I can't be bothered to get up and walk fifteen feet to the kitchen). A special flavour for autumn! I also grabbed some veggie Schnitzel and veggie Frankfurters, the latter of which tastes almost exactly like a tofu-dog, except with a different sort of smokiness. Not bad.

-- The unfortunate thing about being in Germany is that I become an idiot. My grasp of the language is so poor-to-mediocre that even when I can stumble my way through the first two-thirds of a conversation, I wind up completely bombing after thirty seconds and have to end with a wide-eyed, confused (and mostly terrified) look. And, of course, everything I do manage to say doesn't make me sound like a genius, either. I get a little better every year, but spending only 1/26 of my time in Germany (and a good portion of THAT in an English-speaking fair hall) doesn't exactly keep me sharp.

-- And since I mentioned the fair, I might as well say that it went alright. It was very slow, but I met some new folks and had a few good walk-by's (people stopping at the stand without a meeting). But mainly I thought Big Thoughts and learned a lot that I wouldn't have otherwise done had I not gone. And, I hate to say it, but I might have had a bit of useful networking after-hours (I have traditionally not been a schmoozer). One big do was up the top of a posh hotel, and I remembered to bring my camera this year. Not a bad view, eh?

-- I expanded my group of Frankfurt friends this year when I got invited along to dinner with several people who work for various image libraries. I know, right: what are the odds of me getting along with men and women who've chosen to work with photos for a living? But they were indeed a lovely bunch of people. I also spent time with friends from previous years, including Gwyn, whom I never once made a sandwich for, despite his inviting me along to various enjoyable dinners. To make up for my lack of gratitude, you should visit the very best open access picture library and engage in some image-based commerce.

-- Time now to make myself a cup of tea and focus on killing germs (whilst lounging in a suitably on-holiday manner). To the kettle!

It really is both a blessing and a tragedy that we don't have the same bakery culture in America as exists in Germany. Tragedy because, my God, the amazing, carby goodness that you can pick up on your way to the train! And there's always somebody within line of sight who's holding a paper bag, nibbling whatever they picked up on their way to the train. So it's not indulgence; it's just fitting in. It's a blessing, however, because we don't walk anywhere in America. I mean, I do my fair share of getting around on foot, but it's nothing compared to what I manage when I'm here. So you earn that sneaky shortbread posing innocently on the bread roll.

Today was the first day of the book fair. It's noticeably quieter this year, even compared to 2008, which was already markedly less busy than previous years. I actually had to leave in the early afternoon, as terrible as I felt about it (it's the entire reason I come over here, after all), because I slept only three hours last night, bringing my total sleep-time to nine hours since I woke up Sunday morning (as I've been telling everybody). I knew that if I didn't try to fit in a nap today, there'd be no correcting the cycle, and I'd be utterly useless for the rest of the fair. So tonight, with the help of medicine, I'm hoping to finally get more than a handful of consecutive hours of sleep. Finger crossed.

When I woke up from my late-afternoon nap today, I made dinner, which consisted of organic mushroom soup -- made from a packet of powder that was surprisingly good! And I had a Brezel I picked up from the bakery on my walked back from the train station. It was a good post-nap, chilly-weather meal.

I've uploaded some photos of my visit to the Palmengarten, which you can see in my Frankfurt 2009 set. I had a really nice visit this year; the colours aren't as amazing as last October, but there was still so much to look at. And I was able to climb around a bit more this year, whereas I'd sort of crippled myself last year.

And now, to bed.

Oh, boy. Long story short, I'm in Frankfurt now (well, a couple towns outside Frankfurt, to be more precise). For a couple of weeks. Long story slightly less short, I've been awake for over 29 hours, and they have not been gentle and soothing hours, either. Long story long... well, click on the 'continue' link at the bottom of the post.

My flights went really well, actually. I would have picked somebody different to sit next to me on the Detroit to Frankfurt leg, but other than that, I can't really complain (oh wait, yes I can -- just a sec). The only real problem was that I got into Frankfurt at 7:00am, local time, which was only just creeping up on my usual bedtime at home. So I didn't sleep at all on the flight. The airline also refuses to UNDO my meal preference settings (I erase it every time I fly, but they're stuck with thinking I want something dairy-free), so I missed out on a brownie with my dinner and the little egg+cheese+biscuit sandwich for breakfast. By the time that trolley starts coming down the aisle, there's nothing I want more than a crappy egg+cheese+biscuit sandwich, but I'm denied it, more often than not. The substitute is a plain, packaged bagel, untoasted. Like I'm going to eat that when I'm headed to Germany! I will take this banana, and that is all.

I'd decided (on the plane, when I was shooting eye-lasers of hate at that bagel) that I wanted Rosinenbrötchen for breakfast, because what's not to love? Raisins and bread! The particular bakery/cafe I went to had a sort of 'icing' baked on. If I were to guess, I'd say it was a dough made from flour, sugar, and butter, which had been rolled and cut out, and a thin piece had been placed on each Brötchen before it went into the oven. Basically, it was like a layer of shortbread BAKED ON to the bread. This is one of the many reasons I love Germany. I also had a black, black, strong cup of coffee.

Lunch was soft cheese on a hard roll with two tiny slices of tomato and one piece of lettuce -- a bit lacking in that department, but it was still sooo good. I also had a second cup of black, black, strong coffee. Maybe that's my new thing for Germany (I usually take cream).

And after I finally got settled into my little 'flat' (in has its own kitchen and everything), I went to the supermarket for some fixin's. The photo above isn't everything I got, of course, but it's some of the stuff I'm most excited about. I decided to go all out at get full-fat vanilla yogurt, so I had to get 'fancy' muesli to go with it (it's still the store brand, but whatever). I also found a persimmon -- which, if you're reading this, Ai, I was surprised to see called 'kaki' on the label. And after carefully considering the half-aisle's worth of pickled items in jars (another of my German pleasures), I picked mixed vegetables. I had some for dinner tonight, along with tiny potatoes that I cooked and then tossed with herbed quark -- and some broccoli, since I needed a short of green.

The strangest thing, considering how long I've been awake, is that I'm not feeling THAT tired right now. I think I went beyond the point where my body was hoping for sleep, and now it's just trying to keep me going. I'm betting that I'll sleep like a dead rock in a log tonight. I'm looking forward to it!

I've been busy tending to all the things that don't really need doing around here. I used to be one of those people who would start packing two weeks before a trip, but these days I seem to wait until the last minute. Instead, I've been doing a bit of sewing in my spare time.

I rearranged the living room, as you know, part of which was swapping a bookcase for a bench to hold my turntable. Now one doesn't have to magically know where the buttons are as one reaches under a shelf to play a record (although that did keep people from wandering into my house and messing with my vinyl). Look how festive, with the pumpkin. I have to put the grilles back on the speakers, but they need to be de-cat-fluffed first. Speaking of, Beany quite successfully snuck into every photo I took of my living room this morning. But then I had to redo this one, by which point she'd fallen asleep elsewhere.

One of my sewing projects was this quilt, which developed from a few needs -- the need for something better to keep cat hair off the back of the sofa, the 'need' for something autumnal, and the, well, desire to not finish a patchwork project that I'd started a while ago. I had cut and pieced together some strips, planning on making a throw blanket, but I quickly grew bored with it So it wasn't TOO much additional work to turn it into a long, narrow, sofa-back cover.

I also have been working on dresses/tops here and there recently. I made this one a few weeks back, although it's probably my least favourite of the Japanese patterns I've tried out. You can read my various complaints on flickr, but mainly it just comes down to it being too 'cute' for me. I like this one much more, though. I think I have fairly narrow shoulders, in relation to my other dimensions, and both of these recent dresses fit 'just so' with the sleeve placement -- better than most store-bought clothes, and I'm not even having to tailor it to myself. Obviously, I like to wear dresses over jeans; I think people generally fall into two camps (love it or think it's stupid), but you can politely keep it to yourself if you're not a fan.

I suppose that now I've run out of things to sew, I should start thinking about packing. Although I still don't have the perfect camera bag...

-- If you've been wondering where I disappeared to, you can blame Lost (as I am doing). Where there used to be a neat little timeslot in my evenings for updating, it now seems like the perfect opportunity to squeeze in another episode.

-- I rearranged some furniture the other day, so now the sofa is in front of the small living room window. It always seems wrong to block a window, even if it's only the bottom ten inches or so, but it's really the only wall I can put the couch against. As wrong as it might be to put furniture in front of a window, it's even more wrong to put it in front of a door. I moved my big bookcases out of the living room for the first time, and put them in the piano room. They sort of dominate, but at least the room feels less like a glorified hallway now.

-- I roasted the smallest of my butternut squashes on Monday -- I've missed the smell of roasting squash! The butternuts will probably wind up being eaten in various savoury dishes, but I'll puree the pumpkins for pies and bread.

-- We've had nothing but gloomy weather lately (with the pleasant exception of today), and there was pretty solid rain on Monday and Tuesday. Yesterday morning, I was lying in bed when I became aware of a dripping noise somewhere above me. It sounded like droplets of water falling into a little puddle. As the day went on, the dripping stopped, but one of the seams in the sheetrock ceiling became discoloured along the edges of the tape, and there was a small but definite water mark. I used a big needle today to pierce a hole between the two pieces of sheetrock, in case there was standing water up above, but it seems dry now. Not at all ironically, this is happening right where there was a crack in the original ceiling (you might remember we replaced it after I moved in). Sigh.

-- Anyway, enough with you guys. I have Lost to watch!

-- I was struck with a need to make gingerbread yesterday. I'm sure something must have set it off, but I'm not sure what. So in between doing other things, I whipped some up this morning. I used this recipe, sorta, except with a handful of changes. I only did half a batch (one loaf pan), subbed in strong coffee for the stout, did half oil and half applesauce, omitted the cardamom -- oh, and I didn't actually boil the molasses mixture, but the coffee came straight from my Bialetti, so it was already hot. I also put in half a cup of raisins (whatever had been telling me to make gingerbread in the first place also wanted raisins in it -- weird, right?), but unfortunately, I tossed them into the flour mixture before I stirred it in with the rest of the ingredients, so I didn't realize how thin the batter would be (very thin!). Needless to say, the raisins all sunk to the bottom, and a lot of them stuck to the pan after baking. Whoops. The flavour combo (of the raisins that DID stay in the gingerbread), though, is just as I had hoped. I'm putting it in the 'win' column.

-- So, Rio gets the 2016 games. I can understand why it's exciting for a country/city to host the Olympics... the attention, the boost to the economy, etc. But I find it hard to believe that anybody LIVING in a candidate city thinks it's a great idea. I mean, obviously, lots of people do, but all I remember about the campaign for the 2012 Olympics in London was complaining. Stratford, which is the main location for the London games, was between where I lived and where I worked in London, and I am soooo glad to have got out before the craziness hit. But, you know, good for Rio.

-- I discovered this TV show that I think might really take off: Lost. Have you heard of it? Ha! I've been steadfastly refusing to watch for the past five years, or whatever (actually, I did try watching it when it first premiered but couldn't get into it). And I had been tempted to check it out when they put it on Hulu, but I wasn't ready to travel down that rabbit hole. Well, I finally bit the bullet, and it's sucked me in. I'm a Mac user; I'm watching Lost -- what's next on the list of popular culture that I've been denying myself? Will I go out of the house wearing leggings and no skirt? (Answer: NO.)

-- Back to the gingerbread: it's funny how, as it was baking and the aroma was filling the house, I skipped over autumn, Halloween, and Thanksgiving and immediately jumped to feeling Christmas-y. Molasses and ginger are powerful ingredients! I still can't believe we got gypped of pleasant, mid-60F weather, though. The high today is in the 40s. I might as well start singing Christmas carols, I guess (as if I ever stop).