It is 2025 now which for someone my age sounds a bit like something from a science fiction movie.  The beginning of this year finds me in Germany for a month.  Vicki and I traveled here to be present for the birth of our second granddaughter, Zoe Grace Soares da Rocha.  She was born on the ninth and is very healthy.  Our daughter and son-in-law are learning what it means to be parents, but they're doing great.

The city they live in is Plauen, which is in the state of Sachsen (Saxony in English) located on the "inside corner" of Germany's eastern border with the Chech Republic.  Winter in Plauen is very much like it is in our town, Spokane: cold and dreary.  No snow to speak of and a little rain now and then, with temperatures hovering around 0 celcius.  From what I've seen of Spokane's weather while we're here, it's been about the same.  It's good we didn't come for the scenery because summer is a far better time to visit.

The city dates back to around 1327 and though none of the buildings we see are that old, many are well over a hundred years old.  The Rathaus (the town hall) has been rebuilt many times, most recently in 1912.  Like many German cities during World War Two, Plauen has a dark history: it hosted the first chapter of the Nazi Party outside of Bavaria.  On the other hand, after being in Communist hands following the war, the first mass demonstration against the communist regime in the GDR began in Plauen on October 7, 1989 which was the beginning of a series of mass demonstrations across the country and ultimately led to the re-unification of Germany in 1990. 

We rented an AirBnB apartment located right next to a tram station and that's how we've been getting around.  We bought two 1 month passes and use them to get to our kid's place as well as downtown.  As with the last time I was here five years ago, I'm struck by the architecture of older buildings and the cobblestone streets.  I had been studying the German language in hopes I could communicate, but alas, my German is sehr schlect (very bad).  I can read and write better than I can do anything else (and that's not saying much).  Given a few moments to put together a sentence, I can speak a little.  But my hearing and understanding is practically non-existent.  Fortunately my German son-in-law as well as my daughter are around most of the time.

What's the most interesting thing about being here, you might ask?  The food.  Now, I know what you might be thinking: German food isn't exactly exotic.  And you're right.  Now, I like cheese and meat, especially sausages.  And here is where it gets interesting.  Go to any Kaufman or Aldi grocery store and the sheer number of choices of cheese alone is staggering.  They all look similar and all taste different.  How do you choose?  Then there's sausage, salami, black forest ham, etc.  How many different kinds are there?  I have no idea!  But aside from some spicy Portugese stuff that my son-in-law loves, I haven't found any I don't like (not that I've had all that many).  I'm ruined for when I return to the states.  We don't hold a candle to Germany when it comes to sausage (which I knew) and cheese (which I didn't).  Sigh.  It's a wonderful problem.

We have a week to go in our time here and though we haven't spent time seeing the sights, I'm glad for the opportunity to spend time in a different culture.  It shines light on the differences of my own - both positive and negative.  Still, I look forward to being back in my familiar house and with my motorcycles, one of which (the BMW R75/6) I'm looking forward to really digging into the restoration process.