retiredmartin

Yes, I KNOW it’s not’s pronounced like “aching”.

3rd November 2022.

Today’s Word Press blogpost prompt is “Who Do You Envy” ? Well, obviously BRAPA. But I imagine it’s an enviable life being a German ticket collector.

Not only do you get to wear a smart uniform, always a hit, but I don’t think they actually have to inspect any tickets, as the German rail fare enforcement system relies on trust and the public humiliation of offenders.

Which is just as well, as I’m sure this single ticket (Europeans don’t do returns) wasn’t supposed to be used on our slow train.

I’d have messaged Tom Irvin, my train expert, but his knowledge is largely about services to Brigg.

No idea why I took this shot, but I’m easily amused.

We had three nights in Cologne, and Aachen was our third city of the mini-break (Ugh !).

Aachen, on the border of both Belgian and the Netherlands, had seemed alluring due to its proximity to Monschau and the Eiffel, but for the first hour it seemed a bit dull and provincial, the historic centre decimated in World War II.

Nice and leafy though,

with some statues straight out of an episode of Dr Who called “Demon Eyes” (or what that a mid-90s Greene King seasonal ?“.

Loads of students, which means loads of cheap eats,

which means an early stop for lunch at somewhere Google Maps reckons is called Souleykebab even though no such place exists.

It was fresh and gorgeous, as good as any kebab I’ve had in the UK, and the folk were lovely, but it will haunt me forever if I return and fail to find it again.

Of course, having eaten we then head out of the shops past the smartest looking chip shop in the world, and wonder if we can squeeze in a small portion smothered in curry sauce. Well, one of us did.

How do Germans stay so svelte ? All the shops seemed to be selling this little fella (Weckman) to commemorate St Martin’s Day, the day pub tickers are celebrated around the Ruhr.

“Looks like a Dr Who character from the 60s” said someone on Mrs RM’s Facebook.

An unusually average German city is redeemed by the monolith that is Aachen Cathedral.

Definitely bigger on the outside, just like a Tardis (if you see what I mean).

Note the famous “Yellow Triangle” (top) on the wall outside. Connections with Draught Bass may be tenuous.

Anyway, an hour since lunch. We succumbed to the lure of the Weckman.

But we didn’t eat him. Yet.