Ode to Esslingen

September 27, 2008

You may remember my friend Nicole, who very sensibly decided when she visited me from Germany that travel via public transport to the east of Senegal was not something she particularly wanted to do (http://www.traveling-stories-magazine.com/on-the-road-again/#more-638). Nicole lives not far from the airport in Stuttgart, in a quaint medieval town called Esslingen along the Neckar River. There is evidence of the town’s history everywhere you go: from the old gates such as the Wolf’s Gate (ca 1220) to the Burg to the oldest champagne cellars in Germany to the half- timbered houses, many of which date back to the fourteenth century. Despite all this, Esslingen is a very modern place, with exclusive boutiques and lovely eateries. At one place called Emil’s I enjoyed a gargantuan plate of Maultaschen, a specialty of the area which is vaguely reminiscent of ravioli or canneloni, but without tomato sauce and with a heartier German twist. This was accompanied by a ‘Rhabarberschorle’ or rhubarb spritzer, a drink I have seldom seen on any menu and certainly nowhere in Senegal.

To top it all off, Esslingen even has a cinema located in a big industrial chimney (for you, dear reader, the cinema may not be thrilling enough to warrant inclusion, but I can assure you that seeing a film there was a big event for me, as there is no movie theater to speak of in Dakar. Having come from New York, home of the Angelika, the Film Forum and all sorts of other landmark cinemas which I was accustomed to attending fairly regularly, it came as quite a blow to learn that I would have no real opportunity to see recent films during my stay in Senegal). As it turns out, this trip to the cinema was my only one throughout my entire stay in Germany – there always seemed to be other things that were far more compelling, like coloring with the kindergarteners, hiking through the vineyards, watching my cousin’s daughters practice riding their unicycles and so on.

To return to Esslingen, however: the cobblestone streets are impeccably clean, the cars and buses have all their parts, and the typical German windowboxes full of red geraniums make me happy. The old city hall or Rathaus, which faintly resembles a tiered wedding cake, was erected around 1420 or so and boasts not just one, but two clocks on its front facade, as an astronomical clock with the allegorical figures of Justice and Temperance was added in 1592. I am currently staying just across the street from another beloved building in the old city, namely a pub called the Unicorn, or Haus zum Einhorn, first built in 1598, which seems to be quite a popular watering hole.

Right across from a nearby church is a scenic, leafy Biergarten with barrels of beer located in its basement: it was there I had my first schnitzel and fries, and I am happy to report that they went down and stayed down with ease, unlike the gorgeous Greek salad I mistakenly devoured upon my initial arrival in Athens (where I was picked up by an impeccable Mercedes taxi with all its parts intact, sigh).

While Nicole contended with a stressful work situation, I slept in, observed the passersby from her lovely French balcony over breakfast (chocolate Muesli, needless to say) and meandered along the streets of Esslingen, going in and out of quaint shops, spending money like it was going out of style and loving the fact that prices everywhere were clearly indicated: no haggling, none!  Of course, on the flip side, there were also no friendly greetings of “Bonjour, ca va?” as I passed, or the usual eager inquiries as to my marital status. I was anonymous here and blended in perfectly, which was startling after a year of having been the celebrity of the Almadies, as an unmarried white girl and holder of a US passport. Given my nature, I think I prefer quiet anonymity, but if you’ve always fantasized about being a movie star, why not give Dakar a go?

About the Author : Tamara-Diana Braunstein brings us her stories from Senegal every week. She was born in Brooklyn, New York. She is a restless wanderer who earned an MA from the University of Freiburg and has worked in a youth hostel in the French Alps, a law firm in Montreal, the Metropolitan Museum of Art as well as in university press publishing. At the moment her home base is Dakar, Senegal, where she is supposed to be teaching but is doing far more learning, as you will see by reading her blog at www.senegalschoolmarm.blogspot.com