Aufwiedersehen in Wiesbaden

My last stop in Germany was Wiesbaden, where I slowed my pace of travel quite a bit.

I arrived in the afternoon to a cute apartment my aunt was staying at.

She and I had plans to tour the city for the evening, before heading to the airport in the morning. We’d arranged to visit Plitvice Lakes National Park, followed by a few days in Dubrovnik, and would leaving on a flight to Zagreb early in the morning.

I arrived before she got off work, so I took a moment to walk around town, with the aim of finding a good spot for lunch. My aunt suggested an Austrian spot, Cafe Maldaner.

On the way there, I saw a piece of graffiti that made me stop and laugh out loud.

“Du stinkst.” You stink.

So simple. So hurtful. So funny.

Cafe Maldaner was the cutest little place, and I had the most wonderful lunch that I have dreamed of several times since.

I waited in line for a bit before being seated. I was brought to a small table near the front of the restaurant, next two a small table where two older German women were sitting.

Our waiter took a long time getting back to us, and the two German ladies starting joking with me about how slow the service was. Then, when the waiter walked past, they completely took charge and got us all to place our orders, which I appreciated, because the combination of my self-conscious German skills and social anxiety meant that I was absolutely going to sit there until the waiter came back, but they flagged him down no problem.

I cannot recall exactly what I ordered, and I have scoured the internet for their menu, and have been unable to find anything other than their lunch menu, which I do not see this specific “sandwich” on.

Sandwich is in quotes, because while this came on toast, I’m not sure this qualifies as a sandwich.

It had a heavy layer of ham, Swiss cheese, tomatoes, cucumbers, and eggs over easy with a side salad and a stack of pickles.

I clearly hated it.

Before I left, I examined the miscellaneous pastries and treats they had, and they had one called a Mozart, which reminded me of the delicious ice cream I had in Nuremberg. I asked no questions and ordered one to go.

Very cute packaging.

While I waited for my aunt to get home from work, I strolled around the city.

Wiesbaden was another very beautiful German city.

I walked past the Marktkirche, which looked very pretty behind a few trees.

My aunt texted me that she was back at her apartment, so we spent some time catching up, and I took the opportunity to wash a few clothes at her apartment, since I still had two weeks left in Europe, and had planned to re-wear a few things.

We got dinner at a Mediterranean restaurant, AURUM, where I had a pesto and mushroom pasta dish that was excellent.

After dinner, she took me past a few of her favorite spots in Wiesbaden, including a fountain outside of their convention center.

A friend of hers, who is an artist, painted a beautiful depiction of this fountain, frozen in the winter. It looked lovely highlighted during golden hour, too.