The Second Time Around

Here it is Sunday.  There's a Tour de France rest day tomorrow and I have a big long trip planned, so I needed something simple and cheaper today.  I decided to give Darmstadt another chance.  I am glad I did!
Sunday is the cleaning day for my apartment, so before I left I made sure all my stuff was cleared away and the recycling was put out.  In Munich and all the other Citadines I have lived in there's been a trash/recycle room.  Frankfurt claims to have one.  I have yet to find it.  Most guests leave bags of trash in the hallways, and I can't blame them.
The weather forecast was for heat and thunderstorms, but when I left it was cool and breezy.  And when I got to the Hauptbahnhof, I did something I did not think I'd even do again in Europe.  I bought a book for myself.  Yep.  Even with the kindle.  It's called Germania by a guy named Simon Winder, and looks like the kind of book that does not get published in the United States or made into an e book.  So I bought it.

And while I waited for the S Bahn I began to read it.  I'll save the rest for the plane, but it's fun!
I had a smooth trip to Darmstadt, and, of course, this time I ignored the misleading signs and caught the tram for the historic center.  I like trams better than busses.  They seem more exotic and European.  I hopped off at Luisenplatz and walked to the Schloss.  A museum lurks within, which I had double checked would be open.  I also thought I knew what time the tours were.  Well, yes, on the former, no on the latter.  Finding the actual museum was a bit of a chore.  The palace, because it's not really a castle, has a lot of passages and courtyards, and the museum entrance is tucked away in a corner.  I was way early, so I walked around the town for forty-five minutes--mostly looking for a open public toilet--which (whew!) I eventually found.
It had begun to rain gently.  I found this lovely and refreshing.  I always have my umbrella with me, so when it begins to rain I can enjoy it and carry on.
I returned for the tour.  This is the only way you can visit the "Schloss" but it is truly value for money.  The tour lasts a little over an hour and passes through a series of beautiful period rooms. The place was bombed during the war, so what you'll see is largely reconstructed and refurnished, but it gives a solid idea of how beautiful the Residence of the Landgraves and Grand Dukes of Hesse Darmstadt was.  The tour is in German, but since there were just the two of us, the kindly guide accommodated me by also giving the explanations in English.
I also have to say that my comprehension of German is a bit better, so I got some of the jokes she told auf Deutsch.  Do you like portraits?  Gorgeous inlaid wood furniture?  Amazing wall paper?  Splendid tapestries?  Exquisite porcelain? (One figurine group I coveted especially.  It was a charming scene of a noblewoman having her hair dressed and powdered by two male hairdressers as her dog looked on excitedly). Actual court clothes of the eighteenth and early nineteenth century?  Well, I sure did.  I am leaving out the orders, fans, and musical instruments, but I liked those as well.
The rain had stopped when I emerged, so I decided to stroll up to Mathildenhohe--the Jugendstil center and I remembered the pedestrian way up, and I figured it would not hurt to revisit the place without the fatigue, jet lag, and cranky attitude I'd had before.  So I had a nice walk around, and I poked into the shops.  The latter are Very Nice and awash with beautiful and expensive Jugendstil reproductions in case any of my readers want to burn through their credit limits.
Dinner is Maultauschen dressed with the last of my precious green sauce (Yum. I'll miss it), and washed down with a nice dry Riesling.  Always drink the local wine--even it it's beer.  It's cheapest and will always be good.