Museumuferfest and Degenerate Art

At the start of September, Frankfurt celebrates it´s museums during the MuseumUferfest. By a twist of fate, I happened to be there two years in a row. People pack the banks of the Main, thronging around food stalls, bands. (I discovered one traditional sounding oompah band... but sadly they finished as I soon as I found them)

With my boss Stefan I drink traditional Apfelwein, wander through the museums (This year I learnt that you can pay 5 euro to see all the museums during the festival) see strange performance art, watch a tubby man in a tuxedo totally wig out to African drumming outside the Museum of World Culture. There was a theme this year of ´Turkey: where the west meets the east´, but everything only very loosely revolved around that.

In the Städel Museum we pay our obligatory respects to Goethe, the most famous former resident of Frankfurt, depicted lounging in Campagna by Tischbein. (See picture below)

(public domain)

More moving for me was learning that during the rise of the Third Reich, Hitler condemmed basically all modern art as ´decadent´and ´degenerate´, destroying and holding public mockings of works by everyone from Wassily Kandinsky to Oskar Kokoshca, to a favourite of mine, Franz Marc. The Städel´s modern works were not spared, and it´s present strong collection of German Expressionism is due to a careful reaquisitions.

Liegender Hund im Schnee - Franz Marc (public domain)

For the final fireworks over the Main, lights along the river are turned off, and the sound-clash of public music dies away. Fireworks explode, reflected on the river and the huge glass towers of this town, sychronised with the ululating song of a famous Turkish pop singer.

It´s a pity Frankfurt aint always like this!

Frankfurt to Florence

The Zen retreat (in Aschaffenburg, near Frankfurt) is the usual mix of difficult work and unbounded joy, and worth the hitching oddesy to get there. The few days previous in Frankfurt also provided a few surprises, with a trade fair drawing multitudes to the banks of the Maim, and a thriving red light district right next to the bank which controls the Euro. Bad idea to go to the zoo though.

I miss my early train to Zurich (cheap online tickets have their drawbacks) but hitchwiki.org comes through again with a perfect hitching spot in the middle of Frankfurt and a gruff Turkish German provides me with a ride to Heidlberg, a hard house soundtrack and a salami the size of my arm.



I stay in Zurich (picturesque, smells of fondue) and get a train the next morning through the Alps to Firenze (Florence) The scenes are, as you would expect, incredible. But I also feel like it's a sort of overdose of scenery. It is, as Jerry Seinfeld put it once, as if somehow it is all happening on TV. I miss the bike, slow as it is. Even when hopping from petrol station to petrol station along the autobahn, I feel a closer connection to the landscape. Maybe it's the sense of danger of the hitching that keeps my eyes open.

Report of voyage Madrid to Frankfurt

The mission: hitchike from Madrid to Frankfurt

The reason: attend a mini Zen retreat (five participants, three days, lots of breathing), meet Europeans, not spend squillions on buses and trains.

The timeframe: Wednesday 22nd August to Tuesday 28th August

The logistics: Because most people going long distances are on one of the many many motorways, the best hitching spots seem to be busy petrol stations or tollgates. Asking people directly for rides is quite a nice change from the old thumb too

Format of report: There is a little game called 'The Rose and the Thorn' I used to play with my flatmates in Dunedin. Everyone selects one 'rose' qnd one 'thorn' experience from their day.

Day One: Wednesday 22nd August
Thorn - Walking to the 'Madrid Lighthouse' in 30 degree heat for a rare ariel view of the city before I left only to find it closed until further notice.

Rose - Understanding the Spanish of Jesus the Spanish truck driver as he explained to me about the windfarm (200 turbines, popular with the public) we were passing as we neared Zaragosa en route to Barcelona.



Day Two: Thursday 23rd August

Rose: Crossing the border between Spain and France at the South-East end of the Pyrenees. I'm sad to leave Spain but I love the fact we just drive straight through as if the border was as intangible as a line of dust. I love the EU!

Thorn: The intense heat and rattling din of Tomas the German's Mercedes truck. He is a great guy, a horse breeder who started his own company to publish his thesis, but that cab was torture. I had to get out at Nimes. I'm making good time anyway.

Day Three: Friday 24th August

Thorn: Again it is a goodbye, this time to Migal the Czech, another truck driver by trade, on a mammoth road trip from his home in Marseilles to a town beginning with 'B', past Prague to visit his family. We share very little spoken language but he is great company. He let me navigate.

Roses: The massive broadleaf forests around Southeast France and the Rhone valley are a very pleasant surprise. And round about 11pm, my ride drops me at Frankfurt airport for a train to the city. I made it... early!

Thanks to the wonderful http://www.hitchwiki.org for giving me both general tips and advice for getting out of Madrid.