Halumping around Hesse (und medical update from Deutschland)

Those of you who read my book know the word boring is anathema to me. Instead I will simply say I have found myself more and more drawn to exploring outside of my glorious village of Bad Salzhausen. This region of Germany is known as Hesse and it is served by a perfect train system (which leaves at 4 minutes past the hour and at the big stations all of the clocks move in PERFECT synchronicity, one could dance to it).

My first trip was to Bad Nauheim - where Elvis Presley was posted...

From what I understand, he refused to stay in the barracks and instead took over the top two floors of the Grand Hotel.

(It is good to be the king.)

There is a beautiful garden and spa...

Bad Nauheim also has springs, an extensive thermal bath complex, and a MUCH bigger inhalatorium than Bad Salzhausen ...

Nearby to Bad Nauheim is Friedberg, which has a beautiful cathedral and a castle with a very distinctive 13th century tower...

Though I had flown into its airport, I had not yet walked the streets. So on another day my knitting, the kindle, and my water bottle visited Frankfurt! (which felt a bit like London in that one could tell that there were many building opportunities after the war).

I like the ceiling of the train station...

I also like the heating system aesthetic for Baroque houses. Goethe's house was rebuilt after the war with all of the original interiors (that had been taken out and saved from the bombing)...

I got turned around walking back to the station, but I am 95% sure that this is the opera house...

Next trip was to Marburg, the original capital of Hesse (from the 12th century again). It is now home to a big university, a huge mass of pedestrian streets...

the original castle...

a very impressive Gothic cathedral, and a huge number of beautifully preserved buildings...

It is nice to bop about on the train. I am going to continue to do so as time and energy permits.

On the medical front, I have finished my 5th cycle of the modified BEACOPP. My platelets seem to slower and slower to rise again, which the md thinks is because my bone marrow is tired and perhaps I may not be able to do as many cycles as he originally thought. I expect it will become clear in time.

In the meantime, I am receiving local hyperthermia and infusions daily, walking, breathing, knitting, reading, eating, swimming (on Sundays), and generally reveling in this beautiful life.

How can one not when surrounded by buildings with fishscales?