Back in Germany on a Phototour with schpydurx

[ehowton]

Watched the Season 4 Supernatural episode "Sex & Violence" about a modern-day Siren last night before going to bed and dreaming I was back in Germany - Wiesbaden to be specific. The location may be because I plan on photographing two Churches my next trip - one of which can be found on the 50 Most Extraordinary Churches of the World (#24) and while perusing the site I ran across another I had previously blogged about (#30 on that list). This also accounts for the activity & the girl. As for Tomas' involvement, I cannot say.

Here we go:

I was visiting schpydurx who lived in a small apartment in Wiesbaden, West Germany - there were still tensions there and possible hostilities were brewing between the two Germanies - we were told to be cautious. That's when I met her - in the lime green stairwell hallway of the downtown hostel, reminiscent of the old Deutsches barracks. She was a brunette, simply attired in a black summer dress. She reminded me of my first love; the one I'd lost in that same town some twenty years earlier. I was trying to photograph the largest tree still living in downtown - an enormous oak on its own block, a survivor during the Allied bombings of World War II. But she was standing between me and my goal.

Tomas was at work - I don't remember actually ever seeing him, though we spoke often throughout the day in planning our evening activities once he got off work. At one point I decided I needed a smaller tripod, and I was rummaging around the top shelf of the closet where Tomas kept his gear, and that's when I saw it: The Nikon D-80! The largest, heaviest, most expensive Nikon on the market. It couldn't even use existing lenses because its lens-mount was twice the diameter of average DSLRs to house its enormous image sensor. He had several very nice, interestingly configurable tripods - some of which I wasn't even familiar with. I grabbed the smallest, hand-sized tripod normally used for photographing close-ups. I was going to use the minuscule tripod to photograph the tree from sidewalk-level, pointing up - to capture its immense beauty - just like the tree that was created from Anna's Grace in the Season 4 Supernatural episode "Heaven & Hell."

The girl was more and more alluring. It felt like I knew her, like I'd always known her. I wanted to be with her, forever. I was very excited for Tomas to get off work so we could all hang out. He was excited too. I wanted to got out and pick up a half-liter 4-pack of canned Koenig Pilsener. Real, unpasteurized German beer. I walked out of the apartment with the girl on my arm. She asked which route I wanted to take and because I remembered the street names and their directions, I told her. It was a beautiful day out, a little gray, but not cold. The dark green wooden kiosk was the only peddler on the corner of the block of the magnificent tree and reminded me of the Vietnam Vet who sets up shop outside the Lincoln Memorial.

The beer was a surprising £13.99! Nearly $26 U.S. I reached into my pockets with fingerless woolen gloves...and awoke. I awoke with the ache of the girl who's name I didn't know, but perhaps more importantly, an unquenchable desire for some great Germany brewski.

Its been far, far too long.