In the middle of… Trigrad
Illustration: Marc Herold
Trigrad is 1240 meters high above the gorge where Orpheus lost his Eurydice, it has about 685 inhabitants and a post office with customer-friendly opening hours, Monday to Friday, 7.30am to 12.30pm and 1.30pm to 4.30pm. It’s 10:30 a.m. on a Friday and the door is closed. A woman in a headscarf comes out of the basement with a bucket of potatoes. “Closed?” she asks. “She’s probably out there somewhere.” You can put together so much Bulgarian. Another woman, sitting on the bench in front of the house, points across the village square and says: “Over there.” The general store clerk enters. “Post?” Then she calls across the street: “Iri!” The addressee rises from the shade of a plum tree, smiles and hurries as fast as she can with her walker towards the foreign guest with the postcards. Finally mail! Victoria Grossman
In the middle of… Munich
Illustration: Marc Herold
Munich Central Station, on the mezzanine floor. Quickly buy something on hand before I have to be at the platform in a few minutes. Hurry, hurry. Ah, the familiar curly M sign. Funny, no queue. So to the counter. Did they remodel? Doesn’t matter. Me, already with my wallet in hand: “Two cheeseburgers and a medium fries, please.” Man behind the counter: “The fries thick or thin?” Me: “Uh, please? Normal…” Man: “16 euros 35.” Me: “What? Nope.” Man: “Yes, 16 euros 35.” Me: “No! A cheeseburger costs two euros or so!” Man, unmoved: “Not with us.” Now I’m really outraged. “So, a cheeseburger here at the train station costs three times as much as in a regular McDonald’s?!” Man: “We’re not McDonald’s. That’s one step further.” Marc Schuermann
In the middle of… Wiesbaden
Illustration: Marc Herold
Dogs are not city people. They don’t like going to bars, hate concrete and noise. A visit to Wiesbaden is therefore no pure pleasure for a Labrador of rural origin, as beautiful as the city is. Oskar has to stay on a leash in the park, isn’t allowed to swim in the duck pond and isn’t allowed to dig up the spa promenade. At dinner in Goldgasse, his patience is put to the test. The tables are close together, juicy steaks are on the plates. A bushy cat is sitting in front of the bar, grinning provocatively. A nocturnal encounter on the street then finishes Oskar off. A disabled pug whose hind legs are strapped into a dog wheelchair circles panting around the Labrador in his vehicle. Oskar remains peaceful, but his eyes say: Help, I want to go home to my garden! Titus Arno
You can find more episodes of the “In the middle of …” column here.