Categories: germany, postcards
Date: 17 July 2008 22:44:27
The main purpose of my trip to Nürnberg was to meet an associate, S, with whom I have only corresponded by e-mail. We have worked on a few jobs together and have generally built up a good working relationship. When I visited Nürnberg last September, S was polishing up her English-language skills in Los Angeles so this top level international meeting had to wait. In the style of the busy executives that we are, we decided to have a breakfast meeting - and we met at a café in the Hauptmarkt where a delicious continental style breakfast was served. [Note to any British hoteliers reading this blog: continental style breakfast does not mean a cup of coffee and a croissant - it means cereal, fruit juice, fresh fruit, a selection of breads and croissants, scrambled eggs, a selection of salamis and cheeses and unlimited tea and coffee.] Our in-depth business negotiations lasted three hours as we enjoyed a good meal on the terrace in beautiful sunshine.
S is a friend and colleague of my client, E , whom I mentioned last September. Since then, E has given birth to twin sons and we were invited to E's home for Kaffee und Kuchen.
We stopped off at a flower shop and asked for a bouquet suitable for a new mother. The florist picked up a ready-made bouquet and added a couple of flowers to it. Then she asked if the new mother had had a girl or a boy. We replied that she'd had twins - the florist added a couple more flowers to the bouquet. We then mentioned that she'd had two boys. The florist was shocked - she reacted as if she had never heard of such a thing - “Zwa Bub'n?,” she asked, shaking her head in disbelief “zwa Bub'n, oh je, oh je!” and added a couple more flowers to the bouquet and kept repeating “zwa Bub'n” in her strong Franconian accent and adding more flowers. I was beginning to wonder if we would need a wheelbarrow to get the flowers to their destination when she recovered sufficiently to charge us. The bouquet was three times its original size and cost only the original price!