Mainz in March.

It’s Spring!
Our long stay in Mainz is coming to the end, and I am looking at my photos, sifting through impressions. The overall feeling is positive, in spite of the hurricanes and the virus. Indeed, news today reads like an apocalypse. But life always goes on. As usual my experiences are good – and various. Cheating at stores is a big fat NO, nobody likes being deceived. People are very friendly and helpful even though sometimes they are wary of foreigners. My ungrammatical German is fine for communication. I can confidently buy foods, visit a pharmacy, brave the post office. Only once an old woman standing behind me in line suddenly asked, in German, “You are English? I will go ahead of you because I am local!” Maybe she was in a hurry; maybe she had some unpleasant clashes with people from other countries; or maybe she was not all there. I let her step in front of me. All the people working behind the counters are invariably helpful and professional.
Quite often I am able to help visitors to this lovely town. There is an ongoing construction right by the main train station’s west exit, with the site carefully fenced in. Due to the machinery one cannot follow the GPS to their destination because they simply cannot see the narrow passageway in between fences. “Do you know where the B&B Hotel is?” Two stranded young women from the UK stood there helplessly. They peeked dubiously into the long narrow passage and asked me if it was safe to walk through it, meaning both the construction and the chance encounters with undesirable elements. I suggested mildly that they do not walk alone late at night, good advice for young women in any country. The day being Sunday, I also told them that everything was closed, if they wanted some food their best chance was the train station where the Rossman all-purpose store and numerous bakeries are always open. “But where’s the city, how does one get to the Old Town?” That’s easy, just walk through that same passageway, it is safe during the day,through the station to the other exit, and you emerge right in front of the main town. Crossing the square is a challenge as there is lots of traffic but no traffic lights. Obviously people and drivers are used to it, pedestrians stop and wait for a large bus to pass by, or those same buses brake and let people cross the square. Then it is Bahnhofstrasse, Train Station Street, which takes one to one of the main city squares. The Cathedral is seen to the left; the church with Chagall Windows is up the street to your right. It is easy to find one’s way. The Rhine River is more or less straight ahead, past the Cathedral. The market is in full swing every Tuesday, Friday and Saturday; in Saturdays it is so crowded it is a bit hard to get through it. The market is quite an attraction, besides being the place where the locals and visitors buy produce, enjoy foods sold at many hot foods counters, and simply stare or socialize.
Most bakeries began to sell the local specialty this week: Plunder tart is a sweet puff pastry with very light cream and glazed strawberries on top. Traditionally it is sold close to Easter; there are also plenty of chocolate eggs and bunnies in all sizes, both individual and in pretty boxes. Most shop windows are getting decorated in anticipation of the holiday season.
If you have no specific aims for the day, strolling along, looking around at whatever the town offers is one of the best ways to spend the remaining days of your stay. The sun comes out, it is really warm, and people smile without any other cause to feel happy than the coming of spring.