take my word/i'm a madman don't you know...

well i got some chestnuts after all, a little glazed, as i am after my

faccsimile sangüibin dinner- venison along w/ th chestnuts, & these li'l

kartoffel(potato) croquettes that musta had some salty cheese in 'em

cause

they tasted like almojábanas-

ok, for th tropical-culture impaired, almojábanas are...rice-flour &

cheese fritters...but i'll have to check th authority, carmen aboy

valdejuli's 'cocina criolla' cookbook, when i get home to make sure there

isn't any other crucial ingredient- like coconut milk or cornmeal- mixed

in...

so, it was venison as i wd've bet on- my totem animal sacrifice, just as

on

thanksgiving of '98, my first thanksgiving @ a restaurant- this is my

second, i guess...i'll need some time to figure how many thanksgivings

i've

actually spent stateside, how many on th european shores of th

atlantic...

(tail end of thanksgiving wkend, near sunday midnight...)

farewell images: a little 'macdrive' neon sign atop a typical euro

event-poster column...menorahs in all six windows of a house...a world

globe, lit from within, in another...i get on th train tomorrow, just

after four in th afternoon, pulling into hamburg hauptbanhof just

about

eight-thirty in th evening...

after driving out to gelmeroda for a look @ th town's lit-up church,

which

lyonel feininger painted & painted again & again & @ th 'neufert box',

honoring th designs & work of architect ernst neufert, peter droppd me

off

@

gasthausbrauerei felsenkeller, th local micro(?)brewery, owned by th

deinhardt family, who have been in th biz for a few generations & more

than

one location @ an earlier time...tried th seasonal bock- weinachtsbier, &

then their dark...got hungry & had a a salad & a half- a few too many

pickles

& red kidney beans fresh from th can around some sauteed wild duck breast

strips, then some smoked trout on a little salty pancake...i was a

glutton

to want to try th second dish, even th half-portion ended up leaving me

stuffed-

blame it on th duck or th beans or th heavily-vinegared cocktail onions &

pickles- (*not*gherkins)

okay...amore, amore-d=(8{>