Hochheim, Germany

On November 8, 2018 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Germany2 Comments

Located just couple of hours outside of Frankfurt, we visited Hochheim for a quick day trip from the city. It is a small town surrounded by vineyards and still retains its medieval charm. It was early November and the town was holding its annual festival and market, so it was a lot busier than it normally would have been, but that also made it fun for us. It was a quick train ride from Frankfurt and since we had monthly passes for the train, we simply had to pay a little extra to get to the nearby town.

After walking up the hill from the train station past the vineyard and the church, we entered the town through its main gate. After walking the quiet streets for a few minutes, we found a nice Italian pizzeria called La Botte to grab some lunch and have a glass of beer and wine. After lunch we continued towards the heart of the town and quickly realized that we had come to Hochheim on the right weekend as the market was in full swing. We certainly weren’t the only ones who had decided to come to Hochheim for the day.

The Hochheim Market has been held since 1484 and is actually considered one of the biggest fairs in Germany. A combination of fair, market, and festival, there was plenty of food, gluhwein, crafts, and rides for the children. It is a seven day festival and market, which happened to just be starting. A banner for the local winery welcomed everyone into the market and it got busier and busier as the day went along. This would be the first of the many markets that we enjoyed during our time in Germany, so it has a special place in our hearts.

As the sun started going down and the crowds became overwhelming, we decided to find ourselves a pub to grab some dinner and a drink before heading back to Frankfurt. It was a quaint little place with signs from the 40’s and 50’s adorning the walls and ceiling. As with most places that we visited, the people were warm and welcoming, even with the language barriers. It is hard to believe that it has been almost two years to the day since we visited Hochheim. You can read about our initial thoughts about the Hochheim Market here.

Getting the Job Done

On November 6, 2018 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Photo Challenge5 Comments

For many reasons, we love to memorialize the inventions and tools that people have used to do their jobs throughout history. With all of today’s computing and machine power, seeing the tools of the past makes you realize how fortunate we truly are these days. We have seen displays of working conditions in a variety of countries and they are all very interesting. We have taken photographs of many of them and looking back at them, it is kind of fascinating that the pictures almost capture a sense of dreariness that must have truly existed at the time. In fact, some of them are almost downright creepy.

Historic Ottoman House in Cairo, Egypt

On November 5, 2018 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Egypt2 Comments

If you are looking for something of a hidden gem while visiting Cairo, then we would suggest putting Bayt Al-Suhaymi on your list of places to visit. On our final day in Cairo, we made a last minute decision to book an “Islamic Cairo” tour through our hotel and we were certainly not disappointed. We saw several ancient mosques, but just as interesting was wandering the narrow streets of the Old City of Cairo. Just wandering the streets is quite exhilarating, but the highlight was taking a tour of an Ottoman era house that was built in 1648 and is in excellent condition as it was refurbished in 1997 as part of restoration project for the entire area.

To enter the Old City of Cairo, you go through the Conquest Gate (Bab el Fotouh), which is one of three remaining gates through the walls of the city. As we entered, we were joined by a tourism police officer to ensure our safety in the area, although we didn’t feel that it was particularly needed. We passed by several shops and restaurants on the busy streets with many children on their way home from school. Shortly we arrived at Bayt Al-Suhaymi or House of Suhaymi in order to tour the building that is one of the first Ottoman houses built in Cairo. At the center of the house there is a courtyard called a sahn that features a small garden and some trees. Looking over the courtyard is one of the many beautiful mashrabiya windows that we saw during our tour of the Old City of Cairo.

We were able to walk through many of the rooms as we worked our way up through the several floors of the building. Some of the rooms had traditional furniture still inside of them and there was even a sauna in the house that has a colorful ceiling with geometric designs. The house also featured an area in the back with a mill for grinding grain. The architecture is truly what is fascinating when you visit the house. From stained glass windows, many chandeliers, and colorful tile work, it is well worth visiting.

After leaving the Bayt Al-Suhaymi, we continued on to the Sultan Qalawun Complex, which features more amazing architecture. Afterwards, we wandered through the Khan El Khalili Bazaar, which can be quite crowded as locals and tourists flock to purchase crafts and items in stalls on the narrow streets. The sights, sounds, and aromas can be overwhelming, so take your time to fully absorb everything that you see around you. There are many tours that feature going to the bazaar, but we found the historic Ottoman home to be something very special that few people get to visit.