CHAPTER VIII
“Zur Schoenen Mullerin”
It was already about 17.00. This hard day was coming to an end. It was very hot during the day +35C, the soaring sun was burning everything around, but in the taxi the thermometer was already showing +28C. Everything went great and worked out in the women’s clothing store and I endured this marathon, which lasted three hours. We bought everything that Lena wanted. It was a great Victory!
So what? We conveniently settled down at the bar counter where David was working as a bartender today. The bar-restaurant was called: “Zur Schoenen Mullerin”. David was busy with another order and after a few minutes he came up to us.
David, I greet you, my dear friend and comrade. David and I shook our hands firmly. I met David 1.5 months ago, when I had just arrived in Germany and was studying Frankfurt. I was walking down the street and in the distance I saw this three-story building, a bar and restaurant: “Zur Schoenen Mullerin”. I was sitting there, leafing through the menu of this establishment, wondering what to order. Light beer and perhaps this signature dish…
At that moment, a waiter came up to me. A tall young guy. With black curly hair. Strongly built. At some point, I stopped and began leafing back through the menu. Yes, here. I’ll have this light beer. Now I needed to find the signature dish. I began leafing through the menu in reverse order again.
Waiter: “From Russia?”
Nikita: Yes, from Moscow, I answered.
Waiter: Can you speak Russian? I don’t understand much Russian.
Nikita: Yes, I’m looking for the name of the signature dish here. A moment…
Waiter: “Christian. Orthodox? Did that perhaps sound like Orthodox and with a strong accent?”
Nikita: I pushed the menu away from me. My appetite was gone. This question took me a little by surprise and shock. I looked at the waiter carefully and then asked: “What’s going on? Is everything okay?”
At some point, the waiter unbuttoned the collar of his shirt and showed his pectoral cross. I am from Greece and we are Christian. Orthodox. Orthodox faith.
I was even more surprised and only then realized that the waiter saw my pectoral cross on my neck. Honestly, I did not know that Greece is an Orthodox state. I thought that all countries in the EU that are part of the EU are Catholic states, but it turned out that I was wrong. This issue required additional study.
There was almost no one in the bar and David and I started a conversation. I moved to the bar. It turned out that David is not a waiter, but a bartender, but since there is not always enough staff, he acts as a waiter from time to time. We talked for a long time. About Russia. About Greece. About Greek culture. About Ancient Greece, which arose in the 3rd millennium BC. David, told me a lot about Moscow, how he studied and worked there. About the largest temple in Europe. The Cathedral of Christ the Savior.
In the end, it turned out that David and I were co-religionists and in a certain sense our way of life was somewhat close and very similar. The Christian and Orthodox religions are very strict and conservative, which in a certain sense affects your upbringing, traditions and culture. David and I had a lot in common.
In the end, a couple of hours flew by unnoticed. I managed to drink a couple of glasses of 0.33 beer. I watched a little football match of local clubs. Bayern won. I liked this bar and when David was busy and in the evening the bar was already crowded. I seized the moment and went back to my relatives’ house. I was already on my way in a taxi and remembered that I forgot to pay the bill. Damn. I will definitely have to go to this bar later, I thought. Yes, and in fact, David was my only buddy and friend with whom I communicated throughout June and July.
David looked at Lena, who was sitting to my right. He winked at me with one eye. This is the girl who was with us at the nightclub “ADLIB CLUB”.
Nikita: Yes, David, if you remember, her friend Vanessa was also at the club with us, and she should be arriving soon.
David: How did our party at the club end?
Nikita: David, we were there practically until the morning. We also ordered Jamaican rum. It was already morning when they started throwing us out of the club. We couldn’t find a taxi for a long time, and eventually ended up at the Frankfurt train station.
David: How did it happen that you ended up in another city in Karlsruhe?
Nikita: They were from another city. Lena and Vanessa came here from another city and I decided to take a taxi to see them off.
David, at that moment I started laughing, I mean, wait… Did you go from the club to the train station in the morning? Bought tickets and went to Karls-Ruhe?.. is that how it works?
Nikita: Yes, absolutely. We arrived at the Frankfurt train station and drank morning coffee with Jamaican rum on the second floor, and then bought tickets and hit the road. You called me the next day at 5:00 or 6:00 pm… Something like that…
David: You were at her place and David turned his black eyes towards Lena?
Nikita: Where else could I be? Woke up at 5:00 pm in another city with a strange woman…
At that time, Lena’s phone rang. Vanessa and Stefan pulled up to the bar in a taxi.
Lena: Come inside. Yes, the central entrance. We are sitting on the first floor, where the bar is. Yes, right there!
Vanessa walked ahead, and Stefan followed her.
Vanessa: Hello everyone!
Vanessa: Nikita, I’m so glad to see you!
Vanessa stood between Lena and me and put her arms around our elbows.
Vanessa: What were you doing without us? So cheerful and happy already? and smiled mysteriously.
Vanessa: I also want to be cheerful and happy like you and Nikita!
Vanessa: Nikita, meet Stefan. Stefan, this is Nikita. Nikita, this is Stefan.
We all started laughing. Vanessa knew how to give out incredible and cool emotions and get everyone going with her good mood.
I nodded in response, to Stefan. We shook hands. Stefan, nice to meet you. Come in, sit down. You’ll be the fourth. After a while, we stopped laughing, but everyone was on the rise and in high spirits. Everyone was in a great mood.
At that moment, I turned to David, listen, there aren’t many guests in the bar yet. We’ll move to that table over there. I’ll immediately order a three-liter decanter of apple cider and, probably, a bucket of ice. Tell the girls (waitresses) to bring us our order on one joint bill.
We moved to a more comfortable table on the first floor. A few minutes later, they brought us our order. I poured the apple cider into glasses with all due responsibility. The bar was getting very noisy. Music was playing. There were more and more people as the evening went on.
At some point, Vanessa started talking about France, about the Moulin Rouge. Paris. The Palace of Versailles. Night parties. Clubs. Paintings. Museums.
Stefan: The best way to go to France is by car through Belgium. We went there the year before last and I know the road quite well. We could stop somewhere in Belgium.
Lena: It’s a great idea to go to France. See Paris…
Vanessa: I’ll need a car. I can borrow a car from my kind parents for a while, but… Vanessa, lost in thought for a while…
Vanessa: Stefan, but you could also show your concern then. The Toyota Prado is just right for our trip.
Stefan: The Toyota Prado needs repairs and the car needs to be prepared for a long trip. It needs maintenance. It needs new tires. The Toyota has been in the garage for six months…
Vanessa: What’s the problem? Well, you and Nikita should do something… Screw the wheels on with a screwdriver, change the oil… You’re our favorite boys and you should make your girls’ wishes come true…
Stefan: So that’s it. Just get in and drive?
Nikita: Stefan, is the Toyota even running? Does it have a starter? Does it start? Is the body intact?
Stefan: The body is intact. The starter is in place, but it will take a long time to fix this broken car.
Nikita: Let’s try to drive the Toyota to the professionals’ trading platform. They will look at it and give their objective opinion. What else needs to be done with the Toyota, besides new tires?
Stefan: Oil, spark plugs, front suspension, right wheel pump, lever, reset the errors that the computer throws up. The main thing is new tires.
Nikita: It became obvious to me that a certain amount of money needs to be invested in the Toyota to fix the car.
Nikita: Let’s try. I’ll call you tomorrow, or better yet, the day after tomorrow. You live in the suburbs of Frankfurt, right?
Stefan: Yes, in the suburbs. You can try, but there are no guarantees.
In the end, Stefan and I exchanged phone numbers and decided to call each other in a couple of days and meet to study all the issues in detail on site and look at the Toyota Prado. To study this issue in detail.
It became clear that there was trouble with the Toyota. It was possible not to look. Yes, the guys on the trading platform will help, but anyway, one way or another, you will need to buy everything. New tires. Oil. Spark plugs. Filters. Pump. Lever. Let’s say an uncle will help you overhaul the suspension. Resetting errors on the computer was also not a problem. In the end, you will still need to buy most of the spare parts.
We discussed this topic for a very long time and it became a cult. Go to France. This topic itself excited the thoughts and fantasies of our charming women. For a long time they talked only about France. We discussed all this. How we would go. How we would get there. We would leave. What we would do.
Vanessa knew Paris very well. Only small financial problems remained to be solved. Find money to repair the Toyota Prado and for the trip to France.
Stefan, he was talking to someone on the phone, and after he hung up…
Stefan: Our college friends from Berlin decided to join us. Vanessa, you know them from the parallel stream. Jan and the girl from the USA, Suzanne, who came on exchange last year.
Vanessa: Let them come if they want, but they must pay for themselves. We don’t need seagulls here.
Stefan called his friends back a few minutes later: Chemist, do you and Suzanne have money? We don’t need seagulls here…
A woman’s laughter came over the speakerphone. A man’s voice answered: “We’ll be there soon!”
To be continued…