Actually, it's pronounced "AHH-ken"and not "AAY-ken", which would have sounded pretty catchy...
After a splendid day in Monschau the weekend before last, we decided to explore more of Germany and spent a day in the town of Aachen (last Saturday). Once known for its ancient hot springs, today the town is famous for its association with Emperor Charlemagne (a.k.a. Charles the Great). And its only about an hours' drive from Tervuren!
The main attraction of the town is the Aachen Cathedral. Built by Emperor Charlemagne in 786AD, his remains were buried there and are still located at the Cathedral.
The Cathedral's treasury is home to an impressive collection of holy artifacts collected by Charlemagne, including the cloak of the Virgin Mary, the swaddling clothes and loincloth of Christ and the decapitation cloth of John the Baptist. These relics are taken out of its precious shrine and put on display only during the Aachen pilgrimage which takes place once every 7 years.
After taking in the Cathedral, we browsed through town and stopped at Kaiser Wetter, a local cafe, for a lunch of turkey salad, salami pizza and penne pasta.
Before leaving, we shopped in the Aachen open air market and purchased white asparagus (a german delicacy), which are now in season. For those of you who do not know, white asparagus is grown completely in the dark, covered under soil which produces the "green-less" spargel. It is said to be milder and more tender than the green variety we are accustomed to.
Although spargel is available throughout Europe this time of year, the vendor in Aachen had a cool automated peeler and washer that made buying them here worthwhile.
Later that evening, Jo cooked them using a Wolfgang Puck recipe which we enjoyed for dinner.
We made sure to buy some Printen, a famous Aachen treat, which are sold at numerous shops and bakeries throughout Aachen. These treats are baked in a mold, are thick and chewy and are reminiscent of sweet, spicy gingerbread. Its taste quite unique, it's not for everyone (DS and I didn't care for it), however the sweet-tooths of the family -- Jo and PS enjoyed them quite a bit!
Before we left, we walked over to see the Rathaus (City Hall) and the Market square. And also, what has now become a new tradition when in Germany, we stopped to get some delicious local Eis (ice cream).
DS and PS enjoying Eis in front of the Aachen Cathedral.
There's nothing like making a run to Germany when you are Aachen for some good ice cream!
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