This post isn’t so much “A Photo an Hour” as “a photo whenever I remembered I was actually supposed to be taking photos”. We were invited to a party back in Karlsruhe on Saturday, and between missing trains, buying tram tickets in the rain and helping refugees find their stop, taking photos kind of fell by the wayside occasionally. Oops!
9.30 a.m. Oh dear, I forgot to take a photo when I got up! Better take one now! Packing the overnight bag.
11 a.m. After just missing the tram we needed, arriving at the station one minute after our train left and then having to buy new tickets because we had ones that we valid only for that connection, I finally got round to taking a photo again! Waiting for the train to arrive…
Crepe
12 noon. Reading on the train.
1.30 p.m. At one, we were helping refugees figure out where they were going, so I decided to switch back to photos on the half hour. At 1.30 we were eating lunch at Café Pan.
Cafe Pan
Postgalerie
2. 30 p.m. Still at the café. These are some decorations.
3.30 p.m. A spot of shopping while we’re in nice, cheap Germany!
4.30 p.m. A quick stop for some tea and cake at Sukie’s. We shared a slice of pumpkin cake and it was delicious!
5.30 p.m. On the tram to the party, carrying a gift in a cute froggy bag.
6.30 p.m. One of the other guests brought yummy éclairs from France!
Midnight-ish. Coat and shoes back on, ready to leave!
Well, I may not have taken a photo every hour, but at least I managed an even number this month 😉
I’ve been kind of absent from my blog this week – it’s just been far too hot to spend any unnecessary time on the computer! But I have a little time now and nothing else to do, so I thought I’d better get back to it before it starts feeling like too much of a chore 😉
Last Saturday we were invited to a birthday celebration in Königsbach, which is not far from Karlsruhe. Since we were planning on spending the night and had to change trains in Karlsruhe anyway, I asked some friends whether they would like to meet up on Sunday afternoon. A few people had time, so we arranged to meet at Marktplatz and, since it was a lovely day (or too hot if you ask me!), we ended up wandering around for a while. Karlsruhe is currently celebrating its 300th birthday – I know, so young! I’m sure its neighbours are laughing at it – there are various things going on throughout the town. For instance, you may have caught a news item about an art installation that was given a parking ticket. It actually made international news! I didn’t see that particular piece of art, but we did stop to admire a random house that was hanging above the construction site formerly known as Marktplatz:
There was a large stage in the Schlosspark and dozens of stalls with things to do an information about various companies in Karlsruhe. We ignored all of them in favour of heading for one that was selling cold drinks, but I did stop to photograph some plastic elephants who appeared to be plotting something in front of one stall…
I didn’t bother to figure out what the point was though 😉
Sadly, our train home left before it got dark so we didn’t get to see the castle all lit up in pretty colours (a spectacle worth seeing, I’m told), but it does manage to look quite impressive even in daylight:
Karlsruhe is celebrating its birthday until 27 September, which is the date that the town’s charter was published (the celebrations began on 17 June, which marked the 300th anniversary of the laying of the founding stone for the castle and is considered to be the town’s actual birthday). There are various events and exhibitions going on, so if you find yourself in Karlsruhe this summer I’m sure you’ll find something to do.
Happy Birthday Karlsruhe, and may you have many more!
While going through some photos that were still on my camera, I realised I hadn’t uploaded these ones from Karlsruhe zoo yet. The week before I left for good, Jan and I went with some friends to say a final goodbye to the animals. The red pandas in particular, of course. It was a beautiful sunny day – perfect for a stroll around the zoo. Here are a few impressions from our afternoon out:
A separate gallery for my favourite little pandas 🙂 You’re going to want to click on some of these to enlarge then. Trust me!!
Some more animals, including the dwarf otters that sound exactly like squeaky dog toys!
I know there are mixed opinions about zoos, and I do feel a bit guilty seeing the animals behind bars, but in the end the chance to actually see such animals (even if it is caged in) always wins. I just love their little faces too much to resist. Sorry if you think that makes me a bad person.
Let’s rewind a few weeks to a time before I moved to Switzerland. I knew that I would have to complete item 35 on my 35 before 35 list before leaving Karlsruhe because it’s not that easy to do a beer tour using the Karlsruhe transport network when you don’t actually live there! Obviously we could have come back for a visit, but it seemed easier to do it while I was still around to plan things out properly. And so, on 11 April 2015, a group of us set out to drink a beer in several brewpubs that could be reached using the KVV transport network. The idea was to buy a 24 our ticket (or in my case use my Bahncard 100 one last time before it ran out) and visit as many places as we could in one day. The final selection of venues ended up being Andreasbräu in Leopoldshafen, Alter Bahnhof in Malsch, Wallhall in Bruchsal, Brauhaus Löwenhof in Bretten and finally good old Vogelbräu in Karlsruhe. We could also have done one more (Kühler Krug, also in Karlsruhe), but we liked the beer at Wallhall so much that we decided to stay for an extra one and also for something to eat. Here are some impressions from the individual places.
Andreasbräu, Leopoldshafen
We left Karlsruhe at just after 12 and took an S1 to Leopoldshafen, so clearly our first stop had to include lunch. I had Schnitzel, because I’m boring 😉 At Andreasbräu, everybody chose to drink a Red Dragon, which was delicious. I’m a little sad that it took my until my last month in Karlsruhe to discover Andreasbräu because I liked it a lot.
The logo, to prove that’s where we were
The beers
Red Dragon. Very tasty!
Schnitzel mit Pommes
Alter Bahnhof, Malsch
To get to our next stop, we travelled all the way through Karlsruhe, changing at the train station onto an S-Bahn towards Rastatt. Here, I originally chose a Märzen to drink, but it tasted sour and I actually thought it might be off. The waitress tried it and said it was supposed to be like that, so I decided it probably just wasn’t my kind of beer and switched to a Helles. I wasn’t charged for the original beer, which was nice, but I wasn’t too keen on the atmosphere at this place – it was a bit “local pub-ish”, if you know what I mean – and I probably wouldn’t go back. I did like the wall decorations though! As the name might suggest (Alter Bahnhof means Old Train Station), the brewpub is inside the old train station building and the walls had been painted with a waiting for a train theme.
A beer mat, again to prove where I was
My original beer, which I sent back
Better!
A different angle
Proof that I actually drank beer and didn’t just take photos 😉
Wall decorations
The old train station building that houses the pub
Wallhall, Bruchsal
Stop number 3 was in Bruchsal. We had to take the S-Bahn back through Karlsruhe train station, but this time we went straight through without changing. For my first beer I chose a Schwarzbier, which was very tasty with a coffee-ish note. After trying each other’s beers, everybody decided we wanted to stay here for a second drink so we could all drink the one we hadn’t had the first time round. My second beer was Hopfenperle, which was also delicious. It was getting towards tea time by this stage so we decided to eat again. This time, I chose veal with Semmelknödel (bread dumplings). Very tasty! I can highly recommend Wallhall if you’re ever in Bruchsal. It’s also a hotel, although I couldn’t tell you whether their rooms are as good as their food and drink.
The logo again, because of course!
Schwarzbier
Just because it looked so nice
Wall decoration
The beer list
My friend did this. I don’t know why!
Yummy yummy veal in gravy with delicious bread dumplings
Brauhaus Löwenhof, Bretten
Once we were done in Bruchsal, we headed to Bretten. We took the S9, which none of us had ever taken before and which went on an interesting route through small villages that we’d never heard of. We even spied a castle through the window at one stage! Our destination was Brauhaus Löwenhof. The beer there wasn’t my favourite of the day, but it was pretty good. Most of the photos I took there feature people and are therefore not blog suitable, but here are a few:
Vogelbräu, Karlsruhe
Our final stop was at Vogelbräu back in Karlsruhe. There’s not really much I can say about this place. I’ve been here many times and the beer is good. In my opinion, it’s tied with Kühler Krug for best beer brewed within Karlsruhe city. At Vogelbräu, I ate a garlic pannini. Not because I was still hungry, I just love them there. They’re definitely not for the faint-hearted though! When they say garlic, they really mean it! By the way, Vogelbräu has three pubs – in Karlsruhe, Durlach and Ettlingen – and if you visit all three on one day you get a free (small) beer at the third stop. By the time we reached Vogelbräu, we were all running out of steam a bit, so I only have 2 photos for you there:
All in all, it was a fun day out and I enjoyed discovering new places and tasty beers. An excellent item for my 35 before 35 list and a highly recommended day out in Karlsruhe. All you need is a map of the transport network, a 24 hour ticket and plenty of time! I recommend looking up tram times in advance and having a couple of alternatives in case you miss one or just decide to stay a bit longer at a place you like a lot. I planned in roughly an hour at each place with extra time at Andreasbräu so we could eat lunch.
Other places we considered visiting but didn’t for reasons of time and more difficult tram/bus connections were: Brauhaus 4.0 in Knielingen, Lindenbräu in Waldbronn, Brauerei Franz in Rastatt, Hopfenschlingel in Rastatt, Badisches Brauhaus in Karlsruhe and Kühler Krug in Karlsruhe. Five isn’t bad for one day though! We met up at just after 12 noon and left Vogelbräu at midnight, so the tour took pretty much exactly 12 hours.
I’m not including people on this list, because I think it goes without saying that I’ll miss my friends! Also, people can move so theoretically it would be possible for the people I like to also come to Basel 😉 But even ignoring the people, I will miss some things about the place that’s been my home for the past eight and a half years!
My “local” Irish pub… and of course the quiz. (My team came 3rd last week, by the way, which was a nice way to say goodbye).
The trams. I know, it seems like an odd thing to miss, but they’re bright yellow and whenever I spied one from a train window I knew I was nearly home.
The Schlosspark (castle grounds). I don’t even think I spent any time there last year with the weather in the summer being so bad, but it’s the perfect place to sit when the sun’s out. I hope we’ll find somewhere just as good in Basel.
The red pandas, of course! I’ll miss seeing them hanging out in their trees on my way to and from work. (I will also miss living literally oppostie the zoo! We’re fairly close in Basel but it’s still a ten-minute walk. At the weekend, we took a last trip to Karlsruhe zoo, so look out for those photos on the blog once I can upload again – the ones in this post were all already uploaded for previous posts)
I promise there’s a red panda in that tree…
Soul bar, not just because of the very tasty cocktails, but also because the owners are so lovely. They greeted us like old friends every time we came in – even if it had been months since our last visit – and did an excellent job for my 30th birthday party.
Sukie’s Cake Shop. I’ve only actually been there three times, but I will miss knowing I can go to a place where I can eat scones and clotted cream to my heart’s content and won’t get funny looks for asking for milk with my tea. Also, they sell cans of Dandelion & Burdock and Irn Bru!
A strawberry scone from Sukie’s
Knowing my way around. Okay, this is something that I’m sure will come with time in Basel, but nothing could be quite as easy as Karlsruhe’s layout. All streets either lead to the castle or away from it (or, in the case of cross streets, parallel to it), so if you can’t see the castle turn around and walk the other way until you do! (Only applies for the twon centre, obviously)
Hoepfner Burgfest. Beer, live music and good food. What’s not to love? And even if we do find a beer festival in Basel, the Karlsruhe one will win on price!
Hoepfner beer at Burgfest 2014
The excellent connections. It sounds odd, but one of the things I love about Karlsruhe is how easy it is to get away from. By train, you can be in Paris, Munich or Lucerne in three hours, Zurich in two and a half, Frankfurt in just over an hour and Strasbourg or Heidelberg in roughly half an hour. There’s even a direct connection to Marseilles (although it admittedly takes 6 and a half hours) and a few years ago, Jan and I took a night train to Amsterdam, arriving at our final destination (Delft) refreshed and ready for the day.
Our flat. It was the first place Jan and I ever lived together (unless you count the student residence, which I don’t!) and it really is a lovely flat. Of course, after two weeks of listening to the empty rooms echo I’m looking forward to living in a place with furniture again, and our new flat is also lovely, but this place will always hold a special place in my heart.
Where my books used to live…
With all that said, I am looking forward to being in Basel full time and find new places that I love just as much as my favourites in Karlsruhe. And the cheese… I’m definitely looking forward to the cheese!
Yesterday I took part in A Photo an Hour, hosted by Jane from Is That You Darling? and Louisa from Duck in a Dress. Here are the results of my efforts.
11 a.m. A late start to the morning (but in my defence, I’d had a looong day the day before… and a long week for that matter!). First things first: a cup of tea is needed!
12 noon Doing a bit of cross stitch (actually, at this point I was unpicking. Yes, I messed up right at the beginning and had to start over)
1 p.m. A spot of lunch (brunch?) while looking for even more flat adverts to respond to. Jan took the tablet while I was fetching my camera and then wouldn’t give it back to me, so instead of a real estate website, you get a photo of my empty plate.
2 p.m. Wrapping a new home gift for a friend ready to take it to the post office.
3 p.m. Showered and dressed… aren’t my spotty tights fab?
4 p.m. Post office done, now to head home via the supermarket. I happened to be passing St Stephen’s Church at 4, and its chimes reminded me to take a photo so I decided it deserved to be the subject of said photo.
5 p.m. Time to wash some dishes. I’m ashamed to say that I was washing dishes from Thursday!
6 p.m. Sorting out some of my crafting supplies… a task that desperately needs doing so I can pack up the spare room read for the move.
7 p.m. Cracking some eggs to make omelets for tea.
8 p.m. Carrot and apple salad (it’s a German thing…)
9 p.m. (actually 9:30… I got distracted!). Cross stitching while watching TV.
11 p.m. I forgot to take a photo at 10! Not that it would have made much difference… still cross stitching. Working on the dreaded French knots of dooooom!
And actually forgetting to take a photo at 10 turned out quite well because it means I get to keep my symmetry. I went to bed after the news, which finished at 11:35, so there was no midnight photo.
So, that was my Saturday. Pretty boring! How was yours?
For the past two years, I’ve done a kind of month-by-month recap at the end of the year as I way to remind myself of everything I’ve done that year – where I’ve been and what I’ve achieved. Here’s this year’s version. I’m keeping photos small for this post so as not to overwhelm. Clicking on them should make them bigger.
January
We started the year on a high note watching the fireworks display in Madeira, which just happened to be on my 35 before 35 list. Woo hoo! I also counted that as my January trip for the take 12 trips challenge. And that was pretty much it for events in January. It was the first month of my English colleague’s maternity leave, and while my German colleagues complained of having very little to do, I was utterly swamped!
The famous Madeira fireworks
February
On 5th February, Jan and I celebrated our ten-year anniversary, which is quite frankly terrifying! A decade! What? How? And soon we’ll be celebrating 11 years. I just can’t get my head around it. We didn’t do anything on the actual day as Jan had a paper to finish, but a few days later we went for a (rather disappointing) Italian meal.
A week, later, I received a phone call from England with the news that my grandpa was seriously ill in hospital and wasn’t expected to last much longer (abdominal cancer). Thanks to my boss being lovely, I managed to get a week off at short notice and fly to England to be with him one last time. As it turned out, he survived for longer than the mere days or weeks that had been predicted, but I’m glad I saw him before he went really down hill so I was able to actually speak to him and have him know who I was.
At the end of the month, I took a spontaneous day trip to Bruchsal (the next larger town to the North of Karlsruhe) so that my trip for February wouldn’t have to be watching my grandpa die! It isn’t the most exciting town, but I did manage to see a few pretty things.
A stream running through Bruchsal
March
Jan’s birthday is the 1st of March, and this year I made him chocolate cupcakes to take to work. I’m informed they went down well.
Cupcakes
Also in March, my grandpa was moved to another hospital (coincidentally the one where my mum works as a nurse – my grandma had to give her permission for my mum to work with him!).
17th March is, of course, St. Patrick’s Day. Our favourite Irish pub did a full Irish breakfast the day before and on actual St. Patrick’s Day (a Monday) there was a party at the pub with live music. This year I was actually clever enough to take the day after St. Patrick’s Day off work so I could party all night!
Full Irish breakfast
March was another ridiculously busy month at work and involved lost of overtime, but I still managed to fit in my monthly trip. I went to the Gutenberg market in Karlsruhe for it. The next day, Jan and I took a trip to Colmar in France which is gorgeous!
April
April was Easter month, which meant a much-needed long weekend. Yay! Jan, K and I took a trip to Amnévile zoo. It was K’s first time there, but for Jan and I it was the second. The falconry display is amazing! On the way home from the zoo, K introduced us to Welcome to Night Vale, and we both instantly became big fans.
Also, Jan and I looked after some friends’ pet birds over Easter weekend and succeeded in not killing them. Achievement of the year! 😉 At the end of the month, I took a trip to Heidelberg to meet up with some fellow English speakers in Germany. It was a great day out! Hopefully we’ll be having a winter meet up in January.
Heidelberg Castle
May
May 2014 will forever be known as the month my grandpa died. When the phone rang before I’d even left for work in the morning, I knew immediately what it was going to be, and I was correct. Again, my boss allowed me to spontaneously take time off (only 2 days this time) so I was able to go home for the funeral.
Also in May, I published my 1,000th post on this here little bloggy! Unbelievable! At the end of the month, another public holiday meant a long weekend, so Jan and I took a trip to Konstanz for a couple of days.
June
In June, we went to see a charity concert in Karlsruhe featuring Fish of Marillion fame, among others. We also went to the Hoepfner Burgfest (a beer festival at Hoepfner – a local brewery) and almost melted! It was hot. In the middle of the month, I attended a seminar in Mainz for work and managed to snap some shots of the pretty old town area.
Hoepfner beer
For our anniversary, I had bought Jan tickets to see Pearl Jam in Vienna, and in June it was finally time for our trip there. Since the concert was on a Wednesday, we decided to go for the entire week. Last time we were in Vienna was for New Year and it was freezing, so it was a treat to be there when the weather was nice! We also popped across to Bratislava for a day trip.
The UN headquarters in Vienna
July
My little brother came to visit us in July and we went to lots of places… Strasbourg, Basel, the Black Forest and Frankfurt. Not bad for a week! I also made crumpets while he was visiting, based on a recipe that my dad’s cousin gave me.
Römerplatz, Frankfurt
August
My birthday month… in which I turned 31! I didn’t do much for it though – worked all day then headed to the Irish pub for curry and a few drinks that night. I was working the next day as well so we didn’t stay out too long.
A firned in the UK sent me this lovely card and mini Smarties cake, along with other British goodies
At the end of the month, Jan had to go to a conference in Taiwan, so we decided that he would take holiday and stay out there for an extra week, and that I would join him for that week. I had never had Taiwan on my radar, but I’m so glad we went! It was amazing and beautiful and I cannot recommend it highly enough. Also, Jan keeps telling people it’s like “China for beginners”, so if you want to go to China but aren’t quite brave enough for something that’s so different to the West, try Taiwan first. I just wish we could have stayed for more than a week, but I was short on holiday after all the time spent in England.
5th September marked 8 years since I moved to Germany, which came as a bit of a shock to me once I realised it! I accidently marked the occasion by heading to a cocktail bar I’d never visted befoe with Jan and K.
Travel-wise, we didn’t do a great deal – I think we needed to recharge our batteries after the insanity of June, July and August! But we did manage to go the wine festival in Bad Dürkheim again and also fitted in a day trip to Weinheim so that I could complete my take 12 trips challenge.
October
I spent most of this month trying to figure out exactly why my stomach was hurting practically every time I ate (culminating in a gastroscopy in the middle of the month). On a day when I was feeling okay, I managed to go to a new café in Karlsruhe and sample some delicious scones. We then went there again later in the month for breakfast. So much deliciousness!
Sukie’s cake shop
The fact that my 12 trips challenge was over didn’t stop me from travelling! Jan, K and I took a day trip to Bad Bergzabern one warm Sunday then we spent Halloween in Paris watching a live show of Welcome to Night Vale. So amazing!
Meeting Cecil Baldwin!
November
On the first of the month, we were still in Paris. We took in a few of the sights then visited an incredibly cool bar. And I decided to take part in another reading challenge with Megan. I started reading my first book on the train home.
November was also the month of my annual Christmas dinner for friends. Usually I don’t have it so early but all other dates were taken!
On the final Saturday of the month, Jan and I took part in a culinary tour of Karlsruhe, which could have included more information but did not disappoint in terms of the food!
Delicious dessert at Zum kleinen Ketterer
December
That brings us to this month, which is currently still in progress. I’m sure I don’t really need to remind you of what I’ve been up to over the past few weeks seeing as they’ve only just happened 😉 But this is supposed to be a reminder for my future self, so I will quickly mention a few things. December is, of course, the month of Christmas markets here in Germany and we kicked things off in style by visiting one at a castle! The following weekend, it was off to Speyer for their Christmas market.
Burg Hohenzollern Christmas market
Other than that, December has as usual been a whirlwind of gift buying, gift wrapping and queueing for hours at the post office to send said gifts. This year, I’ve also had the added stress of trying to get Christmas cards cross stitched and sent on time. I’m not sure what I was thinking there, but I’m starting to make the things in about March next year!
We were planning on heading to Jan’s mum’s on Saturday for Christmas, but after he failed to organise things in time, it turned out his dad is away from 23-29 December and his mum informed us that she has a full house, we decided to spend Christmas at home. We’ll be heading up North on boxing day instead then after a few days with Jan’s family, we’ll take the train from there straight to Zurich for New Year (the original plan of Iceland was vetoed because it was too expensive, then Bruges fell through because we left it too late and there were no more reasonably priced hotel rooms available…)
This has been a bit of a rollercoaster year to be honest… or maybe more like a yo-yo? It’s definitely had its ups… but there have been a few downs as well. Obviously losing my grandpa was devastating and will forever cast a shadow over 2014, but visiting Taiwan was absolutely amazing! I also feel like Jan and I have grown closer again this year, which is obviously good. 🙂 On the other hand, I had no idea just how much extra work was going to result from my colleague being away for an entire year! I can’t wait for February when her baby turns one and she comes back to work! Next year is mostly definitely going to bring changes it with it, and I’m both nervous and incredibly excited to see where life is going to take me next. Here’s to a fabulous 2015, for me and also for you, dear readers.
On Saturday, Jan and I took part on a culinary walking tour of Karlsruhe that I had booked through Karlsruhe Tourism. I had no idea what to expect having only seen an advert for it and thought “that looks interesting”, but I assumed it would involve food!
The group met at the Badische Weinstube in the botanic gardens, where we were greeted with sparking wine and some appetizers. There, the guide told us a bit about the founding of Karlsruhe, including a legend that’s supposed to explain the name (the founder of Karlsruhe was the Margrave Karl-Wilhem of Baden-Durlach, who apparantly fell asleep in the woods, hence the “ruhe” part, which means peace/quiet or rest). She also showed us a photo of Karl-Wilhelm.
After leaving the Badische Weinstube, our first stop was the castle (pictured above). The Karlsruhe Schloss is the centre point of the town – the “main” streets start there and go out at angles in the shape of a fan, giving Karlsruhe its nickname “Fächerstadt (fan city). Next, we walked to the Bundesverfassungsgericht (Federal Constitutional Court), then we passed the art gallery and headed down Waldstrasse, where we stopped at the first restaurant, Hügels Restaurant Dudelsack. We were served a pumpkin soup with caramelized pumpkin seeds. It tasted like there was something spicy in there as well, but we couldn’t figure out what. It was delicous anyway! I also had a prosecco with hibiscus blossoms (other than the sparking wine at the beginning, we paid for all drinks ourselves. Food was included.).
Prosecco with hibiscus blossoms
After leaving the restaurant,we headed to the Bundesgerichtshof (Federal Court of Justice – Germany’s highest criminal court). You can’t actually see much of the court from the outside – it’s all bullet proof glass and barbed wire – but the guide showed us a photo. The building was originally a palace belonging to Friedrich II of Baden. We then briefly stopped at St Stephen’s Church (Catholic) and the shopping centre Ettlinger Tor. Our guide also told us a little bit about Marktplatz (the market square), but we couldn’t actually go there because it’s currently a giant construction site! Surprisingly, she didn’t mention the pyramid. Our final stop was at Zum kleinen Ketterer, a restaurant belonging to a micro brewery. Our guide informed us that they try to use ingredients from regional sources, for example all the meat comes from a local butchers. We were served vension with Serviettenknödel (bread dumplings) and sprouts. The one vegetarian in the group got Käsespätzle – a kind of cheesy dumpling dish (he was given a choice of 2 dishes but I didn’t hear what the second one was).
(I’m really sorry about the quality of the photos. I have no idea why Jan’s camera makes most of them come out blurry?!) Dessert was some kind of mousse/marscapone with oranges and chocolate sauce. All the food was delicious!
Overall, it was a very interesting tour. Jan felt that the guide didn’t say very much (and it’s true that she didn’t really say anything while we were walking, and I was surprised that she didn’t really give us a lot of information on the restaurants we went to or explain anything about local cuisine), but we both learned something new and had a good time. For people who are new to Karlsruhe, this tour provides a great introduction and even those who have lived here a while can learn something from it. Plus, you get to eat yummy food!
According to the Karlsruhe tourism website, next year two types of culinary tour will be available – a “gutbürgerlich” one (basically your “plain” home cooking style of meal) and a “gourmet” one. With both, you get a limited edition recipe fan as a souvenir, which we did not get. The description also seems to indicate that there will also be more of a focus on learning about the food (the gutbürgerlich tour mentions that you will find out about “original Badisch cuisine”) so it sounds like it will be worth it! You can find the dates for the various culinary tours in 2015 here.
Good morning! As this publishes, I am hopefully on my way to Paris – fingers crossed for no delays please! We’re off to see a live show of the most excellent podcast Welcome to Night Vale (give it a listen if you haven’t already. It’s surreal and bizarre and highly amusing in a mental kind of way).
Let me tell you a little about my week. On Saturday, Jan, K and I went to a drag queen competition in Karlsruhe (“Karlsruhe sucht den Superdrag”). It was a lot of fun, and I want this contestant’s hair:
I admit it doesn’t look like much in the picture, but in real life it was really pretty! And yes, I’m aware that this is a wig, but if I grew my hair, dyed it and invested in some curlers I could achieve that look… right?! Also, this was one of the judges. How awesome is this costume?!
Terrible picture, but in case you can’t tell, she’s a snake!
Other than that, my week has consisted of work, work, work. While some of my German colleagues haven’t had as many translations to complete as usual, I’m practically drowning in them! I even have a huge one that isn’t due until mid-December, so I’ll be kept busy basically until we close for Christmas. Definitely not complaining – I much prefer this to no work! But I have to admit I’m glad I’ve got this long weekend to break things up a bit (and also that I applied for the day off back in August – any later and it might already have been impossible!). Now let’s have some letters:
Dear Paris. See you in a few hours!
Dear French food. Can’t wait to eat you! (And I’m so glad my stomach seems to be my friend again.)
Dear November. I can’t believe you’re already here! I’m not ready for it to be the penultimate month of the year!
Dear Christmas. I suppose I’m actually going to have to start seriously thinking about you now if I want to get all my gifts bought in time! (And yes, it is possible to not think about Christmas while cross stitching snowmen and robins.)
Dear blogspot bloggers. I wish more of you would have the Name/URL options for comments! If I select the WordPress option, I always end up commenting as “confuzzledom” instead of Bevchen. I’m aware that’s partly my own fault for selecting differing user and blog names, but it’s still really annoying!
Dear everybody. Happy Halloween! I hope you have a great night, whether you choose to celebrate or not.
I’ll be back on Sunday and will answer any comments then. In the meantime, have a great weekend!
Remember Sukie’s cake shop, home of Karlsruhe’s one and only cream tea? Well, while I was looking at the Facebook page and website in preparation for the post I’ve just linked to, I read that they also do breakfast on weekends. Obviously this needed to be tried (the description included bacon!), and when I mentioned it to Jan he suggested we go that very weekend. So last Sunday found Jan, myself and our friend K turning up at Sukie’s bright an early. We decided to go with something savoury first then move on to something sweet. For the first course, we ordered srambled eggs with bacon. What turned up was this:
All that for three people! There was also toast, fried tomatoes and, of course, a pot of tea each. The eggs were delicious and the bacon had just the perfect amount of crispiness. I’m getting hungry now just remembering it! Mmmmm.
For our sweet course, we chose scones, which came with clotted cream, jam and lemon curd. The scones came in blueberry and cranberry varieties… here’s a blueberry one before being creamed and jammed:
After all that, we were absolutely stuffed so sadly didn’t get to find out about the pancakes that were also on offer. I’ll just have to go back again another day 😉
Confuzzledom 