Kaiserslautern, Germany: KTown for the Win!

I recently had the opportunity to travel to Kaiserslautern, Germany for two weeks of work-related training. I've been to Germany once or twice before, but until this trip never had any real time to spend in the country. I stayed fairly busy from 0800-1600, but after that I had free time whenever there weren't work dinners to attend. And for the record, I am not normally a fan of "mandatory morale" functions, but I have such a fantastic group of co-workers who also happen to have excellent taste in food, so these outings were never a burden!

The flowers in Germany knew it was springtime, but someone forgot to notify the sun. I think if I'd stayed another week, I would have seen many more buds and blooms on the trees, but it was still a little gray and dreary when I was there. One of my favorite weather adjectives is "Seattle-ish" and if you've ever lived there, you know exactly what I mean. It only really rained once or twice in two weeks, but that's about how many days of sunshine we had, too. Mostly it was just a bit overcast, cool but not cold enough to be uncomfortable. 

When I arrived, there was some sort of street fair going on right outside my hotel. I stayed at the SAKS, which straddles the line between new and old Kaiserslautern. It's a great location for walking and exploring, and happens to be situated right on a plaza. After I unpacked my bag, I wandered outside for some exploring. At first I didn't see anything out of the ordinary - roasted nuts, carousel, lavender soaps. And then I saw my first pretzel! Have I mentioned that I am a fan of pretzels? I can be a bit leery though, as I had both the best and the worst pretzel of my life on the same day in Munich, about two blocks away from each other, which just emphasizes that one just never knows. I did a little pretzel research (by this I mean that I both ate a lot of pretzels in the name of "research" but also did some Googling and lots of reading, not that I went to a library or searched specifically for scholarly articles on pretzels, because, duh, that would be overkill) and discovered there's quite a deal of history to this seemingly simple concoction. Some stories say pretzels were invented in the 600s by monks in the area where Italy and France currently meet, while others of course give credit to the Germans. There is a distinctly Venetian version of pretzels called precedella, which are traditional pretzel-shaped but sweeter, flavored by such additives as wine, anise, or cinnamon. Then there are American-style hard pretzels, credited to the Pennsylvania Dutch, who aren't really Dutch at all but German, and those pretzels are distinctly different from their European counterparts. There's also debate over dipping the pretzels in a very caustic lye bath or a more moderate baking soda solution, or just foregoing that part for a water mist or quick boil, a la bagel. And then there are all the delicious things you can top a bagel with! Salt flakes, of course, being the most traditional, but then you have cheese (my favorite, especially when it gets all crispy) or cinnamon-sugar or chocolate.

German Pretzels

I'm digressing. I noticed it when I started drooling. Sorry about that. Anyway, the street fair was fun, the pretzels were delicious, and I especially enjoyed listening to all the music. There were two different marching bands, plus an accordion player and a pan flutist. I passed several booths of vendors selling cheeses and of course sausage, but my euro stayed safely in my wallet. 

Work was good, though it made my brain tired, and my co-workers are lovely. That's about all I'm going to say about that. Mostly I carpooled to work, but sometimes I caught the hotel shuttle and once or twice I even walked. While there was a little break room on site, our food options were pretty limited nearby, but we made do. We ate out a few times, walked to a local bakery a few more times, ordered food to be delivered (once, with sad results), ordered food to be picked up, and survived. The Asian buffet was okay, the Indian food from the Curry House was delightful, I thoroughly enjoyed the wraps from the bakery, and we should probably never speak of the delivery food ever again. Okay fine. I had falafel and some sort of red sauce eggplant ratatouille, which I really enjoyed once I added some salt. But my poor coworker ordered fish and potatoes, and the potatoes tasted fishy and the fish tasted bland; all of the food was white and boring and entirely off-putting. I later learned that Germans are not known for their fish-cooking prowess, but I'm not entirely surprised to learn this. As much as I love Italy and Italian food, I thus far have not been impressed by their fish dishes, either, but I haven't given up yet. For the most part, Italians seem to stick to Italian food. There are a few international cuisine options, but they are few and far between where I live, so whenever I travel I always look to try new food, whether it be local or from far-flung corners of the world.

In Germany, a few people particularly recommended I try a dish called Flammkuchen. It's basically a flatbread, traditionally with creme fraiche, onions, and bacon. Sign me up, please! I couldn't believe how light it was, when I was expecting something heavy. I can't wait to try making this at home sometime. (The picture is from a food website and will take you to a recipe.) My other favorite German food is now kase spaetzle. I had it twice, and tasted somebody else's once. (Really, that time I wanted to devour my co-worker's food but decided to be the bigger person and politely try a bite instead of stealing her plate and running away to a corner to shove my face into the food.) It's better than macaroni and cheese, when done right. And I don't feel even remotely guilty or un-American for saying that, either. It's egg noodles with cheese and magic and caramelized onions and possibly breadcrumbs and gravy and unicorn love. It's another dish I can't wait to try making at home but also feel will in no way do justice to the meals I consumed in Southern Germany.

Flammkuchen! 

By far my favorite meal was from my last night in Germany, when my boss introduced us to a Greek restaurant called Sorbas (or maybe Zorbas?) about 20 minutes outside of Kaiserslautern. We were a group of seven people, and we left the ordering to the two Greeks. They ordered an assortment of food for us, sort of tapas-style, and we dug in. I haven't been so very full in a long time. There was tender octopus, crispy fried eggplant, garlicky tzatziki, chicken, lamb, bistecca patties, salad, and of course warm, homemade pitas. I think there were a few more things but honestly I can't remember. Suffice to say, it was really good.

(I stole this collage from Angie's Instagram page because I was too busy stuffing my face to take photos.)

Trier, Germany

In the non-food-related topic of things I did in Germany, the highlight was definitely my trip to Trier. The town, nestled along the Moselle River near the Luxembourg border, came highly recommended by so many people that I braved public transport in a foreign country in order to visit it. Woohoo, look at me adventuring forth! It took about 2.5 hours via train to get there and my co-worker/friend and I arrived sometime before lunch. We trekked off by foot to the Porta Nigra, the oldest Roman gate North of the Alps, and then took a left-hand turn into the historic center of the city. We wandered along the cobbled streets for a bit, and found the ruins of the Roman baths, too. We visited the Constantine Basilica and the Trier Cathedral, as well as the Trier Diocese Museum, which we had all to ourselves! It was light and airy and fully of beautiful art and artifacts. For lunch we stopped at a potato restaurant. Yes, you heard me: a potato restaurant. I had potato dumplings stuffed with meatballs, and they were lovely. I had a wave of dizziness at the restaurant, I think because it was really warm in there, but I did enjoy the food. After some more wandering and hot tea (it was cold!), we went to the Trier city museum. I loved it! I was very impressed with both of the museums we went to. I think my favorite exhibit was a floor full of old clothing. People were tiny a few hundred years ago, and the clothing looked so heavy! I bought a couple little gifts but we were pretty much done after the second museum. We headed back to the train station a little early, and waited a while. Funny story: we got on the correct train, but my friend heard announcement that half of the train was going one direction (to Luxembourg) and the other half was headed the opposite direction. And guess who was on the wrong half of the train! I'm so fortunate I was with someone who understood some German, because that announcement was NOT made in English. Whoops. Anyway we got off the train and sprinted forward a few cars and thankfully made it. The trip back was more or less uneventful (the lady in front of us had a horrendous nosebleed, but was ultimately fine) and I did nothing else interesting or productive with the rest of my weekend.

Porta Nigra Roman ruins viewed from the Trier City Museum courtyard

All in all, it was a good balance of work and play (i.e. food), and I'm happy to go back in the fall for more training. I would love to make a side trip to Heidelberg when I go back. That's my one regret from this trip, but hey, I still had a great time!

Oktoberfest 2014

We took a little field trip to Munich at the end of September to participate in Oktoberfest. Tony really wanted to go, and I'm always up for a new experience, so we jumped on one of the Army ODR (Outdoor Recreation) bus tours. Since the bus left at 0300 and was scheduled to return at 0200 the next day, we waffled on whether it was the best way to go. Ultimately, we decided it was worth it for several reasons. We didn't have to worry about drinking and driving, or finding lodging in an area where hotel prices were jacked sky-high. We also didn't have to worry about paying tolls or dealing with big city traffic, or one of us being tired after a long day and getting behind the wheel. And we figured we could always go check it out and do it on our own next year if it went well. I tell you what: best decision ever!

Proof of me having a beer, and enjoying it!

It's normally a five- to six-hour drive to Munich from our part of Italy. I don't know that for certain, since I've never done it, but Tony has and he concurred with Ye Olde Google Maps. The buses obviously go slower, especially through the mountains, and we also knew there was a scheduled pit stop just over the Austrian border, so the plan was to arrive sometime around 1100. When we rolled up to the meeting point, Tony noticed one of the bus drivers was one with whom he was familiar. And guess what: that guy drives like a demon! Even with our pit stop, and a slightly delayed departure, we still got to Munich by nine a.m.! So we were on site at Oktoberfest and drinking beer by 0930.

Beer Tent

Now, if you know me, you know I'm not a huge beer fan. I have a short list of beers I will drink when the social situation calls for it, and an even shorter list of beers I actually like. But I wanted to go to check it out anyway, and one cannot do Oktoberfest without drinking beer! I had a couple radlers, but you should know that at Oktoberfest, you can only order beer by the liter. Whoa nelly. Even when you ask for one liter and two mugs, you are usually declined, though we were able to successfully cadge a waiter once. The first radler I had was with a light beer, and the second was with a dark beer, and I was pleasantly surprised to learn I liked the dark radler a lot! Normally I tend to skew toward wheat beers and summer ales and the like. Anyway, when we first arrived, we took a quick stroll down the main midway, and then ducked into one of the tents. When I say tents, you should know these are full-scale structures with floors and roofs and which seat thousands of people at a time. They are monstrous! Even at 0900, the tents were already pretty full, and pretty rowdy. People were singing and cheering and dancing on the tables, but it was kind of wholesome. We snagged a table at the next tent and settled in for a while. I ate the BEST PRETZEL of my life, too. Cheesy and chewy but somehow also fluffy. Mmm, yummy. I would drive all the way back there if I could be assured of another pretzel like that.

If I go back, I will ride this ride!

I was surprised how family-friendly the entire shebang was. There were several roller coasters and ferris wheels, and swings and rides and all those fun fair games with the milk cans and basketball goals and goldfish bowls. I was very glad we arrived early in the day, when it was bright and clean and less crowded. We decided to catch a cab to downtown Munich for lunch, and went to the original Haufbrau house! I ordered meatloaf, which was basically spam, and I was terribly disappointed with it. But that's where I had the dark radler that I loved so much, so it was worth it. There was live music, and lively cheering, and we even learned some of the songs. The seating is communal, with really long tables stretched down the middle of the room. Well, I should say that's what the seating was like on the third floor, where we wound up. The first floor had more traditional smaller tables and I have no idea what the second floor looked like, just that there was live music on EACH floor. Our neighbors were kind enough to teach us the words to some of the songs, and they also told us the middle weekend of Oktoberfest has morphed into the traditional weekend for Italians to pilgrimage to Germany for the festivities.

After lunch, we caught another cab back to the main grounds, and wandered around for a while more. We thought about going on some of the rides, but the prices were high at the first roller coaster, and then someone had to pee, and then the lines were long, and then we decided to meet up with another group of Army folks. By that time of day, the tents were all closed to newcomers, and you could only go in if someone else came out. And that is not really the way of the tents! The general idea is to go park yourself and sit there all day and drink, if drinking is what you want to do. Luckily, our buddy came to talk to the bouncer to let us in. The bouncer wouldn't do it, of course, because the tent was already at capacity. BUT, our buddy got his waiter to go talk to the bouncer and assure him that there was room at their table for us, and we got to bypass the line and go in! I felt like such a rock star. So we parked there for a while and just had fun drinking and people-watching. More singing and cheering and table-dancing. I thought only tourists would be wearing lederhosen and dirndls, but I was very wrong about that. Many, many, many locals were wearing them, and of course lots of tourists were, too. One of the families we sat next to at our second tent was from Munich, and all four of them were dressed up, even the baby. The parents said they came mainly for the kids, because it was a fun event for them and something they should grow up remembering. I was really impressed, and Tony was even tempted to buy a set for himself. I think if we had more time there, we would have done some shopping for things like that.

Love this man, this kiss, this pic, and the photobomb!

By four o'clock, we were pretty tired of drinking and walking around, and found a spot on the hill to do some more people watching. We sat on some steps at the foot of a ginormous statue, and just chatted and visited for a while. Our departure meeting wasn't until 7pm! I imagine if we'd arrived at eleven the way we were planning to, the timeline would have been just fine. But it was a long day. I really don't know how people stay there all hours of the day and night. And by that late in the afternoon, there were lots of drunk people, too. We saw several people being wheeled around on gurneys, and lots of people drunkenly weaving and being supported by their friends. I also think if we'd stayed much longer, the place would have lost a lot of the family-friendly vibe. It was nice to watch the sun go down and all the midway lights come on, though. My biggest complaint about the day was actually leaving. There was some mix-up with the buses, and we ended up walking to two different locations to meet them, and then waiting about an hour. Otherwise, all went well. We made it back to the base right before two, very satisfied with the whole outing. I mostly feel like now I've done it, I don't need to do it again, but if Tony wanted to go next year I wouldn't really mind. Good times were had by all.

The bromance continues...

The boys enjoying a brewski before it got too crazy.