Weilerbach and creepy ice cream

My friend E. and I ventured forth to Weilerbach, a town between Kaiserslautern and Ramstein, for the Bauernmarkt (farmers' market) on 15 June. It was a special event with a few produce stands, local businesses, fest food, kiddie rides, a flea market, and the Sunday opening of a few businesses. It was a bit funny that it was the farmers' market and there weren't that many farmers represented by booths, but it was a fun, small festival nonetheless.

We did come across a somewhat confusing sight, though: the "California ice cream" booth. As far as I know, there is not a particular type of California ice cream. I wonder if there is a South Dakota ice cream too, or if this is a marketing idea that a German had? Anyway, check out Aunt Sam* (I guess). I find her a bit scary, and the scoop of ice cream on the left looks a little bit like some sort of alien double trunked elephant thing, eh?

Then we found this dog, which didn't make me feel any better!

I cleared those images from my mind and we enjoyed the rest of the festival.


*Slightly misshapen wife of Uncle Sam, apparently.

A trip to Hamburg: Day 2

On our second day, we had a leisurely wake-up and enjoyed the breakfast buffet at our hotel/hostel. As part of the Ameropa deal, breakfast was included. Otherwise, it's 6 or or 7 euros.

After eating, we headed out to the Goldbekmarkt (UBahn stop Borgweg), a weekly market in the Winterhude district. Oh my goodness, was it ever lovely! The neighborhood is fantastic, filled with trees, a beautiful canal lined with Schrebergärten (allotment gardens for residents), and just a wonderful vibe.

The market is on the right, behind the canal. Isn't it a beautiful area?

Our next stop was St. Nikolai Church memorial. It was bombed during the war and only the spire remains, which is constantly covered in scaffolding, it seems. For 4 euros (we had the Hamburg Card discount), we took an elevator to a viewing deck on the spire. The views were impeded by scaffolding but we still got a look at the town. The documentation was interesting; it mentioned how Hamburg had been firebombed during WWII and that more people died there than those who did in Dresden.We also visited the museum, below the memorial. It was well done, a thoughtful documentation of life during and after the War.

Inside the museum.

Part of the memorial, the remains of the church.

After that somber experience, our mood was lightened by a strange sight: this car had no driver's side door! It was so strange and didn't look like a legal way to drive.

Recovering from that odd sight, we visited the Reeperbahn (which means "ropewalk," or area where ropes were made) in the St. Pauli district. Basically, it reminds me of Las Vegas and is the party area, red light district, and nightlife area all rolled into one. It wasn't really my thing.

Part of the district. Very Vegas-y.

I was a bit amused by their customized ATM sign.

We moved on to a neighborhood that I did love: the Schulterblatt ("shoulder blade"). It is a hip, creative, and crafty area that reminds me of the Friedrichshain area of Berlin or the Neustadt are in Dresden. We stopped by Herr Max for a sweet treat. I had a berry muffin with chocolate ganache topping. It was a disappointment, unfortunately; the muffin was super dense and a bit dry and the topping was just too sweet. I loved the vibe of the bakery though; it was super, super cute with a kitschy theme of Dia De Los Muertos skulls. I have a friend in the US who loves making sugar skulls so I was very fondly reminded of her during the visit.

Even the dishes on the wall on the left side have skulls painted on them!

 

We were quite tired after all of our gallivanting so we returned to the hotel for a nap before the highlight of the trip: the visit to Miniatur Wunderland. That will get its own entry as it was quite the experience! More to come...

Further obsession at the Kaiserslautern Wochenmarkt

Om nom nom nom.

This will be my upcoming week of delicious eats, for sure, thanks to my visit today to the Wochenmarkt (we'd call it a farmers' market) in downtown Kaiserslautern.

I picked up some goodies: 3 (!) cauliflowers to make the most delicious, cheesy, vegan baked cauliflower dish ever, two bottles of new wine (called Federweisser here), kale (oh goodness, I can't wait! I almost want to delay my trip to Heidelberg for Herbstfest so I can have a kale feast), and feta cheese with herbs. I had to practically waddle home because I stuffed two cauliflowers in my backpack and the rest I clumsily carried in my arms. All was well, though.

I bought some different varieties of my favorites. Last time, I had curly kale (or Grünkohl in German). This week, I bought Schwartzkohl, which has a broader, flatter leaf. Even though it's "black kale," it's not really black; it's just a darker green. I prefer curly kale, but believe me, I'm not giving up any kale opportunities and black kale is still delicious.

I also tried a new type of cauliflower and it's super funky looking! The middle part is green and it's spiky. I tried some and it tastes just like regular cauliflower. It's called cauliflower romanesco, or Roman cauliflower. I have read that when it's raw, it tastes like cauliflower, but when it's cooked, it tastes like broccoli. It will be interesting to try this frankenflower!

I rounded out my trip by buying some red (rot) new wine, too. I have tried the white and I think it's only fair that I also try the red. Of course, I didn't want the white new wine to feel left out, so I bought a bottle of that, too. It is a good excuse to have friends over for some delicious harvests from the season.

Herbst (fall) in Kaiserslautern

Herbst, or fall, is now upon us. I pulled my head out of my textbook for a while to enjoy it in downtown Kaiserslautern this weekend. My exploits allowed me to taste some delicious regional specialties.

Kaiserslautern is in the Rhineland-Pfalz state, which produces much wine. Fall is a great time for Neuer Wein, or new wine; this is fermented freshly pressed grape juice (must). I have also seen it called Federweißer (feather white). I first bought a cup of it at one of the stands downtown. Oh my goodness, was it good! This is a drink that could get people into trouble, methinks. It basically tastes like effervescent grape juice; I really didn't taste any alcohol in it (it's about 4% ABV). I continued on to the farmers' market and picked up a bottle of it for 3.50 euros. I learned that the wine should be consumed within a few days; it looks as if I need to have some friends over, stat! The bottle needs to be stored upright. The cap is not airtight since it needs to release gas from fermentation.

In addition to the Neuer Wein, I enjoyed some Kürbis suppe, or pumpkin soup. This was delicious and hearty. I can't imagine that it was remotely healthful as I believe it was loaded with cream, but did it ever hit the spot. I bought a bowl for 2 euros and it was served with a piece of bread.

After visiting downtown yesterday, I continued the fall fun today. The Gartenschau (Garden Show) hosted a giant pumpkin competition in which local farmers brought their pumpkins to be weighed. They even had a competition for the longest gourd and an unofficial, friendly competition between two farmers with another type of gourd (typical guys! ;). It was rather funny to see such a serious group of men examining the pumpkins and bringing them in via tractor with great care. I was shocked by the weight of the pumpkins; some weighed as much as a horse I owned (1,200 pounds)!

I then went on to have a special meal of Zwiebelkuchen (onion torte) and more Neuer Wein at Cafe Fegert. The Zwiebelkuchen is another fall regional specialty; the one I ate today was like a quiche. It was very rich, salty, and good. It's another dish that's fun to enjoy as a treat, but I won't be eating it often.

So far, I have enjoyed fall in Kaiserslautern, both in how it "tastes" and the activities.

Amazing Knoblauch at the KL farmers' market

I am having some friends over for dinner this week so I thought I should stop by the Kaiserslautern farmers' market for some fresh produce. I haven't been home much at all this summer and have been missing locals events, like the market.

At the market, I picked up some garlic, or Knoblauch. It seemed a bit expensive at about two euros for a head of garlic, but I wasn't in the mood to stop at the grocery store so I ponied up the money and was on my merry way.

I'm glad that I did! I used some for lunch and it was great. I've never bought such fresh garlic before; I usually buy it at the supermarket and who knows how long it's been sitting there? This garlic was so fresh that the peels were still supple and not yet papery.

Well played, farmers' market; well played.

Mannheim: farmers' market

A little while ago...okay, longer than that, I was on one of my many trips to Mannheim in April. I had some time to spend before meeting a friend, so I decided to check out the city's farmers' market ("Wochenmarkt") in the Marktplatz, located at G1.

Hours: Tuesday & Thursday 0800-1400 ; Saturday 0800-1500

The market is bigger than the one I visit in Kaiserslautern. Offerings were similar, but there were more vendors with a bigger selection. There were fruits, vegetables, fresh meats, baked goods, etc. for sale.

Besides size of the markets, the other difference between farmers' markets for Mannheim and Kaiserslautern would probably be that Mannheim's market is overseen by some very perplexed looking male statues and some armpit-smelling angels at the St. Sebastian Church.

Pfälzerwald Salat: or, Am I Supposed to Eat That?

Ooh, pretty bouquet! Wait, am I supposed to eat that?

I like to try new things to eat, as long as it's not meat (there are many, many ways that meat adventures can go wrong, especially if one doesn't like meat anyway) or it's not super spicy hot (I can tolerate medium salsa, as a point of reference).

I saw what I think was labeled as Pfälzerwald Salat, or maybe it was Wald Salat, or something like that. Either way, it had the word "Salat" in it, which is salad, and it was next to a bin of what I definitely know is salad. That's not meat or super spicy so it was fair game for me to try. Plus, it was rather interesting looking; it looked almost like weeds (erm, wild greens) and some flowers. I've heard that some flowers are edible and this was next to regular salad so I was 99.9% sure it was edible for humans. This came from the forest around here, or at least that's what I thought, so I bought some.

It hung out in my fridge for a while until I bought some salad dressing. It dawned on me: does one put salad dressing on flowers? What kind should be used? Before I poured dressing on it, I thought I should try it plain first. What if it doesn't need dressing?

As I was debating this, I thought that it really didn't look like salad; again, it looked like flowers and weeds. What if I was wrong? What if this was meant for pet bunnies or something? Why would the farmer have put it by the regular people salad then? Is there something that Germans know that I don't?

My curiosity and lack of better judgment took ahold of me. I grabbed a leaf and took a tentative bite. It was bitter. I was wondering if I should call the poison center. Then I thought I should try one of the flowers (so smart, aren't I?). I may as well go down kicking. It really didn't taste like much. I wondered again if I had been sold rabbit food. I then wondered if maybe the bitter weed thing was a mustard green or whatever else it was that I skimmed over the description of in the hippie books I read on foraging wild plants.

I had enough. I dumped the salad in the trash. Some day, I will find out if this was actually a salad; if I ate it incorrectly and that's why it didn't taste good; or if I narrowly avoided being poisoned by rabbit food.