There are mythical Pfälzisch creatures about!

When I was walking around downtown Kaiserslautern, I saw a lady leading an elwetritsch around!

What is an elwetritsch, you ask? Well, it's a mythical bird known to the Pfälzisch region of Germany. It's like the Pfälzisch version of a snipe, I would assume. It's so famous that Neustadt has a fountain with quite a few of them in it (and I have pictures and more to say about that, but that's a whole other blog entry).

The interesting thing about the elwetritsch I saw was that its human leading it around was soliciting signatures for something. I was super curious about the whole situation but I still felt like an interloper because my German isn't good enough yet to ask about it. So, I just watched from a distance and took some pictures of the mysterious beast.

Stop in the name of kale!

I found a place to buy kale that is cheaper than the farmers' market downtown. There, kale is 5,99 euros a kilogram, which is rather expensive. I didn't buy any at the farmers' market during my shopping trip.

However, I later passed a Turkish produce store and the kale was only 1,99 euros a kilogram so I couldn't pass it up. I also couldn't pass up some couscous, either. I bought a huge bunch of kale and laughed with the store clerk as I tried to shove it in my bag and it stuck out.

On my way home, a German lady stopped me and asked me (in German, of course) where I bought the kale. I answered in horrible German but as she asked me more questions I got stuck. She then asked me more in English. Phew! I told her it was only 1,99 a kilogram and that it's much more in the farmers' market. She said that's why she stopped me, because she was looking for a better price. We both had a smile over our love of kale. It's the first time I've been stopped in the street over it!

Here's a picture of it, spilling out of the bag. I must have looked quite silly, schlepping the bag around with it poking out and being a walking billboard of sorts for the produce store.

Kulturmarkt vor Weihnachten: Christmas Craftsmarket in Kaiserslautern

In addition to the Weinachtsmarkt (Christmas market) in downtown Kaiserslautern, the Fructhalle, a concert hall also downtown, is hosting a market. Its German name is Kulturmarkt vor Weihnachten in der Fruchthalle.

It's basically an arts and crafts market. I stopped by last weekend and perused the fine art (i.e painting and sculpture) as well as ceramics, knitted items, jewelry, Christmas decorations, etc. Everything was quite nice and handmade. I picked up a ceramic soap dish for eight euros.

In addition to the arts and crafts, there is food for sale. I didn't sample anything, but saw freshly made waffles, desserts, and soups for sale.

The Fructhalle is located right across from the tourists' information office downtown. The market is open from 25 November until 22 December and is open daily from 12 p.m. - 7 p.m. On 12-13 December it is open until 8 p.m. There is no admission charge.

How NOT to eat a pomegranate

Here's a very helpful video on how to deseed a pomegranate the easy way.

Since I often screw up the simple things in life, let me share a cautionary tale on how I learned what is NOT the proper way to eat a pomegranate.

1. First of all, know your Greek mythology. Remember Persephone, who was stuck in the underworld for 3 months of the year (winter) because Hades convinced her to eat pomegranate seeds? That is a helpful hint. Don't be an idiot like I was the first time and attempt to eat the fleshy part inside the pomegranate and throw away the seeds. The seeds are your friends; the fleshy part is not. It's horrible and bitter.

2. The youtube video above is really helpful for removing the seeds. Cut the pomegranate in half lengthwise and whack the pomegranate like it's part of a 50 Shades of Grey novel. The seeds will fall out. It's even better when they fall out into a pan that you had the foresight to put down ahead of time.

3. There is a caveat to step 2 though. If trying this at work, be careful when pulling the pomegranate apart as seeds and juice might fly out unexpectedly and make a horrible mess of the break room, leaving the person shocked and holding half a pomegranate but being extremely grateful that none got all over the white work trousers. I'm sure a slow motion video of this, and the look of shock on the victim's face, would have been hilarious. Cleaning up the mess was not hilarious.

4. Pomegranate seeds are quite delicious when one is able to survive eating the correct part of the fruit and deseeding it.

Restaurant Review: Metaxa, Ramstein-Miesenbach

Metaxa
Am Lanzenbusch 1
66877 Ramstein-Miesenbach

A small group of us stopped by a Greek restaurant for a pleasant dinner in Ramstein. I had read other favorable reviews and suggested the restaurant.

The restaurant itself is an interesting cinder block construction painted a light peach (aka pink, my least favorite color). Even so, the owners made it as cozy as possible with decorations and loads of houseplants. I felt as if I were visiting my cottage, which is also a cinder block construction, just without the musty cottage smell. That brings happy memories, strangely enough. Well, the musty smell at the cottage doesn't but at least the restaurant wasn't like that!

Anyway, we enjoyed a pleasant dinner. I ordered the appetizer plate (without meat) for 12 euros. First I was brought a bowl of soup, which seemed to be a chicken and noodle broth. It was salty but tasted good.

Then I was brought a salad. It did have what is typical in Germany: a ton of salad dressing (I prefer a very light coating). This dressing was the kind with a yogurt base that has a slightly bitter herb. The salad seemed kind of coleslaw-y as it had cabbage in it. 

My appetizer plate had these delicious fried eggplant things. They had a coating with herbs and various other deliciousness. The goat's cheese and the sheep's cheese spread were good as were the rice-filled grape leaves. One of the things on the menu was called "gigantes," which turned out to be large white beans. They were okay but in a weird twist of fate, I was a bit weirded out because they were served cold. I'm not sure where that came from but I think I would have enjoyed them better if they were room temperature.

My dining partners both ordered these, for lack of a better term, "meat packets." In other words, I forgot to write down the names of them. It was basically ground meat with a filling of goat cheese inside. My friends said they tasted quite good.

After dinner, our friendly server gave each of us a shot of ouzo and told us how to say cheers ("geia mas") and we finished the meal with some Greek liquid fire.

Though the ambiance of this restaurant is a bit skewed with cinder block walls, the owners have tried to create a cozy restaurant. With friendly servers and a bit of touristy fun, diners can enjoy a tasty meal.

Even dogs love the biomarkt!

Biomarkt = store with organic foods; often a health food store

In the past, I've written about "parking" dogs outside of stores. It's not uncommon for Germans to bring their dogs with them all over the place, and it's also common that many places allow dogs. However, supermarkets often don't, probably for hygienic reasons.

When we were visiting Heidelberg, we walked by a biomarkt and saw these patient guys waiting for their owners to return.

Restaurant Review: Pancho Villa, Ramstein

http://www.restaurantpanchovilla.de
Restaurant Pancho Villa
Miesenbacher Straße 45 | 66877 Ramstein


I should just call this place Cantina Mexicana #2, or vice versa, I think. This restaurant is owned by the same folks who own that restaurant so the food and the set-up is quite similar. There are some differences and I think maybe the menu might be slightly different, but it's the same general feel.

Here is my review of Cantina Mexicana. I'm not going to go into huge detail about Pancho Villa since it's so similar. However, here are few details: they accept payment in the form of credit cards, euros, and dollars. It always blows my mind that Americans will even ask if places in Europe take dollars -- dude, it's Europe; get some euros for goodness sake! but this place does take dollars if one just can't bother to assimilate.

The restaurant is located on the edge of Ramstein and has a large (dirt with some puddles) free parking lot.

I had lunch there on a Sunday and ordered a chorizo burrito (that's the part of me that's not mostly vegetarian). It was good and somewhat in line with what's served in Mexican restaurants in the US. I also ordered an enchilada. The cheese they use is a bit strange, but it's not bad either.

My server actually made eye contact with/and or checked all of her tables to see if customers needed anything as she walked through so I was super impressed by that. It's funny because it's a standard thing to do in the US but I haven't found it to be the case in Germany. One almost has to hunt down her server most of the time.

I also had a delicious, large, and free glass of ice water. *swoon* It's the little things, y'know?

Anyway, it's not spot-on for the Mexican food that Americans are accustomed to but it's tasty and the service is good.