I prefer Tibia Air, myself

We smiled when we saw this travel agency, Fibula Air, in Skopje.

I wonder if it's especially popular with skeletons.

Mexican food at Cora Supermarket in France

I found more Mexican food (okay, TexMex) for sale at the Cora Supermarket in Sarreguemines, France. It was the Old El Paso brand, which is also available in the US.

The "gratinado" thing was interesting. It was almost like a Mexican-style lasagne bake. I love that it's marked "sans piment," without pepper. Maybe the French are like (many of) the Germans in that they don't like spicy food?

Choco kebabs?!

When I visited the Mannheim Maimarkt, I saw a choco(late) kebab booth. I had read about a store opening in Berlin that sold these a while back so it was curious to see it in person. The "chef" would shave off bits from a chocolate hunk and then they'd be served in something that looked like a tortilla. I can't say that this looked at all appetizing to me but it was certainly interesting!

Some Serious Spargel Cleaning!

It's Spragelzeit in Germay, but apparently Germany isn't the only country serious about Spargel, or white asparagus.

In April, I crossed the border into France and stopped at the Cora supermarket in Sarreguemines. Spargel was featured there, too, but the French took its care a step farther: they had this crazy machine that cleaned and peeled the Spargel!

The cats and dogs of Skopje

In Skopje, there are many loose cats and dogs wandering the streets. Some of the dogs have a yellow tag in their ear; this means that they are being monitored by the government and have received vaccinations.

Wild kitty

Talking to some locals, we found out that they have been bitten by the animals on the street. D said that he was walking along and a dog, unprovoked, ran up and bit him on the leg! I asked him if he had to get rabies shots afterward. He said no, because the dog was tested and didn't have rabies. I wondered how on earth he would know. After he was bitten, he captured the dog and took him to the vet! It was both funny and awful at the same time. I'm not sure that I personally would want to try to round up a feral dog who had just bitten me!

I asked why the animals weren't rounded up and taken to a shelter. I was told that it's an animals' rights issue and people are sensitive about such things happening. Instead, the government monitors some of the animals for sickness. They must fend for themselves in the food department.

Since I like to think about things from all angles, here are other thoughts about the situation:

-Is it "humane" for animals to wander around with no set food supply, and to get sick (not all of them were tagged as being immunized) and/or get hit by vehicles?
-Is it a matter of public health to worry about randomly being bitten/attacked by the feral animals? I heard from several people that they were bitten, unprovoked.
-What about the animals breeding and creating more feral animals?

Those are all tough questions, for sure.

Some animals receive basic care from residents. For example, in the Old Bazaar, one merchant had a sweet set-up for the street kitties to take a nap in front of his store:

Skopje: more weird mannequins!

On vacations, some people collect things. Maybe the vacationer picks up a magnet from the location or even worse, a t-shirt with the name of the location. In the past, I would buy a Christmas ornament from the places I visited. Then I was honest with myself and realized that as long as I had Moo (or any cat, for that matter), I would probably never have a Christmas tree because cats can be jerkfaces.

Instead, I find myself collecting memories and pictures of oddities on my trips. First it started with taking pictures of roadside candy machines, in all of their desolate, sugary solitary life. Then I started taking pictures of depictions of Church figures holding buildings. Now I'm also taking pictures of weird mannequins after a Strasbourg trip with my cousins.

During the Skopje (Macedonia) trip, I saw more weird mannequins. What's up with beaten-up mannequins with creepy facial "hair"? Do they get in fights at night when no one is looking, then try to fix it up by drawing on themselves with permanent markers?

Super alarming dude with Magic Markered facial hair!

Justin Bieber, in mannequin form, beaten up then with fake eyelashes added.

More creepy facial hair.

The tables are turned

Many of my local friends and I come from places with cold winters. I'm talking like anywhere from 0-40 degrees F in the winter. Therefore, we're accustomed to cold weather. Here in Kaiserslautern, it can get cold in the winter, but it's not as cold/snowy as home is.

The funny thing is that it can be 60 degrees F and the Germans are bundled up in heavy winter coats, scarves, and hats. My friend and I were in light sweatshirts and jeans. We are always surprised at how bundled up people were.

I got to hear the other side of it: after a sweaty hike, I was wearing a t-shirt and shorts. A resident of Germany was bundled up in (of course) a Jack Wolfskin coat. She shivered, looking at me, and wondered if I was cold. I actually wasn't, because of the hike. I laughed though, because here we always think they're dressed too warmly and they think we're not dressed warmly enough.

To be fair, this isn't just a thing here. I visited Las Vegas one April and it was about 80 degrees F, but with no humidity. There were people wearing jackets! I was completely floored. I guess that's what happens when one adapts to the environment.