Sunday, November 20, 2011

A Taste of Frankfurt

So, last night we dined at the Zum Gemalten Haus.  It is a traditional Frankfurter Apfelwein tavern.  We dined on a variety of wursts and other parts of the pig including the following:




with a little Blood Sausage:




and even pig tongue:




which is not nearly as cute when prepared for eating:


Apologies if you have, by now, tossed your cookies.















I had never had pork tongue before, and was surprised to find that it tasted rather like corned beef.  If you ignored the feel of pig tastebuds rubbing against your own, you could almost pretend it WAS corned beef!  Much of the other food was also quite tasty.  The blood sausage did not have an altogether bad flavor, but the presentation was a bit questionable...  It just kind of oozed out of the sausage skin when pierced with a knife.  But, there was plenty of Apfelwein to drink, so I probably could have eaten a pig eyeball, and it would have gone down OK.

A word of warning to those who plan to come visit us....we will likely take you here for dinner.

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Ich bin ein Bummelant......


Vocabulary lesson for today: ein Bummelant is a Slacker.  It has been WAY too long since my last update....time has just gotten away from me.  Where to begin....Oh, I know.... DOUBLE RAINBOW!!

Yes, I witnessed a real double rainbow at work in Heidelberg.  I didn't cry, but I did exclaim aloud "Double Rainbow."  For those of you who have no idea why this is culturally significant (i.e., Olga.....), please view the legendary video.

So, since my last posting, I've been to Russia and back to the US.  I was in Russia for work, but I had some time to do some sightseeing.  I got to see Mummy Lenin:
 
Yup...creepy.

And, I went to Bunker 42, a recently declassified Cold-War era bunker located under central Moscow:
Block 1, upstairs
I REALLY enjoyed Bunker 42.  It was very interesting seeing the Cold War and the Arms Race represented from a Russian/Soviet perspective. I think my Mom would have absolutely LOVED it.  While there, I helped launch a retaliatory nuclear attack on the USA.  I'm sure my family would have been proud.  The bunker was fully independent and able to launch the Soviet arsenal in the event of war.  They still had the communication and launch equipment there for you to play with.  I assume it had been disconnected from the missile silos, as there were no news reports of an attack on the US.

Then, we took a return trip to the US, but stopped to visit the Simpsons in Springfield (get it??  see the nuclear towers behind us?):


We also ran into our favorite gay couple while there:

And, for the first time in my life, I paid more than $40 for a pair of jeans.  It's appalling...in Germany, a $30 pair of Levis costs like $100!    That's insane.  And, they have fancy "Euro" jeans here, so I had to bite the bullet and get some, but I got them in the US since they are SO much cheaper.  So, what are "Euro Jeans?"  Basically, picture regular American jeans, but with weird pockets and WAY to much going on on the back:


Don't worry....mine aren't that bad.  I may be living in Germany now, but I still have taste.
Speaking of Fashion, Vader got a new Snuggie, and he LOVES it:

The biggest news of my month is that I FINALLY got my car.  It only took three months....  I used to think buying a car in the US was one of the worst experiences possible, but I have an entirely new appreciation for it now.  Seriously, Germany.....three months?!  No wonder the economy is on the brink.

But, it was worth the wait.  I adore my new car, though she does not have a name yet:


While we were picking up the car, Adam made a friend.  These dudes were standing at the car place in the lobby, as some kind of promotion.  I don't quite get it.  It seems to me that they are saying you are a Caveman if you use their company....but, whatever.


So, as this is my own personal venue, I am going to take the opportunity to vent a bit and share some childhood trauma with you.  Back when I was a small child, there was a show on TV called Wonderbug.  It was one of those shows by Sid and Marty Krofft:


This was like my FAVORITE show.  Yeah, it was stupid, the car talked, and the three actors had really big hair and bad fashion, but I LOVED it.  I had a little toy car that closely resembled Wonderbug.  It was one of my favorite toys ever - I called it Wonder Buggy.


Flash forward to a few years later (not intentionally quoting Alanis Morissette), the family is participating in the neighborhood yard sale.  Being that I am now a teenager, it seemed appropriate to sell off many of my childhood toys that had been rotting in the attic.  But, as I was putting out my toys on the sale table, I came across Wonder Buggy.  I simply couldn't bear to part with it, so I left it in the box under the table, deciding it was definitely NOT for sale.  Hours later, I decided to go for a stroll up the road to see what the other neighbors had for sale.  I came back after an unsuccessful journey, and discovered that Wonder Buggy was no longer in the box!  I panicked a little (a lot....) and demanded to know what happened to him from my Father, who had been manning the table.  He happily informed me that a kid saw him in the box and liked it, so my Dad sold it to him for 50 cents.  For a moment, the world stopped.  Then, I felt like my heart had been ripped out of my chest and stomped into the ground in front of me.  "You did what?!," I asked as delicately as possible.  "Well, I guess you forgot to put it out, but I got you 50 cents for it!"

That was probably some time around 1986.  I'm not over it yet.

So, you may wonder why I am bringing this up now.  Fair question.  In 2010, Nissan came out with the Juke.  As soon as I saw the car, it reminded me of Wonder Buggy, except in adult size.  I HAD to have it.  Now I do.  With this car in my possession, maybe I can begin to forgive my father for the unfortunate yard sale incident.....

OK, that's all for now.  I will aim to be a bit more prompt with my next posting. Depending on how long it takes, it might happen after Adam and I do Thanksgiving dinner for our German friends.  I'm curious to see how they react to the meal.  Will their stomachs explode?  Will they be afraid of Cranberry sauce?  What will they make of green bean casserole?  So many questions.  Stay tuned!