Germany Tour, Part 5 Kaiserslautern

We made it back to K-town, er, Kaiserslautern! (Go here for our first visit)

F's mother got to see + spend time with her only brother for the first time in...19 years (!). Wow. (They're the two on the left--definitely related :) The first time we met him I had to keep laughing at how similar they looked + how similar their mannerisms are :) 

What did F's mother say to all of this? She agreed + said it was like looking in a mirror :D

"Pointy things"* around Kaiserslautern!

Cool building art + quotes, some deep, others just strange :)
Such as "Few people think, yet all want to decide" (I can't read who said it)...

Farmer's market! This cheese counter was brilliant --cheese cubes in front of each kind! Why don't ALL cheese counters do this? I am usually overwhelmed by all the options and have no idea if I'll like them...

Taco Kidd has some great morals. In fact it says he is "a man of honor/who doesn't use artificial coloring agents or preservatives/or genetically modified corn or flavor enhancers. The choice ingredients were bought fairly/and are prepared for you on site with love and care."

Just dance!

So, F's doctoral thesis is (among other things) about an ancient Indian theory, called Rasa..this cell phone shop was so close :) + you know you want photos from this place "Foto-bleh" :D

We got ice cream and F's mom received a very long spoon. She realized quickly that it was more fun to stealthily swipe bites of others' desserts than eat her own, so that's how she passed the time :) + look, cute little ice cream cones came with the drinks.

Little E got her first taste of ice cream -- the mini cones were the perfect size -- but she was less-than-thrilled.

We also went walking in Karlstal -- beautiful!

Group photo :)

Look at this cute little dwarf! (Or Smee?)

I'm teaching little E how to pose :) She's doing great.

Then picture us Sunday morning, having eaten a delicious breakfast, about ready to leave for church + F's aunt realizes that E has left a little green stain on her bathrobe....uh oh.

There then followed a whirlwind disrobing, bath + robing of little E. Here she is a bit shell-shocked from stages 1 + 2.

After church we met + visited with more family, aunts + uncles + cousins from the other side of F's mom's family. But C is family that I already knew--in fact, even before I knew F! :)

And...wait for it---MACRO! A dung beetle, some rusted iron, flowers + PURPLE string beans! so cool. Apparently they lose their cool color when cooked, so eat 'em raw.**

Ah yes. Much that could be said about this...Lemme sum up: I found this amusing because the pictures on the package don't match the actual product. If I were just to follow the directions on the package, I'd be looking for a tomato to put in the pot + some water...the red paste in the foil is not pictured :) Similarly the beautiful big green leaves pictured should be put into the pot..which big green leaves? This packet contains small, freeze-dried bits....

Then F's mom wasn't all that hungry, because we'd been invited to Kaffee'n'Kuchen (essentially Tea Time)...Her brother found the small amount so amusing that he grabbed her a magnifying glass :D

Here we are! What a cute group!

* When my family toured around Europe in 2007, my mom's classic line was "Oh look, a pointy thing!" As in, let's go look at that pointy thing!

**(But don't let Germans see you eat string beans raw..because they insist they're poisonous if eaten raw....I've eaten them raw all my life + I'm not dead yet...

Apparently they, like the green stem part of tomatoes***, contain a small amount of toxin that gets annulled (I'm sure there's a better word for that...) when cooked. Some German websites claim that as few as five green beans can cause indigestion + for a child can be dangerous...tja...oh well. As I said, I'm fine.

***Germans also insist on cutting that out--again, because poisonous...apparently they contain a bit of solanine. Various websites say that too much can be harmful, but generally you should be fine :)

Similarly the whole "apple a day keeps the doctor away" is thought to be so, because apple seeds contain a small amount of cyanide. Party.