eating our way through the Black Forest and Strasbourg

Claire brought back some Black Forest cake from Freiburg. I had never had it before, and didn't expect it to be so alcoholic! There is kirschewasser (cherry water), as well as some kind of alcohol in the frosting.



Started a Thursday morning off right with some Berliners & quark croissants on the train.



In Schiltach, a really pretty town (but extremely small and quiet)



At the highest waterfall in Germany (in Triberg) which was extremely touristy. Claire and I said we were 16 years old to get in for a cheaper price, haha. Anyways, despite the loads of people by the waterfall, it only took a 5 minute walk to get on a trail that was almost completely empty.


The famous Black Forest cake... we got the supposed original recipe. It was actually a bit disappointing.


But afterwards, our hike was frequently interrupted with discoveries of blackberry bushes. Yum!


This is the next day (Friday) in Stuttgart.


We finally got pork knuckle (schweinshaxe)! It was good, but not anything too amazing.


The gingerbread hearts at the Stuttgart Weindorf (wine festival). I'm not a fan of gingerbread but Claire tried one.


In Strasbourg (on Saturday) with a kougelhopf


Droolworthy chocolates in Strasbourg. These shops were literally on each block, and Claire and I literally went into each bakery, cheese shop, chocolate shop we saw.


We did get lucky a couple times when we found free samples, especially with the pistachio macaron we sampled. It was absolutely divine. Here's us with a praline macaron

story of my visa

Anyone holding a U.S. passport gets a 90-day visa. Along with some other interns, I am staying a few days past the 90 days. About a month ago, my supervisor took me to the foreigners' office to get a waiver (basically a piece of paper that allows me to stay a few days past). We woke up super early to go to the office before work, only to talk to a woman who would not give me the waiver. She told us that we would have to come back in September to get it, and wouldn't budge. Jen tried explaining that in previous years, her other interns were able to get the waiver. And she tried explaining that she had called the office earlier to confirm that I would be able to get it. Anyways, we were sent away, dejected and angry at the German way... without bending and each person doing things by their own interpretation because nobody knows the rules.

So today, we tried again. This time we were ready to stand our ground (because I REALLY need this piece of paper) and even ready to ask the woman for her name if she wouldn't cooperate. After we were called, we walk in and find the same woman. Jen explained the situation just like she did last time, only this time the woman (Frau Greiger) was very cooperative and the entire process took about 3 minutes. Apparently, she even told Jen that it was good that we didn't wait until it was very late to come to the office for the form. Lucky for me, the woman was in a better mood today.

finally set... that is, my life for the next 17 days

Sep 1: Stuttgart -> Salzburg
Sep 2: Salzburg
Sep 3: Salzburg -> Vienna
4: Vienna
5: Vienna -> Innsbruck
6: Innsbruck
7: Innsbruck -> Lucerne
8: Lucern -> Paris
8-13: Paris
13-16: Cologne (day trips to Hamburg, Lubeck and Kiel)
16: Cologne -> Stuttgart
17: fly from Stuttgart -> Zurich -> LAX

Phew!

August

So June was the month that I saw a lot of Germany, got used to living in my dorm, was still in the beginning stages of my internship, and tried really hard to meet as many people as I could (around campus, at work, on the train, etc). July was the month that I traveled and went out a ton, and hung out with (but also said goodbye to) the really good friends I made. August is a weird month, maybe the month that lots of people visited me. Right now Claire, a friend from UCLA, is staying with me for 6 days. We actually met at freshman orientation, and her home is in San Marcos, about a ten minute drive away from mine. Claire arrived in Stuttgart yesterday, and so far we've been trading travel stories, eating yummy food, and tomorrow we're going hiking together in the Black Forest! Mostly we've actually been talking a lot... about flings. In Germany. With non-German boys. We're actually in really similar situations and it's nice to have somebody to just talk and gripe and gossip to.

poker face?

Mine is nonexistent. But I did get to practice a little Biddy Early's weekly Tuesday poker night. Basically, a local Irish pub has poker night and the winner of each table (of ~10) gets a free bottle of whiskey. I only went once, but ended up being third at my table... not bad for a newb, eh? There was definitely some beginner's luck involved there... I won a few hands right after I sat down and all the guys started calling me "rich lady." Maybe I would've won if Tommy wasn't there... Tommy is another RISE intern and won all three weeks that he went to poker night. And trust me, the whiskey was not wasted on him.

This is Tommy, proud owner of a Tallamore Dew. We actually snuck out of the bar because the guy who came in 2nd at the table and his friends wanted shots of the whiskey, and Tommy was not keen on the idea.


And us in the schlossplatz after poker night with the random German kids that we met. I think this was their last day of school so a ton of high school kids were out drinking.

Oops moments...

I had thought that my German was improving, and I was recognizing more words and phrases that are used commonly. But lately I've realized that a lot of this was me assuming that I knew what certain words meant when in actuality, I had no idea.

Schnell: I assumed this word meant slow, because it looks like snail. However, it actually means fast.

Ganz falsch: There's this comic that is in the bathroom at work, about using a plunger. I'll have to take a picture of it or something. Anyways, I thought that it was illustrating the sustainable way to use a plunger, but instead it was illustrating the correct and incorrect ways of using a plunger. I think i need to upload it for anybody to understand...

Richtung: Means direction. I'm not kidding, I thought it was an actual location until a week ago when I realized the meaning. God, I amaze myself sometimes.

observations

1. French-speaking = better food.
For example, food in Prague was pretty much the same as German food... potatoes and pork. And bread. The Netherlands had some nice seafood, but otherwise nothing too special. However, Belgium (which is half French-speaking) had the most delicious food.

2. French-speaking = romance & affection.
PDA is very uncommon in Germany. Even hand-holding, I feel! It's a rarity to see a couple making out in a public place (exceptions are clubs or festivals like loveparade... but the people making out there aren't even in a relationship). But the Belgians are definitely more affectionate and not afraid to display it! I can't really say if there was a normal amount of PDA relative to the U.S. and it just seemed like more because I've been in Germany for so long, or there is actually more there.

3. French-speaking = more diverse.
Ok, so I'm only going off of the 2 mostly French-speaking cities I've visited this summer, Geneva and Brussels. But going from Amsterdam, which is still a large city, to Brussels, there was a huge change in demographics. Same with going from Germany to Geneva.