Christine at Frühlingfest- 2012

It's that time of year again--Fruhlingsfest Time!  The Germans begin Fest season (that's what I call it) in the Spring.  I think they like celebrating and getting out after a long, generally cold winter.  There is practically a Fest going on each weekend in Stuttgart.  There probably is one happening each weekend, if not in Stuttgart, than somewhere within driving distance.  I took the U Bahn to get here.  It was a quick ride.  I am being good and only buying one dirdle.  So far.  But I love them.  I may buy another one yet.  Maybe I will make a pilgrimage to Muchen (home of Oktoberfest) and acquire another one.  I think a dirdle is the first thing all American girls buy in Germany.  ha ha  For 35 Euro, you receive a half fest-chicken and 3 beir (beer) tokens.  The beir is a liter.  Yes, that is a lot to drink.  Yes, I did not drink all 3.  I had 2 1/2.  Once the evil waitress gave me a regular beir.  I did not finish that one.  I like Radler best.  This is a mixture of beir and sprite.  Don't hate until you have tried one.  And if you are going to a Fest, take my word for it, you can't just drink all that German beir.  It has a higher alcohol content.  You will end up on the ground.  Or something.  I am not taking any chances.  The beir "tent":

The fun:

 Just a really cool picture (that I didn't take):

Christine

Christine in Trier, Germany

I trekked up to Trier for a very specific reason.  And it was not gelato.  We will get to that connection later.  I completed a religious pilgrimage.  I realize your jaw may have just dropped.  I will wait for you to return to normal. ...  I enjoy religion as it turns out.  I mean, who takes more pictures of churches than me?  No one you know.

As it turns out, the Robe of Christ is located at the Cathedral in Trier.  This Robe is only show a couple times each century.  Yes, you read that correctly.  During the last century, the powers that be displayed the Robe 3 times.  In light of this knowledge, I decided to visit.  Since I occasionally (and by occasionally I mean once a month) visit Kaiserslautern for work, I decided to drive the hour north to Trier.  The road between the two towns is not well traveled.  This is said in a nice way.  Very few cars.  So I drove fast.  Like 160 kmh or 100 mph.  Cause it was kinda boring.  I generally do not drive this fast.  Well, lately I have been.  But that will be another post.  The powers that be do not allow you to take pictures of the Robe.  They do, however, sell post cards with a picture of the Robe on it.  So I purchased an overpriced postcard so that you can see what the robe looks like.  You are welcome.

Back to my trek.  Because I recognized that visiting such an artifact would be popular, I decided to go after work on a Wednesday.  This was a brilliant move on my part.  There was no line.  There are multiple hour waits during the weekend.  In fact, it was so empty when I walked into the Cathedral, I had to figure out where they kept the Robe.  It is front and center, enclosed in a glass case.  Laying down if that makes sense.  The Robe looked... old.  And short.  And kinda dirty.  But then, it is exceptionally old.  It is said that Jesus wore it at/before his crucifixion.  The guards did not divide it up because it was seamlessly woven.  The church can vouch for the Robe starting in the 12th Century.  For the record, I believe them that it is Jesus' Robe.  You may read more about the Robe at:  Holy Robe Pilgrimage or at Wiki at:  Seamless Robe of Jesus.  Actually, I went into the Cathedral twice, because I like to get a good look at artifacts.  The second time, I had a better look.  I could see the fabric better this way.  Less people too.  Mostly it was older people and me.  And they spent a lot of time there.  So I felt like I could take my time in reviewing the Robe.

The Cathedral:

Now, on to the gelato connection.  Trier is also known for its Roman ruins.

And how do we know these are Roman ruins?  Easy, check the gift shop next door:

Alas, I did not eat gelato on this trip.  Why you ask?  Because it is Spargel season in Germany!  What is Spargel?  It is white asparagus.  I personally think that we should call all asparagus Spargel.  It is such a better name.  Back from my tangent- Spargel is hugely popular in Germany.  I mean restaurants plan menus around Spargel.  My soup:

Fest is up next.
Christine

Christine in München... Again

I visited München on 11 March.  This visit (as opposed to last winter when I went) I found the city center.  The bus driver was nice enough to drop us off.  That helped my navigation skills tremendously.  However, since I was visiting for St. Patrick's Day, I did not visit churches.  I visited beir (beer) halls.  Close enough.

Yes, I know that St. Patrick's Day is on 17 March.  However, I went to München because the city was holding its parade that Saturday.  And really, why not celebrate such a wonderful holiday multiple times?  I actually missed the parade.  I did, however, visit multiple beir halls.  The halls are infamous in Germany because Hitler went to them to gain supporters.  The first beir hall I visited was the Hofbrauhaus.

Inside the beer hall

Another beir hall:

German beir 

Christine 

Christine at a Volksmarch

It has been a while since I updated.  Sorry.  I was back in the States for training and a visit the last 2 weeks of March.  Sometimes life keeps you from keeping up.

Germans love to participate in a Volksmarch.  Different towns hold one each year.  I believe each town keeps its "week" every year.  I participated in the Lauterach Volksmarch.  The town was approximately an hour drive outside of Stuttgart.  This was actually way back on 10 March 2012.  I completed the 6 kilometer walk.  Sometimes you just take the shorter path (mostly because the person you are walking with does not want to go the longer way and she drove--ha ha).  Volksmarching is a good way to see more of the country.  You can walk the short walk or take a longer one.  I think the longer one here was 11 kilometers.  Volksmarching does tend to skew to a bit *older* crowd.  In that most of the participants seemed to be around 60 or 70 years old.  I'm glad I could bring down the median age a bit.  ha ha

Germany has not yet turned green--especially not in early March, which I would consider winter.  Some of the views from the walk:

A natural tunnel

What I think of when I think of Germany, well with way more green. 

Eating-what everyone does after the Volksmarch.

Enjoy,
Christine