So while spending a few days in Strasbourg, Julika and I decided to pop over and visit Alex from Ifs, Ands & Butts in her adopted hometown of Karlsruhe, Germany. Alex, by the way, is one of my favorite bloggers, who I have met up with before here in Paris.
After a zippy forty-minute train ride, we made our way to Germany, a country I always enjoy visiting. The combination of stay-out-til-dawn nightlife, hearty food and 6′ 2” gentlemen just gets me every time, and I have a not-so-secret love for the German language.
After we quickly dropped our things off at Alex’s WG (also known as a Wohngemeinschaft, or a co-op apartment), we headed out for some Teutonic treats.
When I saw the menu, I immediately knew I would have to order Kartoffelsuppe (potato soup), considering it was so yummy the last time I was in Germany.
After one spoonful, I decided I would start a new tradition- every time I go to Germany, the first thing I order will always be a steaming bowl of Kartoffelsuppe. And the second thing will be a beer.
Being the end of April, Alex ordered the Spargelcremesuppe, a creamy soup made with the beloved white asparagus, weissspargel. White asparagus, for the record, is a big deal in Germany. Every spring Germans go crazy buying it, and it sells for about €10 a kilo.
As we were in the south of Germany, Julika ordered the southern German dish of Käsespätzle, which is kind of like a super crunchy and flavorful macaroni and cheese.
I went for the slightly more carnivorous Schweinefiletmedaillons (pork medallions) with mushroom sauce and spätzle.
So anyway, we did do more than eat and drink on this little holiday. After our belt-busting German meal, we waddled over to Primark, the uber-cheap British chain store that all of my English friends rave about. It is so cheap that it seriously makes H&M look over-priced. America, can we please get on this?
The next order of business was a nice, long pre-gaming session with Alex’s friends. (Many pineapple vodkas with lime may have been consumed.)
And here’s a little tip for all my single ladies- Going out in Karlsruhe is really fun. Due to the large engineering universities in town, the male-female ratio is quite skewed in your favor.
Photo by Sateless Suitcase
On our final day in Karlsruhe, we finally left Alex’s at around 4 p.m. to visit the Schlossgarten, which I had seen on Alex’s blog as an excellent place to spend a lazy Sunday.
Although the weather was lame (Scheiße wedder, I believe) we really enjoyed strolling the gardens. We snapped pictures of the castle, while Julika taught me spring flower names in German.
Narzisse
As always Germany, it was hard to leave you. But I kind of have a feeling I’ll be back sooner rather than later.
Thanks to Alex for having us over and showing us a great time, and thanks to Julika for not only explaining the German case system to me, but also being an amazing travel buddy.
Ashley
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I’m glad you enjoy being in Germany so much! :) My boyfriend and me visit Karlsruhe quite often and have of course hitted up Primark before ;) Hope Germany will see you soon again!
x
Melanie
I hope so too :)
I’m so jealous! Germany is one place I’ve always wanted to go. I’m hoping to get there this next year since Spain isn’t too far away.
Definitely go- I would highly recommend it for the Christmas markets!
Aww I loved reading this! Good times! You were a great travel buddy too! And I’m sorry for not being able to entirely explain the confusing German case system :) Looking forward to seeing you this week!
Aw thanks! And look forward to seeing you tomorrow as well :)
I have never thought of German food as being anything particularly special, but those dishes look amazing!!
I’m actually a huge fan of German food… I have no idea why it has such a bad reputation!
I live in Karlsruhe!
Love that you visited Primark… I actually went the day it opened. Yes, I am THAT sad! by the way, loads of people think Primark is British, but actually it’s Irish!
Ah I had no idea! Either way, I wish Primark was everywhere :)
LOVED this post! I want that soup again right now – pretty sure I dream about it. Such a fun weekend, come back!
Please recreate it and send me the recipe! So good!
Hi Ashley! This post is super late, but I found your blog as I was researching things to do in Karslruhe. I’ll be staying in the city until October. I am mostly curious about how easy it is to travel to Paris from Karlsruhe. I’ve never really been out of the states and this is my first time in Europe so I want to make the most of it :) Also if you remember the restaurant where that amazing kartoffelsuppe was from, please let me know :)