A Mini Blogger Meet-up in Karlsruhe, Germany

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.