Castles, Food, Space, and the Oxford Comma

Dear readers:

Some updates, by theme -- not in exact chronological order, but still in the order shown in the post title.

CASTLES
Ina and Jorg and I visited Heidelberg castle, and Ina and I visited Hohenzollern castle -- Heidelberg castle a few days ago, Hohenzollern castle yesterday. Both were awesome, but Hohenzollern was especially great, for historical reasons.
Pics of Heidelberg castle (and the nearby view):

And then a few days later, we went to Hohenzollern castle -- which existed for centuries on top of a particular mountain, and was always owned by the Prussian royals, but which ended up getting rebuilt in the 19th century.

Loads of fun. Especially learning about the Prussians, who I didn't know much about before. Also: going through an English-language tour that used English as a second language. I had never experienced that, and it was a bit of an adjustment -- though it added a unique charm to the experience.

We also returned to Heidelberg Castle today to see the fireworks! Didn't get many pics of them, though. But we picnicked and had a great view. Apparently neither Ina nor Jorg had been to see the fireworks on top of the mountain before (like we did today), and apparently it was the 400th anniversary of the beginning of the fireworks tradition!! How fortuitous!

 FOOD AND DRINK

I mentioned food a little bit, earlier, but I can update with more news/factoids/opinions:

1) German strudel is delicious (obviously);

2) German coffee is better than Starbuck's, but not better than your average artsy American coffee;

3) Swarbian cuisine is cheesy and delicious and horrifically bad for you; 

4) To make German stadium food, all you have to do is cut up some pork sausage, cover it in ketchup, sprinkle curry powder all over it, and call it "Currywurst";

5) Uncased sausage is much tastier than cased sausage;

6) Apparently at German grocery stores, the Jagermeister is sold by the checkout right next to the Skittles and the bubble gum; and
7) I am now hopelessly obsessed with Apfelschorle.

It is the most beautiful thing. 60% apple juice, 40% carbonated mineral water (usually; sometimes 50/50). I am definitely going to try making this at home!

Now for today's food news:

For late lunch (after starting my day with the aforementioned strudel and coffee), I had the "German national dish":

i.e. Turkish Doner Kebab!
(Next to it: Turkish soda. Very fruity and sweet; not my favorite.)

This is courtesy of the significant ethnic Turkish minority here in Germany; apparently they've integrated into working-class German society to the point that working-class non-Turkish Germans are adopting Turkish accents. (Pardon my obviousness; I've been getting a crash course in German sociology since I've arrived here.)

Then we had a picnic while we watched the aforementioned fireworks! Content of picnic included:
- Bread with zwiebelwurst (meat onion spread)
- Catalan national dish (toasted bread with garlic rubbed on it and tomato squeezed onto it)
- Catalan salami
- Salad
- Three types of cheese: Mild blue, middle-aged gouda, and swiss
- Bionade organic elderberry lemonade
- Passionfruit juice
- TamTam brand mini cakes
So. Incredibly. Delicious.

SPACE
For the past few days, the three of us have spent a lot of time talking about the issue of space, in both the US and Europe, linking it not just to house and car size but also to politics. Part of that conversation was sparked by this sight:

A whole row of cars parked several feet up on a curb. Why? Space! There'd be no room for passing cars without parking on the curb. Even on small streets in the US, you wouldn't see that. It's a mindset difference.

That's it for now, folks. Tomorrow: Strasbourg!

<3,

Beth

p.s. Can someone please bring Innocent brand smoothies to the United States? They are so incredibly delicious. I don't think I can ever drink Odwalla again.