Monthly Archives: April 2012

Goat Meat in a Can!

Bock Würstchen

Goat or Ram Sausage

This was another attempt at finding some disgusting meat product. They had poultry and beef sausages too, but when I typed “bock” into my translator, I mis-read the translation into “old ram”. Which was clearly going to be something disgusting.

Unfortunately, “bock” is just “goat”, without an age description. And the flavor and texture is just that of a Vienna sausage. Like a high-end Vienna sausage, it is quite good with hot sauce.

So the search continues.

Tagged

Neumarkter Lammsbraeu Family

Neumarkter Lammsbrau Family

None of these are good.

“Radler” translates to “cyclists”, which is hilarious when auto-translating websites. But the drink is basically half beer, half lemonade. It’s probably the inspiration for Bud Light Lime. It was interesting to try, but I think I’ll pass next time. The EdelHell was pretty good; it had a nice hop flavor to it.

The rest of these beers were boring, or even slightly undesirable. I got them at a health-food store, so it’s not surprising that these are all bio (organic). Very underwhelming.

Breakfast

Sausage Breakfast

Sausage Breakfast

A few days before we left New York, we met a woman on the subway who noticed Alissa’s German-To-English dictionary, and introduced herself. She turned out to have been from Stuttgart, and we chatted for a while about how great the city was. She told us that we were thin, and that we should do our best to avoid eating like a German.

I told her “no”.

I’m not sure if it’s because we’re buying the high quality sausages, or if all sausages in Germany tend to be built this way, but cooking sausages from around here is distinctly different than in the States. I burned the #*& out of the first few sausages I cooked, because I didn’t realize the stove was too hot. As far as I can tell, the sausages here contain less water. When they sit in the pan, they don’t make a sizzle sound; they just sit, browning quietly. And then they burn, quietly. And then smoke goes everywhere, quietly.

Tagged

Recycling Money

Glass Recycling

That bottle was worth money.

We found out later that people tend to bring their bottles back to the grocery store to get cash for them. Heh heh heh.

Lazy Sunday Wandering Tour

View across the bowl of Stuttgart

View across the bowl of Stuttgart

On Sunday, we joined up with a friend, Quincy, for breakfast. The diner was located somewhere withing walking distance from the city center, at a cafe that’s apparently been around for many years. The place is typically packed by 10 on a Saturday, but since we were going on Sunday, we slipped into a table before the lazy people woke. The food represented a pretty typical German breakfast; muesli, yogurt, meats and soft cheeses, breads, jams, and fruit. And butter. It was all delicious.

Stuttgart is centered at the bottom of a bowl-shaped mountain range, so Quincy drove us along the side of the bowl for the best views. All my photos here came out awful.

Then we drove around to a few sights in the city. The first one we went to was a tower apparently made of sticks and string, called Killesbergturm. There is very little damping in the structure, and since it’s about 40 meters high ( 1,574.80315 inches), the top sways in the wind. And if you move back and forth, quickly, at the tower’s natural frequency, you can get the whole thing to shake quite a lot! It’s fun! Please wait until all the older people have moved to the lowest level. That way, they will have time to recognize what you’re doing, and will be able to leave the tower before they get sick. Quincy apparently had 10-20 school children at the top one day, and they had the tower moving so much, he had to force himself to walk down the stairs. That kind of movement apparently tricks your brain into thinking you’re going to die, regardless of what you do. The effect works just as well for grown men, as well as for small screaming children, who have no basis in the matematics required to convince themselves that the structure won’t fall down at any moment.

There were no children with us, so I had to take Quincy at his word that the children would, in fact, begin to scream.

Killesbergturm in the Distance

Killesbergturm in the Distance

The views from the top of the tower were pretty fantastic, as you may imagine. Luckily, you don’t have to imagine, since my camera decided to work properly. The photos are in the gallery towards the end of this post.

Later, we passed a bridge supported by a big net. The net was designed to support creeping vine plants, but the vines never really took to the structure. It might have been neat to see it support a large canopy of leaves, but it was also pretty cool to see the underlying structure.

Net Bridge

Net Bridge

Weather in Stuttgart seems to oscillate between beautiful sunshine and thunderstorms, eight times a day. So when we headed up to a nearby mountain to look at the city below, it was totally expected that it should rain. It was completely unexpected that it should hail, but that’s only because we’re from New York. It doesn’t typically spontaniously hail there. But I’ve started noticing a trend here, and it seems confirmed by talking to others; it hails here all the time, this time of year. Tiny, almost fluffy, pea-sized hail. It bounces harmlessly off your coat, so I really prefer it to rain. It’s also neat to see bouncing off houses and cars, and collecting in gutters.

Before we headed back for beers, Quincy took us to an area of town that looked a bit unreal. Like a fairy-land. It’s possible that he was simply trying to turn the car around, and got stuck in a one-way street. But for whatever reason, it was amazing to think that we actually live here. The buildings were old, the streets were paved of stone, a river ran through a city complete with intricate bridges and sculpture and markets and tons and tons of people. As I was considering that, Alissa spoke up.

“Isn’t it crazy to think we live here?”

Darn right.

Bergadler Premium Pils

Bergadler Premium Pils

Bergadler Premium Pils

This beer just wasn’t very good. Not bad, but not good either. Kinda cheap tasting, maybe.

 

Disgusting Meat Product

I bought this… food… at a grocery store near our place in Degerloch. My brother, who lived in Bremen for a couple years, suggested that any kind of sausage would end up being really good. So I set out to prove him wrong.

Hähnchenfleisch in Aspik

Diced Chicken Meat with Premium Quality Pickles in Clear, Disgusting Goo

I purchased these a couple days ago, if it must be known. I just didn’t have the heart to open the package. But this morning, after seeing Darling Wife out to her job, I dove right in.

Aspik Zoomed In For Detail

Close-up view of a slice

I will eventually prove my brother wrong. But not today. Today, I will feast on delicious meat chunks, suspended in savory goo. The pickles added a nice sourness, and the chicken was like breast meat. It. Was. Delicious.

 

Tagged

Warsteiner Premium Verum

Warsteiner Premium Verum

Warsteiner Premium Verum

I hate to make a post that showcases a beer, but says nothing about it. But this was yet another beer that tasted German. It was better than the weissbier!

 

Regnerischen Sonntag

Rainy Day

Rainy Sunday

Germans Are Squares

Tucked-In Shirt

I feel ridiculous.

Alissa claims it looks better, but she’s a square too.

Tagged