Hartney Weickert Travel Blog: June Update Part 3

Sunday June 8, 2008

Last Sunday we had an awesome day just hanging out in Karlsruhe. First we headed out to Wolfbräu for their three euro breakfast special. They were all decked out for the European Soccer Cup games.

Have I mentioned the Latte Macchiato before? It's basically a latte served in a glass with a straw. I guess macchiato in Italian means "layers" or something. Usually when the drink is served you can see the three layers of milk, espresso and foam. At first I thought they were stupid. I don't know why. Then I thought, "when in Germany..."

This is the waitress at Wolfbräu that has served us, I would say, about fifty percent of the time we've come to the restaurant over the past year, so dozens of times. You'd think that she would show some glimmer of recognition each time she serves us, but she's pretty much "all business". Not that she's mean or rude or anything, just not the type of person to strike up a conversation. But I wanted to remember her so I asked if I could take her picture. She didn't want to at first, then she got all friendly. Don't we look like good friends?

The weather was very strange that day. It started out sunny and warm but one of those crazy summer storms rolled in in the late afternoon. Also, our neighbourhood has spontaneously decked itself out in flags. They weren't there one day and then they were the next. It's a multicultural neighbourhood and everyone is showing support for "their" countries.

Was this Trabi the result of "football" fever? I don't know, but I do know this: It's awesome!

We had plans to meet up with Julia and Hennig, Toby's relatives. While we waited we did a photo shoot in front of the Schloss.

Here's Julia and Henning in Marktplatz after our first cafe stop. Surprisingly they weren't sick of us and so we went in search of a second location.

Julia and Henning helped us find the roof-top beach bar that we'd heard about. I guess it's a trend in German cities. It looked pretty neat, but it was a bit cold and wet from the torrential downpour. We'll try to get back on a sunny day if we have time (doubtful at this point).

Our second locale was in Ludwigsplatz, a great piazza with outdoor tables from several different cafes. This one had a flatscreen TV outside so we could watch the soccer game. Toby's beer even came in a special soccer glass.