Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Bier...

For some random reason, Germany looooves its bier (beer/German version of water... YAY)! So I'm devoting this entire post to beer related things in Germany. Basically this is my way of making you all stare at my own personal slideshow of pictures. So, get some popcorn ready and click on the pics to enlarge them.

So...I went to a Biergarten in the countryside not far from Nuremberg last Thursday. Apparently I was in the region of Franconia. I had German soda... as you can see in the following picture:



And during the weekend, I was at a carnival next to that giant structure where all those Hitler Propaganda films were filmed... you know, the one where he's speaking to a massive crowd in a giant open arena/stadium. Anyway, at the carnival, there were Carnies, empty rides, and Beer Halls. There was even a beer tent the size of a concert hall:



In the center, there were enough long tables and benches to fit 500 people beneath the many chandeliers; on one side, there was a stage with a band with kiosques selling beer flanking it; and, on both the long sides of the tent, they were selling beer:



And lastly, between the two entrances, there was a bar selling beer, and an entire cow being roasted on a spit. Yeah... ummm... an entire cow! (For the protection of the food industry guys in the picture from such groups as PITA, I have sadly blocked out the face of the cute guy on the left... and some random guy on the right)



Well, that's it for all the pictures. But I do have one last surprise, if you will:



I'm sorry... I seriously just can't stop laughging my ass off. Don't'cha love Deutschland?!



This has got to be what happens when good carbs go bad.

Sunday, August 26, 2007

Nuremberg, Baby!



I'm sure you've all been forgetting about me... especially since I haven't posted a blog in a while, but there's actually quite a good reason for why I've been missing. I've been travelling.... AGAIN! Right now, I've settled down in the city I will actually be living in for quite a while: Nuremberg (Nürnberg), a city in the Bavarian province of Germnay (Deutschland) famous for its wooden toys, some pastries called Lebkuchen, an actual "berg" (castle), and some other stuff like domes on old buildings that pop out of the skyline looking like female nipples... seriously. I guess the city is famous for other things like the Nuremberg Trials and the Nuremberg Chronicles... and all that Nazi background and stuff, but seriously... the dome on the main train station here looks like a gangrenous female nipple.


Do you see it? Do you see it?

So... apparently, I'm not the first person to point that out. Anyway, here's how my flights to Germany went. I first flew out of JFK to Liverpool, which was fine. While in Liverpool, I checked in for my flight to Berlin... which sucked. The ticket didn't have a gate number, and they made me stuff my second carry-on into my first, which didn't fit and was busting out at the seams like a crazy bursting banana that's about to spackel the inside of a microwave, before going through security, and I was pretty much lost for half an hour. Here's what happened when I asked some random lady for help:

Me: Um... my ticket doesn't seem to have a gate number. Do you know where I can find out where I'm supposed to go?

Evil Lady: (with a british accent)Oh, dear. I'm sorry, but I don't speak a bit of English... Why don't you ask that queer looking old lady with the blue bonnet waving her cane around at people when they approach her. She seems like a nice old American.


Well, I reached my flight safely after using a fake British accent while asking some other couple where I'm supposed to go (which they then proceeded to ignore me when they noticed I had an American passport), and I got to Berlin in about two hours only to find myself waiting at the baggage claim carousel next to that Evil Lady who supposedly didn't speak any English. Oh well, who cares? I'm in EUROPE! YAY!!!

Thursday, August 2, 2007

A Special Congrats

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