Big Emma's and K-Town

Last night, Joyce, Adrienne and I took a 10 minute drive to Big Emma’s. It’s a restaurant that serves Costco-sized portions of food. The portions are so inflated, it could have been a restaurant in Bedrock! I swear I ordered a bronto burger when the 8 inch (not ounce) sandwich was set in front of me. I had to cut the thing in sixths! Even then, I only finished half of it, which I’m sure is the equivalent of eating four Dick’s Deluxes. My stomach felt the same way.

After such a massive meal, what else could we do but hunt for dessert? We found a gelato restaurant and I tried something called spaghetti eis. It was basically vanilla ice cream (not sure if it was gelato) in the shape of spaghetti noodles. Once it melted a little, it was pretty much a pile of ice cream with strawberry sauce on top. What’s not to like?

Finally, after all that eating, the food coma really started settling in. Sleep is of primary importance if you want to get the most out of your vacation. It does no good to get less sleep than you need and then trudge around for hours feeling miserable. What good is site-seeing when all your senses are dulled? So last night’s nine hours of sleep were absolutely rejuvenating! I guess I know how I have to eat in order to sleep that good.

 
Today, Joyce and I took the train from Glan Munchweiler to Kaiserslauten. Comparatively, K-Town, as it’s hiply referred to by resident Americans, is a big city. It’s got strips of casinos, restaurants, clothing stores, and a soccer team with a stadium that looks much like the one in Montlake. We started off the day with coffee and chocolate dipped almond pastries, then wandered around the city amidst incredibly mercurial weather. Whether it was bright and sunny or thunderous and showering, it was cold. I think it may have topped out at 60 today, but the wind chill factor made it feel like March in Seattle. Last night, we could even see our breath!
 


The sidewalks in K-Town, and in all of the places I’ve been in Germany, are clean. No litter. No gum. A rare cigarette butt, but they are virtually spotless. Walls on the other hand are decorated by street artists or vandalized by punk kids, depending the quality of art and I suppose your perspective.

After winding through quieter and narrower streets, we came upon the commercial center of the city. We did a little shopping, and perhaps the most useful tool we bought was a bright yellow umbrella to combat the imminent grayness above. That was either good fortune or nature saying ‘be careful what you wish for.’ It poured so hard everything not under our umbrella got drenched. Naturally, we decided to take refuge in a casino.

The gambling joints in K-Town are sprinkled throughout the commercial area like Burger Kings. There are no tables, just one attendant at a central desk, and a couple dozen slot machines spaced out with cushy chairs. Slogan idea: “We want you to be comfortable while you lose your money.” Joyce and I played for a good 20 minutes. I was lucky enough to win 20 free spins, which, I’ve learned is a way to make you feel as though you’re not losing any money, when in fact, you’re just losing money slower. Happily I learned that lesson at free spin number 18, and I decided I’d take whatever I won from the slew of gratis play and walk away. I left negative fifty cents richer, which is better than I usually do.

By the time we left the casino, the weather had returned to its Dr. Jekyll form. We made our way to the oldest church in the city, a 13^th century now Protestant church called Stiftkirche. Someone tell Martin Luther King we’re making the dream happen. Next, we found St. Martin’s – a 14^th century now Catholic church. It was nice of the church to be open, since so many others have been locked. Inside were spiffy white walls, tall and skinny windows and pointed arches, and an entire organ mounted on the wall.

Our next stop was the Japanese Gardens. Our trip to Germany would not be complete without it. The place was a beautiful playground with stepping stone bridges through ponds, tall bridges over waterfalls, clusters of bamboo, schools of koi, and railings to slide down. Many fun pictures later, Mr. Hyde had returned, this time bringing the wrath of thunder and lightning. I don’t think I’ve ever spent so much time in a tiny gift shop, but thankfully we weren’t the only ones to seek shelter there.

This was to be the last fit of rain we faced. It was back to the station for us after a quick Doner Kebap (Turkish spelling). Back at Adrienne’s, we had second dinner… ADOBO and GARLIC FRIED RICE!!! Nothing’s better than a home-cooked meal when you’re thousands of miles away from home. Adrienne also made brownies, which were still warm, extremely gooey, and ultimately pushed me over the edge. Time to crash!