Author Archives: Trysta

der Kamelhof

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Who would have thought that Europe’s largest camel farm would be right here in the Black Forest?!

Lucky for us, most of the 87 camels were inside for the day.

Liv was allowed to join the fun, but I don’t think she was much of a fan. Most of the time, she utilized the “if I look away, it’s as if they don’t exist” method.

Look away Liv, just look away.

They, however, were totally intrigued by her.

Apparently the tried and true “getting to know each other” methods span across cultures and species!

Liv gets a little sniff in the rear end!

The owner of the camel farm was really interesting. He bought his first set of camels in 1987 and has been advocating for the rightful treatment of the species ever since. He opened his camel farm in 2002 and uses it to educate the public, as well as provide therapy for autistic children. Apparently, a camel’s milk also has fantastic healing properties, but the processes of commercial distribution are still in-process.

I mean, I guess who wouldn’t fall in love with a face like this?

A face only a mother would love.

This picture is actually a hot mess of blurriness, but look at those teeth! I love it!

No editing here. Just straight-up crappy photo taking!

And then, sometimes, you just have to kiss a lot of camels, before you find…well…whatever it is you are looking for!

Alright, enough dog-torture for the day. Somebody has had just about enough.

Merry Christmas, from the Kamelhof!

Christmas in the Alsace

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Today, Joe and I spent the day enjoying the Christmas spirit and festivities of the French, in the Alsace region, which is just a few minutes across the border from us!

First stop, Sélestat. This town claims to have had, in 1521, the first Christmas tree in history. I feel like I have heard that claim in numerous other towns, but apparently the record is viewable at the Bibliothèque Humaniste.

Apparently they also like pretzels as much as the Germans do!

 

Our next stop was the town of Ribeauvillé, which just may be my new favorite French town. However, the focus here is not going to be on what a quaint little town Ribeauvillé is. Nope. Today’s emphasis is going to be on two critical elements of human existence: eating and peeing! Yeah!

Ribeauvillé was our lunch stop, and quite a lunch stop it was! The Christmas market was Medieval themed, but I’m not quite sure if all of our lunch options were medieval, or just French.

Here was the menu:

“Pain” is french for bread

Lard and Pain. Sounds like something Chuck Norris would serve at his restaurant, if he had one! When it arrived, it was exactly as stated. Lard on bread. Looked like pain to me. I skipped it.

Then, we came across a huge fire, with something turning on the spit. Oh yeah, it was two huge boars. No mistaking what was on the menu here.

Sorry vegetarians.

As we were walking around town, we noticed several pieces of tall wood that were just standing in the middle of the street, smoldering. They looked like total fire hazards to me, but no, they were personal bacon-smoking stations. I mean…lard-smoking stations. Bon appétit!

The Germans have a bad rap when it comes to vegetables – they basically don’t serve them. However, I must say, the Alsacians must have a phobia as well, based on our day. To prove my point, here is a Würst, stuffed with cheese, wrapped in bacon. It might come with some “pain”, I don’t know.

So, after lunch and drinks, nature began to call. We followed the signs to the public bathrooms, and this is what we found:

Gentlemen on the left, ladies on the right. Bucket filled with sawdust on the left, porta pot filled with sawdust on the right. While I was inside, I was looking at the sign on the door. Obviously, I couldn’t understand the French, but according to the pictures, the sawdust is composted at farms, after being fertilized by merry mead drinkers like us. I don’t know what kind of farms, but let’s hope it isn’t the ones that supply the vegetables for the Farmer’s Market!

The multi-language conversations that were being held outside these “green” porta pots were really interesting. So were the looks on the men’s faces when they realized what was going on. I wasn’t the only one who found it entertaining. One woman made her husband pose for a picture as he was walking out! To be completely honest though, they didn’t smell like a usual porta pot. In fact, they didn’t smell at all. Maybe the rest of the world should catch on.

 

Final stop: Riquewihr. Best part: huge cheese!

 

 

die Verhandlung

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I spent the morning in German Court today. Small excursion with my class. Apparently at my level, I should be able to understand legalese and the undergoing’s of a court proceeding…in German. That’s a joke, if I ever heard one!

Actually, I was pretty shocked at how much I really did understand, wenn ich mich selbst loben dürfte!

And pretty shocked at how the whole thing went down.

First, the State’s Attorney read an eight page paper describing the alleged incident. He read it SO fast, blurring everything together, and with no intonation whatsoever. I did, however, catch the following vocabulary: drugs, suitcase, Netherlands, Germany, numerous kilos, green Mercedes, smuggling, Golden Tulip hotel, intent to sell, IKEA parking lot, Freiburg.

You can piece the missing 7.9 pages together yourself.

Next, the judge explained that each of the accused would share his personal life story before statements of guilt/innocence were given. No oaths, no swearing in, no talk from any of the 5 lawyers that were there. Just personal life stories. From beginning to end. No kidding. Don’t leave any details out.

The process took 30-45 minutes for each individual. Everything from elementary school names and levels to the duration and involvement of every romantic relationship, and to every failed job attempt and career consideration. Previous drug use, as well, of course. The level of detail was almost absurd. If it is illegal to ask or tell in an American courtroom, then it was shared here. The judge was asking all the questions too, in a very caring, smiling, concerned fashion. “How do you feel today? Do you have any pain today? Do you think your mother’s partner served as a good father figure to you?” I wasn’t sure if I was in a courtroom or a psychology office.

One of the defendants had a hearing problem, so the judge yells, “IF I TAAALK SLOOOW AND LOOUUD, WOULD THAT BEEE BETTER FOOOR YOU?”

“Yes!!” I shouted back. “That would be great!” Ha! Just kidding. The judge and I sat directly across from each other, with the accused plumb line between, so I almost thought for a second he was actually talking to me. Wouldn’t be the first time I was asked that question.

Needless to say, we didn’t get to the end of the trail during our visit. This one was anticipated to last for three to four days. I’m not going to lie. I really enjoyed it. I might become that creepy foreign girl who hangs around the back of the local courtrooms. Yikes!