In case you’re wondering…from my hotel, my own website is banished! So, I’m “working” at the moment … shhh!

Karlsruhe, Sunday…the ZKM! It’s a technical and art museum.

Look! The font door, right? It’s not open… so I walked around the entire building once. Still didn’t seem to be open. There were two churches in the area, and I wandered over to those…of course, no photos of that. It took about 1.5 hours to walk to them both from ZKM. I did, however, pass by a laundry mat! I might be back later…

The Font Door? [flickr]photo:2423155825[/flickr]

I’m waiting on a bench for it to open up: [flickr]photo:2423156049[/flickr]

So after waking around the better part of 2 and a half hours and not noticing that the place is open…someone noticed I’d be in the area for a long time and asked what I was up to. I told them I wanted to go to the ZKM but it didn’t look open yet…. they directed me to the middle of the building, and it’s wide open.

By the ACTUAL entrance, there’s this giant glass building with light tubes in it, surrounded by water — it’s all enclosed and wasn’t open for access..

[flickr]photo:2423968886[/flickr]

It cost 5 Euros to get inside, and it was worthy! They had many interesting displays. Its mostly computer related things, cameras connected to the internet, interactive displays, music, and what not. I spend another 3 hours in side..

One of the ancient computer exhibits: [flickr]photo:2423156317[/flickr]

I got yelled at, in German, for taking a picture..so I decided against anymore…they had “Security” type people all over, and they tended to follow me around. They gave m no chance! OK, that was that..not enough pictures… I know.

So I went to Ettlingen again to get lunch and hang out. Apparently, things close at 14:00 on Sunday. So, if you go for lunch at 15:00….well, be thankful they took pitty on you. I had spaghetti with meat sauce! It’s very good.

Anyway, this is the grassy area I enjoyed my chocolate milkshake at: [flickr]photo:2423969896[/flickr]

Here’s a car driving down what I feel is strictly the sidewalk…but what do I know..[flickr]photo:2423970238[/flickr] (actually, I drove around there too….purely on accident.

Tonight, Friday, 18-Apr, I went to Ettlingen for Dinner! I was going to go to another brewery, but it was packed so I generally shy away from that with my meager ability to get a table. I went to La-Cubanita!

I had a Cola-Bier. [flickr]photo:2423970478[/flickr]

Yes, beer mixed with Coke. It’s interesting, and I wouldn’t say I won’t order it again…but don’t count on it. I also had another Dark Beer! [flickr]photo:2423970362[/flickr] YAY Dunkel Bier!

Look, the menu is readable by me: [flickr]photo:2423970582[/flickr]

I ordered the Beef fajitas and chips with salsa.

Is that what you think of when you order Fajitas? [flickr]photo:2423157313[/flickr] .. yeah, me either.
Despite how it looked, and that it wasn’t what a Fajita should be by my standards, it was actually very tastey. The beans were kidney beans, not refried…the rice was just white rice with tomato paste…. I don’t know what the white stuff was, it wasn’t sour cream. It was fine, and I devoured my beef fajita!

Here’s the Salsa: [flickr]photo:2423157493[/flickr]
Those who know me..you know I’m kinda a salsa snob…
Ok, tip: Don’t Order salsa in Germany. I had read on some website that they had awesome salsa. I was all psyched. I don’t know what that person was drinking, but I didn’t drink enough of it. It was just ketchup with some spices. Seriously. I about ralphed. The tortilla chips were coated in some weird thing, too. Stay away from Chips & Salsa at La Cubanita!

The staff was nice, the spoke English (always a plus for me) and wondered why I didn’t eat my salsa and chips. I just politely stated it wasn’t what I expected. I could tell they didn’t understand and they honestly thought they had good salsa…how depressing for the people who like that.

And now for the comic relief…. on my way out of Ettlingen, I stopped off for a Ein Schokolade Waffle, bitte! (chocolate waffle cone). They are nice there, they put up with my attempt at German! I walk, maybe 20 feet, across a little footbridge over the water..and wham. Right on my face. Seriously, I didn’t see a step. I landed on my stomach and left hand. The waffle cone was still in my hand…but the Shokolade had jumped onto the pavers. Dags… There were LOTS of people. They all stared. I laughed…said, “EIN SCHOKOLADE!! NOOO!!!” and I got up… I just walked away and people asked if I was ok. Other then my ego…and my missing treat… I was fine. To bad no one gets these things on video. Cobble Stone 2, Todd 0.

Oh look…”work” is about up…and my Internet Passwort is only good until 18/04/2008 20:02:02. Time to hit Publish! Tomorrow I am going to Lichtenstein to visit a castle, and Sunday is another museum that has airplanes! Whish me luck!