Saturday in Darmstadt

 

We met at Rita's house for coffee before heading out. She poured my coffee and I was not even a little surprised to see that it was served in a Darth Vader mug. She's such a geek.

Her floors are unfinished and noisy. Maybe they were finished at one point, but now they're worn, and old. It does look cool though. She has a small patio looking into the interior of all the buildings. The sun shines right on it in the morning so it was quite warm. I wish I had taken a picture.

  Entering the Rose Garden. This is all a short walk from my flat at Karlshof.

  Chickens! Happy free-range chickens! I think I should buy eggs here.

Andres, from Hungary, speaks only a little English so he and I struggle a little to communicate. We did talk about his hopes to see Yosemite, and I told him it really is as awesome as the pictures. Rita is German by birth, but has roots in Hungary so she and Andres talk a lot in Hungarian. I just take that time to let my eyes wander and enjoy the surroundings. Plus, I bet it's a great relief for him to be able to communicate easily with someone. I'm SO lucky to speak a language that is so widely known.

  Baby cows!

  There is a café/market at the farm with super healthy and natural foods for purchase. They had a great variety of cheese that I would love to sample, but the prices are expensive. This café seating area has large windows that look into a big courtyard surrounded by barns and a grassy center area with picnic tables. If it's cold, this warm interior looks like a great place for coffee. The weather was really nice so most people were outside enjoying the sun.

 Leaving the farm, the view changes vastly from the city we started in. It felt so good to see open space and get some sun. I WORE SHORTS FOR THE FIRST TIME TODAY, AND IT WAS AMAZING. I felt like a Californian again.

   Rita took Andres and I to the fields today and brought her dog. It's not actually her dog, but her former boss'. Eliza is a super good dog, and it was fun to be outside and in the trees throwing the stick. She of course jumped in any available muddy water and ran around like the happy dog she is. This will be a great spot to run, and in a few weeks will look totally different with spring growth. I can't wait.

Evangelos looks pretty excited about his score. (He's from Greece)

The bowling alley is "Authentic American" and themed after Charlie Chaplin. "Bowling and Billard" said the sign. It's bowlin in German, so maybe billiards is billard in German. I'm not sure, but it looked misspelled to me. Either way, it was pretty neat and did feel a bit like home. I think Germans feel the same about bowling as Americans. It's fun, but not anyone's first choice of activities.

  Bowling was fun. Mellow, but fun. I won the first game. Nobody took it serious, but I can't help but be a little competitive.

  Lisa, Cherry, (Russian), Christina, and Evangelos walking to the bus stop after bowling.

  Krone hosts live music. This band wasn't my cup of tea, or Sam's. Still, live music is nice to watch even though I don't understand a single word.

 Foosball is the game of choice at Krone. Unless you're super good, don't bother. The older guys on the right were kicking everyone's ass. You pay your ,50 € and rotate in on the losing team. I haven't seen much foosball back home, but this is serious. These guys pass the ball and have such a fine touch. One guy even brought his own grip that he slipped onto the handle.