It’s hard to write an entry on the blog when I end up either IM’ing or talking to everyone anyways. I feel like I’ve said or written everything twice..because it’s what I’m about to do…

So last weekend, my first weekend, I had a few things to accomplish. Well, maybe not accomplish, but, what the hell was I going to do? First thing…I was still having issues with jet-lag and woke up around 11am. Great. Late start.

Saturday… I headed off to Karlsuhe (which I continuously mispell..) I was looking for the ZKM or KMZ or something. I never found that. I did find a mall and a museum of natural history. The museum was a bit lacking in the display category, but, thanks to my lack of Deutchse and their lack of English – I was spared the 5 euro entry fee. Here’s some pictures I took while there:

The entrance area: [flickr]photo:2411313484[/flickr]
The displays are a bit more graphic if you’re the food: [flickr]photo:2410485987[/flickr]
[flickr]photo:2411312220[/flickr] [flickr]photo:2410484155[/flickr]

That was that….probably spent only 20 minutes in there, and it wasn’t really worth the time. As I had such a late start to the day, I was very hungry. I noticed people walking around carrying snacks and treats. I didn’t see any obvious signs for restaurants, so I headed in the direction they were at. I stumbled in a mall. Apparently, a huge mall. It was 3 or 4 stories. I walked in from ground level (I thought) and was really on the 2nd floor. I found the food court, and a T-Mobile store. One of the things I wanted to do was get a mobile while in Germany in case there was an emergency someone could reach me…so for 29.95 euros, I got a pay-as-you-go sagem my200x mobile. It supposedly came with 5 euros on it, and they gave me two 6 euro cards to load….

Now…trying to figure out something in German usually isn’t that bad. I look through my book, and look at the menu. Mobile phones don’t have many references to food for menu options. It took me about 20 minutes but I got most of the display into English. I think I used up the first 5 euros loaded onto it for trying to setup voicemail. Long story short…I won’t have voice mail because I don’t know what it’s asking in German when I call. The number was given to those who need it 🙂

That was pretty much it for Karlsruhe. Ate some food at the food court (chicken sandwich) and had a coke.

Leaving was another story. I parked in the parking garage….and, I’m used to paying the person when you leave, right? Well, that’s now how it works here. So yes…I was the American in the car at the thing that takes your ticket with no idea what was going on – but the gate wouldn’t open. Finally, someone who spoke English ask me if I’d paid…nope. They got the 4 cars behind me to back up so I could get out of the way…go park, then go inside and pay. You stick in the ticket, it tells you how many Euros it wants, and it spits out the card. Take the card with you and drive to the exit..insert card and you’re free!

I headed from Karlsruhe to Ettlingin with a stop at the hotel to drop of the mobile (to charge it up).

Ettlingen is a interesting town. Some of the streets are “normal”, others are barely wide enough for my little car and I thought I was driving on the sidewalk. I spent the end of Saturday and most of Sunday in Ettlingen. Walking around is interesting, it feels medevil as the roads are so narrow, the buildings are close, it’s cobblestone, and it appears to be a castle/gated type area in the middle.

I did manage to get a chocolate milk shake [flickr]photo:2410489441[/flickr]
, and I d’erfed once on the coble to get a nice anchovie on my knee [flickr]photo:2411316944[/flickr].

On Sunday I located the ZKM museum in Karlsruhe, but apparently, I haven’t offloaded an cam pics in a while 🙂 so I’ll save that story for..later…

I’ll go back to Ettilingen much more, as they seem to be more “tourist” friendly…and there’s more options for things to eat and see. Apparently, there’s a little trail with 12 historic buildings and signs in English. I’ll get pictures of that..later.

That’s that. The week hasn’t been very exciting. Get up, go to work, figure out lunch at work by picture menu, then go home. I average about a 2 hour walk every evening after work. It’s something to do.

Hopefully this weekend brings some more entertainment.