Kaiserslautern, Germany, July 2013

I visited Germany for some admin near Kaiserslautern and I had plenty of time to look around since my return train didn't depart until about 21:00. Overall, it's a pretty nice town but it's a tad "dirty". There were some really junky stores (like pawn shops full of crap and dirt) and several strip joints. That was a little surprising. I really like the different domes and accents on many European buildings. Here's an perfect example on the Volksbank building.

I love German food and hefeweizen (and I hadn't eaten for hours) so the first stop was a restaurant! I was in the square next to a large church, saw some people eating good dishes, so I decided to eat at the Brauhaus am Markt. I had some great schnitzel and, of course, some weizen. It was a nice day, but it was better for me to sit in the shade. The brauhaus sat in the shade of the Stiftskirche.

As mentioned, I really like hefeweizen beer, so after walking around awhile (seeing the Volksbank above), I had to stop and have another one. I stopped at Maria Callas which was in a nice little square. They had Erdinger which isn't my favorite, but it's still a hefeweizen! 

On my way again, I stopped to take a pic of this face outside the Pfalztheater. I thought it was cool. On the right is a tower that looks a little out of place in a German town - reminded me of Hawaii with the great sky behind it.

My next stop was the Japanischer Garten. I didn't know at the time, but it's #4 of the things do to in Kaiserslautern (Trip Advisor). You have to pay to get in, but it was really nice to see. Here are some shots of the park...

 Giant snowball bush (left) and looking down the waterfall (right).

 The pond had koi (as it should) and these two guys were easily the largest.

I've changed my opinion about carp several years ago.

I'm amazed at the quality of pictures from smart phones and their ability to assemble panoramic pictures is incredible...

It was time to head back to the train station and in the centrum one of the most predominate things you see is this big building. Yes, I know it's being torn down / renovated, but I thought it would make an interesting welcome sign for Kaiserslautern (below, left)...

I next stumbled across this cool house (above, right) which turned out to be a tapas restaurant. I wish I would have had more time. Cool setting and tapas are always great. It's the Tamarillo restaurant.

As I approached the station, I wanted to take a picture for a few reasons. I really like taking trains (you can show up about 10 minutes before and whatever you can lug onto the train, it goes with you - no extra baggage charge), I thought this station looked very German, and it was good to see the "DB" again. On the right? Well, that's one of the best things I've purchased in Europe. Ice trays! It was a good little excursion in K-Town.