Karlsruhe Favorites

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Favorite thing: You can easily do some daytrips from Karlsruhe by tram or by train.

You could visit Ettlingen; a beautiful small town only some kilometers from Karlsruhe (see my Ettlingen page...) and Baden Baden. This spa town is not far from Karlsruhe. It has a couple of spa estabilishments; a building where you can taste the medicinal water (Trinkhalle) and a nice old core.

Another beautiful town worth a visit is Heidelberg. It is home of the oldest university in Germany. Its highlight is the castle.

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Favorite thing:

Photos:
1. Natalie (nhcram) and Mariel (marielexoteria)
2. Bernd (Bernd_L) drinking Glühwein
3. Sonja (yumyum), Mariel and Christine (tini58de)
4. Margaret (margaretvn) and Koos (kovani)
5. Natalie talking to Isa (Belsaita), with Karl (Roadquill) in the background

Although I attended the first, second and third VT Glühwein meetings in Karlsruhe, I missed the fourth and fifth because of teaching commitments in Frankfurt am Main. So I was happy to see that the sixth annual meeting was on a weekend when I was free, namely December 4-5, 2009.

There were fifteen present this time, thirteen VT members and two guests, which is just the right size group so you can get to chat with everyone. (This is not counting Kathrin_E, who arrived on Saturday afternoon just a few minutes after I had to leave -- sorry, Kathrin!)

We met as usual on Friday evening on the steps of the big church at the Market Square, went and had some Glühwein or coffee or whatever at the Christmas Market (which was dry this year -- no slush on the ground!) and then went for supper and conversation to a restaurant called Alte Bank.

The next day Bernd took us to a place called Bretten, which I had never heard of up to then.

Thanks again to Christine for organizing the meeting.

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Favorite thing:

Photos:
1. Some Christmas lights that I actually liked
2. Natalie and Mariel at the Christmas Market
3. Isa (Belsaita) at the Christmas Market
4. Martha (nomad7890) at the Christmas Market

I'm afraid I'm something of a grouch when it comes to Christmassy stuff. This started as a fit of pubertal pique when I was about thirteen, but unlike most people I never seem to have grown out of it, in fact it keeps getting worse with each passing decade.

Nonetheless, in Karlsruhe I actually came across a set of Christmas lights that I quite liked, namely the white lights in the first photo.

The other three photos show VT members at the Karlsruhe Christmas Market (continued from the previous tip).

Favorite thing: Taking a stroll in the park near the former Duke Palace was wonderful!
You can just walk or lie on the grass near the pond there.
If you like visiting museums, you can go to the Baden State Museum located in the Duke Palace where you can see big collections dating back to the Middle Ages.

Fondest memory: There are lots of streetcar routes in the city, among them those that would take you outside the city including those that would take you from the city center to Bad Herrenalb, a famous recreational area in the Black Forest.

Favorite thing: Also a well-known square in Karlsruhe featuring a post office, a mainstream movie theater, stores and a travel office where you can ask for directions and information if you're confused about travelling around, they also have small maps there, maps of the entire transport system and separate train or bus routes.

Favorite thing: A group of enthusiasts has started a wiki about the city of Karlsruhe a while ago. Right now (March 2008) the page is already at more than 14,000 articles, and hopefully it will keep growing. This source of information is becoming more and more useful.

Sorry, the Stadtwiki is in German only.

Web address: http://ka.stadtwiki.net

Favorite thing: I will always conside KArlsruhe my home. I have been back since I moved back to the U.S. but I will always miss it. It was a pleasure to take Liz to see the place that I once lived and worked. Showing her my favorite places and sights was great. I even got to take her to one of my friend's bars for a night of fun and rehashing memories.

This was a great trip for me. I was so happy she enjoyed the town and had a great time.

Favorite thing: Once this beautiful building was a cafe-restaurant, bar and a favourite venue for VTers. Last may when I visited Karlsruhe it was closed down. Now It has been recently reopened as a restaurant.

The Krokodil is located in Waldstrasse, 63; not far from Marktplatz.