Blake wanted to check out a few places that his co-workers had told him about, so off we went!
Okercabana!
That is just what it looks like! A huge area of sand, palm trees, beach chairs, and beach items smack dab in a park! There is a river to the left where you could rent paddle boats, kayaks, and floating docks! The weather was beautiful! I HIGHLY recommend a visit to the Okercabana if you ever find yourselves in Brauschweig.
My feet in the sand! Oh yeah!
Drinks at the Okercabana!
Okercabana from across the river. This place was seriously amazing! It was relaxing and different.
The park it is in! Oker park.
"I'm somewhere on a beach. Sipping something strong." - Dierks Bentley
Next up was dinner. If you know me, you know that I research a lot of things before I do them, and I did my research on our dinner. This was the place to go! They also recommended reservations, which we didn't have! HA! But have no fear, I sure didn't!
Trip Advisor rates this restaurant the NUMBER 1 in all of Braunschweig. That is setting the bar pretty high for me! We wiped our feet of sand and strolled our way to the Mutter Habenicht.
German menu! *It should be noted that the waiter spoke very good English and gave us the Foreigner menu, which printed the above menu over and over in a bunch of languages, English being one of them!*
*Additional side-note* We arrived right when the restaurant was opening for dinner, so we were able to get a table outside and it was lovely!*
At this point, Friday I had what I thought was the best schnitzel E V E R! So naturally I felt that I should order the same meal I had the day before for a true comparison. I really struggled though because it is currently Spargel Season in Braunschweig (and in other parts of Germany too) so I really felt I should order that, but I really wasn't feeling like eating a whole pound of spargel. So I stuck with the schnitzel.
**Spargel is asparagus, and it is celebrated and enjoyed in Germany as a delicacy. I am not just talking small little green stalks. No no no. HUGE WHITE STALKS of delicious looking asparagus! So during this time of the year it is common that restaurants feature asparagus meals on their menu.**
Spargel Menu.
(Spargel photo taken from google.com, taken by travelmeetsfood.com) I did not order the spargel, so I don't have a photo for you, BUT that is what I saw on other people's tables. I did't think it was appropriate to ask someone if I could photograph their food ;)
Okay BACK to what I ate! :) And Blake too.
There she is, in all her glory.
Okay, time for honesty. I liked Friday's so so so much better. It was no where near as greasy, the sauce was creamier with better flavor, and overall just tastier. Now, this is not saying I didn't like the place. The experience at Mutter was enjoyable.
People speak very highly of their BBQ ribs, so I imagine we will be back to try those. When I walked through the restaurant people either had ribs or spargel. So perhaps what I ordered wasn't their glory dish.
Blake's meal. He got a plate full of different meats (pork, steak, turkey, sausage, bacon) with potatoes. He was in heaven.
That was all for our Saturday. We enjoyed the meal, a few more drinks, and strolled on home.
Sunday - Sunday was open, as we had nothing scheduled. I suggested the Braunschweig Zoo as I like to consider myself a Zoo Connoisseur.
Sunday's in Germany mean closed. Not literally speaking, but figuratively. Everything is closed. The grocery store, the mall, shops, even the pharmacy. So going off that I wasn't sure the Zoo would be open, but it was! So off we went! We paid 7 euro each to enter the Zoo, which isn't horrible and we went exploring.
Zoo! YaY! Parking was a nightmare.
Oh hello little friend. (All of the signs were in German, so SOME of the animals I wasn't sure what they actually were. Well this here, this is a raccoon.)
And guests can feed the animals... most of them! Just not the tiger or leopard (thanks for that, zoo! aye aye aye) So here is a little girl feeding a raccoon peanuts.
You can get very close to the animals here.
Better believe the camels were hungry too!
Herro wittle bunnies!
That sign says something along the lines of these ponies can bite.
Cute little fella.
Whenever they would stop feeding him, he would pick that top railing up with his mouth. I do NOT see how that is safe.
A carousel.
You can pet and feed the goats.
*I stood on the outside.*
I like to look at animals...not necessarily touch them.
Oh you're tired. Please sit here on this neat bench!
Leopard. You can sort of see the fencing there. I have no idea what is stopping them from ripping it down though.
Monkey friend.
AND that was pretty much the Zoo. It was cute, but tiny! We did not see any giraffes or pandas or elephants so that was sad :( BUT that is okay. I am glad we explored. The Zoo had a nice little cafe where we took a break before heading home.
No Zoo trip would be complete without a cappuccino, right? Actually, I think that no trip anywhere would be complete without a cappuccino.
I had currywurst for lunch. It was okay - meh. Not sure I would order it with the curry sauce again anytime soon.
A little bit aways behind our hotel is a swimming lake. A lake randomly tucked away behind the city.
People enjoying Mother's Day, BBQ-ing, sunbathing, sand castle building, and swimming!
IT was beautiful and peaceful. Heidbergsee Park.
That's all for today! All in all we are adapting well! Very few people speak English in our town, so that is challenging. I am learning bits and pieces, and am EXTREMELY grateful Blake knows enough German to get us by. I really need to step up my German.
Tomorrow I will be talking about our trip to the German Authorities and our experience opening a German bank account!
I'm off now to go apartment hunting - tune in Thursday to read a written version of Riley House Hunters International!
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