Enjoying Augsburg

So what can I say? I've never been much of a dog person.

Having a great time in Augsburg. Got a big surprise the other day when I discovered this camel in the local marketplace. They were raising money for the local zoo, I think, and they had a few exotic animals on display. I always feel bad for captive animals out of their natural habitat, but this one appeared to be well cared for and didn't seem to mind, then again I don't consider myself to be attuned to the inner thoughts of even domestic animals, let alone a camel. Have you ever seen a camel up close? They are so weird, really. All I could think about was StarWars. This creature looked like a characters from the alien cantina on Tatooine. What a strange beast!

Anyway, Augsburg is lovely. It's a very clean and safe city with a wonderful public transit system. Everywhere you turn, you're greeted with impressive historic architecture, statuary, and tradition. We've been to the famous Christmas Market here a couple of times, and in fact I'll be there today again. I need to mail a letter in town and would like to get a few daytime photos of the market in action. Hopefully it won't be too crowded. There's a traditional drink at the market called Gluvine. It's a hot spiced wine and everyone is standing around with a special Gluvine cup in their hands, at once trying to keep warm and enjoy a good conversation with friends. Unfortunately, I'm at a loss when it comes to participating in conversation since most of the population speak only German, with all to few being only semi-proficient in English. Marietta is easily in the 99th percentile when it comes to English-as-a-second-language speakers (I constantly forget that it's not her mother tongue). I have a basic phrase book and some words but I haven't yet acquired the skill to string anything into even the most basic of conversations. I need to work on that, if only for the knowledge that I gave it an honest effort. But, I should mention that German is REALLY difficult!

Anyway, off to the market...

Cheers!

~B