Mehlbach and Kaiserslautern

Well, we took a day to fart around John's village and get over our jet lag, and then head into Kaiserslautern (pronounced Kaiser's Lautern) to take care of a few errands before REALLY jumping into the fun activities.

The village of Mehlbach

Mehlbach is the most amazingly quaint village; it's so quiet you can hear the cows mooing from the neighboring countryside, and the birds chirping all day long. There's hardly ever anyone around, save the occaisonal speed demon whizzing through town, or here and there an older man or woman tending a garden. It's quite peaceful. And as a result, there's really... nothing to do! There's a local shop with *delicious* pastries, and we were sure to take advantage of that.

Don't they look like best friends?!

The City of Kaiserslautern

We drove into Kaiserslautern to register John's driver's license as an international license, so we will be able to drive into France and Switzerland. At the registry, John went up to the door marked "Drücken" and pulled on it, and was astonished that the door seemed to be locked, and the office closed! After much cursing and sighing, a German man who had been watching us nonchalantly went up to the door, pushed on it, and walked in as the door swung open. All I could imagine was how hard it must have been for that guy to watch John struggle with the door without cracking up. Yep! That's John for ya! :)

John, defeated by a door marked "Push"

One of the coolest things I've found so far about Germany is how energy efficient and conscious everyone is. All along the countryside as we drove along, we passed countless windpower farms, and gigantic windmills silently whirling in the breeze. For some reason, they mesmerize me, and I find them fascinating.

The Silent Giants

Also, people here drive like there's no tomorrow; John will often get passed on the highway, while going 110mph himself! Madness. No wonder Germans build such good cars, they have to last the beating these people put them through!

Next: Berlin!