Climbing to the Top of the World

And literally at the time they said it would start, the rain began.

Greetings once again from Saarbrucken, where precisely at 4 pm, just when the forecasters said, the skies opened up and the temperature dropped 20 degrees in ten minutes, to begin a stretch of rainy & cool weather that'll be the backdrop to the rest of the trip.

Germans really ARE efficient at everything, aren't they?

We made the most of the 80 degree sunshine we did have today, though, and took a road trip to see (drum roll, please) the Saarpolygon.  I had mentioned yesterday about how both Saarbrucken and the Marquette area have a history with iron mining, and the Saarpolygon is another example of how they celebrate it here.

What exactly IS the Saarpolygon?  Well, you know how the second highest point in Michigan is now Mount Tilden, the almost 2,000 foot high stack of rock removed from the Tilden and Empire Mines?  They have one of those here, and they built the Polygon on top of it.  You park your car, you spend 20 minutes climbing up a forested hill as steep as 5th Street in Marquette--

You leave the trees and continue climbing up the tailings pile--

You pass people stopped at the side of the trail, cursing the very idea that even made them consider such a hike.  And then, all of a sudden, you see the Saarpolygon--

It's a structure they built on top Mt Mine Waste, and as you move around it, it looks different.  It can look like an X--

It can look like a square--

Heck; it can look like a delta--

It is one of the weirdest things I've ever seen.  And after hiking up the mountain, you can then climb up another 150 steps to the top of the polygon and be rewarded with views like this--

Or this--

In fact, the geometry of the structure can lead to some amazing photo opportunities even when you're not shooting stuff kilometers away--

I know the Tilden Mine still has another 30 or 40 years of life left in it, but I think it would be SO cool to stick something like that atop Mt. Tilden when the time comes.  The Saarpolygon is one of the coolest things I've seen in a long time.

I think Marquette County deserves its own version of it!

After driving around trying to find a good gas price for our rental car (we ended up paying 1.92 euro per liter, or around 8 bucks a gallon) we made our way back to Saarbrucken, where we wandered around a little up & down Mainzer Strasse, which is the cool avenue where I took all the sandstone pictures yesterday--

It's funny, because while Mainzer Strasse is connected to the insanely busy pedestrian area here, no one seems to go down it because, I guess, you have to cross a street to get there.  Yet it's on a place like Mainzer Strasse that you get an idea of what a place is really like, away from the tourist traps.

If I could give someone one piece of travel advice, it would be to cross the street every chance you get.

Oh--and I would also tell you that if Google tries to get you to switch to German when you try to use it on your phone, that you definitely do NOT accidentally touch "yes" with your finger, lest you end up with a screen that looks like this--

And with no way (yet) to change it back.  That's the other piece of travel advice I'd give.

If I were to give out travel advice.

Okay; let's pivot to food.  I mentioned yesterday that I'd tell you why Spargel is such an important word in Germany, and I'll now explain why.  Spargel is what Germans call white asparagus, the first fresh crop that springs to life after winter--

During the month of May, Germans go Spargel crazy, buying it in bulk and eating it for (it seems) every single meal.  Even German restaurants do everything they can with it--

So in the spirit of Spargel season, Loraine and I went out to dinner tonight and had Spargel dishes.  Mine was served with potatoes, ham, and a hollandaise sauce--

While Loraine tried pasta primavera mixed with Spargel--

And after trying it, I think we both now know why Germans go so crazy for white asparagus when it's in season.  It doesn't taste like asparagus.  In fact, it really doesn't taste like anything I've ever eaten.

If you ever get the change to try it, do.

Let's wrap with up with a few random pictures, including another one of the places that makes Loraine and I say "Chicago" every few minutes while walking--

Some sage advice for these troubling times--

And, of course, today's wall of chocolate--

Speaking of chocolate, tomorrow's supposed to be cool & rainy, so it's the perfect day for fulfilling one of the two main objectives for this trip--heading out and buying chocolate from three different countries in the span of a few hours.

After all, that's why you go to Europe, right?

8-)

(jimkoskimqt@gmail.com)