Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Damn you, Kiel Week!

It has been a cold summer here in northern Germany. Until July, we lived in the 50s. We finally settled into the 70s around the Fourth of July. At night, it gets cold.

It was so cold and rainy that I could not drag myself to visit all of the Kiel Week festivities. I lived at the International Market. I ate from around the world and I was happy. However, I didn't make it to the bay, or Kiel Linie. This is the site of my beloved John's Burger Barn. In the midst of crepes, French Fries and fish sandwiches, there is an oasis of taste. This is the Burger crew's second year at the water and the third at Kiel Week. This year it stuck. They were so busy that I could not get the signature Monica Burger -- bacon cheeseburger.

I finally made it out there the penultimate day. It was bittersweet. It is great to be surrounded by friendly insanity and sad that it was all about the end.

This year, John and Co. actually ran out of the burgers.

Sold out! This miracle happened about three hours before Kiel Week was offiicially over.

The last burger. It was ceremoniously dropped into the waters a few feet from the John's Burger Barn.

I ended Kiel Week injured. I got an overly-aggressive Thai massage. Yes, I got a massage-related injury. The therapist stretched a ligament in my left foot. I bragged about how amazing Thai massage is for weeks before Kiel Week and during the event. However, that maneuver brought me down. The sprain is bad enough to have caused the cancellation of a trip to Poland and to Iceland.

I refuse to find a lesson in this misery.