This past week has underscores the necessity of getting a real jacket, so per the recommendations of my coworkers, I headed to the K in Lautern shopping mall complex.

The mall was very close to the cathedral and square where the Kaiserslautern Christmas market is taking place, which opened very recently.

I walked around the market for a good while, looking at the different stalls and people watching. I got to try the Glühwein, a hot mulled red wine typically served at the Christmas markets. It was very warming and lovely with spices; I swear it helped my head cold improve! I also had a Bratwurst on a Brötchen with mustard, also very good.

Kaiserslautern is large enough (pop. 100k+) to have beggars coming up and plying their literal sob stories for coins. The one that came up to me really brought out the plaintive tone when I told her I didn’t understand.

I’ve heard that some Christmas markets have a lot of little souvenirs and gifts available; this one mostly had different foods, hot wine vendors, and sweets vendors, with few trinkets. The Kaiserslautern farmer’s market was going on at the same time, however, which I didn’t explore much right now but did get a snap of this adorable Citroen coffeemobile.

The Kaiserslautern morning market has been going on, likely in this exact plaza, since the 16th century.

Back to earlier in the day, before I left for the shopping adventure. During the week every morning when I get out of bed and get ready for work, I make Sensi a little pillow fort with the soft blanket, then I show it to her so she knows it’s there before I head out for the day. Every weekday I have come home and Sensi has emerged from her pillow fort to greet me.

This morning I slept in a bit. Once I was awake, Sensi kept complaining at me and I couldn’t really tell why; until finally she went over to the spot on the bed, and I said “OH! you want your pillow fort!”. I made up her pillow fort for the day, and she was very pleased. When I got home from Kaiserslautern, she emerged again to chirp ‘hello’ to me.