Great Sand Dunes

Colorado and dunes? That doesn't go well together I thought but at last weeks weekend trip to the south of Colorado I was convinced by the highest dunes in North America.


Interesting on this picture is that you can see the mountains in the distance, the dunes in front of them and a river (!) going around the dunes where you have to walk through to get to them.


A bit further in the dunes as a proof that I was really there (yes it is really me underneath the cap and the sunglasses)

As you can see we chose a very sunny and warm day as well to go through this dessert.



But the view from the top of one of the bigger dunes was amazing.

From this picture it is easier to understand how this massive dessert was created: The study wind in the plain fields was pushing the sand against this mountain range and it created a small dessert on its own. With snow on top of it in the winter!

American Football

Last weekend I went with some friends to American Football. Denver Crush was fighting Las Vegas in an indoor match at the Pepsi Center downtown Denver.

So I can see already your next question... how was it?! Well... when you never saw a Rugby game in your life before it is great. But being all this time in Ireland spoiled me a bit. It seems to be a much softer version of Rugby to me, but still fun though.

Especially because of the show around the match and I have to admit, the Americans know how to create a show. We had fireworks (indoors!), cheerleaders, music, BMX bikers, etc.




And of course to adapt to the locals I was enjoying the match with a beer and tortillas with delicious cheese sauce! And then suddenly I understood the main idea behind American Football... have a pint or two and enjoy the show!!!

Different taste 4

And there are two new candidates for the try-different-and-strange-sounding soda competition.

The first contender in the left corner is a well known face in Colorado. Mountain dew comes in various tastes over here but Live Wire was even new for me. It has an interesting orangey taste.

In the right corner we have a pineapple soda which sounds according to my flatmate quite disgusting. But I can assure you that it is not! It tastes a bit like holiday or Hawaii though ;-)

A clear winner is hard to make out. Both of them are a bit disgusting if their are not sparkling anymore.

The Sheriff

Another interesting thing in America is of course the police here. They really look like the police you know from TV series and movies. Not green-yellow (Germany) or white-black with neon-yellow wests (Ireland). And they don't have boring names like Polizei or Gardi over here... no... here they are called Sheriffs or Marshals, wear black uniforms and have a proper handguns.

All this makes it of course not easier to ask one of them for a picture. But I got lucky last weekend! I met a Sheriff at a night-out and my friends told me... if you not asking him now, you will never do. So I asked... and given that I was an German tourist he was very friendly and willing to take a picture with me. Thanks again! I hope he will be as friendly as this when we might meet again... pulling me over for speeding or things like that ;-)

Drive through ATM

One thing you mention quickly when you arrive over here is that your daily life is focusing on cars. Or at least much more then we would know from Europe. The McDonald's drive through (or in Germany called drive-in) is not an exception over here... it is just one of the many drive-through services available. Another service like that is the drive through banking. Every bank has them where a banker is waiting for a customers arriving by car and dealing with them "over the counter" and "through your car". An interesting concept and I am wondering if there was ever a bank robbery by car... followed by a car chase straight out of the bank...?

One nice addition to this service is the drive through ATM (cash machine). This is very handy when you are on your way to a night out and need to get some money quickly. I will miss this service when I am calling back to Europe, that's for sure!

Driving License

I finally got it! My American driving license... in a country without national ID card this is very important to prove your identity in governmental institutions, cops and even in pubs.

Interesting are the pictures on the license itself... I had to take off my glasses, why I don't know.

On the other hand they proved me one thing in the driving license office: Who ever said: "You can't take a bad picture of a beautiful (or in this case handsome) view" was WRONG ;-)

Happy motoring everyone!

Different taste 3

One of my favorite categories here is this section where I try different sweets and sodas... of course for a higher course! It is for science, pure science!

Anyway... today I tried a new soda called "Big Red". Nice name, nice colour and we had a voucher to buy two and get 50 cents off. The label says "since 1927" so I thought I am on the save side with this one. But unfortunately it is the worst soda I had so far in my life!

My flatmate liked it neither, even after the "Root Beer Float" trick with this soda. Hmmm... what do we do now with the second bottle? I am pretty sure that it is against the law to put it down the drain, god knows what it does to the environment!

But one question remains: Who was drinking this stuff for the last 80 years? Or is there an other use of it like cleaning cars or dyeing cloth which I miss here? If you have an idea what to do with it, please let me know! Thanks!

German students

Germans! Germans everywhere!

I organized a meeting of German students of StudiVZ. If you not already registered there this is the right time now. StudiVZ is something similar to Myspace but more focused on students and student life.

We meet last Thursday in a cozy pub called "Atomic Cowboy" and had some pints while playing Fussball (Kicker for the Germans) and had some drinks. A very enjoyable night all together. We met several Americans who wanted to play Fussball with us and as soon as they figured out that we are Germans they tried their bits and pieces German on us... very funny. Some of them where even in Germany and could tell stories about visiting castles and having beer in Biergarten.

The owner of the pub was very friendly as well and shouted a "Auf Wiedersehen!" after us when we left. A pub to come back to thats for sure!

Happy Easter

Happy Easter!

Hello everybody! Easter is of course a big thing over here too. So Justin and I want to wish you all wherever you are a happy easter!
And like easter in the rest of the world we celebrate it of course by eating too much chocolate and candy. Very typical indeed are "Peeps", little Marshmallow birds coming in different colors (as seen in the picture above). You would love them! I am looking forward to Christmas already ;-)

Cooking with Ekki

Hello everybody! Welcome to a new episode of cooking with Ekki, the show where you can learn to cook exotic dishes impressing your neighborers and your beloved spouse!
Todays dish is the Brownie, only a few people in the world know how to do a proper one. Count yourself lucky that Ekki is among this outstanding group of people! But first things first!


Take one egg, 1/3 cup of water and oil. Put it all together and stir well. Now the secret ingredient only a handful people on this planet would know... a package of "Fine Brownies" from King Soopers.

Put it into the same bowl and stir 50 times (no joke, the package says so). If you did well it should look like the picture on the right. Fill it in a pan and leave it in the oven at 350 F for 35 mins.

Coffee and Brownies! Can it get any better? I don't think so...

Please enjoy Brownies responsibly! Yours... Ekki

Different taste 2

One of my favorite things over here is to try different stuff like sweets and soda. In this category I tried two new fizzy drinks:
The first one is not that exotic... Cherry Cola is available in Europe as well but as "Zero", that was new for me. The second soda was much more interesting, Pepsi with Caramel Cream. Sounds strange but again surprisingly good!