Staples

Here we are, already four days into this year's Germany trek, and I see I forgot to report on all sorts of things from last year. With apologies to last year's Regensburg--you were great, we loved you!--this year's travel blog begins with food, as a sense of place is often intertwined with the sense of taste.

See the jet-lagged child (who, perhaps for the first time in his young life, did not barf upon disembarking an easterly trans-Atlantic flight) at peace in the hectic Zurich airport thanks to a salty twist of bread:

We are spending the first leg of our trip in warm, sunny Freiburg. Monday's first stop (parents' choice): the farmers' market in the Münsterplatz, where zingy ripe fruit helped disperse the fog of travel.

Second stop (Elias's choice, and second only because the farmers' market stood between us and his goal): vegetarian-friendly gummi bears at the Bären Company shop.

When Mad Cow Disease was making its way across Europe in the 1990s, several German pharmacies responded by selling gummi bears made without Rindsgelatine. We happily snarfed our way through a few kilos of those before Stefan's brother, a large-animal vet, managed to tell us through his tears and guffaws that while they didn't contain cow gelatine, they most assuredly contained pig gelatine. Listen--do you hear him chortling still? Thereupon followed a multiyear gummi bear drought, until we walked into Freiburg's Bären Company in 2009. To our credit, today is Thursday and we still have about 15 Bärlchen left (as well as two days to replenish our supply before leaving town).