Darmstadt - Cafe Chaos und Wasserturm!

Ein Tag in Darmstadt ~

Cafe Chaos! So metal.  The inside had a bunch of
old arcade games and toy vending machines - some
vintage, some new.  Cafe Chaos is considered a
vending machine museum. They were fun to play with.

I woke up starving and aching for coffee. Not wanting to trouble my hosts, I left my aunt Ursula a note and took off to find breakfast. I wandered for a couple of blocks, peering at the teeming sidewalk cafes. Nothing looked too appealing until I came upon Cafe Chaos located on Mühlstraße 36.

I went inside and was greeted by laughter from a large group sitting on mismatched shabby-chic furniture.  A massive blackboard proclaimed that days specials, framed by small notes and arrows directing you around the cafe.  I was immediately swept up by the strong scent of coffee bread. A glance at the menu told me it was also affordable.I knew this was the place for me.

My delicious apple strudel! I felt sort of bad eating it.
 The ice cream was looking at me.

I ordered coffee and apple strudel with vanilla ice cream for breakfast.  Ice cream for breakfast didn't seem out of the ordinary in this quirky cafe.  I immediately joined the loud group eating breakfast in the corner.  I told them how excited I was to be exploring Germany.  I made a point of telling them how cool and original I thought Cafe Chaos was.  A girl named Sabine laughed at me and revealed they are part of a large chain of cafes.  She said they were sort of like Hard Rock Cafes.  Still, my new friends laughed it off and offered to show me some of the major cool places to visit in Darmstast.

My new friends took me on a walk through the city.  There were a number of cool graffiti murals and other works of street art.

The Wasserturm!

After a few hours exploring alleyways and shops for local art, my companions took me to the Wasserturm. According to the docents there, the Wasserturm was once a railway water tower.  It was built in 1920 in an Art Nouveau style that matches Darmstadt Central Station.  It is currently houses a small art gallery and restaurant that were both outside of my budget but really neat to observe. Apparently every room in the building contains a picture by Annette Bischoffe. The architecture was fascinating.


My new friends and I are off to hunt down dinner!
I will be writing my next post from Karlsruhe.




Quirky souvenir of the week:  I sent this to my boyfriend for Valentine's Day. It says "Ich liebe dich!" on the inside.  Hopefully he finds it as funny as I do.

...Until next week!