Recipes from Abroad // Spike Your Coffee the German Way

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Walking around the narrow, cobbled streets of Rüdesheim felt like a trip through a movie set designed to look like a “typical” German town. It was all there: half-timbered houses, taverns that open up into old courtyards, overhanging signs carved out of wood with gilded letters, and even some token characters dressed in traditional garb. To make things even more Disney-esque, our first stop was Siegfried’s Mechanical Music Cabinet, a museum filled with automated musical instruments. At first Siegfried’s Mechanical Music Cabinet seemed like a musty tourist trap filled with weird antique toys. That is, until our guide started showing us how the 18th- and 19th-century instruments worked. Puppets came to life and danced to music and player pianos and violins with mechanical fingers sang to us. I even got to hand-crank a melody from a giant music box (with the help of our tour guide, of course). We were still looking at weird antique toys, but these were fascinating weird antique toys!

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There were about 350 self-playing musical instruments in all at the museum, some so tiny they could fit in your hand and others that filled up entire rooms. It was truly impressive.

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After the museum, we wandered down the famously cramped pedestrian street named ‘Drosselgasse’ or ‘Thrush Alley’ that is lined with wine pubs and restaurants on both sides. It was a brisk morning, and we soon found ourselves warming up with some Rüdesheimer Kaffee, a local treat that is similar to Irish coffee. This coffee, however, is served in a traditional cup (see top image) and the key ingredients are some flaming brandy, a huge dollop of whipped cream, and some shaved chocolate on top. How could you go wrong?

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Of course, you don't have to have a special cup — or even travel all the way to Germany — to enjoy this treat. Here's how to make it at home.

Rüdesheimer Kaffee

• Place three sugar cubes in a coffee cup
• Add a shot (1.5 fluid ounces) of brandy and set alight with a long match
• Stir with a long spoon until sugar is dissolved
• Fill the cup with hot coffee and top generously with whipped cream and chocolate.

For the most authentic version of this drink, the brand of alcohol used in Rüdesheim is Asbach Uralt, which is manufactured there.

#Scoutspiration // Love Locks Spread Throughout the World

The idea behind "love locks" is simple: couples prove their bond is unbreakable by affixing a lock scrawled with their initials on a bridge and then tossing the key into the river below, never to be seen again.

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The tradition is said to have originated on the Ponte Milivio, a bridge over the Tiber in Rome. Now, it has become a worldwide phenomenon, with love locks being spotted everywhere from Uruguay to the Ukraine.

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Not everyone is in love with the tradition, though. Love locks were just banned on a Kentucky bridge over the Ohio River, and the locks pictured above were once threatened, too. These are from the Hohenzollern Bridge in Cologne, Germany, an overpass that has become so packed with padlocks the bridge's operator has threatened to saw them off. But the people of Cologne, as well as visitors, wouldn't have it. After public outcry over the matter, the operator was forced to have -- you guessed it -- a change of heart.

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Today, the love locks add a little glitter to a bridge that is otherwise gritty and dull. But up close things aren't always picture perfect: there were a few spots where fence wires were cut, perhaps in an symbolic effort to release scorned lovers of their shackles.

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As I crossed the bridge, two little boys were tugging on the padlocks trying to shake them loose -- I guess the heartbreaking starts early in Germany.

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Below the bridge, I was actually a little surprised there weren't vendors peddling padlocks. I imagine they could camp out, armed with engraving tools, hawking love locks to tourists for 20 euros a pop. It looks like there really are some things that are still sacred.