Wednesday, November 07, 2007
SOOO Disappointed
So... with the Writer's Guild striking there will now be re-runs of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report. I feel like I have been cheated. All this time and I thought that THEY actually came up with their material.
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
Opps...
Well, after a silent 2 1/2 months, all I can say is opps...
So...
So...
- Prague was AMAZING. Slightly creepy and overwhelming at first as we were taking the train through the Czech Republic, but it was better once we hit Prague. The city was incredibly beautiful, but it was the only place that we had been to in which neither of us knew any bit of the language. Little scary. But the trip was wonderful.
- Leaving Germany was great. Scotland was sad, but by the time we moved to Germany we were ready to be home.
- In the first two weeks of being home, I had 5 interviews (in 2 school districts) and 2 job offers. I am now one of the two new Spanish teachers in the district, and I really like it. I teach 5th, 7th and 8th graders. Those awkward early teenage years...
- In those first 2 weeks, we also moved to Howell. Its a bit of a commute for Mike, but at least he doesn't have to make it every day. AND next semester he doesn't have class, so it will be cut down even more. WOO HOO!! And the commute for me is great. Only 15-20 minutes.
- It has been great being back home and seeing (most) everyone!! I will try to keep this more up to date from now on...
Friday, July 27, 2007
Down to one hand finger counting now
That´s right... only four more days until we start the long trek back to Michigan. So... this is more than likely the last time that you will hear from us until we get home. We are heading to Prague this weekend with a couple of friends. Its dirt cheap to get to from Bavaria, so we might as well go. We are really excited, and I am sure that we will have tons of pictures to show you all. We have most of our pictures uploaded onto our Flickr account now. I think that there are over 6,000 pictures of the last 11 months... and Germany is not all on there. Thank goodness for digital cameras! :)
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Down to Finger Counting!
That’s right folks… I can count the number of days until we’re home on my fingers!! WOO HOO!!
Harry Potter
Since we had spent 9 months in the UK, I really wanted the UK version of Harry Potter. Not only is the cover different, but the spellings are in UK English and some of the UK slang is used. My wonderful husband took me out on Saturday and bought it for me. I was surprised that it wasn’t longer, but it was still good. All the theories everyone had were right and wrong. I don’t think that anyone had it right, only partially. I started it on Saturday, but couldn’t read a lot as the family we are staying with had a party in which we were invited to. It was really uncomfortable and no one talked to us though. We even got dirty looks from the dad of the family and he asked the people who finally sat near us what they were doing over sitting near us. I think he forgets Mike does understand and speak German. Jerk.
Anyway, I read all but 150 pages on Sunday evening and finished it Monday morning. I couldn’t sleep very well on Sunday I was so preoccupied with what was going to happen. It was well worth the wait. And now I need to read them all over again. It was a spectacular series and I am sad to see it finished. At least the ending was good.
Anyway, I read all but 150 pages on Sunday evening and finished it Monday morning. I couldn’t sleep very well on Sunday I was so preoccupied with what was going to happen. It was well worth the wait. And now I need to read them all over again. It was a spectacular series and I am sad to see it finished. At least the ending was good.
Yet Another Beer…
July 23, 2007
After today we are officially done with our Christmas shopping!! WOO HOO!! I don’t think that I have ever been this organized, and I am pretty sure that Mike never has either. Last year we went shopping on the night before Christmas Eve for our presents for each other. I am sure that living in Europe has helped us to complete our Christmas shopping in July though! :)
After we finished our shopping, we passed by a restaurant that was selling a beer that we had not tried yet – Aylinger-, so we of course HAD to stop. (The restaurants here only sell beer from one brewery.) There are normally not many different kinds of beer that a certain brewery makes. A pils, lager, dark, wheat, and dark wheat. I normally do not like the wheat beers here as they taste like cloves. BUT there is something here called a Cola-weissen that is very tasty. Half coke and half wheat beer. Radlers (half lemonade, half lager) are also quite nice. Especially on hot days. Mike tried their wheat beer, which was surprisingly not clovey. Which made for a wonderful cola-weissen. :)
After today we are officially done with our Christmas shopping!! WOO HOO!! I don’t think that I have ever been this organized, and I am pretty sure that Mike never has either. Last year we went shopping on the night before Christmas Eve for our presents for each other. I am sure that living in Europe has helped us to complete our Christmas shopping in July though! :)
After we finished our shopping, we passed by a restaurant that was selling a beer that we had not tried yet – Aylinger-, so we of course HAD to stop. (The restaurants here only sell beer from one brewery.) There are normally not many different kinds of beer that a certain brewery makes. A pils, lager, dark, wheat, and dark wheat. I normally do not like the wheat beers here as they taste like cloves. BUT there is something here called a Cola-weissen that is very tasty. Half coke and half wheat beer. Radlers (half lemonade, half lager) are also quite nice. Especially on hot days. Mike tried their wheat beer, which was surprisingly not clovey. Which made for a wonderful cola-weissen. :)
Art, Art, and More Art…
July 22, 2007
On Sundays many of the museums in Munich are only €1, and since it was looking pretty cloudy out (again), we headed to the Alte Pinakothek. The BIG art museums in Munich are broken up into three different buildings: the Alte Pinakothek – 13th to 18th century art-, the Neue Pinakothek – mainly 19th and some 20th century art-, and the Pinakothek der Moderne – modern art. We started with the Alte Pinakothek. It was a very nice collection which included many Rembrandt, Rueben, and even some Da Vinci and El Greco. The paintings were, of course, amazing.
After walking through the Alte Pinakothek, we headed over to the Neue Pinakothek. There were some Monet, Manet, Van Gogh, etc there. It was a very nice exhibit, but half the museum was taken up by a temporary exhibit that we didn’t buy tickets for. We walked over to the Modern Art building, but we know very few modern artists and don’t always understand modern art. I need help most of the time getting the point. Mike only really likes Dali, and there were only 2 Dali paintings in the whole building, so we skipped it. By then we had been looking at art for about 4 hours and were near our limit anyway.
On Sundays many of the museums in Munich are only €1, and since it was looking pretty cloudy out (again), we headed to the Alte Pinakothek. The BIG art museums in Munich are broken up into three different buildings: the Alte Pinakothek – 13th to 18th century art-, the Neue Pinakothek – mainly 19th and some 20th century art-, and the Pinakothek der Moderne – modern art. We started with the Alte Pinakothek. It was a very nice collection which included many Rembrandt, Rueben, and even some Da Vinci and El Greco. The paintings were, of course, amazing.
After walking through the Alte Pinakothek, we headed over to the Neue Pinakothek. There were some Monet, Manet, Van Gogh, etc there. It was a very nice exhibit, but half the museum was taken up by a temporary exhibit that we didn’t buy tickets for. We walked over to the Modern Art building, but we know very few modern artists and don’t always understand modern art. I need help most of the time getting the point. Mike only really likes Dali, and there were only 2 Dali paintings in the whole building, so we skipped it. By then we had been looking at art for about 4 hours and were near our limit anyway.
A Quarter of a Century and Counting
July 20, 2007
Yup, that’s right. As of July 20th I am a quarter of a century old. I only panicked a bit and have now decided I am no longer counting. No more candles, etc. I still want to celebrate my birthday and presents are always okay. But I am doing away with counting.
Anyway… the day was beautiful, so Mike skipped class and we went out to one of the lakes about a half an hour away from Munich. It was a great day. We walked from the town of Starnberg to Possenhofen. It was a nice walk, except for the 2 km in which the sidewalk disappeared and we had to walk along the side of the road. That was NOT fun, but we survived unscathed. We had brought bathing suits so we could go swimming, but in Germany there are no changing facilities. That is what the beach is for. And bathing suits are optional. Many don’t use them. We were actually surprised that most of the kids and all the men had bathing suits on. Many were Speedos, but at least it covers things. Many of the women were topless, but you get used to it after awhile. Although I don’t think I could go topless sunbathing with my neighbors or family watching. Stripping down in front of them, putting my bathing suit bottoms on, and then - while topless – carry on a conversation with them. It would be weird.
In Possenhofen there is an old Palace that is still occupied. By whom we have no idea, but you can walk around it, which was nice. Then we headed to the train station to go down to Tutzing. We did not want to walk on the shoulder of a narrow road again, and we had already walked probably 4 miles. While we were there we saw a crazy lady. In Germany you buy your tickets for the transport before you get on the train, many of the tickets have to be validated before you get on the transport, but its all up to you. I have been riding the Public Transport for 2 months (with a ticket) and have never had my ticket checked. So… many people ride and take the chance that they will not be caught. The people that check your tickets on the subway, buses, and trams are in street clothes, so its very risky. The people that check your tickets on the train are in uniform. But on the trains not only do you get the fine, but you also have to pay twice the fare. Well, this lady got caught, wouldn’t give the people her name so they could write out the fine, so they took her off the train and called the police. We got there with the police. Wonderful. Her story was that she had a month pass, but was at the beach in Starnberg. It was there that some one got into her wallet and stole her transport card AND all her money. But they left her wallet. Well, the police sided with the train people and asked to see her wallet so they could get her name. She FREAKED. They had to take her wallet from her while she was screaming and trying to beat them away. They got her name though, gave her the fine (which was even more because she also had her bike with her), and she freaked even more. She ran off screaming at the police and train people. It was amazing. I’m guessing the police didn’t haul her in because it wasn’t worth the effort. Back home they probably would have tazored her and then hauled her in with multiple charges. But she went off to the other side of the tracks, got on her phone, and started yelling hysterically to someone. People are entertaining…
After the excitement, we got on the train to Tutzing and explored around the city. Its quite small, so it didn’t take that long. But we were able to find a non-naked beach, side on a small wall, and stick our feet in the water. It was a hot day, so it was quite nice. And we had a view of the Alps in the distance as well.
After we were done exploring Tutzing, we headed back into Munich and decided to have a Birthday beer in the Hirsch Garden. It’s the biggest beer garden in Europe and can hold 8,000 people. Well, we got there and it was a huge disappointment. It was the white trash beer garden of Munich. So… we downed our beers as quickly as possible and left.
Yup, that’s right. As of July 20th I am a quarter of a century old. I only panicked a bit and have now decided I am no longer counting. No more candles, etc. I still want to celebrate my birthday and presents are always okay. But I am doing away with counting.
Anyway… the day was beautiful, so Mike skipped class and we went out to one of the lakes about a half an hour away from Munich. It was a great day. We walked from the town of Starnberg to Possenhofen. It was a nice walk, except for the 2 km in which the sidewalk disappeared and we had to walk along the side of the road. That was NOT fun, but we survived unscathed. We had brought bathing suits so we could go swimming, but in Germany there are no changing facilities. That is what the beach is for. And bathing suits are optional. Many don’t use them. We were actually surprised that most of the kids and all the men had bathing suits on. Many were Speedos, but at least it covers things. Many of the women were topless, but you get used to it after awhile. Although I don’t think I could go topless sunbathing with my neighbors or family watching. Stripping down in front of them, putting my bathing suit bottoms on, and then - while topless – carry on a conversation with them. It would be weird.
In Possenhofen there is an old Palace that is still occupied. By whom we have no idea, but you can walk around it, which was nice. Then we headed to the train station to go down to Tutzing. We did not want to walk on the shoulder of a narrow road again, and we had already walked probably 4 miles. While we were there we saw a crazy lady. In Germany you buy your tickets for the transport before you get on the train, many of the tickets have to be validated before you get on the transport, but its all up to you. I have been riding the Public Transport for 2 months (with a ticket) and have never had my ticket checked. So… many people ride and take the chance that they will not be caught. The people that check your tickets on the subway, buses, and trams are in street clothes, so its very risky. The people that check your tickets on the train are in uniform. But on the trains not only do you get the fine, but you also have to pay twice the fare. Well, this lady got caught, wouldn’t give the people her name so they could write out the fine, so they took her off the train and called the police. We got there with the police. Wonderful. Her story was that she had a month pass, but was at the beach in Starnberg. It was there that some one got into her wallet and stole her transport card AND all her money. But they left her wallet. Well, the police sided with the train people and asked to see her wallet so they could get her name. She FREAKED. They had to take her wallet from her while she was screaming and trying to beat them away. They got her name though, gave her the fine (which was even more because she also had her bike with her), and she freaked even more. She ran off screaming at the police and train people. It was amazing. I’m guessing the police didn’t haul her in because it wasn’t worth the effort. Back home they probably would have tazored her and then hauled her in with multiple charges. But she went off to the other side of the tracks, got on her phone, and started yelling hysterically to someone. People are entertaining…
After the excitement, we got on the train to Tutzing and explored around the city. Its quite small, so it didn’t take that long. But we were able to find a non-naked beach, side on a small wall, and stick our feet in the water. It was a hot day, so it was quite nice. And we had a view of the Alps in the distance as well.
After we were done exploring Tutzing, we headed back into Munich and decided to have a Birthday beer in the Hirsch Garden. It’s the biggest beer garden in Europe and can hold 8,000 people. Well, we got there and it was a huge disappointment. It was the white trash beer garden of Munich. So… we downed our beers as quickly as possible and left.
Beer Floats
My friend, Lisa, told us about beer floats when she was here visiting us. We were wary about the whole idea but she assured us that they were good. We figured you would have to do it with a dark beer, such as Guinness, but we were told that any beer would work. So we bought some beer and ice cream and tried it. Well, I am here to tell you that any beer will not work. The beer we used had quite a bit of a hops flavor. Which attached itself to the ice cream. I think it would be great with a dark beer, or a less hopy beer. Now we’re just going to wait until we get home to try it. And until we get a specific name of a beer she has successfully used in the beer float equation.
The Most Disgusting Beer in the World
July 19, 2007
There is a beer garden near us that has been voted the prettiest beer garden in the Munich area before and it sells a beer made in Munich that we had not yet tried. It was a nice day, so we walked over there before we went grocery shopping. We had heard that the beer was not very good and the only reason it was still in production was due to tourists. We now know that this has to be the truth. It was horrid beer. And to top it all off, they were out of beer mats for Spaten beer. Most of the beers have their own beer mats, so we have been collecting them. Free souvenirs! :)
There is a beer garden near us that has been voted the prettiest beer garden in the Munich area before and it sells a beer made in Munich that we had not yet tried. It was a nice day, so we walked over there before we went grocery shopping. We had heard that the beer was not very good and the only reason it was still in production was due to tourists. We now know that this has to be the truth. It was horrid beer. And to top it all off, they were out of beer mats for Spaten beer. Most of the beers have their own beer mats, so we have been collecting them. Free souvenirs! :)
Back to the Oldest Brewery in the World
July 18, 2007
Well, after Mike told people that we had gone to the oldest brewery in the world, they wanted to go to. And Mike was, of course, more than willing to take them there. He was sure that they could not get there without him. I’m pretty sure that he just wanted more of what he claims is one of the best beers in the world. SO today, we headed back to Freising and the Weihenstephan Brewery. We were able to try a couple more of the different types of beer they brew that we didn’t last time. The rest of the beers that they brew that we didn’t try, we bought. They are dirt cheap in their store. There is a beer store in Mt Pleasant that will order anything that they can for you if you ask. When we get back to Michigan, and settled, we are going to find out if they can get the Weihenstephan beer in. We’re also going to check with Erica’s in Grand Rapids, so hopefully we can share the beer with others!
Well, after Mike told people that we had gone to the oldest brewery in the world, they wanted to go to. And Mike was, of course, more than willing to take them there. He was sure that they could not get there without him. I’m pretty sure that he just wanted more of what he claims is one of the best beers in the world. SO today, we headed back to Freising and the Weihenstephan Brewery. We were able to try a couple more of the different types of beer they brew that we didn’t last time. The rest of the beers that they brew that we didn’t try, we bought. They are dirt cheap in their store. There is a beer store in Mt Pleasant that will order anything that they can for you if you ask. When we get back to Michigan, and settled, we are going to find out if they can get the Weihenstephan beer in. We’re also going to check with Erica’s in Grand Rapids, so hopefully we can share the beer with others!
Paulaner Brewery Tour
July 17, 2007
We were able to go on a brewery tour for only €3 each through the school Mike goes to. It was all in German – of course – but I still picked up a bit of it. The guide had a very thick Bavarian accent (which is the most difficult German accent to understand.) But Mike was able to explain it to me after he stopped talking. The tour was incredible. It last an hour and a half, and he took us through the entire process. The best part for me was watching the bottle cleaning (they re-use the glass bottles up to 6 times), bottle filling, and labeling. I got another video of that, it was so fast Mike wanted to document it. :)
At the end of the tour we were told we would get a pretzel (a big soft pretzel), and a beer. Mike and I figured that the beer would be a small taste. We were wrong. At the end of the tour we were given two 0.5L beers, two big pretzels, and dinner. It was amazing. And all for €3. If we had known about it sooner, we would have probably gone a few more times.
We were able to go on a brewery tour for only €3 each through the school Mike goes to. It was all in German – of course – but I still picked up a bit of it. The guide had a very thick Bavarian accent (which is the most difficult German accent to understand.) But Mike was able to explain it to me after he stopped talking. The tour was incredible. It last an hour and a half, and he took us through the entire process. The best part for me was watching the bottle cleaning (they re-use the glass bottles up to 6 times), bottle filling, and labeling. I got another video of that, it was so fast Mike wanted to document it. :)
At the end of the tour we were told we would get a pretzel (a big soft pretzel), and a beer. Mike and I figured that the beer would be a small taste. We were wrong. At the end of the tour we were given two 0.5L beers, two big pretzels, and dinner. It was amazing. And all for €3. If we had known about it sooner, we would have probably gone a few more times.
Rothenburg ob der Tauber
July 15, 2007
The next day we went over to Rothenburg ob der Tauber. It is an hour train ride from Nuremberg, and about 4 hours from Munich due to all the train changes you have to make. So, it was now or never for Rothenburg. It was incredibly hot that day. In two days it went from jeans and sweatshirt weather to shorts and tank tops. It was horrid and made eating hard. But Rothenburg was wonderful. It is an old medieval town in which the old city has not changed drastically since the mid 15th century. And it was not bombed during the war, so it is actually intact. Pretty rare around here.
Stephan told us that when we go, we have to try Schneeballens. They are a type of ball like butter cookie dessert made only in Rothenburg. (I think.) They were pretty good. For the rest of the afternoon we just walked around the city. There are a couple of pretty churches we looked at as well. There was a concert going on in the Frauenkirche by American High Schoolers. It was really pretty sounding, and interesting that it was Americans. Every week there was another group of American High Schools from different states singing in the city. St Jakobs Kirche was also wonderful. The altar and windows are incredible, and upstairs is another altar carved all out of wood with the image of the Last Supper. After St Jacobs, we just walked around more of the town. You can still walk on the city walls, which we of course did. It was a lot of fun, but there are some HUGE spiders hiding out in the overhangs. Big and hairy too. After that, it was time to get onto the train and head back to Munich. Unfortunately, the three hour train ride turned into almost 4 ½ due to our train being so SLOW. SO irritating.
The next day we went over to Rothenburg ob der Tauber. It is an hour train ride from Nuremberg, and about 4 hours from Munich due to all the train changes you have to make. So, it was now or never for Rothenburg. It was incredibly hot that day. In two days it went from jeans and sweatshirt weather to shorts and tank tops. It was horrid and made eating hard. But Rothenburg was wonderful. It is an old medieval town in which the old city has not changed drastically since the mid 15th century. And it was not bombed during the war, so it is actually intact. Pretty rare around here.
Stephan told us that when we go, we have to try Schneeballens. They are a type of ball like butter cookie dessert made only in Rothenburg. (I think.) They were pretty good. For the rest of the afternoon we just walked around the city. There are a couple of pretty churches we looked at as well. There was a concert going on in the Frauenkirche by American High Schoolers. It was really pretty sounding, and interesting that it was Americans. Every week there was another group of American High Schools from different states singing in the city. St Jakobs Kirche was also wonderful. The altar and windows are incredible, and upstairs is another altar carved all out of wood with the image of the Last Supper. After St Jacobs, we just walked around more of the town. You can still walk on the city walls, which we of course did. It was a lot of fun, but there are some HUGE spiders hiding out in the overhangs. Big and hairy too. After that, it was time to get onto the train and head back to Munich. Unfortunately, the three hour train ride turned into almost 4 ½ due to our train being so SLOW. SO irritating.
Nuremberg, Day 2
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July 14, 2007
Well, we were told when we agreed to stay with Hildegard that she works every weekend from 10am to midnight so we would have to day all to our selves. Which was great with us. We woke up early enough the next morning so that all three of us could get ready for the day. As soon as we were all ready to go, breakfast started. Now on the phone, she told us breakfast would be toast and some German meats. (Then again, dinner wasn’t supposed to be as big as it was either.) In reality breakfast was bread, about 20 different kinds of German meats, two different kinds of cheeses, some kind of ham salad, and the huge pieces of dessert from the night before that we didn’t get to. For a couple that usually only eats cereal for breakfast, it as overwhelming. After 10 minutes into breakfast Hildegard asked what was wrong with us and Mike tried explaining that we eat small breakfasts. This did not go over well. So we ate more, and more. By the time we were done I thought I was going to be sick again. If not sick, I certainly did not want to eat for another week. Then she made us 7 sandwiches to take with us for lunch. As neither of us were planning on eating until the next week, we were hoping on finding some homeless people to give our sandwiches to. Unfortunately, the old part of Nuremberg is too touristy and no homeless dwell there.
We finally left the house at 10am, took a driving tour around Nuremberg, and then were dropped off outside the Documentation Center that houses a lot of information on the Nazi Party and Nuremberg’s importance to it. We were given specific instructions to go explore the center and that she would pick us up outside of there is an hour and a half in her taxi. Then she would show us the rest of the grounds. We tried talking her out of it, but to no avail. We had hoped that we could so that we could go explore the grounds and skip the museum. Mike already knows most of the information provided given his area of study, and it was a beautiful day. Finally shorts weather again and we wanted to enjoy it. So, we sadly had to go to the museum. It was interesting, and Mike was able to get a few pictures for the class that he is teaching next semester.
We would have liked to explore more of the grounds, but unfortunately only got to drive by them. Mike was able to get out and take pictures though. Then we were taken on another driving tour of Nuremberg. As it was all in German, and Mike couldn’t translate – most of what we saw had no meaning until we left the car and Mike could explain what we saw. We were finally dropped off at 1pm in the old city. We had two hours before we were meeting old family friends. Mike’s Grandma babysat a woman way back when and now she has a son that is our age.
After being dropped off, we walked over to the St Lorenz Kirche. It was amazing inside, but sadly, you cannot take pictures inside without a special pass. The postcards were cheaper than buying the pass. The altar and stone work is definitely worth a look. Then it was off to the Trodelmarkt area. By now Mike “needed” a beer (it was technically vacation), so we forced ourselves to each eat a sandwich. Not that we were hungry AT ALL, but we knew that we would be if we drank a beer. So, we tried yet another Nuremberg beer. The Trodelmarkt area is very beautiful and was well worth the walk through. We even saw a gondola on our walk in this area. Right after I said that Nuremberg was the German equivalent of Venice. Weird. Then it was back to the old market to meet Stephan.
He took us back up to the castle and told us all about what we were looking at. We even got to hear a Nuremberg legend, which was spectacular. The castle was really pretty, but nothing like the Scotland castles, which was interesting. Then we went back to the Town Hall to see the crown jewels. They were really pretty and their story even more interesting. Then it was off to see Stephan’s parents at their house, which was about a 30 minute drive from Nuremberg. It was my first experience on the autobahn. Some parts do have speed restrictions, and we were on a few of those parts. We also went on a section with no speed restrictions. I am just glad that we were not in a really fast vehicle. I don’t think that I would have liked that, and even as is, it seemed like we were going fairly quickly. But we survived, and I can now say that I have been on it.
The Weih family has a beautiful house in a very small village outside of Hersbruck. Their yard is full of flowers, fruit, and veggies; it looks out over hills and forests and is very beautiful. They were very nice and took us to dinner at a small restaurant on a hill over looking Hersbruck. The food was very tasty – and was in normal person portions. It was the Hersbruck Sommerfest, so at about 10pm we were able to see a nice firework display. Mike was thrilled since we were not able to see them on his birthday. (The video was great though Becky!) Then it was off to a genuine German beer tent. Where they only sell liters of beer. Mike and I split one, and still had problems finishing it. The beer tent was a lot of fun though. There was a band, lots of people, and lots of waitress carrying around 6 or more liters of beer (and some of them were in their 60’s!). I can barely hold one – and most of the time need two hands to do it – let alone 6 or more! Amazing…
Well, we were told when we agreed to stay with Hildegard that she works every weekend from 10am to midnight so we would have to day all to our selves. Which was great with us. We woke up early enough the next morning so that all three of us could get ready for the day. As soon as we were all ready to go, breakfast started. Now on the phone, she told us breakfast would be toast and some German meats. (Then again, dinner wasn’t supposed to be as big as it was either.) In reality breakfast was bread, about 20 different kinds of German meats, two different kinds of cheeses, some kind of ham salad, and the huge pieces of dessert from the night before that we didn’t get to. For a couple that usually only eats cereal for breakfast, it as overwhelming. After 10 minutes into breakfast Hildegard asked what was wrong with us and Mike tried explaining that we eat small breakfasts. This did not go over well. So we ate more, and more. By the time we were done I thought I was going to be sick again. If not sick, I certainly did not want to eat for another week. Then she made us 7 sandwiches to take with us for lunch. As neither of us were planning on eating until the next week, we were hoping on finding some homeless people to give our sandwiches to. Unfortunately, the old part of Nuremberg is too touristy and no homeless dwell there.
We finally left the house at 10am, took a driving tour around Nuremberg, and then were dropped off outside the Documentation Center that houses a lot of information on the Nazi Party and Nuremberg’s importance to it. We were given specific instructions to go explore the center and that she would pick us up outside of there is an hour and a half in her taxi. Then she would show us the rest of the grounds. We tried talking her out of it, but to no avail. We had hoped that we could so that we could go explore the grounds and skip the museum. Mike already knows most of the information provided given his area of study, and it was a beautiful day. Finally shorts weather again and we wanted to enjoy it. So, we sadly had to go to the museum. It was interesting, and Mike was able to get a few pictures for the class that he is teaching next semester.
We would have liked to explore more of the grounds, but unfortunately only got to drive by them. Mike was able to get out and take pictures though. Then we were taken on another driving tour of Nuremberg. As it was all in German, and Mike couldn’t translate – most of what we saw had no meaning until we left the car and Mike could explain what we saw. We were finally dropped off at 1pm in the old city. We had two hours before we were meeting old family friends. Mike’s Grandma babysat a woman way back when and now she has a son that is our age.
After being dropped off, we walked over to the St Lorenz Kirche. It was amazing inside, but sadly, you cannot take pictures inside without a special pass. The postcards were cheaper than buying the pass. The altar and stone work is definitely worth a look. Then it was off to the Trodelmarkt area. By now Mike “needed” a beer (it was technically vacation), so we forced ourselves to each eat a sandwich. Not that we were hungry AT ALL, but we knew that we would be if we drank a beer. So, we tried yet another Nuremberg beer. The Trodelmarkt area is very beautiful and was well worth the walk through. We even saw a gondola on our walk in this area. Right after I said that Nuremberg was the German equivalent of Venice. Weird. Then it was back to the old market to meet Stephan.
He took us back up to the castle and told us all about what we were looking at. We even got to hear a Nuremberg legend, which was spectacular. The castle was really pretty, but nothing like the Scotland castles, which was interesting. Then we went back to the Town Hall to see the crown jewels. They were really pretty and their story even more interesting. Then it was off to see Stephan’s parents at their house, which was about a 30 minute drive from Nuremberg. It was my first experience on the autobahn. Some parts do have speed restrictions, and we were on a few of those parts. We also went on a section with no speed restrictions. I am just glad that we were not in a really fast vehicle. I don’t think that I would have liked that, and even as is, it seemed like we were going fairly quickly. But we survived, and I can now say that I have been on it.
The Weih family has a beautiful house in a very small village outside of Hersbruck. Their yard is full of flowers, fruit, and veggies; it looks out over hills and forests and is very beautiful. They were very nice and took us to dinner at a small restaurant on a hill over looking Hersbruck. The food was very tasty – and was in normal person portions. It was the Hersbruck Sommerfest, so at about 10pm we were able to see a nice firework display. Mike was thrilled since we were not able to see them on his birthday. (The video was great though Becky!) Then it was off to a genuine German beer tent. Where they only sell liters of beer. Mike and I split one, and still had problems finishing it. The beer tent was a lot of fun though. There was a band, lots of people, and lots of waitress carrying around 6 or more liters of beer (and some of them were in their 60’s!). I can barely hold one – and most of the time need two hands to do it – let alone 6 or more! Amazing…
Nuremberg, day 1
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July 13, 2007
We headed to Nuremberg on the first train that we could catch Friday morning. This is the city where both Mike’s Grandma and Mike’s Mom were born in, and where various family members still live. We were able to get into Nuremberg so that we had 5 hours to explore the city before we had to head to Mike’s second cousin’s house.
The old city is very beautiful and even has the old city walls. Nuremberg was heavily bombed during the last World War, so I am pretty sure that it has been all rebuilt, but it’s still pretty. The first thing that we went to was the Handwerkerhof. It is a small part of the old city that still retains the old timber houses which hold small shops. There are all sorts of hand made products there to look at along with a few traditional German restaurants. It was wonderful to poke around there for a bit.
We then started walking down towards the castle, which is on the other side of the old city from the Handwerkerhof. We passed by many beautiful churches, and the incredible old market with its gorgeous fountain before Mike realized that he was really hungry. We stopped at the Bratwursthaus for real Nuremberg Bratwursts. We had heard about the bratwursts for a while from family members, so we had to try them. There about the size of breakfast sausages, and they are tasty. And since we were having bratwurst we had to have a beer… the Nuremberg Tucker beer was quite nice. To round off our Nuremberg food experience, we went and both Lebkuckens for dessert. They are a particular type of cookie that Mike’s mom usually orders around Christmas time that are made in Nuremberg. They’re okay, but they have a ginger cookie taste (which I do not like) and an almost cake like consistency. Mike usually eats most of them. No different this time with them really fresh either. But its all part of the experience and we were able to buy them from the original store. Quite exciting.
Then it was to the Frauenkirche. The artwork over the doorway was amazing. The inside was very pretty (as was the outside) with gorgeous stained glass windows, sculptures, old frescos, etc. There were some interesting modern religious paintings hanging around the church that I wouldn’t normally associate with a church that old, but they seemed to fit in with the old stuff quite well.
After we had had our fill of cookies, and the Frauenkirche, we headed over to the castle. We got there and it was swarming with police. It seemed quite odd, but we weren’t being stopped from entering, so we pressed on. But when we went to go up into the main courtyard, where were lots of men in nice suits and more police. We decided just to turn around and head back tomorrow. Hopefully then we won’t be bared from entering.
We then just wandered around the castle end of the old city. The house were Albrecht Durer, the German painter, was born is over on this end of the city. Also on this side of town was… the Aldstadthof Hausbrauerei (Old City House Brewery). We decided that we definitely need another beer before we went to meet “the family” as we were pretty sure that this particular family member did not drink. So we got a pint to spilt of reminded us of the real ales from Scotland. It was spectacular. A must see for anyone that enjoys beer. They sold their beer really cheaply (and in large quantities), but as it was day 1 of a 3 day trip and we had to lug our stuff everyday, we passed it up.
And after a beer, there is no better place to go than church. Which is exactly what we did. Kirche St Sebaldus was spectacular. It is the oldest church of Nuremberg (has been re-built since World War II) and was amazing. There was a four person singing group rehearsing up at the altar and they were wonderful. We even got a short video of them singing. Its shaky, but at least they can be heard. If I knew how to upload videos, I would. But I have no clue. (Any help would be appreciated!) The rest of the church was quite beautiful, but it was all the more so with the wonderful music that was filling the church.
Next we stopped by the Rathhaus – the town hall. It is a fairly large town hall, that has been expanded many a time. We thought we were touring the actual town hall, but after our tickets were bought and we started looking at the signs a bit more closely, we found out that the main room of the town hall is only open once or twice a month. We were touring the dungeons. It was actually a really interesting tour. There was a deaf couple on the tour so the guide spoke very clearly and used her hands a lot to point to things and explain how things worked. It was great and I was able to pick up a lot of what was going on (it was all in German.) We were able to see jail cells, torture devices, how “questioning” worked, and even the jail keepers quarters. It was quite interesting.
By the end of the tour it was nearly 3:30pm and time for us to start heading over to Hildegard’s.
She is Mike’s second cousin and Mike’s Grandma’s God Daughter. She speaks very little English, but my German comprehension has gotten lots better, I just cannot speak it all that well.
We got to her apartment at about 4pm and were eating a huge meal by 4:15pm. Turkey breast – German style, bratwurst, German potato salad, AND tomato-cucumber salad. It was a ton of food and as we were sitting down to eat she told Mike that she doesn’t like it when people come over to eat and “eat like birds.” It’s a lot of work to cook all that food, and she finds it offensive when its not all gone. Great. I don’t normally eat huge meals, but I did my best. I think both Mike and I ate more than we do on Thanksgiving and Christmas combined all before 5:30pm. It was rough, but we did it and no one was offended.
Then more family came over. All German speakers. For the most part I was able to understand what was going on, but Hildegard is really into alternative medicine. Most of those conversations had to be translated later for me by Mike. She talks so fast and so much that there was no translating while the conversation was happening. Such is life though. I would have nothing to add to the conversation anyway. After a while of visiting with family, we had more food. This time satziki (sp?) sauce. (Its like the stuff that they put on Gyros.) This time I really though I would be sick. It was good, but I was definitely not ready to eat more. Thankfully, no more food was thrown our way… until breakfast the next morning.
We headed to Nuremberg on the first train that we could catch Friday morning. This is the city where both Mike’s Grandma and Mike’s Mom were born in, and where various family members still live. We were able to get into Nuremberg so that we had 5 hours to explore the city before we had to head to Mike’s second cousin’s house.
The old city is very beautiful and even has the old city walls. Nuremberg was heavily bombed during the last World War, so I am pretty sure that it has been all rebuilt, but it’s still pretty. The first thing that we went to was the Handwerkerhof. It is a small part of the old city that still retains the old timber houses which hold small shops. There are all sorts of hand made products there to look at along with a few traditional German restaurants. It was wonderful to poke around there for a bit.
We then started walking down towards the castle, which is on the other side of the old city from the Handwerkerhof. We passed by many beautiful churches, and the incredible old market with its gorgeous fountain before Mike realized that he was really hungry. We stopped at the Bratwursthaus for real Nuremberg Bratwursts. We had heard about the bratwursts for a while from family members, so we had to try them. There about the size of breakfast sausages, and they are tasty. And since we were having bratwurst we had to have a beer… the Nuremberg Tucker beer was quite nice. To round off our Nuremberg food experience, we went and both Lebkuckens for dessert. They are a particular type of cookie that Mike’s mom usually orders around Christmas time that are made in Nuremberg. They’re okay, but they have a ginger cookie taste (which I do not like) and an almost cake like consistency. Mike usually eats most of them. No different this time with them really fresh either. But its all part of the experience and we were able to buy them from the original store. Quite exciting.
Then it was to the Frauenkirche. The artwork over the doorway was amazing. The inside was very pretty (as was the outside) with gorgeous stained glass windows, sculptures, old frescos, etc. There were some interesting modern religious paintings hanging around the church that I wouldn’t normally associate with a church that old, but they seemed to fit in with the old stuff quite well.
After we had had our fill of cookies, and the Frauenkirche, we headed over to the castle. We got there and it was swarming with police. It seemed quite odd, but we weren’t being stopped from entering, so we pressed on. But when we went to go up into the main courtyard, where were lots of men in nice suits and more police. We decided just to turn around and head back tomorrow. Hopefully then we won’t be bared from entering.
We then just wandered around the castle end of the old city. The house were Albrecht Durer, the German painter, was born is over on this end of the city. Also on this side of town was… the Aldstadthof Hausbrauerei (Old City House Brewery). We decided that we definitely need another beer before we went to meet “the family” as we were pretty sure that this particular family member did not drink. So we got a pint to spilt of reminded us of the real ales from Scotland. It was spectacular. A must see for anyone that enjoys beer. They sold their beer really cheaply (and in large quantities), but as it was day 1 of a 3 day trip and we had to lug our stuff everyday, we passed it up.
And after a beer, there is no better place to go than church. Which is exactly what we did. Kirche St Sebaldus was spectacular. It is the oldest church of Nuremberg (has been re-built since World War II) and was amazing. There was a four person singing group rehearsing up at the altar and they were wonderful. We even got a short video of them singing. Its shaky, but at least they can be heard. If I knew how to upload videos, I would. But I have no clue. (Any help would be appreciated!) The rest of the church was quite beautiful, but it was all the more so with the wonderful music that was filling the church.
Next we stopped by the Rathhaus – the town hall. It is a fairly large town hall, that has been expanded many a time. We thought we were touring the actual town hall, but after our tickets were bought and we started looking at the signs a bit more closely, we found out that the main room of the town hall is only open once or twice a month. We were touring the dungeons. It was actually a really interesting tour. There was a deaf couple on the tour so the guide spoke very clearly and used her hands a lot to point to things and explain how things worked. It was great and I was able to pick up a lot of what was going on (it was all in German.) We were able to see jail cells, torture devices, how “questioning” worked, and even the jail keepers quarters. It was quite interesting.
By the end of the tour it was nearly 3:30pm and time for us to start heading over to Hildegard’s.
She is Mike’s second cousin and Mike’s Grandma’s God Daughter. She speaks very little English, but my German comprehension has gotten lots better, I just cannot speak it all that well.
We got to her apartment at about 4pm and were eating a huge meal by 4:15pm. Turkey breast – German style, bratwurst, German potato salad, AND tomato-cucumber salad. It was a ton of food and as we were sitting down to eat she told Mike that she doesn’t like it when people come over to eat and “eat like birds.” It’s a lot of work to cook all that food, and she finds it offensive when its not all gone. Great. I don’t normally eat huge meals, but I did my best. I think both Mike and I ate more than we do on Thanksgiving and Christmas combined all before 5:30pm. It was rough, but we did it and no one was offended.
Then more family came over. All German speakers. For the most part I was able to understand what was going on, but Hildegard is really into alternative medicine. Most of those conversations had to be translated later for me by Mike. She talks so fast and so much that there was no translating while the conversation was happening. Such is life though. I would have nothing to add to the conversation anyway. After a while of visiting with family, we had more food. This time satziki (sp?) sauce. (Its like the stuff that they put on Gyros.) This time I really though I would be sick. It was good, but I was definitely not ready to eat more. Thankfully, no more food was thrown our way… until breakfast the next morning.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Catching up
I have been slightly behind in posting, so I caught up today. Quite a bit a reading for my loyal readers! :)
Its still cold here and I am glad that we didn´t send all of our winter clothing home with our parents. We would be freezing!
We are heading to Nuremberg this weekend to see some family members and old family friends of Mike´s Grandma. The distant cousin speaks no English and the family friends are iffy. The son speaks fluent English and Mike spoke with the mom and she spoke very broken English. Should be interesting... But, its amazing what family guilt will make you do.
Its still cold here and I am glad that we didn´t send all of our winter clothing home with our parents. We would be freezing!
We are heading to Nuremberg this weekend to see some family members and old family friends of Mike´s Grandma. The distant cousin speaks no English and the family friends are iffy. The son speaks fluent English and Mike spoke with the mom and she spoke very broken English. Should be interesting... But, its amazing what family guilt will make you do.
Berchtesgaden & The Eagles Nest
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July 8, 2007
We went to Berchtesgaden this morning. The area is claimed to be some of the most beautiful in all of Europe and it also houses the Eagles Nest. It’s a house on top of a mountain that was given to Hitler as a birthday present. One of our family friends had gone there years ago and highly recommended it to us. Since it is in Bavaria, its cheap for us to get to and since there were mountains involved with it, Mike was all for it.
It’s a three hour train ride, so we had to get up really early so that we could get there in plenty of time. We had a hard time finding any information on the Eagles Nest. Anything to do with the World Wars is kept rather quite. World War I is more accepted and there are more memorials. There are a few World War II soldier memorials. Munich was one of the headquaters of the Nazi party and therefore heavily bombed. Some of the buildings are closed to public use now, some are still in use, but the past history is hidden. You can take special tours, but they are all in English. Even in museums little reference is made to World War II. The signs usually say that such and such did not survive. Or it was destroyed in 1944. The memorials that we have seen are modest. And any mention of World War II is frowned upon. So when we went into tourist information looking for information on Eagles Nest all we got was “go to Berchesgaden.” Mike finally found prices online on Friday so we could give the other two people going with us more information, but that was all we knew. The Eagles Nest was bombed during World War II and only escaped being totally destroyed after WWII by the intervention of the mayor (I think.)
So, we got up early, and crossed our fingers that we would be able to get to Eagles Nest somehow. Well, the finger crossing worked and it was easy to get to. It’s a HUGE tourist spot, so buses go up every 20 minutes. You take a public bus up to the parking lot where you buy the tickets. You can walk up to it, but the path is closed right now until the beginning of August due to trail maintenance. The buses from the parking lot to the Eagles Nest are specially made and drove up the steep mountain paths like it is nothing. Pretty amazing. The ride up was only slightly frightening as there are NO guide rails. But I suppose the rails would have to be pretty sturdy to stop a coach bus from going over the edge. But the views on the bus ride up are great. After they drop you off at the next parking lot, you can either walk up a path to the top or take the original elevator up to the top. They pack people into this elevator, but it was a quick ride up.
The Eagles Nest is now a restaurant and beer garden, but there are lots of paths all over the top with breath-taking views of the surrounding area. We were able to see Koningsee, the highest lake in Germany, and Salzburg. We were on the mountains that we had just seen last weekend, which was really neat. We spent a couple of hours walking around the top of the mountain. We of course HAD to have a beer on top of the mountain which Mike thought was amazing. Apparently there is nothing better than having a beer atop an Alpine mountain. I will admit it was a once in a lifetime event and was fun. This is one part of Bavaria that we would love to come back to. There are a lot of hikes, a National Park, small towns, lakes, etc to see in the area.
The trail from Obersalzburg to Berchtesgaden was open and everyone else thought it would be a good idea to walk back down. I wasn’t totally keen on it as apparently going up mountains also affects my sinuses. I swear ever since I hit 20 my allergies have been atrocious and now its sinuses as well. It sucks. Anyway, it was also supposed to rain. But everyone else wanted to go down, so I went. The walk down was very nice. We walked through a pretty forest and even stumbled upon some ruins. We have no idea what they are as it was not marked, but given its proximity to the Eagles Nest we assumed it had something to do with that. That and it was all reinforced concrete structures. Most people do not built huge cement structures on the side of a mountain and then leave them to ruin. It would be a lot of work for nothing. But as we were leaving the ruins, we looked through a break in the trees and saw a big rain storm in the distance. Great. But its not like we could run down the side of a steep mountain. A little bit later the sprinkling started, then the thunder started rumbling. Then it started pouring. Yeah… so the gortex wash I did on my coat (twice) did NOT work. I was soaked. At least it was relatively short lived. And the walk was nice. It just would have been nicer being dry.
Augsburg
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July 7, 2007
We got a group of people from the school Mike is going to and headed over to Augsburg today. It was only a 40 minute train ride from Munich and is one of the oldest towns in Germany. It was heavily bombed during World War II, but has been re-built. The buildings were very beautiful and it was easy to navigate and walk around. We started with the city fall. There was a festival being set up in front of it, and there was a Fair-Trade event going on in the city hall. It would have been interesting to walk through it, but since we were with 4 other people, we skipped it. No one else seemed all that interested in it. There is a gorgeous room that you can go through called the Golden Room. The ticket in was really cheap, and the room is amazing. Obviously, lots of gold and floor to ceiling paintings. Amazing. There is a smaller room off to one side that you can go into as well. The wood work in that room is incredible. There is beautiful wood paneling, ceiling, and desk.
Next we walked over to the Augsburg Cathedral. It is incredibly old, and has undergone many remodeling and additions. It also claims to have the oldest stain glass windows in the world dating from 1140. Pretty amazing. The doorway into the building is incredible. Lots of stunning stonework that you could look at for quite some time. There are many beautiful windows and altars in the cathedral. There is a hallway of crypts that is interesting as well.
There is a tower next to the City Hall called the Perlachturm that for a small fee you can climb. Its not too bad of a climb up. At least the hallway is not as narrow as some of the towers we have climbed. And there are nice views of the city from the top. There were a lot of bells right above our heads and it was nearing noon. No one was keen on finding out if the bells would actually ring at noon or not. I thought it might be fun, but I am sure that it would have been loud and I probably would not have been able to hear anything for at least the rest of the day.
We wandered through some more of the streets before we stopped for lunch. The donner in Germany is MUCH better than the donner that we tried in Scotland. Mike has become addicted to donner sandwiches and would probably eat them all the time if I let him. Donner is the Turkish equivalent to a Greek Gyro. They are quite tasty and quite cheap for lunches out. We found a great little restaurant on Maxmillianstrasse with great donner and we tried one of the local beers. The name translates as “rabbit beer” which we thought was funny. There are so many breweries in the town that a hops plant is part of their town crest. We weren’t even trying and found 6 different kinds of beers from Augsburg. Anyway… the food was great and the wonderful waitress gave us all Turkish tea to try at the end of our meal. It was slightly bitter, but tasty.
After lunch we visited the Church of St Ulrich and Afra. It was celebrating a birthday and there was quite the activity going on inside and outside the church. The church was really pretty, and the main altar amazing. There was a side chapel full of beautiful religious icons, and the other side chapels were gorgeous as well. Its amazing what people way back when would commission to save their souls. In the basement of the church are some tombs, and the tombs of St Ulrich and St Afra. St Ulrich’s tomb is quite ornate while St Afra’s is fairly plain. Hers is much older though.
We walked over to the Fuggerei after the church. It is Europe’s oldest social housing estate. It was much like New Lanark in Scotland. Designed for poorer families as a city within a city. It was not as large as New Lanark, but then again it didn’t house a factory for its inhabitants. It has lots of apartments with a church, school, shops, and small hospital. It is now a home for retired citizens and is still run by the family that built it back in the 1500’s. Pretty interesting. The rent is still amazingly cheap. Back when it started part of the rent was a three times daily prayer for the founding family, and I imagine that that is no longer in place. There was a bunker put in during World War II as this place was heavily bombed. It is now a very pretty memorial park. The complex was re-built and still retains much of its original details – including old hand pumps, bell ringers, and religious icon niches above doorways (it is a Catholic complex.) It was even the home of Wolfgang Mozart’s great-grandfather, Franz Mozart who worked on the building of the Fuggerei.
Schleissheim & Freising
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June 6, 2007
It was finally ok out, so we headed out of Munich to see some palaces and a little town we read was pretty. Since it looked like it might rain, but hadn’t started yet by the time we got to Schleissheim, we stopped there first. It was actually sunny too! Cold, but at least sunny. The park houses three different palaces. The Old Palace, New Palace (built to resemble Versailles Palace), and a smaller palace called Palace Lusteim. Palace Lusteim was actually built as a hunting lodge to celebrate Elector Max Emanuel’s wedding. Must be nice. But the weather held out and the palaces were beautiful and so were the grounds. You can go into the palaces, but they mainly hold museums now. The Old Palace is a museum of folk art, the New Palace is a museum of the Bavarian State, and the Palace Lusteim is a museum of porcelain. Kinda funny since it started as a manly hunting lodge.
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After Schleissheim, we headed over to Freising, which apparently is the Rose town. :) The town was really lovely. Lots of old buildings, and many of the shops had bears outside them decorated in clothing that represented the shop. The baker had a bear dressed as a baker, etc. It was really cute. We had originally gone to see a beautiful church, but couldn’t find it. We got to tourist information and found out that Freising also houses the oldest brewery in the world, Weihenstephan. The church was forgotten and we headed to the brewery. It was atop a hill on the edges of the town. (Thank goodness it was a small town.) Unfortunately, we had missed the last tour of the brewery by a good few hours, but the since it was not raining, the beer garden was open. It was slightly chilly, but the views of the valley below and the city were wonderful. And the beer was great. There was a double dark beer there that Mike claims is the best in the world. It tastes like caramel and is really, really good. If anyone ever encounters the Weihenstephan Korbinian beer, try it. I am hoping that we will be able to get it somewhere back in Michigan, but we’re not keeping our fingers crossed. Its dirt cheap here, but I am sure that it would be expensive back home.
It was finally ok out, so we headed out of Munich to see some palaces and a little town we read was pretty. Since it looked like it might rain, but hadn’t started yet by the time we got to Schleissheim, we stopped there first. It was actually sunny too! Cold, but at least sunny. The park houses three different palaces. The Old Palace, New Palace (built to resemble Versailles Palace), and a smaller palace called Palace Lusteim. Palace Lusteim was actually built as a hunting lodge to celebrate Elector Max Emanuel’s wedding. Must be nice. But the weather held out and the palaces were beautiful and so were the grounds. You can go into the palaces, but they mainly hold museums now. The Old Palace is a museum of folk art, the New Palace is a museum of the Bavarian State, and the Palace Lusteim is a museum of porcelain. Kinda funny since it started as a manly hunting lodge.
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After Schleissheim, we headed over to Freising, which apparently is the Rose town. :) The town was really lovely. Lots of old buildings, and many of the shops had bears outside them decorated in clothing that represented the shop. The baker had a bear dressed as a baker, etc. It was really cute. We had originally gone to see a beautiful church, but couldn’t find it. We got to tourist information and found out that Freising also houses the oldest brewery in the world, Weihenstephan. The church was forgotten and we headed to the brewery. It was atop a hill on the edges of the town. (Thank goodness it was a small town.) Unfortunately, we had missed the last tour of the brewery by a good few hours, but the since it was not raining, the beer garden was open. It was slightly chilly, but the views of the valley below and the city were wonderful. And the beer was great. There was a double dark beer there that Mike claims is the best in the world. It tastes like caramel and is really, really good. If anyone ever encounters the Weihenstephan Korbinian beer, try it. I am hoping that we will be able to get it somewhere back in Michigan, but we’re not keeping our fingers crossed. Its dirt cheap here, but I am sure that it would be expensive back home.
Salzburg, Austria & Chiemsee, Germany
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July 1, 2007
We started the morning as early as we could. Breakfast was not served until 8:30am, and since it was really inexpensive for what you got – and it was a Sunday morning (many places are closed on a Sunday here) – we were going to eat there this morning. I kind of woke up at about 6am and Mike was already awake. I rolled over and went back to sleep. He didn’t get up until near 7am though. I’m hoping that once we more back, we can sleep in sometime… But we were more than ready for breakfast when they finally opened the doors, and even had our day planned before we ate. After a wonderful breakfast, we headed over to Kapuzinerberg. It’s a small mountain on the edge of Salzburg that we thought would not only have some nice views, but it would be nice to take a hike through the woods and get away from all the people. (Not that there were many out at 9am on a Sunday.) But at least since it was early, it wasn’t hot yet.
There are quite a few paths to choose from that wind through the woods on the mountain. We meandered our way over to the Franziskischlossl. The view points on the way there were great. On the way up the mountain we walked on the side with views of the newer part of the city (I think it’s the south side.) When we got to the Franziskischlossl we could clearly see the surrounding mountains again, which was great. We walked down the other side of the mountain which had great views of the older part of the city and the castle with huge mountains behind it all. The views were spectacular and it was definitely our favorite part of the walk.
We wandered through some of the streets of the old part of town next. We decided to go pack to St Peter’s to explore the catacombs. It was only 1 euro each to go in, and it was worth it. Instead of the catacombs that we went to outside of Rome, these were built into the side of the mountain. You can only see a couple of the chapels and its all self guided, but it is interesting. And the views of the church and cemetery from the catacombs is really pretty. There was no wedding in the church today, so we poked our heads in for a minute. We didn’t stay too long since it was a Sunday and we were in jeans and t-shirts. It was a really, really beautiful church. There were paintings all over the walls that were amazing, the altar was gorgeous, as was everything else.
After that, we walked through some of the theater district, and then wandered down Getreidegasse. It’s a narrow lane filled with shops with very fancy signs. Mike and I were joking about McDonald’s being there with a fancy sign and what should we find half way down the street… and McDonald’s with a very fancy metal sign like all the others. McDonald’s is everywhere! There was an outdoor craft like market that we poked through. Aunt Sue – we even saw those wine bottle plates you were talking about!
On our way back to the train station we walked through the Mirabellgarten, which is yet another film location of “The Sound of Music.” The gardens are very pretty, but were filled with people, so we didn’t linger too long.
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Since we still had quite a bit of the day left, we decided to stop at Chiemsee as it was on the way back to Munich. The main train drops you off at Prien and you can walk 15 minutes into Stock on Chiemsee or take an old steam train. Since we just missed it and would have to wait 40 minutes for the next train, we walked into Stock. There is not much to see in the city, especially on a Sunday when nearly everything is closed, but it was a nice, easy walk. We stayed for about 3 hours, and it was well worth it. The lake is beautiful and is surrounded by mountains. You can swim in the lake, rent boats, walk, and take a ferry out to an island with a palace. We just walked a bit around the lake, took some pictures, etc. The boat rentals were rather pricey and there was a line.
Salzburg, Austria
June 30, 2007
Over this weekend we traveled to the home of Mozart and the film location of “The Sound of Music.” Salzburg is only about a 2 ½ hour train ride from Munich and the ride was wonderful. We were able to see a lot of really pretty countryside, and, of course, mountains. We left right away in the morning on Saturday so that we could have the whole day to see Salzburg.
As we were walking towards the castle, we saw a guy playing a guitar. Not all that amazing, normally. But Mike claims that it was the same guitar player that he had seen playing about 10 years ago. In the same place. Weird. According to Mike he is one of the most amazing guitar players known to man. Apparently we own a CD of the guy’s… I’ll have to check it out when we get home and find the CDs. :)
The castle sits atop a small mountain and towers over the city. It was a steep walk up, but the views of the city were spectacular. (You can also take an elevator up the hill… but it was a nice day and we aren’t lame yet!) We had a wonderful picnic lunch on one of the terraces of the castle with views of the valley and the Alps, then headed off to explore the castle. It was MUCH more intact than the castles we left behind in Scotland! Its broken up into two different sections. The first is an audio guided tour that you have to do in a group of 40 other people and are herded through the rooms. But the groups leave every 15-20 minutes, so its not too bad. And the end of the tour is a climb up into one of the towers which has great views of the city and the surrounding area. The second part is all self guided. I think that audio guides are available, but I find them rather annoying. Half the time what they are telling you is written on a sign somewhere in the room plus they tell you lots of inane facts that barely anyone remembers. There is a really pretty church to see, plus ruins of a Romanesque church. The ruins were really interesting. Part of the original structure was there, and even some of the old fresco paintings. There were also a few museums to go through. There was a lot of information on Romanesque churches in the building that housed the ruins, plus there was a military museum, an artifacts museum, a museum on the castle, and even a section for torture devices – which included big metal masks. One of the most interesting parts of this section of the castle was the state rooms. There are three rooms that are incredibly ornately decorated. They are amazing – and even more impressive than the décor is the fact that they have survived quite a long time.
After the castle, we explored more of the Fortress District – which included the nunnery from “The Sound of Music.” I cannot tell you how excited Mike was to see this and all the other film locations that we saw. But luckily, he loves me, so he smiled and went along with me – and never once complained. :) Unfortunately, the Nonnburg Priory is not open to the public. Even the church was closed as they were getting ready for the Saturday evening service. I suppose that it makes sense that the priory was closed, but it would have been really neat to see more than just the outer courtyard! This part of the city was quite pretty. Lots of small lanes and winding streets with NO tourists. I know that we are in this group, its just nice to be free from them. We saw a few more churches and tried to get out to Schloss Hellbrunn where the trick fountain scene of “The Sound of Music” was filmed, along with a few other scenes. But it was quite the hike out there, and we had other things to see in the city. It didn’t seem worth the trek out there to see a fountain and a pond. I’ll watch the movie when I get home.
Next we headed over to the Cathedral District and decided to explore … the cathedral. :) It is absolutely huge, and incredibly beautiful. The stone work is amazing, and all over the walls. There are incredible paintings all over, about 5 different beautiful organs, and more. The artwork inside of the cathedral is breath-taking and well worth a visit. (They do ask for a donation, but it can be free.) The cathedral has been re-built twice, once in 1628 due to a fire, and the last time was due to a bomb in 1944. The church didn’t re-open again until 1959. Another reason for paint-ball gun/bomb warfare.
Right next to the cathedral is St Peter’s Abbey. There was a wedding – or some big event – going on in the church, so we didn’t go in, but the courtyard was wonderful. Lots of old, beautiful tombs, AND it was yet another film location for “The Sound of Music.” We stopped at another pretty church, and walked past Mozart’s birthplace as we walked back to our hostel. Across the river we stopped at a church courtyard that was very lovely. St Sebastian’s cemetery houses lots of old tombs and gravestones, along with a monument to Paracelsus’ (no idea who he/she is), the Wolf Dietrich mausoleum (again… no idea), and the Mozart family tomb. We thought that it would included Wolfgang himself, but it doesn’t. I’m pretty sure that it was his parents, and other such relatives and it was really pretty. The cemetery is full of huge trees, flowers, and lovely vines – it feels more like a park than a cemetery.
Our hostel was incredibly easy to find. We stayed at the YoHo Youth Hostel and it was really great. It was one of the nicest hostels we have stayed in yet. They had a restaurant and bar in the building – with really cheap beer prices for happy hour too. The beds were nice, bathrooms clean, and staff friendly. The only hitch was that the building vibrated. I have no idea why or how, but it did. We ended the night with a great Italian meal at Restaurante Corallo. It was run be actual Italians, and to make it even better, Italians also ate there. Then you know the food is authentic! Even if it wasn’t, the pasta was incredible – better than some of the food we had in Rome!
Over this weekend we traveled to the home of Mozart and the film location of “The Sound of Music.” Salzburg is only about a 2 ½ hour train ride from Munich and the ride was wonderful. We were able to see a lot of really pretty countryside, and, of course, mountains. We left right away in the morning on Saturday so that we could have the whole day to see Salzburg.
As we were walking towards the castle, we saw a guy playing a guitar. Not all that amazing, normally. But Mike claims that it was the same guitar player that he had seen playing about 10 years ago. In the same place. Weird. According to Mike he is one of the most amazing guitar players known to man. Apparently we own a CD of the guy’s… I’ll have to check it out when we get home and find the CDs. :)
The castle sits atop a small mountain and towers over the city. It was a steep walk up, but the views of the city were spectacular. (You can also take an elevator up the hill… but it was a nice day and we aren’t lame yet!) We had a wonderful picnic lunch on one of the terraces of the castle with views of the valley and the Alps, then headed off to explore the castle. It was MUCH more intact than the castles we left behind in Scotland! Its broken up into two different sections. The first is an audio guided tour that you have to do in a group of 40 other people and are herded through the rooms. But the groups leave every 15-20 minutes, so its not too bad. And the end of the tour is a climb up into one of the towers which has great views of the city and the surrounding area. The second part is all self guided. I think that audio guides are available, but I find them rather annoying. Half the time what they are telling you is written on a sign somewhere in the room plus they tell you lots of inane facts that barely anyone remembers. There is a really pretty church to see, plus ruins of a Romanesque church. The ruins were really interesting. Part of the original structure was there, and even some of the old fresco paintings. There were also a few museums to go through. There was a lot of information on Romanesque churches in the building that housed the ruins, plus there was a military museum, an artifacts museum, a museum on the castle, and even a section for torture devices – which included big metal masks. One of the most interesting parts of this section of the castle was the state rooms. There are three rooms that are incredibly ornately decorated. They are amazing – and even more impressive than the décor is the fact that they have survived quite a long time.
After the castle, we explored more of the Fortress District – which included the nunnery from “The Sound of Music.” I cannot tell you how excited Mike was to see this and all the other film locations that we saw. But luckily, he loves me, so he smiled and went along with me – and never once complained. :) Unfortunately, the Nonnburg Priory is not open to the public. Even the church was closed as they were getting ready for the Saturday evening service. I suppose that it makes sense that the priory was closed, but it would have been really neat to see more than just the outer courtyard! This part of the city was quite pretty. Lots of small lanes and winding streets with NO tourists. I know that we are in this group, its just nice to be free from them. We saw a few more churches and tried to get out to Schloss Hellbrunn where the trick fountain scene of “The Sound of Music” was filmed, along with a few other scenes. But it was quite the hike out there, and we had other things to see in the city. It didn’t seem worth the trek out there to see a fountain and a pond. I’ll watch the movie when I get home.
Next we headed over to the Cathedral District and decided to explore … the cathedral. :) It is absolutely huge, and incredibly beautiful. The stone work is amazing, and all over the walls. There are incredible paintings all over, about 5 different beautiful organs, and more. The artwork inside of the cathedral is breath-taking and well worth a visit. (They do ask for a donation, but it can be free.) The cathedral has been re-built twice, once in 1628 due to a fire, and the last time was due to a bomb in 1944. The church didn’t re-open again until 1959. Another reason for paint-ball gun/bomb warfare.
Right next to the cathedral is St Peter’s Abbey. There was a wedding – or some big event – going on in the church, so we didn’t go in, but the courtyard was wonderful. Lots of old, beautiful tombs, AND it was yet another film location for “The Sound of Music.” We stopped at another pretty church, and walked past Mozart’s birthplace as we walked back to our hostel. Across the river we stopped at a church courtyard that was very lovely. St Sebastian’s cemetery houses lots of old tombs and gravestones, along with a monument to Paracelsus’ (no idea who he/she is), the Wolf Dietrich mausoleum (again… no idea), and the Mozart family tomb. We thought that it would included Wolfgang himself, but it doesn’t. I’m pretty sure that it was his parents, and other such relatives and it was really pretty. The cemetery is full of huge trees, flowers, and lovely vines – it feels more like a park than a cemetery.
Our hostel was incredibly easy to find. We stayed at the YoHo Youth Hostel and it was really great. It was one of the nicest hostels we have stayed in yet. They had a restaurant and bar in the building – with really cheap beer prices for happy hour too. The beds were nice, bathrooms clean, and staff friendly. The only hitch was that the building vibrated. I have no idea why or how, but it did. We ended the night with a great Italian meal at Restaurante Corallo. It was run be actual Italians, and to make it even better, Italians also ate there. Then you know the food is authentic! Even if it wasn’t, the pasta was incredible – better than some of the food we had in Rome!
Thursday, July 05, 2007
So cold
OK... it´s July 5th and I am wearing thick jeans, a long sleeve shirt, hiking boots, and a WINTER jacket. Even Mike is wearing a fleece vest today since its so freaking cold.
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
Schloss Nymphenburg
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June 28th, 2007
It was another crappy day, so we headed to yet another palace of the Wittelsbach Family. We had heard that this one was not worth the visit nor the money, but we decided to see for ourselves. It was only 1 euro cheaper than the Residenz and SOOO much worse! The rooms were in great disrepair and were in great need of a paint job. There is a Gallery of Beauties, that is incredible. It was housed in the Residenz, but after the WWII damage, it was sent here. There are about 36 portraits of beautiful women from a shoemaker’s daughter to a princess. These paintings are wonderful and probably the main reason that the entrance is almost that of the Residenz. The rest of it was okay, the palace looks huge, but you cannot go through much of it. Just one floor in the main building. At least with the Residenz the rooms are incredible and you can spend about 3-4 hours perusing the rooms. Not so with Schloss Nymphenburg. And on top of it all, there were renovations being carried out (so rooms were closed). Whatever was going on was killing me. My allergies flared up and I could barely breath. Not so good.
Lindau & the Bodensee
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June 24th, 2007
This Sunday we went with a few friends from Mike’s language class to the Bodensee (Lake Constance). It’s a large lake on the southern border of Germany. Not only is there the border of the German states of Bavaria (where we are living) and Baden-Wurttemberg, but its also the border of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.
We took the train to the Bavarian town of Lindau. Its out on a little island in the Bodensee and was beautiful. It’s a very beautiful picturesque town and it was wonderful to wander the streets. The old town hall and the city museum have incredible paintings all over them. There was an interesting tower with a replica of Rapunzel’s braid hanging out of it, lots of beautiful fountains, and the churches and other buildings were amazing.
After exploring most of the city, we headed out on a boat tour of the lake. We decided to go on the “three land” tour. This way we were able to go not only through another German state, but also Switzerland and Austria. It was a very pretty boat trip and they told you quite a bit about the lake, and the cities on it. It was just all in German. My German is definitely better than it was when we started and I can understand quite a bit, but its not THAT good. So… I had no idea what was going on, but I figured I can always read it online later. The only downside to the tour was that it didn’t actually stop in any of the other countries, you just went through the waters. Big bummer, but at least I can say I went to Austria and Switzerland too!
This Sunday we went with a few friends from Mike’s language class to the Bodensee (Lake Constance). It’s a large lake on the southern border of Germany. Not only is there the border of the German states of Bavaria (where we are living) and Baden-Wurttemberg, but its also the border of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.
We took the train to the Bavarian town of Lindau. Its out on a little island in the Bodensee and was beautiful. It’s a very beautiful picturesque town and it was wonderful to wander the streets. The old town hall and the city museum have incredible paintings all over them. There was an interesting tower with a replica of Rapunzel’s braid hanging out of it, lots of beautiful fountains, and the churches and other buildings were amazing.
After exploring most of the city, we headed out on a boat tour of the lake. We decided to go on the “three land” tour. This way we were able to go not only through another German state, but also Switzerland and Austria. It was a very pretty boat trip and they told you quite a bit about the lake, and the cities on it. It was just all in German. My German is definitely better than it was when we started and I can understand quite a bit, but its not THAT good. So… I had no idea what was going on, but I figured I can always read it online later. The only downside to the tour was that it didn’t actually stop in any of the other countries, you just went through the waters. Big bummer, but at least I can say I went to Austria and Switzerland too!
Residenz, Munich
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June 22nd, 2007
Since it was raining quite a bit outside and we had heard great things about the Residenz, we went there on there. The rooms were amazing. The Munich Residenz was at one time one of the many houses of the Wittelsbach Family. They were the first Royal Family of Bavaria and have amazing houses. (We are defining “Royal” here as King and Queen.) Neuschwanstein is one of them and there is even one out on an island that is built to resemble Versailles. The palaces are beautiful inside and out.
This one was unfortunately highly damaged during World War II. Given the fact that Munich was a major center for the Nazi Party, most of the city was destroyed and has been rebuilt to as much of its original splendor as possible. It’s a big point in favor of war with paint guns. You get hit and you go home. Last man standing wins. No casualties, no destruction. If we could only keep people from cheating the world would be a better place…
Many of the rooms have been re-done. You get a (free) audio guide and with this are told exactly what pieces of furniture, art, etc. are originals. The rest have, obviously, been re-done. After we went through all the beautiful rooms, we went through the part of the castle that was not re-done. It costs quite a bit of money to re-construct all the rooms, so with some of the old Queen’s rooms, there are massive wall sized pictures of what they used to look like. All the walls and ceilings are white and in the exact shape of what it was pre-war. With all the fireplaces, shelves, etc. where they once where. Then any furniture that survived was placed where it once sat. It was really quite interesting.
The treasury is also open to the public and is well worth the visit. It is full of amazing pieces of jewelry, cases, relics, etc. that was part of the Wittelsbach Family. The highlight was a statue of St George that is incredibly be-jeweled and a huge case with etched glass, jewels, and beautiful metal work.
Since it was raining quite a bit outside and we had heard great things about the Residenz, we went there on there. The rooms were amazing. The Munich Residenz was at one time one of the many houses of the Wittelsbach Family. They were the first Royal Family of Bavaria and have amazing houses. (We are defining “Royal” here as King and Queen.) Neuschwanstein is one of them and there is even one out on an island that is built to resemble Versailles. The palaces are beautiful inside and out.
This one was unfortunately highly damaged during World War II. Given the fact that Munich was a major center for the Nazi Party, most of the city was destroyed and has been rebuilt to as much of its original splendor as possible. It’s a big point in favor of war with paint guns. You get hit and you go home. Last man standing wins. No casualties, no destruction. If we could only keep people from cheating the world would be a better place…
Many of the rooms have been re-done. You get a (free) audio guide and with this are told exactly what pieces of furniture, art, etc. are originals. The rest have, obviously, been re-done. After we went through all the beautiful rooms, we went through the part of the castle that was not re-done. It costs quite a bit of money to re-construct all the rooms, so with some of the old Queen’s rooms, there are massive wall sized pictures of what they used to look like. All the walls and ceilings are white and in the exact shape of what it was pre-war. With all the fireplaces, shelves, etc. where they once where. Then any furniture that survived was placed where it once sat. It was really quite interesting.
The treasury is also open to the public and is well worth the visit. It is full of amazing pieces of jewelry, cases, relics, etc. that was part of the Wittelsbach Family. The highlight was a statue of St George that is incredibly be-jeweled and a huge case with etched glass, jewels, and beautiful metal work.
Monday, July 02, 2007
Sendlinger Tor Area
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On the 20th of June we headed over to Sendlinger Tor after Mike got out of class. The tor is a gate into the city, which was really pretty. The main reason for heading out this was to see the amazing Asamkirche (church). The outside of the church is incredibly beautiful, but the inside is even better. Lots of artwork and incredible sculptures are all over the walls. The rest of the area that we wanted to wander through was under heavy construction, which was a bummer. Maybe later on in the month…
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Tollwood Festival
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On the 19th of June we headed back to the Tollwood Festival with some people from Mike’s Langauge School. We stopped for a beer at one of the many beer tents there and actually got to see Flamenco Dancers. How cool!
A Festival Day
On June 17th we celebrated out first anniversary. It seems amazing that it has already been one year. It was a beautiful clear day, so we headed into Munich for lunch at Hofbrauhaus before going to Olympia park. While we were in the city we stumbled upon yet another festival. This one was for the city’s 450th birthday. There were all sorts of booths set up with people selling all sorts of stuff. In one section there were booths set up for Medieval Craftsman. There were leather workers, house builders, glass makers, etc. that all had to work as they would in Medieval times. It was really interesting to watch, but incredibly crowded! After we could not deal with all the pushy people anymore, we headed to Olympia park.
Like I said, the day was incredibly clear, so we headed up into the turm (space needle like thing there.) It was so clear that we could clearly see the Alps surrounding the city. And the views of the city were spectacular. There are three levels to walk around, the first is indoors and much of what you are able to see is labeled on the windows, which is great. There is also a museum of Rock and Roll in the Olympiaturm, which is quite interesting. They have all sorts of memorabilia set out. It not very big, but what they do have is interesting.
After we were done looking out over Munich, we headed over to the Tollwood Festival that is right in Olympia park. It’s a large music festival that spans over about 3 weeks. There are, again, lots of different vendors selling a plethora of stuff, temporary bars, all sorts of ethnic food, etc. It was fun to walk around, but after the first festival, we had about enough of crowds. And given that it was a nice, hot, sunny day here in Munich (which doesn’t happen all that often), it seemed like most of Munich was out enjoying it! On the way back out of the park, we stopped by the big pond and saw MASSIVE carps. Honestly, I think a few of them might have been nearly as tall as me. I know I’m not that tall, but still. That’s a big fish!
Like I said, the day was incredibly clear, so we headed up into the turm (space needle like thing there.) It was so clear that we could clearly see the Alps surrounding the city. And the views of the city were spectacular. There are three levels to walk around, the first is indoors and much of what you are able to see is labeled on the windows, which is great. There is also a museum of Rock and Roll in the Olympiaturm, which is quite interesting. They have all sorts of memorabilia set out. It not very big, but what they do have is interesting.
After we were done looking out over Munich, we headed over to the Tollwood Festival that is right in Olympia park. It’s a large music festival that spans over about 3 weeks. There are, again, lots of different vendors selling a plethora of stuff, temporary bars, all sorts of ethnic food, etc. It was fun to walk around, but after the first festival, we had about enough of crowds. And given that it was a nice, hot, sunny day here in Munich (which doesn’t happen all that often), it seemed like most of Munich was out enjoying it! On the way back out of the park, we stopped by the big pond and saw MASSIVE carps. Honestly, I think a few of them might have been nearly as tall as me. I know I’m not that tall, but still. That’s a big fish!
Theresienwiese
On June 16th we headed over to the park used for Oktoberfest. We neglected to read the description of it BEFORE we went there. We got there, looked out over the park and couldn’t believe we wasted our time. Apparently when its not being used for Oktoberfest it’s a barren wasteland. Boxes of grass are separated by cement walkways and that’s it. Thankfully there was an interesting monument off to one side of the “park.” It is dedicated to Bavaria. There is a huge statue of Lady Bavaria and in the building behind her are busts of famous Bavarians. I had no idea who any of them where, expect a couple of the kings, but it was still really interesting..jpg)
Dachau
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On June 15th we went to the Dachau Concentration Camp. It was incredibly informative, fairly intact, and very depressing. Surprisingly, everything was in English. Even the Survivor’s audio accounts of their experiences. Most museums, memorials, information, etc. is all in German, so this really surprised me. Even the movie about Dachau was shown primarily in English. Not surprisingly, the place was very depressing. There are memorials from many religious organizations, and of course memorials dedicated to the unknown victim. Dachau was not technically an execution camp, but a work camp. Many still died..jpg)
On June 23rd we returned to Dachau to see the palace. It was much more uplifting. Most of the palace has not survived, I have no idea if it was bombed during World War II or was just neglected. All that is now left is a banquet hall people can rent out. But the gardens are still intact and are wonderful. Full of beautiful flowers and the views of Munich are great.
Saturday, June 23, 2007
We´re coming home...
Well, the tickets are bought and we will be arriving back into Chicago at 2pm Illinois time on the 1st of August. That´s after a LONG flight and an overnight stay in the Dublin airport. We plan on taking the next couple of days back in good old Michigan getting adjusted back to the time zone. :)
This is the "official" announcement for the party though. Their will be a barbecue at Mom and Dad Fues´s house on Saturday the 4th of August. I am told that hot dogs and hamburgers will be provided. Please BYOB and a dish to pass. Food will be served at about 5:30pm.
If you need anymore information (address and such) please email Mike or I! Hope to see you all there!!
This is the "official" announcement for the party though. Their will be a barbecue at Mom and Dad Fues´s house on Saturday the 4th of August. I am told that hot dogs and hamburgers will be provided. Please BYOB and a dish to pass. Food will be served at about 5:30pm.
If you need anymore information (address and such) please email Mike or I! Hope to see you all there!!
Friday, June 22, 2007
Venice
June 13 - 14, 2007
Lisa really wanted to go to Venice while she was here in Europe. Sadly, Mike could not go with us because he had class, but he had already been to Venice in High School. So, Lisa and I took the night train into Venice while Mike stayed in Munich. The train left Munich at about midnight and then got into Venice at about 7:30am. It was wonderful. Not many places were open, but we found a café selling great pastries that we ate while watching the city wake up. The island of Venice is not all that large, and we bought a map, so we decided to wander through the streets while making our way to Piazza San Marco. Its so much harder than it sounds. Venice has wonderful narrow winding streets that you could get lost in for days. At times the streets stop at a wall, canal, or building and you have to backtrack and find a different street, and because the streets are not straight, its incredibly easy to walk in the wrong direction. Thank goodness for the street index on the map!
We finally made our way across the Grand Canal near the Accademia. We had heard all about this building in Art History 101 at GVSU and still remembered the name 7 years after the class, so we really wanted to see it. It was under construction… So there was scaffolding and big advertisements all over it. But at least the views of the city from the bridge over the canal were great.
It only took us 3 ½ hours to get to Piazza San Marco, but we got there! The Piazza is huge and filled with people, even at 11:00am. It’s a huge tourist thing to buy pigeon food and feed the birds. Well, the stupid people actually feed the things out of their hands so that the pigeons climb all over them. They even let them land on their heads! And parents think this is great. Photo opportunity of the century to them. All I could think off is all the diseases those little rats with wings probably carried and how they have to poop sometime with all that food. I hope that they scrub their children with bleach after playing with those vile birds. The line to get into the basilica was pretty long, so we decided to come back during lunch time since the lines are usually shorter while everyone is eating.
In the meantime we wandered more streets. Its interesting to see a big city like that without cars and how they get on without them. Everything is done by boat: the trash pick-up, laundry pick-up/drop off, some market stalls were done by boat, travel, etc. The canals are, of course, pretty gross. The water color is fairly unnatural and things are floating in it all over. We did see kayakers, but again I think a good scrubbing with bleach afterwards would have to be in order. I think living in Venice during the hot summer months would have been pure torture as a child. You can definitely not swim in the canals nor do I think you can in the surrounding ocean.
We checked out taking a gondola ride, but for a forty minute ride, it was going to be 80 euro (about $100). Given that Mike and I have no real income this summer, I didn’t think that this would be a wise spending of our money. But I doubt I would have said “ok” if we did have income. That’s a really expensive 40 minutes when I could just walk the streets and see the same thing.
We moseyed through more streets and did lots of window shopping as we made our way back to San Marco. By the time we got back to the basilica, the line was much shorter and moving much faster. All the ladies in short skirts/shorts and sleeveless tops were holding us up greatly. You would think that more guidebooks would tell you that in Italy you HAVE to dress appropriately to get into churches. Maybe they do and no one pays attention…
The inside of the basilica is incredibly beautiful. There are amazing mosaics all over the walls, and even the floors are beautiful. You cannot take pictures inside, which is understandable, but is still a bummer. It would be nice not to have to buy expensive postcards, but such is life. We went into the treasury, which neither of us knew what to expect. I had not been into any of them yet, but it was interesting. Along with some beautiful old objects - such as bible covers, goblets, candelabras, etc. – there are bones of various Saints. None of them were labeled, so I have no idea what ones are what, but it was slightly creepy to see all the bones of long dead Saints.
Our hotel for the night was on the mainland. So we made our way back to the other side of the island and to our hotel. Instead of coming back into the city center that night, we were recommended a pizzeria in the area. Not only was it much cheaper than the island, but it was frequented by actual Italians, not tourists. Nice to know the food is authentic enough to be eaten by people that live there! And the pizza was very, very tasty.
The next day we headed back to Venice and went straight to the small island of Murano, which is known for their glass making. When we got there, we were able to see the glass being made and the process was explained to us. It was really interesting, and really HOT in that room. I cannot imagine working there, but those guys were incredibly talented. The island was really pretty to walk around in and window shop. There were lots of shops selling the glass works, but they were really expensive, and those that weren’t… I would be afraid would break on the way back to Michigan.
After Murano, we headed over to Burano. Its an even smaller island known for their beautiful lace work. It took us even less time to window shop through the town center, but the lace work was very beautiful. The rest of the town was great as well. The houses were brightly painted and the flowers were gorgeous. By the time we were done pursuing the islands, it was almost 3pm and it sounded like a huge thunderstorm was coming in. We wanted to get back to the main island of Venice before it fully rolled in. Thankfully, we just got the cool winds from the storm and saw the lightening and thunder. It threatened on and off all day, but passed us every time! We walked through more streets, watched people in Piazza San Marco – and there are a lot of them to watch! – and then headed to dinner. We ate at a wonderful little restaurant right off Piazza San Marco. Service is a lot more hands off there, so we were easily able to have a long Italian meal, which was great as we needed to kill time before our train headed out at 11pm.
Venice is incredibly pretty – the streets are beautiful, the canals interesting, and the food amazing – but it was nice to be going back to Munich. It was my first vacation without Mike since I met him. I did not like vacationing without him, even for a couple of days.
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
The Englischer Garden
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June 5, 2007
After Mike got out of class today, we headed over to the Englischer Garden to have lunch. We had heard rumor of this park being frequented by naked sun bathers. When we poked through the park on the Sunday before there were no naked people, apparently we just were not in the correct part of the park. As Mike and I were walking up to a pretty waterfall… I caught view of a naked man. Not so bad from far away; you cannot see anything. But we did stop and watch the guy wander through that part of the park for a few minutes. I think I would begin to feel self-conscious as I walked next to clothed people with babies, but hey, that’s just me. I have no idea if there were more naked people, we didn’t explore.
After a beer in the beer garden in Hofgarten, we did explore more of the markets. All along Kaufingerstrasse in the pedestrian area, there are fruit and vegetable stands. Its great! I love getting all the fresh fruit. After wandering through those, we went over to the main open air food market, Virktualienmarkt. There are meat vendors (in buildings), fruit and vegetable vendors, people selling spices, crafts goods, flowers, souvenirs, etc. Its wonderful. Not only is the fresh food wonderful, but it also helps my German vocabulary. Before we came here I new very little… just what I remember from the 6 weeks I learned German in 8th grade. It was a while ago.
After Mike got out of class today, we headed over to the Englischer Garden to have lunch. We had heard rumor of this park being frequented by naked sun bathers. When we poked through the park on the Sunday before there were no naked people, apparently we just were not in the correct part of the park. As Mike and I were walking up to a pretty waterfall… I caught view of a naked man. Not so bad from far away; you cannot see anything. But we did stop and watch the guy wander through that part of the park for a few minutes. I think I would begin to feel self-conscious as I walked next to clothed people with babies, but hey, that’s just me. I have no idea if there were more naked people, we didn’t explore.
After a beer in the beer garden in Hofgarten, we did explore more of the markets. All along Kaufingerstrasse in the pedestrian area, there are fruit and vegetable stands. Its great! I love getting all the fresh fruit. After wandering through those, we went over to the main open air food market, Virktualienmarkt. There are meat vendors (in buildings), fruit and vegetable vendors, people selling spices, crafts goods, flowers, souvenirs, etc. Its wonderful. Not only is the fresh food wonderful, but it also helps my German vocabulary. Before we came here I new very little… just what I remember from the 6 weeks I learned German in 8th grade. It was a while ago.
Hofbraühaüs
June 6, 2007
After seeing a pretty church (Michaelskiche) we headed over to the Hofbraühaüs for a beer. Not a massive one like the last time. A normal person sized beer. Anyway… this band was playing while we were there. I cannot remember the technical name for this band type, but it was neat to see!
After seeing a pretty church (Michaelskiche) we headed over to the Hofbraühaüs for a beer. Not a massive one like the last time. A normal person sized beer. Anyway… this band was playing while we were there. I cannot remember the technical name for this band type, but it was neat to see!
Hofbraühaüs and the other numerous Beer Gardens of Germany
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June 4, 2007
Well, needless to say, Mike and I enjoy beer. I loved the real ale beers of Scotland and Mike kept promising me I would love German beer just as well. Today I tried something called a Radler. They take the light beer and mix it with lemonade. I know it doesn’t sound tasty, but I was assured it was. It was okay, but they put too much lemonade in it. Maybe next time??
The restaurants here only sell beer from one brewer, which is interesting. The brewers only make a light (pilsner), a dark (dunkles) and a wheat beer (wiese). There are a few variations in some of the restaurants and breweries, but not many. Either way, Scotland beer is way better. Germany may be better known for their beer, but Scotland much more superior in the beer making process. According to Mike, I just need to give it time and try more…
Well, needless to say, Mike and I enjoy beer. I loved the real ale beers of Scotland and Mike kept promising me I would love German beer just as well. Today I tried something called a Radler. They take the light beer and mix it with lemonade. I know it doesn’t sound tasty, but I was assured it was. It was okay, but they put too much lemonade in it. Maybe next time??
The restaurants here only sell beer from one brewer, which is interesting. The brewers only make a light (pilsner), a dark (dunkles) and a wheat beer (wiese). There are a few variations in some of the restaurants and breweries, but not many. Either way, Scotland beer is way better. Germany may be better known for their beer, but Scotland much more superior in the beer making process. According to Mike, I just need to give it time and try more…
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Lisa Arrives
June 7, 2007
One of our friends came out to see us, all the way from Vancouver, Washington. Her flight plan over was incredibly long, so we expected her to be exhausted by the time she got here. Not so. We took her to a couple of beer gardens though, and out for German food. What better way to start a German vacation than with beer? J Actually, it was a public holiday, so everything was closed down except restaurants and museums. A beer garden seemed like the better option.
We went out to dinner at a place called Weissebraühaüs. First, pork is very popular here. Not many other meats are sold in the stores, and if it is, its expensive, and the restaurants are much the same. Its torture for anyone like me who hates pork (except salami and pepperoni – but the turkey versions are just as nice.) Pork is not something I have ever liked and unlike asparagus, I have never grown to like it. It might not be a very fatty meat, but I think its vile. So at dinner, I had one of the few non-pork meals, German style mac n’ cheese. And it was wonderful. Pork knuckles, livers, diaphragm, etc just did not appeal to me at all. I may starve here… At least there are lots of fruits and veggies, and there is always good old pasta.
One of our friends came out to see us, all the way from Vancouver, Washington. Her flight plan over was incredibly long, so we expected her to be exhausted by the time she got here. Not so. We took her to a couple of beer gardens though, and out for German food. What better way to start a German vacation than with beer? J Actually, it was a public holiday, so everything was closed down except restaurants and museums. A beer garden seemed like the better option.
We went out to dinner at a place called Weissebraühaüs. First, pork is very popular here. Not many other meats are sold in the stores, and if it is, its expensive, and the restaurants are much the same. Its torture for anyone like me who hates pork (except salami and pepperoni – but the turkey versions are just as nice.) Pork is not something I have ever liked and unlike asparagus, I have never grown to like it. It might not be a very fatty meat, but I think its vile. So at dinner, I had one of the few non-pork meals, German style mac n’ cheese. And it was wonderful. Pork knuckles, livers, diaphragm, etc just did not appeal to me at all. I may starve here… At least there are lots of fruits and veggies, and there is always good old pasta.
Peterskirche and the Virktualienmarkt
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June 8, 2007
After Mike got out of class today, we headed to the Virktualienmarkt for lunch. You can get lachs sandwiches there. Mike’s mom and dad make them every year for Christmas, and we wanted to try the real German version. It’s a sandwich with smoked salmon and onions. I am not going to lie, the texture is very odd for me and I can never really eat a whole one. They are REALLY good, but the fish has the texture of sashimi. But after poking around the market again and buying dinner, we went over to Peterskirche. (A kirche is German for church.) The church is very beautiful and ornate. You can climb up the towers to see the city from above. It was a very tight climb up, which was slightly stressful at times since the walkway is meant for two-way traffic. But we got to the top, and the view was wonderful. The town hall in Munich is absolutely beautiful. It has a massive glockenspiel that is at about eye level from the top of the towers. We couldn’t see the Alps because it was too hazy, but it was great to see the city. There are lots of other towers in Munich to climb and we have a lot of days left to climb them!
After Mike got out of class today, we headed to the Virktualienmarkt for lunch. You can get lachs sandwiches there. Mike’s mom and dad make them every year for Christmas, and we wanted to try the real German version. It’s a sandwich with smoked salmon and onions. I am not going to lie, the texture is very odd for me and I can never really eat a whole one. They are REALLY good, but the fish has the texture of sashimi. But after poking around the market again and buying dinner, we went over to Peterskirche. (A kirche is German for church.) The church is very beautiful and ornate. You can climb up the towers to see the city from above. It was a very tight climb up, which was slightly stressful at times since the walkway is meant for two-way traffic. But we got to the top, and the view was wonderful. The town hall in Munich is absolutely beautiful. It has a massive glockenspiel that is at about eye level from the top of the towers. We couldn’t see the Alps because it was too hazy, but it was great to see the city. There are lots of other towers in Munich to climb and we have a lot of days left to climb them!
Neuschwanstein
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June 9, 2007
Through the language program Mike is attending, we were able to get a great deal on going to Neuschwanstein, the palace that Disney used when designing their signature castle. It is a two hour train ride from Munich and it set in the Alps. The area is incredibly beautiful AND we got to visit the town of Füssen. SO cool for me. Sadly, by the time we were done with the palace and all the hiking, most of the town was closed up, but I did find a little charm in place of a hat pin (which can be very expensive here – bracelet charms are usually much cheaper.)
The castle has a one mile steep path up to it, and the views are wonderful. There is another palace in the area that you are able to look down upon, and the Alps are a stones throw away. The palace exterior was fully completed, but the interior is 65% incomplete. King Ludwig the II went crazy and was killed before it was complete. Some of the jewels are paste because of it. But what was complete was incredible. And the views from the windows are amazing. You cannot take pictures inside the castle, but you can take them out the windows, which is odd. Most times they ban picture taking all together for time.
They heard you like sheep through the palace though. You cannot wander at your own pace, which is irritating, but they have tons of people visiting everyday. We got there are 11:30am to buy tickets, and our tour was at 1:30pm. And tours are given every few minutes in a multitude of languages. The tours are so close, that the next tour is filling into the room as we were leaving. That’s time management for you!
Through the language program Mike is attending, we were able to get a great deal on going to Neuschwanstein, the palace that Disney used when designing their signature castle. It is a two hour train ride from Munich and it set in the Alps. The area is incredibly beautiful AND we got to visit the town of Füssen. SO cool for me. Sadly, by the time we were done with the palace and all the hiking, most of the town was closed up, but I did find a little charm in place of a hat pin (which can be very expensive here – bracelet charms are usually much cheaper.)
The castle has a one mile steep path up to it, and the views are wonderful. There is another palace in the area that you are able to look down upon, and the Alps are a stones throw away. The palace exterior was fully completed, but the interior is 65% incomplete. King Ludwig the II went crazy and was killed before it was complete. Some of the jewels are paste because of it. But what was complete was incredible. And the views from the windows are amazing. You cannot take pictures inside the castle, but you can take them out the windows, which is odd. Most times they ban picture taking all together for time.
They heard you like sheep through the palace though. You cannot wander at your own pace, which is irritating, but they have tons of people visiting everyday. We got there are 11:30am to buy tickets, and our tour was at 1:30pm. And tours are given every few minutes in a multitude of languages. The tours are so close, that the next tour is filling into the room as we were leaving. That’s time management for you!
Munich Street Festival 2007
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June 10, 2007
One of the guys in Mike’s class told us about a street festival in Munich, so we thought we would check it out. There was a lot of stuff going on, so we’re glad we went. The highlight was an event call Parcouring. There was a course set up with a path all outlined. All the runners had to follow the path and were timed and marked down for any steps off the line. Those guys were incredibly fast! Granted it was the World Championships, so they had to be good to get there, but still, it was amazing. They had to run up stairs, climb all over stuff, roll, run over balance beams, jump and climb walls, and even climb through a police van. It was really fun to watch.
There were also lots of food booths, beer booths, and eco-awareness booths. Lisa has a degree in environmental studies and works for a conservation program in Oregon, so she was quite interested in all the booths (not that we weren’t as well.) We had French crepes to sustain us for our wandering, and then explored the booths. There was tons of information on various topics. Green Peace was there in all their craziness. They had a girl dressed in a thick rubber like tree outfit, complete with hairy legs, collecting money. My first thought was: I highly doubt that costume is eco-friendly. We stayed away from the Green Peace booth though, so I didn’t ask. They might have beat me if I did. We did give organic beer another try. We had tried some in Scotland, and usually they are not tasty. This one actually was. Pretty impressive. Mike was excited to finally drink a beer while walking through the streets. The drinking laws here are all sorts of crazy. On my morning walks through the city, I see people drinking by 10:30am (and that’s with most of the beer gone), you can drink while walking through the streets, on the subway, really where ever you like. And while everything might be closed on a Sunday and a religious holiday, not the beer gardens. In fact, in most of them you cannot even get ½ liter beers on those days, only whole liters. Beer is very important here.
After the drinking in public thrill, we headed over to the Englischer Garten. The park is huge with all sorts of popular spots. We went to the Chinese Turm, where there is another beer garten (I swear they are every 500 feet!). There was a band playing up in the turm, which was really nice. They played quite the array of music too. This beer garten is right next to the naked part of the park. Even more naked people today… even naked male soccer! I can see sun bathing, many people don’t want the tan lines, but naked sports? That’s odd. In the park there is a museum called Haus der Kunst, which is an art museum that was built by a Nazi architect which has housed art since 1937. It started with propaganda art and then opened a display mocking modern art. Rather ironic as it now houses famous modern artists. I have no idea what any of it means, but supposedly the artists are quite famous. We decided to go because (1) its free on a Sunday, and (2) the history of the building was interesting. Alas, there was nothing regarding its start, but, needless to say, that period of time is still touchy over here. The first exhibit was a huge replica of The Last Supper all made out of Styrofoam. Then there was homemade movie clips and video images all over the room. I have no idea what it was supposed to be telling me at all.
The next exhibit was one on ‘Gilbert & George.’ They are apparently two modern artists from London, who I believe are a couple. Some of the work was interesting, but others were disturbing. I saw more of the male genitalia in that exhibit than I ever wanted to see. And people were bringing children there. One of there goals was to make modern art easier to understand by the general public, but I still didn’t get it.
One of the guys in Mike’s class told us about a street festival in Munich, so we thought we would check it out. There was a lot of stuff going on, so we’re glad we went. The highlight was an event call Parcouring. There was a course set up with a path all outlined. All the runners had to follow the path and were timed and marked down for any steps off the line. Those guys were incredibly fast! Granted it was the World Championships, so they had to be good to get there, but still, it was amazing. They had to run up stairs, climb all over stuff, roll, run over balance beams, jump and climb walls, and even climb through a police van. It was really fun to watch.
There were also lots of food booths, beer booths, and eco-awareness booths. Lisa has a degree in environmental studies and works for a conservation program in Oregon, so she was quite interested in all the booths (not that we weren’t as well.) We had French crepes to sustain us for our wandering, and then explored the booths. There was tons of information on various topics. Green Peace was there in all their craziness. They had a girl dressed in a thick rubber like tree outfit, complete with hairy legs, collecting money. My first thought was: I highly doubt that costume is eco-friendly. We stayed away from the Green Peace booth though, so I didn’t ask. They might have beat me if I did. We did give organic beer another try. We had tried some in Scotland, and usually they are not tasty. This one actually was. Pretty impressive. Mike was excited to finally drink a beer while walking through the streets. The drinking laws here are all sorts of crazy. On my morning walks through the city, I see people drinking by 10:30am (and that’s with most of the beer gone), you can drink while walking through the streets, on the subway, really where ever you like. And while everything might be closed on a Sunday and a religious holiday, not the beer gardens. In fact, in most of them you cannot even get ½ liter beers on those days, only whole liters. Beer is very important here.
After the drinking in public thrill, we headed over to the Englischer Garten. The park is huge with all sorts of popular spots. We went to the Chinese Turm, where there is another beer garten (I swear they are every 500 feet!). There was a band playing up in the turm, which was really nice. They played quite the array of music too. This beer garten is right next to the naked part of the park. Even more naked people today… even naked male soccer! I can see sun bathing, many people don’t want the tan lines, but naked sports? That’s odd. In the park there is a museum called Haus der Kunst, which is an art museum that was built by a Nazi architect which has housed art since 1937. It started with propaganda art and then opened a display mocking modern art. Rather ironic as it now houses famous modern artists. I have no idea what any of it means, but supposedly the artists are quite famous. We decided to go because (1) its free on a Sunday, and (2) the history of the building was interesting. Alas, there was nothing regarding its start, but, needless to say, that period of time is still touchy over here. The first exhibit was a huge replica of The Last Supper all made out of Styrofoam. Then there was homemade movie clips and video images all over the room. I have no idea what it was supposed to be telling me at all.
The next exhibit was one on ‘Gilbert & George.’ They are apparently two modern artists from London, who I believe are a couple. Some of the work was interesting, but others were disturbing. I saw more of the male genitalia in that exhibit than I ever wanted to see. And people were bringing children there. One of there goals was to make modern art easier to understand by the general public, but I still didn’t get it.
Ammersee and Andechs
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June 11, 2007
While Mike was in class, Lisa and I headed over to Ammersee. It is a big lake southwest of Munich. There are ferries you can take to other villages, swimming, and hiking. We couldn’t figure out the ferry schedule because there were all these random options that made no sense, so we decided to just walk along the lake. To walk/bike around the whole thing is about 30km, which was way more that we wanted to do, but a little bit was great. It rained a bit while we were walking – and we had of course forgotten rain coats – but other than that it was a great hike. We were able to see the mountains off in the distance and the rain pouring down on them. The path stops when you hit the wetlands though. And we had no desire to walk along small roads, so we headed back to the town of Herrsching to met Mike and head over to the town of Andechs.
Andechs is a little town known for its church and beer hall. The Braüstüberl (beer hall name) is located within the same complex as the church, which is a little odd. But the beer has been brewed by the monks here for ages. Maybe that makes it okay. Either way, the beer was pretty decent. The light and dark beers were both great, but the wheat beer tasted a lot like cloves. Cloves are not bad when in the proper recipe, but it was an interesting taste in beer. Definitely not my favorite at all.
Andechs is a little town known for its church and beer hall. The Braüstüberl (beer hall name) is located within the same complex as the church, which is a little odd. But the beer has been brewed by the monks here for ages. Maybe that makes it okay. Either way, the beer was pretty decent. The light and dark beers were both great, but the wheat beer tasted a lot like cloves. Cloves are not bad when in the proper recipe, but it was an interesting taste in beer. Definitely not my favorite at all.
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
Munich
After a delayed plane, and a lost cabbie, we finally got to what we thought would be our apartment for the next two months. Come to find out is more like a home stay. With lots of rules about where things go, and a family that you never see. The never seeing the famly thing does not bother us at all, its all the rules about where things go. And we share a bathroom and kitchen area with the lady of the house´s business. Which means everything must be clean and in its place all the time... such as life, an apartment would have been nice, but its a lot better than the last place we left. No mold and mildew everywhere! Its quite a ways outside of the city center and takes us about an hour to get in every morning, but thats okay. We were able to get transportation cards for the month for both of us, so have been putting them to use!
The city here is beautiful and the weather is wonderful compared to the gray skies and continual rain of Scotland, but I miss English. I have never before even visited a country in which I was not able to speak to people. Even in Italy, I knew what was going on as it is very similar to Spanish. Not here. Some words are similar to English, but its still rough. I am catching on to a few words though... mainly foods and 'please can I have a beer' ... the important words. :)
The city here is beautiful and the weather is wonderful compared to the gray skies and continual rain of Scotland, but I miss English. I have never before even visited a country in which I was not able to speak to people. Even in Italy, I knew what was going on as it is very similar to Spanish. Not here. Some words are similar to English, but its still rough. I am catching on to a few words though... mainly foods and 'please can I have a beer' ... the important words. :)
Friday, June 01, 2007
Good-bye Scotland
Tomorrow we fly to Munich. We leave at around noon our time and will get into Munich airport at about 4:15pm their time. (We will then be 6 hours behind Michigan time.) Our new landlord is also a cabbie, so thankfully he will be meeting us at the airport. We of course have to pay, but its better than taking a train, then a subway, then a bus, then walking the rest of the way to our apartment with 3 big bags and two carry-ons.
We have been busy this week trying to cram more of sight-seeing in Scotland, packing, changing addresses, and all the rest of the odds and ends that comes with moving. We are now exhausted. After 8 months, you forget how tiring moving can be. Especially between countries. And on top of it all, since we are flying within Europe we only get one bag each. Lovely. Thank goodness mom, dad, and Mike's mom all brought suitcases home for us or we would be screwed. We still had to leave a few things behind, and pay for another bag. At least we didn't have to leave a ton behind AND the airline deems to have unrestricted carry on bag weight. We are using that to its fullest. :)
We have no idea what our situation in Germany will be. We don't know if we will be able to get Internet access in our apartment, if we will have phone access, etc. In other words, the posting may be even more erratic than before. But the good news is... we have plane tickets home!! :) Mike bought them last night so we now have a definite date we are returning to Chicago. So... we will see you all after August 1st. Our plane gets in at Dublin at 10:15pm and then doesn't leave again until 11:00am the next day. By the time we land in Chicago at 2pm on the 1st, I am sure that we will be more than exhausted... but at least we will be home again after our 10 month stint over here. It has been fun, but home is starting to sound awful nice. SO, we'll hopefully see you all in a couple of months!
We have been busy this week trying to cram more of sight-seeing in Scotland, packing, changing addresses, and all the rest of the odds and ends that comes with moving. We are now exhausted. After 8 months, you forget how tiring moving can be. Especially between countries. And on top of it all, since we are flying within Europe we only get one bag each. Lovely. Thank goodness mom, dad, and Mike's mom all brought suitcases home for us or we would be screwed. We still had to leave a few things behind, and pay for another bag. At least we didn't have to leave a ton behind AND the airline deems to have unrestricted carry on bag weight. We are using that to its fullest. :)
We have no idea what our situation in Germany will be. We don't know if we will be able to get Internet access in our apartment, if we will have phone access, etc. In other words, the posting may be even more erratic than before. But the good news is... we have plane tickets home!! :) Mike bought them last night so we now have a definite date we are returning to Chicago. So... we will see you all after August 1st. Our plane gets in at Dublin at 10:15pm and then doesn't leave again until 11:00am the next day. By the time we land in Chicago at 2pm on the 1st, I am sure that we will be more than exhausted... but at least we will be home again after our 10 month stint over here. It has been fun, but home is starting to sound awful nice. SO, we'll hopefully see you all in a couple of months!
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Scottish field trips?!?
Today while wandering through Edinburgh, we decided to stop into The Whisky Experience store. You can also take tours here and even ride in a barrel. Its of course quite pricey and we have not been through on the tour, but the store is interesting.
We got there and there were TWO separate groups of school children going through the store. Now the store does have some cookies and candy, but not much. Its really just lots of different whiskies.
I can never remember EVER going on a field trip like that in school.
We got there and there were TWO separate groups of school children going through the store. Now the store does have some cookies and candy, but not much. Its really just lots of different whiskies.
I can never remember EVER going on a field trip like that in school.
Mike's Mom visit
I have, yet again, been slightly behind in reporting all our adventures. Mike's mom was here for about 7 days and left last Friday morning. It was great to see her after all these months. Here are some highlights of her trip....jpg)
She flew in on Friday the 18th, since I was working, Mike took her out to see some of the city. George Square is really close to our apartment and is spectacular. Especially in the Spring time with all the flowers and activity warmer weather brings. Mike took her on the tour of the City Chambers, which is amazing. The exterior of this building is amazing, but then you walk inside and see all the mosaics, marble staircases, woodwork, etc. Nice to know my council tax payments are helping to maintain such a lavish building... Either way, the goal of tiring her out succeeded. We found it helps with jet lag and becoming accustomed to the time difference. That and as it was my last day of work, all my work friends were having a night out for me and another girl who was leaving as well. We had pints to consume! Didn't really matter to Lee... especially since Mike tired her out so much that she was falling asleep eating dinner. :)
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On Saturday we were going to go see the Scottish Piping Competitions down in Dumbarton (a suburb of Glasgow) but it was raining horizontally, so we ditched those plans for indoor endeavors. We went over to the West End to see Glasgow University and the Kelvingrove Art Museum. We stopped at a popular restaurant for lunch called the Ubiquitous Chip in Ashton Lane (a small street filled with restaurants and bars). It was alright, but not my favorite Scottish restaurant by far. Then on to Glasgow University for a quick walk through the wonderful courtyard. It still reminds me of Hogwarts from Harry Potter.
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She flew in on Friday the 18th, since I was working, Mike took her out to see some of the city. George Square is really close to our apartment and is spectacular. Especially in the Spring time with all the flowers and activity warmer weather brings. Mike took her on the tour of the City Chambers, which is amazing. The exterior of this building is amazing, but then you walk inside and see all the mosaics, marble staircases, woodwork, etc. Nice to know my council tax payments are helping to maintain such a lavish building... Either way, the goal of tiring her out succeeded. We found it helps with jet lag and becoming accustomed to the time difference. That and as it was my last day of work, all my work friends were having a night out for me and another girl who was leaving as well. We had pints to consume! Didn't really matter to Lee... especially since Mike tired her out so much that she was falling asleep eating dinner. :).jpg)
On Saturday we were going to go see the Scottish Piping Competitions down in Dumbarton (a suburb of Glasgow) but it was raining horizontally, so we ditched those plans for indoor endeavors. We went over to the West End to see Glasgow University and the Kelvingrove Art Museum. We stopped at a popular restaurant for lunch called the Ubiquitous Chip in Ashton Lane (a small street filled with restaurants and bars). It was alright, but not my favorite Scottish restaurant by far. Then on to Glasgow University for a quick walk through the wonderful courtyard. It still reminds me of Hogwarts from Harry Potter. At Kelvingrove right now they are doing an informative series on the Highlands life and culture. So on Saturday we were able to hear a harpist and a singer. It was really lovely and reminded me of all the different musicians from the Celtic Connections earlier in the year. The Kelvingrove has always been one of my favorite places in Glasgow. The art is in a beautiful old building and there always seems to be something new to see. It was slightly sad walking through the rooms knowing it was the last time I would see it in quite some time...
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Sunday Lee tried her hand at driving a manual transmition on the opposite side of the road. Mike and I had been wanting to visit the Isle of Arran, which is supposed to be a miniature of Scotland, for quite some time now. Since Lee was only going to be here for a short while, and wanted to see standing stones, we decided to check it out with her. Unfortunately the only automatic cars that they had was a 2 seater Smart car. Not very big at all and no way 3 people could fit. But Lee was up to the challenge, so we went. It was a beautiful day out and the island is lovely. The stones above are in Machrie Moor. There are quite a few of them there, but we only saw these and another stone circle near the start of the walk. We were also able to stop in the distillery while we were there. We couldn't take a tour as it was too late and we needed to get the car back and make the ferry. We did try the Isle of Arran whisky at a wonderful pub called 'The Pot Still.' Even I liked it. It was nice a sweet, not peaty like the isle whiskies. Lee bought a sampler pack for Joe (Mike's dad), so hopefully he will like them.
We rented a car so we could tour around for a few days, unfortunately the car that was supposed to show up at 10am didn't arrive until noon. Car company's response: our bad. Thankfully we had a small car tour we could do for the day, so as soon as the car came we jumped in and headed for the Borders. We were able to see three different abbeys - Melrose, Jedburgh, and Dryburgh- , and one - Kelso- on the outside as it had closed. The three abbeys that we did see were wonderful. All in ruins, of course, but for being as old as they were, they had fared pretty well. We also stopped off at a couple of wonderful view points of the borders. One Mike and I climbed up a big hill in the middle of a sheep pasture. The view was great, but the sheep were vile. We were walking along, and started hearing a clinking noise... Yup, it was poop that had dried in the sheep's wool and made butt rattles. So gross.
On the way home, we got slightly turned around and hit the English Border. Opps... but at least Lee got to have her picture taken at the border!
On Tuesday we headed up to the Highlands. Most tourists cannot pass up a trip to Loch Ness when they visit Scotland. Lee was no different. The drive up to Loch Ness is not that far, but its long. There are not that many major highways in Scotland, and certainly none where we were going in the Highlands. The roads wound A LOT through valleys, next to lochs, and were very narrow. It makes for slow going. But there are beautiful stops along the way to Loch Ness. The lochs and mountains along the way are absolutely beautiful, and at one of these viewpoints we even saw a reindeer! How cool is that? I got pictures to show all my younger cousins, neighbors, etc. Really, just to anyone who will look. :) The picture above is from Glen Coe, one of my favorite stops along the way to Loch Ness. Its the sight of a horrid massacre and always feels sad and creepy. And the weather there has always been crap every time we go through it. Odd.
Unfortunately, we did not see Nessie this time at Urquhart Castle. The water was too choppy. You had to use even more imagination powers than last time we were up there. I thought I saw her a couple of times, but I was the only one. Then it was back down to Glasgow. We were able to drive through the Cairngorm National Park for a bit on the way back down to Glasgow, which was wonderful. We had not seen that part of Scotland yet, so it was nice to see something new. We tried to hit the Edradour Distillery in Pitlochery, but it was closed by the time we got there. My parent's neighbor, Jill, had recommended it to us from her travels in Scotland, but we'll just have to settle for trying the whisky. It was a slight disappointment, but it gives us something to do for next time! The town was very charming though and we walked down to the salmon fish ladder (no fish jumping though - but lots of fishermen) and had dinner down by the river in a wonderful little place.
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Wednesday was another Borders day. We had to drive quite a bit to get down to where we wanted to be, but it was worth it. Lee reads a lot of romance novels, and apparently Gretna Green is in quite a few of them. It was a big place to elope so that family members could not stop the weddings. So Blacksmiths married runaway couples way back when in Gretna Green. We started looking at routes there, and when she found out Gretna Green would be so close, we had to make a trip over. It was interesting... nothing Mike and I would have chosen on our own, but it was definitely educational!
Then it was on to see 6 different castles - Lochmaben, Caerlaverock, Threave (pictured above), MacLellan, Cardoness, and Carsluith. It was a lot, but they were all close to each other so once we got down there, it was easy to see them all. And each one was very different from the rest. Lochmaben was incredibly ruined, but very pretty. We had to drive down a very small dirt track to get there, but its on a loch and has wonderful views. Threave was out on an island in a river and we had to take a boat out to it! It was a lot of fun. Caerlaverock was wonderful. The stonework was still very visible, as was the river harbor, and its situation was lovely.
After all those castles, we stopped at a very OLD burial tomb called Cairn Holy with standing stones outside of it. Lee had not been able to touch the stones in Machrie Moor on Arran, so she really wanted to see some more so that she could touch them. Our only other option for the day was a couple of standing stones out in a field. And it had been raining all week, and Lee's shoes leaked slightly. We were really glad that we found those stones! It meant for a much more comfortable ride home for her! The stones were wonderful and so was the burial tomb.
Her last full day here was spent packing and then talking a tour bus around Glasgow. Mike and I had seen most of what was on the tour, but it was a great way for Lee to see Glasgow, and it allowed us a last look at quite a bit of the city that has been home for the last 8 months. It was sad to see it and have to say goodbye to places that I have seen nearly everyday for months and months. I love this city and have loved living here. Like I said before, if it wasn't for the large amount of family members that I have left behind, I would have no problems living here permanently. But, I have missed you all greatly and cannot wait to see everyone again. Web cams are nice, but not the same.
After the city tour, we went out for one final meal at Cafe Source, which has become our favorite Scottish restaurant. The food there is spectacular and the Orkney Fudge Cheesecake is to DIE FOR. Really. Its that good. And the employees incredibly friendly, the building beautiful AND the prices reasonable. I will miss that place greatly as well as the rest of Glasgow.
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