March 26, 2008
Random notes: food
Our apartment had a small cook-top and refridgerator, and the bakery was only a short walk. We ate more bread than we usually do: the rolls, pretzels and croissants were fresh and great tasting and we had them everyday for breakfast. Several nights we cooked pasta or wurst. Because the end of the day for us was pretty variable, between traveling and visiting, we really liked the flexibility to eat later.
The home-cooked meals we had with relatives were wonderful. Even food-court eating was good -- although Katie sometimes had just a couple of vegitarian options -- Sean liked schnitzel sandwiches. For me, the jury is still out on the curry-wurst. I brought back some sauce mix to try at home.
Based on a quick look, bottled beer and bottled water cost about the same in the store, so we avoided buying water.
The kids both liked the mix of cola and limo (citrus-flavored soda) (name: TBD). They didn't seem to mind the lack of ice in drinks. Both also tried a radler (beer and limo mix) and didn't like it. I think Mary Ellen and I had Weissbeir exclusively, though not by intention.
"Ein beer' was almost always offered when we visited. But it was only offered to me, which ME and I both thought was interesting. No slight was intended, of course.
Random notes: travel
A few observations from our trip...
The afternoon departure from the US and mid-day arrival in Germany was a good way to go. The kids were in bad shape, but they would be the same with an earlier departure, and when we arrived, bedtime was closer. The 3:00 PM departure and evening arrival on the return worked well, too.
We were upgraded to an Audi A6 with GPS at the rental car desk. The A6 is a very nice vehicle, and we needed every bit of the room to get our luggage to and from the airport. The GPS, however, was fantastic. It got us everywhere we wanted to go with only two hitches (due to road construction/temporary closure) and saved Mary Ellen from demonstrating her map-reading proficiency. I'd pay for the upgrade in the future.
Driving on the autobahn, at any speed, is much less stressful than the Beltway. Drive right, pass left: everybody does it. Gasoline is expensive: around 1.3 euros/liter. We haven't added up the total cost for fuel yet, but we'll be shocked when we do.
The area around Berchtesgaden was beautiful to drive through -- although we couldn't see much because of the blowing snow and the clouds. Still, it was worth the trip.
The Allianz Arena looks striking from the outside. Inside, it looks and smells and sounds like a sports stadium. The fans, as far as I could tell, spent 90 minutes actually watching and cheering (or complaining about) the game. I didn't see any traveling food and drink or program and pennant vendors in the stands. And no replays on the jumbo-tron, although there were commercials.
We went through security three times at German airports, and were able to keep our shoes on each time. Lufthansa serves free beer and wine in-flight. I think the Germans are bringing elegance back to air travel.
Back
On Tuesday we got up early, ate whatever we could from the food we still had on hand, and got packed up. Then over to Elfriede's (stopping along the way to get gasoline and return empty glass and plastic for cash) for a visit. Herbert, Gisela and Maxi were all there, as well. We headed to the airport and returned the car. As we were standing at the ticket counter, Edmund and Ushi arrived -- I think Edmund has been at the airport every time we've left Germany for the past 20 years. We joined them for a coffee and good-byes, then hurried to the flight.
It was pretty uneventfull from there, and we were at our house by 9:00 PM.
March 24, 2008
Monday
We actually got an early start this morning -- the first of the trip -- and drove towards Salzburg. We exited the Autobahn in Germany near the Austrian border and took back roads to avoid a hefty toll on the Austrian Autobahn. We drove through some nice wooded areas, over the hills and along some one-lane paths. Unfortunately, it was too overcast and misty to see much.
We stopped at Bad Durrnburg and toured the salt mine, then drove to Salzburg, just a few minutes away. We walked around Old Town for a few hours just looking around, taking pictures and touring the fortress Hohensalzburg.
Although the GPS did steer us briefly into a pedestrian zone on the way back through the city, it did successfully get us back on the Autobahn in Germany, and we again avoided a toll.
We'll shoot for another early start tomorrow, visiting with Elfriede on our way to the airport and home.
March 23, 2008
Easter Sunday
We called Hubert and Maria late this morning to ask if it was OK to come a visit for a bit with them and with Bernd. By the time we arrived 15 minutes later, the table was set and they fed us rouladen and potatoes and cake. Later we headed into Munich to see Bernard and Berti and the kids. We had coffee and cake there, as well. We went to the close-by Olympic park for a walk around in the brisk air for some exercise -- we'd had breakfast, dinner and two desserts and it was only 4:00 PM. The soccer stadium and the swimming hall were interesting to wander around. We went to the top of the observation tower for a great view of the city and surrounding countryside. At dark, we returned to Garching for an early evening: we'll try to drive to Salzburg tomorrow.
March 22, 2008
Saturday
We slept in this morning: everyone needed it. In the afternoon we went shopping at the food store, then visited with Helmut, Renate and Bernhardt while Christoph and Miriam played soccer with Katie and Sean. Afterward, we went for a visit with Sepp and Inga, then for a quick pizza in town.
A few pictures from the trip so far are at Facebook
Bronnen, then family fest in Garching
On Thursday was drove to see Franz and Sabine and families in Bronnen. The first hour was in heavy traffic due to road construction, but once we got past Ulm the countryside was very nice and the driving was easy. We ate lunch at Tante Kathi's, then Franz took us to visit the castle at Sigmaringen -- a which had nice tour. We ate dinner at Franz's with Sabine, Joseph and all the kids.
We stayed up very late talking, sharing photo albums and watching videos of family gatherings. We stayed with Sabine and Joseph, and Katie and Sean were excited to see their goats. We might have a summer exchange to think about next year. We woke up on the first day of spring to blowing snow -- about 4 inches to shovel. It made for a longer drive back to Garching.
Friday morning headed back to Garching, where we attended (arriving late, thanks to the snow and traffic) the family gathering at Gasthof Neiwirt. There were more than 50, including us. Mary Ellen, with Katie always at her side listening, recorded the names and birthdays of all. Sean played with the other kids, and overcame the mutual language barrier pretty easily. I spent a lot of time talking with Bernd, who speaks perfect English and provides seemless and simultaneous translation. We took photos of every family. We'll post some here, later.
March 19, 2008
Wednesday
We spent the afternoon at Dachau -- the kids asked many questions and we all learned a lot. It snowed in the early evening as Mary Ellen and I walked to the store for food shopping. A bit later we walked across the street to visit with Uncle Edmund and Ushi.
Tomorrow we get an early start to Bronnen to visit with Franz and with Sabine and their families. Friday morning we drive back to Garching.
I've dumped some photos on Facebook .
Tuesday in Munich
We took the subway from Garching into Munich this morning. After watching the Glockenspiel at Marienplatz, we visited the Frauenkirche and St. Michael's for our fill of big churches, and walked around the Vikualenmarkt where we had lunch (first currywurst experience) before Sean noticed the Subway shop. We also visited the toy museum and some stores (prices looked familiar: a $800 TV was about 800 Euros: except for the 50% loss on the exchange rate).
We toured the Residenz, which just about exhausted the kids' reserves of patience and goodwill, had coffee and cake (and when we came out of the coffee shop noticed it was right across from Starbucks, oh no). We headed back to Garching and ate pizza (Katie's first Radler).
March 17, 2008
Blue Monday
The time change is still affecting us, and the overcast, rainy and chilly weather isn't helping. After a late start this morning, we drove to Dachau, to find it closed on Mondays. We stopped at a supermarket to pick up some things for the kid's school classes, then drove to Freising and had a snack at the Weihenstephan brewery, then to Elfriede's to drop off the graham crackers we brought with us from the US (for pie crust). We visited for a bit, and ate, of course, and the kids practiced their German.
Oh yeah, happy St Patrick's day. We didn't realize it until this evening. Not a big holiday here, for some reason.
March 16, 2008
Sunday sleep in
Everybody slept in after a late night, and we had semmels and butter for breakfast. The refrigerator and cook top in the apartment are coming in handy. We're off to see 1860 Munich play. The stadium is right down the road and is pretty cool lit up at night.
Update: so 1860 tied Mainz 1-1. It was an exciting game, and a must win for 1860 to have a chance to finish in the top three and move up to the first league. Now, the chance is slim. Bernhart was bummed. Afterwards we visited with Maria and Hubert, then Renate and Helmut.
March 15, 2008
Castle on a whim
We planned to head into Munich today. Before leaving, we had a quick visit from Bernhard and Miriam, who reminded us that although it was really nice this morning the weather is supposed to be lousy for the next several days, with snow and rain. When we got in the car to go to Munich, we figured out the GPS (which let Mary Ellen off the hook for navigation) and decided to take advantage of the nice day and headed down toward Neuschwanstein. We followed the firm, yet not too pushy directions from Inge (the GPS, although Katie insists on calling her Heidi) and had a really nice day at the castle. We had Greek food for lunch, and ate dinner back in Garching: Mexican (sort of). Tomorrow we see a soccer game with Bernhard in the Allianz stadium down the road.
Katie understands, or recognizes, a surprising amount of most conversations. Sean is writing down as many German words and their definitions as he can. Just in case we lose the dictionary.
A Long, Long Day
We left the house at 5:15 PM, the plane took off at 9:00 PM. We landed in Frankfurt at 9:00 AM, stood in line so long at the security check (not the model of German efficiency) for the transfer that we missed our flight. Arrived in Munich at 2:30. Weisswurst at Elfriede's house. Into Garching at 6 or so. Asleep at 9:00 PM. Cranky, too.
March 11, 2008
Renamed
I should just get it over with and call this the Happy Birthday blog.