Another Munich New Year

We have enjoyed a wonderful two-week break from work with no responsibilities but the dogs.  Almost every day we have slept in and then decided how lazy we want the day to be.  Mostly we have been watching movies, doing lots of jigsaw puzzles, and eating good food.  I’m sure there were a few days we would not have made it outside if it were not for the dogs (thanks girls!).  Just when our laziness streak was beginning to violate social acceptableness, we had visitors come and pull us up off of our butts for Silvester/New Year’s Eve. 

As a side note, this year marks the 3^rd Christmas in Munich without snow.  However, as mentioned before, the day after Christmas it started snowing and didn’t stop for the rest of the year.  This was probably the most snow we have experienced since moving to Munich.  Therefore, this is the first time we’ve captured Munich so detailed in the snow, aka there are plenty of snowy pictures coming up! 

Our new friend Jason, who is a Houston-native now living in Mannheim, came into town with two of his friends, Jorge and Carolina.  We met up first on New Year’s Eve, and I joined our guests on a free, guided walking tour through downtown. 

Odeonsplatz in the snow

I learned a lot of incredible new stories about Munich, although it was no real surprise that most of them involve beer in one way or another.  For instance, many years ago the opera house had once caught on fire and the relatively modern gravity fed sprinkler system was put to the test.  Unfortunately, it was winter and the water for the sprinklers was all frozen which called for a plan B.  Because of the proximity to the Hofbräuhaus the officials called on the locals to form an assembly line and pass mugs of beer down to the Opera house to put out the fire.  Well unfortunately, most of the locals started drinking the beer as it came down the line, which meant not enough beer made it in time to save the Opera house.  I don’t know if it is true and I don’t really care, this story is just too funny.

After the tour, we warmed up at our apartment before going out for a lovely Indian dinner.  Our upstairs Colombian neighbors joined us as well, who shortly after New Year’s moved back to Colombia.  This meant Julie and I were the only pathetic ones who could not speak Spanish (seeing as Jorge is Cuban, Carolina is in fact Colombian herself, and Jason just happens to speak Spanish too).  It made for a lively mixed language conversation with hints of German, Spanish, and English mixed in.  As usual, the food at Taj Mahal was incredible.

We continued on our tradition of doing the German custom of “Bleigießen” fortune telling, where we melt lead trinkets and recast them into randomly formed shapes via cool water.  The new shape reveals what is in store for the following year.  Just like previous years there was plenty of arguing about the interpretation of the shape.  Where I was certain my new shape was a golf club, other people were dead set that it was a sperm.  Since neither option was on the list of interpretations, the group settled on a frog (tadpole), so my fortune for 2015 is that I will win a lot of money in the lottery.  Julie’s snake meant she is due for some haters this year (“people are envious of your success”). 

Before and After shots of Julie's Bleigiessen

We finally made it to Hirschgarten about 11:30 with our fireworks and alcohol in tow.  Thanks to the snow, we were able to pull our cargo down to the park via a sled, although we were missing the rope to properly secure things to keep them from falling off every 20 feet.  Soon the cargo was carried by hand, and replaced by Julie looking for a free ride. 

Due to the foot+ of snow on the ground, we couldn’t post up in the field.  Instead we had to keep to the groomed walking paths to start our fireworks show.  We rang in the New Year with prosecco, homemade cupcakes, and 12 grapes each to go along with the war zone of fireworks surrounding us.  

Between the two group shots, both of us are captured

By 1am we ran out of drinks and fireworks, so it was time to return to the apartment.  Our party had only just gotten started because we all stayed up and celebrated until 3:30am, when Julie was the first to throw in the towel.  Go us!  Lucky for us, we had rested up plenty the prior weeks and were actually able to properly party. 

All in all it was a really great way to start off the new year – surrounded by friends (new and old), fireworks, and family (Julie and the pups).  Here’s to 2015 and everything it will bring! 

PS - Here are a few more snowy Munich photos just because. 

Snowing in Nymphenburg park

Across from our apartment

Hirschgarten aglow from smoke and fireworks

Sledding into the New Year

After our awesome trip to Budapest we settled back in Munich for act III of our family adventure.

As we were down to the last 2 days of the year (and the last 2 days of our family visiting), we wanted to make sure we got to spend some time with Aunt Ellen and Uncle Rüdiger.  With 2 cars, we easily fit crammed all 9 of us in for a drive down to Garmisch again.  However this time, our destination was different – we wanted to see Partnachklamm again, but this time we were hoping to see it partially frozen.  After hitting a rather large Stau (traffic jam), we finally made it down to Garmisch. 

Seth and Rüdiger hanging out in the traffic

As we walked up to the Olympic Ski Jump – the start of the hike to the gorge – we sadly learned that Partnachklamm was closed due to the melting ice.  Apparently there was danger of icicles breaking off and potentially killing everyone in sight.  And the worst part is there is a website that tells you if it is ‘geoffnet’ or ‘geschlossen’, but it had been down for a few days.  This must be how Chevy Chase felt when he finally made it to WallyWorld and it was closed.

Thankfully we had Ellen and Rüdiger with us as they came up with a wonderful backup plan for the day.  Right at the same ski jump stadium is the lift to the top of Eckbauerbahn!  After Rüdiger finagled us the group discount (technically we were 1 shy of the 10 needed), we hopped in line for the gondolas.  But before we handed our ticket over in exchange for a ride up the mountain, Sandy announced she really wanted to try sledding (a true sign she was born and raised in Texas).  Noah and Seth had her back and quickly ran back down to the store to rent 3 sleds for the group.  Finally we (and our sleds) were on our way up the mountain in the gondolas. 

We were really excited

Once we reached the top, we immediately headed to the sledding hill.  Marty, Margie, and myself all hung back at the bottom to photograph my mother’s first sled experience ever (and capture the others too).  Ellen and Rüdiger went to the top of the hill to cheer the sledders on. 

First up – Seth. 

Next – my mother’s inaugural sled ride.  With the ‘breaks’ on the majority of the time, she ended up with pretty good snow spray. 

Then it was Noah’s turn. 

Then the self-proclaimed expert, my father.  Though based on the photo you can see he didn’t really have the best form.  (He blames the sled…. sure Gary) 

After a few more runs in for all, including a brother run, and a run where Seth flew all the way to the restaurant, we had all built up our appetite and were ready for some food.  This was when I took my turn on the sled – to slowly make my way down the path to the restaurant.  What can I say – I know the dangers uncomfortable-ness of snow spray first hand. 

After our fill of food and beer (and a few more runs on the sled), we were ready to call it a day and head back down the mountain. 

Before heading back to Munich, we decided to walk around the town of Oberammergau first. We asked a random man on the street to take a group picture of us in front of the famous painted houses, but sadly the bill of his hat pushed the flash down, resulting in a dark and grainy picture. 

When we returned to Munich we said farewell to Ellen and Rüdiger and took off to downtown for a delicious meat-filled dinner at Der Pschorr.  Even Margie’s vegetarian baked cheese dish was amazing.  

It's hard to see, but the name of the restaurant behind us is 'Weisses'

New Year’s Eve found us all rather spent from the past 2 weeks activities.  The day was spent playing Settler’s of Catan between packing (as everyone flew out the next day).  Before dinner though, we partook in the German tradition of Bleigießen.  This is where you melt a small lead figure and dump the liquid in water.  Then you have to determine what your newly created shape looks like.  The shape is interpreted (via online blogs for us) to predict how the upcoming year will be.  For instance, my lead came out looking like a swan.  Based on the list, a bird means I have good luck coming in 2014!  Unfortunately ‘penis’ wasn’t on the list for Noah’s shape, so we had to go with a different opinion on what his object looked like. 

After our fortunes were foretold, we went out for a wonderful Indian dinner.  And since this is all about ‘firsts’ this trip for the parents (Margie’s first time in a gondola, Sandy’s first time sledding), it was now Gary’s turn.  This was his first time eating Indian food!  We went with some safe choices for him of butter chicken and tikka masala, and I was happy to say he didn’t go hungry that night.

It was finally time to grab our blankets, champagne, and fireworks and head to Hirschgarten.  Last year Noah and I marveled a the way German’s do fireworks on New Year’s, so we thought the park near us would be a good place to 1) set off our own fireworks and 2) have a nice view of others as well.  Noah and I were also looking forward to showing our guests how over the top it gets here.  To quote Adam Fletcher’s ‘How to be German in 50 easy steps': “New Year’s Eve in Germany is the evening in which all the nice, normal, practical, risk-averse people are replaced by gun-powder-touting, death wish-seeking pyromaniacs. Running around lighting fireworks with reckless abandon. Sections of the country become much like Baghdad on market day. In Germany, leaving the house on New Year’s Eve is like stepping into a giant, 80 million person multiplayer game of Bomberman.”.  

We get started around 11:30 lighting our bottle rockets and our 3-foot long sparklers.  With all that time waiting for the sparkler to burn out, I had my go at sparkler-writing. 

At this point we were really the only ones around, and Noah and I were a bit nervous that maybe we misremembered last year and exaggerated the experience to our family.  But once the clock hit midnight, the warzone broke out.  We did have a few more groups show up to the park, but the main event was over at the Hirschgarten restaurant.  They had their own professional show going, and we had great viewing spots away from the massive crowd we could see in the distance.  Between their show, and all the fireworks that began to explode all around us, we could see the awe in our family’s faces.  It was a great way to ring in the New Year. 

The next same morning we bid ‘Auf Wiedersehen’ to our loved ones and spent the rest of the day recovering from both the late night and the 2 weeks of hosting.  Plus our apartment resembled how the city streets looked after all the fireworks… it was time for us to clean for the first time all year. 

Zach and Kristin come to Germany / I become a celebrity!

Last weekend we had a visit from my brother’s old college roommate and his wife, who going forward will be referred to as Zach and Kristin (makes sense – those are their names).  This is the guy who almost 9 years ago opened my brand new copy of the movie Dodgeball, intended as a Christmas gift for Julie, so that he could burn a copy for himself.  Oh, and this was our first Christmas together.  Although I’m sure Julie would not put it past me to buy her a used DVD as a gift, I knew I found a special girl when she could laugh at the whole thing.  Otherwise, our two visitors might have found themselves staying in a hotel.

They quickly became one of our favorite guests when they showed up with macarons from the French “Weiss Chocolate Shop”.  I was lucky to try two of the ten – as before I knew it Julie had eaten most of them.

Anyways, all you need to entertain a couple of Texas State University graduates is the best beer in the world and perhaps a river to hang out on a sunny Saturday. Together we had an absolute blast while enjoying our long overdue “summer” weather. 

After work on Thursday we met them for an open-air concert to see the Glenn Miller Orchestra in the Residence courtyard.  I’m not sure what was better, the music which brought back classic jazz band memories of my years playing the trumpet or the ambience of sitting in the royal fountain courtyard with blue skies.  I know they enjoyed it too because they bought a CD and got it autographed by the band’s pianist and MC.  This was actually our first concert of this sort here in Europe, even though I’m sure they think we do cool stuff like this every week.

We spent Friday evening in Hirschgarten enjoying our first smoked Steckerlfisch of the year and the various delicacies Zach and Kristen picked up earlier that day from Viktualienmarkt.  It sounds pretty trivial, but considering this was just the second time I could wear shorts this year, it was really awesome to be able to sit outside and enjoy some nice weather.  Sorry, the redundant references to the weather are probably annoying by now.

Saturday we planned an all day ‘river event’.  This is essentially our code for hanging out, grilling, and swimming along the Isar river while trying to avoid the blinding images of naked men sunbathing on the other side of the bank (complete with sunscreen and oils too).  Despite (or because of?) the nudity, we were having a great time grilling some sausages and cooling off in the water.  Of course, I was the only one to get all the way in the water, which is quite cold and reminiscent of Barton Springs in Austin. 

Towards the end of the day we noticed a camera crew stomping around our base camp.  They had approached Zach and Kristen while we were sitting by the water, so we got up and went over to rescue them from any unnecessary German interrogation.  They asked us if they could film the sausages on our grill, and then it expanded to asking if they could film Julie and I eating a sausage.  They were from RTL TV network (think ABC, NBC, etc), and told us it was for the 15-minute update news at 6:45 that day.  We weren’t really expecting to make the cut amongst the many other, more probable German groups, which we saw them film after us. Regardless, we got back home in time to flip on the news and record the segment just in case.  It turned out we were the ‘feature stars’ at the end of the 2 minute segment, “Wurst in Deutschland”, and we all watched as Julie delicately fed me a bite of sausage to highlight just how wonderful and romantic grilling sausages along the river are.  You can see the video yourself here. I don’t know if it gets any more cliché than a couple Americans featured in the news eating sausages in Germany.  Thank God they did not broadcast our voices and stupid responses to the question “how did the sausage taste?”, because we were both regretting our “sehr lecker!!” and “unglaublich!!” broken German answers.

After our German television premier, we took Zach and Kristen out for Indian food for dinner, which is becoming a theme for our visitors and demonstrates our ever growing “burn-out” for German food.  It is no coincidence that the Indian restaurant is just a few blocks from the delicious Sarcletti’s Ice Cream shop.  We said our farewell to them the next morning as they set off for Vienna.

Meanwhile, I was asked to be interviewed for the DAAD (agency sponsoring my fellowship) quarterly magazine. My weekend of fame extended into the week as they sent a professional photographer to my lab for a photo shoot.  My efforts to schedule this while my coworkers were at lunch failed since we got off to a late start, and I was subject to everyone standing around making jokes and laughing at me while I tried to focus on not looking stupid for the camera.

All in one week I had a feature spot on the news, an interview, and a public photo shoot. Autographs are now available upon request. 

Welcome to the Hotel Weiss (such a lovely place....)

Last week, Hotel Weiss officially opened for the 2013 season with our first visitors this year – our friends from Phoenix, Stacy and Adam (though none of us live in Phoenix anymore as of 1 week ago).  They are the first of 11 total guests over the next 3 months – or at least those are what we know of today.

They landed around lunchtime on Tuesday, so I took them for some tried and true good jet-lag lunch food – döner kebap over by Rotkreuzplatz.  This is the same place we have taken a few other guests – including my mother, who took this awkward photo of one employee with the döner:

Noah made it home early from work, so we picked up some chicken from the Tuesday chicken cart and headed over to Hirschgarten’s biergarten for dinner and beer.  We all Noah lucked out in that Hirschgraten was showing the UEFA Dortmund vs. Real Madrid semifinal game on the big screens.  Stacy and I started with our backs to the screen, but had to eventually turn around - it just became too creepy to have all those faces staring our way.  

The next day the pups got to join us for a pizza picnic in Hofgarten followed by bocce ball in the Englischer Garten.  Sadie became obsessed with a woman riding horse around us – I had to keep her leashed up or she would have tried to become friends with the horse – and most likely fail miserably.  And while I kept her from that danger, it might have been my fault one of the bocce balls hit her in the face.  I have never felt so guilty in my life – I think I was more upset about it than Sadie was.

We spent the evening over at Frühlingsfest for more chicken and beer, and again… Noah was able to watch the UEFA FC Bayern vs. FC Barcelona semifinal game in the beer tent!  The place definitely had a different atmosphere with the game playing (as we were there the Saturday before with some international friends… and 1 authentic German), but it was a very happy one with FC Bayern winning 3-0 and clinching a Germany vs. Germany UEFA cup final.  We also got surrounded by a German boy band ‘flash mob’ – but not sure how flash mob it really was when there isn’t much room between the tables for their few dancers.  And a huge shout out to Stacy and Adam for partaking in the traditional Lederhosen and Dirndl!  Now they really need to come back for Oktoberfest to get their money’s worth out of it!

Thursday we stayed in the city center spending money… what else can you really do in bad weather?  We continued our theme of daily German food at Zum Franziskaner – this time treating our guests to an eclectic combination of Weißwurst, authentic Wienerschnitzel, and Kaiserschmarrn.  While all three authentic German/Bavarian food on their own – I don’t think they really go together.  But no one complained.

We switched things up for dinner and went to a Greek restaurant.  Our old Munich friend Laura joined us, so Noah and I were able to toast her goodbye (again) at dinner.  She found a job in Cincinnati and was here in Munich to finish up her last 2 weeks at Intel.  That just means her and her soon-to-be husband need to come to Munich on vacation, instead of business trips.

Our plans for Friday originally included walking through the Partnachklamm Gorge, as we had heard cool things about it.  We even pre-booked one of our car sharing vehicles for the day.  Unfortunately for us, they decided to ‘close’ the gorge for the week for maintenance, and it would open again Saturday.  But we had a car for Friday – not Saturday!  We decided to be resourceful and just find another place to visit with the car.  Solution: Eibsee and Zugspitze!  

We began with a nice 7km hike/walk around the Eibsee – a lake at the bottom of the Zugspitze mountain (which, by the way, is the highest point in Bavaria – the mountain, not the lake).  Here we made fast friends with the ducks, who clearly are used to people feeding them.  At one point we stopped to look at the lake on a small hill, and this little duck came walking all the way up the hill to try to beg.  Impressive little climber!  We also found a rock shaped like Texas, so naturally I had to stop and give it a photo shoot.

After the 7km hike/walk, we took the cable car to the top of Zugspitze, which left both Stacy and I rather uneasy.  The mountain is 2,962 meters above sea level – or an elevation gain from the bottom of 1,950 meters.  Whatever way you look at it – you are going very high, very fast.

Once at the top, you take an elevator up 3 floors to get to the actual summit.  It is amazing how tiny Eibsee looked from up here.  After stomaching all I could handle of the heights, we moved to Deutschlands höchster Biergarten (Germany’s highest beer garden) for lunch.  I can say I had a real beer at the top of Germany – no Radler for me that day!  

For our guests’ last day in Munich, we decided to focus on the biergarten experience (again).  We first went into the city center to hit up Viktualienmarkt – the large open market near Marienplatz – to pick up a nice lunch spread.  After a quick detour to see the Hofbräuhaus, we hopped on the Ubahn up to Olympiapark, where Rita and Sadie cuddled in the small space between the seats.

Once there, we somehow managed to hit up two separate biergartens.  We did split them by stomping around the park grounds and making it to the highest hill there for some nice views of Munich and the Alps.  It was also nice that Stacy and Adam had one day of beautiful weather in Munich – how we wish it was every day!  Sadly this marked the end of their Munich leg, and we woke up Sunday to an empty apartment.  Well, not too empty – we had two waggly little dog butts to greet us in the morning.

In 9 days, Hotel Weiss will welcome my parents, and we will do it all over again!