Where exactly is Vlad the Impaler?

One of the many perks of living in Munich is that it is practically the geographic center of all of Europe.  This makes it very easy and affordable for us to travel around.  A two-hour flight can take us just about anywhere on this continent.  So it’s nice to be able meet family or friends for quick little getaways when they happen to be somewhere ‘nearby’ in Europe.  A few weeks ago we did just this when we joined Julie’s brother Logan for a couple of days in Romania.  He was in Bucharest to recruit new employees for this coming summer season at Grand Tetons National Park.

Julie and I were especially excited for this trip because it was our chance to encounter the origin of Dracula and relive one of our favorite books ,“The Historian”.  This book is a great historical/fictional account of Vlad Tepes (a.k.a. Dracula) who once ruled in Southern Romania (Wallachia).  I highly recommend you read this book by the way, and then you will understand the excitement that we felt.

Before we could go out on our own Dracula search we first had to arrive at our hotel in Bucharest.  We had read that taxi scams from the airport are quite common in Bucharest and we felt prepared to avoid becoming one of those duped tourists.  But there was nothing we could really do when the driver demanded an excessive fare and refused to give me back or let me even take a photo of my taxi pickup ticket (which contains the relevant claims information and explicitly says “customer must keep”).  Had our bags not been in the trunk then we probably would have had some more leverage, but instead we became another fooled tourist.  In the end, the rip off taxi ride cost us only $40 which is still quite cheap for a long taxi ride from the airport, but just for comparison’s sake the return taxi ride only cost us about $10.

We quickly forgot about the rip-off when we found out our hotel room had a huge balcony terrace.  The terrace was actually bigger than our hotel room, and appeared to be the only room with an outdoor space.  Our luck was turning around. 

After checking-in and dropping off our bags, we met up with Logan and our personal tour guides (two Romanian locals who are employees of Logan) who generously offered to drive us around and show us a good time for the next 24 hours.  We started out with an Italian dinner and some drinks at a bar.  It didn’t take us long to notice that Bucharest is one of the few places left which still allows smoking in restaurants and, furthermore, just how much we have unadjusted from such practices.

We set out the next day for a drive with our tour guides to the countryside towards the Carpathian Mountains and Transylvania.  We first visited the stunning Peles Castle, which was the residence of the four kings of Romania during the 20^th century.  It has similar elements to our own Neuschwanstein in Bavaria because of its location high in the mountains and its architecture.  Though what definitely stands out as unique to this castle is its gorgeous woodwork both on the exterior and the interior.  

There were stray dogs everywhere - even hanging out by castles

Us and our amazing tour guides

A dragon head!!!  Dracula?!?!

The picture Julie took inside before she got in trouble for not having a photographer pass (she didn't know... oops)

After a quick stop for lunch, we set out for Bran Castle in Transylvania.  This castle is fictitiously marketed as “Dracula’s Castle” even though there is very little connecting Vlad Tepes (or Bram Stoker’s writing) to the site.  But we went along with the folklore and pretended we were also searching for clues about Dracula.  It is an old 15^th century (or perhaps earlier) defense structure against the Ottoman Empire with a maze of thick stone corridors and rooms. 

Perfect place for a Dracula sighting

View of the village from the castle

Beautiful old architecture

We found Dracula AND a creepy vampire-like ginger!

More of the beautiful architecture

The following day our wonderfully generous tour guides left for their home back in Transylvania, so the three of us were on our own to explore the city of Bucharest.  Our main sightseeing for the day was Curtea Veche - the old ruins and 15^th century residence of Vlad Tepes in the heart of the old city.  The site is also connected with an Orthodox church, which is something we hadn’t really seen before.  

Bust of Vlad Tepes on the left, the Orthodox church on the right

Another stray dog 'guarding' the ruins on the left, inside Curtea Veche on the right

Bucharest is a unique city in that it doesn’t feel touristy at all which often made us feel like we were the only tourists there.  It’s not the most beautiful city we have seen as the poverty is high and the communist era definitely left a mark.  But we enjoyed walking around and seeing some its more raw elements (like shady electrical wiring, crazy city commuters, lack of infrastructure, etc.).  We also found it interesting that the language sounds quite intimidating and foreign but when written it is very similar to Spanish or Italian (with a few extra special characters).  In fact Romanian is considered one of the romance languages.  It’s the kind of place one could probably find lots to do and it’s probably full of little hidden gems, but we didn’t have the time or resources (without our private tour guides) for such exploring during our quick stay. 

We mostly stuck to the small but concentrated old city, which is populated with lots of bars and outdoor cafes.  At one point we stopped by an Irish pub for lunch where we enjoyed a good laugh.  We put in our orders: two fish and chips for the siblings and a cheesesteak sandwich for me.  Twenty minutes later we saw the waiter bringing over the fish and chips and a slice of cheesecake.  At first, I figured the cheesecake belongs to another table, but then I realized probably why he was so surprised by my lunch order in the first place.  He had heard me say “cheesecake” instead of cheesesteak sandwich.  To be fair – I did point at the menu when ordering, and it looked like the waiter looked to see what I was pointing at.   After clarifying the issue and waiting another twenty minutes, he finally brought me my cheesesteak sandwich.  However in the meantime, I had snacked on Julie’s large fish and chips and I no longer wanted the sandwich.  In fact, I kind of wished I kept the cheesecake after all.  Lesson learned:  Don’t turn down cheesecake even if you didn’t order one. 

A pretty street in Old Town

Logan and Julie and a true depiction of a Bavarian man 

After exhausting the old part of town, the three of us were all pretty worn out with the 48 hours of intense tourism.  We decided to just head back to our private terrace and spend our last evening enjoying the sun and spring weather.  Sometimes it is good to relax once and a while when taking a vacation – though it has taken Julie a lot longer to figure that one out.

Julie and an interesting piece of art

America, the land of the food

“Generally speaking, the internal clock resets at a rate of about one hour (or time zone) per day.” –Division of Sleep Medicine at Harvard Medical School.

This is the reason I am giving for waiting 9 full days before writing the blog on our USA trip – seeing as Colorado and Munich have a 9-hour time difference.  It’s science!

Noah and I spent our Valentine’s Day in airports and planes – making our way from Munich to Houston via Chicago.  Our original flight plan took us through Newark, which we were luckily able to change for free due to the massive winter storms hitting the east coast.  Thanks to my mom for telling me I should call United!  Turns out our original flight out of Munich was 5+ hours delayed, which would have made us miss our connection… and left us stuck in New Jersey.  That would have been romantic!  We still met some delays with the new route, and made it to my parents place for VDay pizza at 10 that night.  Thus begun our quest to fulfill every culinary desire we knew we would be missing out on for the next year(s?).

Our 4 days in Houston flew by, with barely any downtime.  Between visits with my friends and family, Noah’s friends and family, plenty of shopping and returns, and a trip to my mom’s Water Aerobics class – we never had any rest and relaxation on this part of the ‘vacation’.  But that was fine with us because it was great to see familiar faces and indulge in Which Which, Rudy’s BBQ, Los Cucos Tex Mex, Whataburger, Chipotle, Jimmy Johns….  Yes.  We were gluttonous.  

Wednesday morning we (Noah and myself and my parents) flew out to Colorado for my brother’s wedding.  The highlight of the drive between Denver and Beaver Creek is definitely Smokin’ Yards BBQ.  Of course it would be food related!  The BBQ sandwiches, fountain Dr. Pepper, and fried okra…. Let’s just say that if anyone is interested in opening up a good BBQ place in Munich – you could count on us to be your first regulars.

Once we got to Beaver Creek, we met up with my brother and his then-fiancee (now wife).  We gave them their gifts that we hauled all the way from Germany – some beer glasses, a stein, and coasters, all from the Steffens brewery.  Since Ashley agreed to marry into the Steffens family, I thought she might need some drinks to get through it.  Kidding. Mostly.

The next day kicked off the beginning of the wedding festivities.  Us gals (my mom, Ashley and her mom, and her bridesmaid Julie, and this Julie) all went for manis/pedis.  I haven’t had one since my own wedding almost 4 years ago, so it was definitely a treat for me and my nails.  Though I learned my sis-in-law is on the ticklish side – she could barely handle the foot massages. 

We met up with a large group of wedding goers for lunch at the Northside Café, where Noah and I had a delicious burger/shake/fries combo.  Between getting a junior Whataburger earlier in the week and thinking it was giant (I would always wolf down the regular sized burger in the past) and having our friend Jason comment that the burgers are small when he saw our order….  Noah and I are learning that our ideas of portions have changed the past two years.  And here I am talking about food again.  Apologies.  Here, have a group shot of everyone that Noah took: 

Thursday afternoon was the wedding rehearsal, and as the Best woMan, I had some major responsibilities.  Wait, that isn’t true.  I just had to walk down the aisle with the other Julie, see where to stand, and walk back out with her again.  Easy enough!  

Later that night it was time to dress fancy for the rehearsal dinner.  It went really well – with my mom’s signature slideshow of the couple, and way too much good food (what, did I just say that?).  We wedding party folks also got our presents (yay!) from the bride and groom.  I got a nice fusion of the girls and guys gifts, which included a really pretty snowflake necklace with my initial like the other ladies, and a warm furry winter hat like the other guys.  Because I was both a lady and a guy for the wedding. 

The Groomsmen working it

Finally it was the wedding day, where my day started at 8:45am for hair and makeup.  Unfortunately I couldn’t start my day with the guys (12:45pm), because technically I am a lady.  But Ashley and her family made the morning wonderful for us – not only covering the costs of the hair and makeup, but providing us with breakfast and lunch too!  Since there was a lot of down time (7 of us and only 3 ladies doing hair and makeup), I got to play around with my camera and amateurishly mimic the typical ‘preparing for the wedding’ photos.  

My sweet 'artsy' shots

Left: Clearly a Pinterest bride (well, maybe not so clear in the small version of the photo)

This lovely one was taken by my wonderful mom.  Thanks Mom!

Soon the wedding party and family was at the venue for pre-wedding pictures.  All I can say is I am very curious to see the outcome of the groomsmen pictures.  Hopefully the photographer was able to capture one nice one for the photo album.  At least we were able to capture one last family photo to capture a pre-married Logan.

No longer just a family of 5!  Wait - to be sure, this is NOT a pregnancy announcement.  I mean Ashley is now officially a family member 20 minutes after this photo is taken.

The ceremony went without a hitch, though from my point of view I could see Ashley’s face always near tears.  And when I heard the emotion in my brother’s voice, I started tearing up, which caused my parent’s to tear up (and apparently a few others), but I think we mostly kept it in check.  One side note – the day before I had asked Ashley if she had her something old/new/borrowed/blue.  She told me she had everything but ‘borrowed’.  I had the idea to lend her my granny’s (mom’s mom) wedding ring that I wear sometimes.  I didn’t tell my mom my idea beforehand, in case Ashley already had something borrowed in mind.  Luckily it all worked out, and I think my mom especially enjoyed this little touch.

I am double-chin exited!

Left - you can see my granny's wedding ring

Soon the reception was underway, and before long it was time for dinner / speeches / cake / dancing.  I think I did pretty well at all four.  I successfully ate my dinner without it ending up on myself (Noah can’t say the same – the horseradish found its way on his tie).  I calmed my nerves for my Best woMan speech and delivered it without spontaneously tipping over.  At the end of the night I was given to go boxes for the cake I wanted to eat later. And I tore it up on the dance floor (there might have been a dance off between Logan and me).

I left the dance floor for 2 minutes… and I have no idea what was going on here

All in all – a very successful wedding in my book.  And I have a new sister-in-law!  Congrats you guys. 

Mr. and Mrs. Steffens

After a night of dance-induced altitude sickness (all the water in place of alcohol I drank at the wedding wasn’t enough), I was ready to take it easy the next day.  Plus it was our last full day in the US!  Noah and I spent the morning resting, packing, and buying last minute groceries to take back with us.  After lunch, the two of us took the shuttle up to the mountain.  Originally we thought we would be skiing ourselves, but after a hectic week of shopping, traveling, and weddings, we were fine to simply watch the newlyweds ski/snowboard down the mountain in their suit and wedding dress.

After Logan and Ashley took off to put on regular clothes and continue skiing, the rest of us hung out around the ski town.  The highlight for me was finding the guy handing out free/fresh/hot chocolate chip cookies.  Why can’t this happen everywhere I go?  We also saw the same lederhosen-wearing man who played an alpine horn that we visited with 2+ years before.  While we didn’t talk to him this time (had to catch a bus), it was fun to think about our conversation with the man right before we moved to Germany.

Left: Dec 2011  Right: Feb 2014   Same outfit, different instrument.

Our last night in the US was spent eating pizza with our family (which includes Kathleen) and the Ricke family and watching the Olympics.  It was hard for us to believe that our USA trip was actually over, but I think my waistline was happy about it.  We currently have no plans to travel back home any time soon as there are still too many places we want to see here (and our budget isn’t limitless).  Instead it is time to focus on what we will miss in Germany when we eventually move back, and don’t take it for granted.  Because I sure took Whataburger for granted all those years back home!

Pangea Party II

We recently hosted our second international potluck dinner party at our place.  Like last time, we invited our work friends over and asked everyone to bring a dish/drink from their home country.  Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find the cheap American beer I was looking for so we dusted out our pie pans and made a couple of delicious American apple pies.   This year’s party helped us realize just how long we have been here, since about half of our guests from last year have finished their internships/fellowships and moved away.  But apparently we meet new people quickly because we had a full house of 26 (including the dogs).  This year we had 11 countries represented:  Germany (6), America (4, including us), Italy (3), Spain (3), Greece (2), France (1), Indonesia (1), Russia (1), Netherlands (1), Brazil (1), and Columbia (1). Look at us starting to blend in with the German crowd! 

Now for some of the highlights from the night (thanks Julie for drinking responsibly to remember all of this!):

• Of course, one of the best parts of the night is all of the cool food and drinks people bring.  We had some very unique, homemade, culturally accurate dishes.  But with the large crowd and us being busy hosting, we were not able to taste everything or even make an exact list of everything there.  However, we can remember that the Columbian liquor, Spanish sangria, and Brazilian caipirinhas kept the party going strong.

• One addition to the party this year was that one of guests brought his guitar – and our neighbor upstairs grabbed his as well.  Thanks to those guitars, for a good part of the night we had live entertainment.  Those who can sing (not us) spent the night belting out classic American hits (like Cranberry’s Zombie).

• The dogs didn’t hesitate to join in on the party either - they were so good (as usual), just checking everyone out and keeping the floors clean.  At one point one of our guests became enthralled with Sadie and apparently Sadie felt the same.  We looked over as Sadie was laying passed out in a doggie, belly rub trance for about half an hour.  It was like a real dog whisperer moment.  Later she asked if she could take our dog home, but Julie wasn’t having it!  Rita, perhaps….but no way Sadie.  Kidding!

• Later in the night Julie decided to pop some American Orville Redenbacher popcorn.  It’s important to realize that popcorn is usually always sweet (versus salty) in Germany.   Now imagine taking a sip of a soda and it tasting like salt instead of sugar…pretty gross right?!  Well this was pretty much the reaction of one of our German friends when he ate the popcorn expecting it to be sweet.  He really did give a very dramatic disgusted face to go with it, very similar to those videos of babies eating lemons for the first time.  Unfortunately I missed it, but Julie says it was epic.

• If you’ve ever been to a bakery in Europe then you will understand this one.  In addition to the pies, we had also baked some chocolate chip cookies.   Pretty much everyone was blown away and praising them like they were some very exotic dessert (except the other fellow Americans of course).  At least a few people asked us “how do you make the cookies so chewy!?”,  to which we just responded “how do you make cookies here so hard and undesirable!?”.   Ok, we left out the undesirable part, but in our opinion, don’t come to Germany looking for good cookies.

• Our guest from Russia was very intrigued by the various wedding Save the Date cards, which we had pinned on our chalkboard.  After explaining this newer American tradition to him, he announced he wants to send Save the Date cards with a photo of him and his bike the next time he hosts a party…we’re not sure he fully grasped the concept.

• As we are not big drinkers, most of the liquor we set out for the party was either the remains of last year’s party or something we received as a gift.  My co-worker from Greece was quite impressed with my selection of ouzo, claiming it is really the best one.  I had to remind her that this bottle was the one she gifted me a year ago.  She couldn’t believe we had not finished it off.  Like I said, we really aren’t big drinkers. 

Let’s hope enough of these folks stick around another year so we can continue our new yearly tradition.  Otherwise, we better get out and meet some new people in 2014!