Our First Snow of the Year

Following up from the last blog, we made it out for Ikea and a steak dinner yesterday with our new car.  Everything was a perfect success.   However, the world decided to throw a curveball my way as I drove a manual transmission for the first time in about 10 years….a snow-curve-ball.  The weather forecasts had us expecting snow, but it seemed most people were expecting it would be minimal and would melt right away.   But no, the world really wanted to test my skills by dumping about 6 inches of snow over the last 36 hours.  Well it didn’t really matter in the end though because my driving was flawless....if you don’t count the 6 or 7 times I stalled out trying to maneuver through parking lots, and I guess I can’t really blame that on the snow anyhow.

So we woke up today to a brand new white world.  I guess this is not a big deal for most people who have lived with snow in their lives, but this is so rare for us that I couldn’t help but take the camera out this morning.  And as expected Rita becomes like a wild wolf on the hunt when it snows while Sadie tries to find the dry path.  Don’t worry Sadie, surely this was a fluke and we won’t have snow again until it really is winter.

We Bought a Car….

…sharing service!!

Ok, we kind of sort of bought a car.  The only difference is that we share our car(s) with 10,000 other people in Munich, but essentially we feel like proud automobile owners again.  We signed up for a car sharing service called StattAuto, akin to ZipCar in the States.  And what exactly made us decide to do this?  There is this amazing steak restaurant that requires a car for convenient access, and I decided I have to take Julie there.  And why is this place so special?  Well you will have to wait for the next blog, because today is all about our new car!  But trust me- this steak place is worth reading about.

So after living without a car for almost a year, we have started to miss the sense of freedom that having a car lends.  My amazing Aunt Ellen has always been kind enough to take us (and the doggies!) when we want in her car, but it’s nice to have our own independence and not stretch our invitation too far.  But we don’t really want the extra responsibility and costs that come with owning a car.  After doing some research, it seemed pretty clear that car-sharing was the way to go.  So I put together my best sales pitch and sold the idea to my other (better) half.   However, I discovered later that she was wanted to reject my proposal immediately when I first suggested the idea, and had decided to listen to my pitch only to make me feel better.  I guess those years of salesmanship training selling Cutco knives paid off…I can still close the deal!

The program works like this: 

• Users pay a 250€ deposit (refundable at the end), a 25€ one-time processing fee, and 7€ per month to participate. 
• Once these payments are fulfilled, you have the ability to make an online reservation for one of the several hundred cars which are parked around the city. 
• There is a 2€ per hour rental fee (max of 19€ per day) and you pay 0.20€ per km driven (for the mini-class... add roughly 15 % for each increase of car size).  This fee includes the cost of gas which you would pay using the company’s credit card located in every car.  Therefore, this is very cheap since gas would normally cost around 0.10€ per km given average fuel prices and fuel economy. 
• To rent a city car for one day would cost about 20€ and a weekend getaway to Austria would cost about 120€ (including the cost of gas!).  This is very comparable, and in some instances cheaper, than traveling by train. 
• And also the cars are all insured with a 500€ deductible. 

All in all, this car sharing program is more economical compared to buying a car for someone driving less than 5,000 km per year- for people like us!

I went to the introductory class last week to learn the rules and sign the contract. The best part about the 1.5 hour lecture was that I impressed myself by being able to follow along pretty comfortably in German.  Normally, I would just pretend I understand, but this time I actually did understand it!  Now, all we have to do is wait until I get my PIN card and then we can start driving some cars.  Then we will find out how quickly I can re-learn how to drive manual transmission.  It’s only been about 10 years since my last time….I’m sure it will be fine.  ;)

The other really cool thing about this program is that they have about 100 different parking stations and there is one right down our street (3 cars, just 2 minutes walking)!  We have walked by this parking station about a million times and never noticed it before.  It’s in the back of an Opel dealership which maybe explains why the three rentals there are made by Opel (one Agila and two Astra for anyone up-to-date on Euro car styles).  Basically, they are amazing and we are really excited to have cars parked nearby!

It’s looking like an Ikea and steak dinner kind of weekend!  Stay tuned….

Oh and Aunt Ellen - don’t worry.  We (including the dogs) are still counting on you for our local getaways… your car (with your company) is still our preferred method of transportation!

I can go as our couch for Halloween

I went shopping over my lunch break on Friday, and when Noah got home I was excited to show him my new dress.  

Then I looked at the couch.

And I realized, I just bought the couch in dress-form.  Hoorah.  

Too bad Halloween isn't popular in Germany.

No, the ginger girl wasn't me. I wish.

I just thought this was hilarious.
Full 'article' from buzzfeed

But everyone's all like, "You're gonna eat my soul!!!"

And you're all like, "Yeah, maybe. I'm a ginger. I do what I want."

Our time at the Wies'n

I am finally getting around to writing about our actual Oktoberfest experience.  We went a few times, so I will write about each visit in different sections… but that means this might be a long one.  Random note – Word autocorrected butthat to butt hat… instead of but that. 

Day 1 of Oktoberfest – Opening Parade (9/22)

The whole shebang started off with the Grand Entry of the Oktoberfest Landlords and Breweries.   That is a big name for a parade that starts near Sendlinger Tor and ends at the Oktoberfest grounds – Theresienwiese.  Basically all the official Oktoberfest breweries with their horse-drawn carriages, the various Oktoberfest bands, and other floats, parade into Theresienwiese to kick off the official start of the Wies’n.

The thing started at 10:45, and after looking at pictures from Ellen’s previous trip a few years back to watch the parade (all really great shots of the back of a shirt – she didn’t have a great view), we decided to head down about an hour early.  The weather wasn’t the best, but I think that helped us nab a choice spot – one where the curb juts out into the street a bit so we could try to do a bit better than Ellen’s photos.  Not that they aren’t great shots of a shirt!

As we are waiting, and the streets cleared, the parade begins!

Ok, not actually.  But this guy in tiny lederhosen did walk his two tiny dogs down the parade route, garnering applause as he went by.  You’ll have to trust me that there were two dogs, because I only caught one in my picture.  The parade actually began with some cops on horses, and since I assume most people don’t need a parade play-by-play, I will just throw in a few of my favorite pics.

As the last float went by, we noticed people started to jump into the street and follow the parade route into the Wies’n.  When in Rome…

Once we maneuvered the crowds and made it into the festival, we found ourselves right by the Flea Circus.  And since there was no chance of getting into the beer tents (as people start to line up really early on weekends), we figured this is a great way to initiate ourselves into the ways of Oktoberfest.  I don’t want to give away all their secrets, so you just have to go see one yourself.

At this point the rain was really starting to come down.  And since we could come back any day, we decided to grab some fair-food and call it a day.

Day 3 of Oktoberfest –Trying to make a dirndl work-appropriate (9/24)

One of the easiest ways to get into a tent in the evening is through work, as companies are able to get reservations much easier than the public.  Intel Finance had 30 spots reserved for us in the Hofbräu Festzelt, and it came with 2 masses of beer (2 liters) and half a chicken.  How could I pass that up?  Not wanting to wear my dirndl all day during meetings (though seeing people dressed up at work during Oktoberfest isn’t crazy), I brought it with me and changed into it. 

We arrived at 5pm, and this was my first time inside a tent – I was shocked at how un-tentlike these things are.  I mean, when our seats are in the back balcony, I don’t think you can call it a tent.  

Noah and I decided that he would come and join me when he got off work – and if he couldn’t get into the tent, I would just leave the work event and join him.  When he arrived around 8pm, the front doors were closed.  But using his clever science brain, he went in an exit and found me.  And since there was plenty of room at our tables, he was able to order his first beer and help me with my chicken.

After he had first beer (and maybe the rest of my second), we bailed on the work party to find our friends Laura and Eddie – who were at Oktoberfest too with her family.   Lo and behold, we meet them to find out that they just got engaged – HOLLA!

After plenty of hugs and congratulations and such, we decided to see if the 6 of us (now including Laura’s sis/bro-in-law) could squeeze back in at our Intel tables.  Lucky for us – a group of people were heading out and we got an entire table to ourselves.  We stayed until 10:30 – when they close for the night – and Noah (as usual) made friends with a table of youngsters next to us.  All in all – a successful first night out… too bad most of us had work the next day.

Day 5 of Oktoberfest –Oktoberfest during the day (9/26)

We decided that we would take off a weekday during the festival to avoid  (some of) the crowds and really soak it all in.  So we set off Wednesday morning to the Hackerbrau Festzelt – a tent we had heard good things.  At 10:30am, we had our pick of the place, and settled down where the band would be.  We had a nice Bavarian breakfast of sausages, pretzels, and beer, and watched as the tent filled in over the next hour.

After a few hours, we wanted to check out all the other tents, so we gave up our spots and headed out.  To avoid duplicating posts, here is the link to the blog post that shows every single tent.  Some were much more impressive, others started to look alike.  But I wouldn’t turn down a spot in any of them.

As we made it to the other end of the fair, we decided it was time for lunch and more beer.  Many of the tables were reserved for the evening, but we found a tent where the reservations started at 5pm versus 4pm, which gave us an extra hour to sit and eat/drink.  Though 5pm came quicker than expected, and before we knew it we were back on the fairgrounds walking around.  We said hi to Bavaria, ate more fair-food (though my dirndl was running out of room for me to eat much more), and called it a day.

Day 8 of Oktoberfest – Friends! (9/29)

As the weekend approached, we had visitors arrive!  Our friends Rhia and Brad even went and bought the traditional clothes, but I won’t slam Melissa for skipping out (she got enough of it during the visit).  As they were targeting Saturday for their Oktoberfest visit, Noah and I sent them off with hopes that 3 people could get into a tent much easier than 5 (and we had already been 3 times).  We would then join them later to tour the fair, and of course, get more fair-food.  I think the fair-food > the beer for me... but maybe because I can get that beer any day?  Or maybe because I am a sucker for delicious-but-bad-for-you food?  I hope they don’t kick me out of Munich for saying that.  

Anyways, Noah and I met the group later that afternoon.

We also rode our first ride – swings.  Yeah, that sounds pretty basic and low key, but let me tell you, it was NOT.  These swings took us waaaaaaaay up in the air and spun around so fast, I heard the boys squealing too.  And since I am the writer of this post, they can’t argue with me.  And we got some good views of the entire festival from our viewpoint a mile up. 

Day 15 of Oktoberfest – Can’t a girl just get some fair-food to go? (10/6)

After our 4 visits, we decided we had our fair-share (pun intended) of Oktoberfest.  However, I had not had my share of cinnamon-macadamia nuts.  As we were heading out to watch Eddie’s soccer game, sorry, Fußball game, I had the bright idea to go get more macadamia nuts for the game.

I still stand by my decision, as they are freaking delicious, but we had to endure so many sloppy drunks, pushy crowds, medical personnel making their way to another passed out drunk, that we were glad we never went on a sunny weekend day.  And this is 3pm!

But I was successful, bought 3 packs of nuts, and even though it took 5 minutes just to get down a flight of stairs to the train platform, I saw Noah enjoying the snacks too.  Plus we got to see a group of passed out leprechauns along our route.  Note to tourists/foreigners – this is so far from what traditional lederhosen look like, that you just look like Peter Pan in this, not a Bavarian. 

So that sums up our 2012 Oktoberfest experience.  Looking forward to 2013 – but at this point I am glad it is still a year away.  

What is this Oktoberfest thing, anyways?

The event we had been hearing about since we moved to Munich (ok, well before we moved) is here – OKTOBERFEST (or die Wies’n as the locals call it – after the fairgrounds Theresienwiese).  And since we came over thinking this was a big party all over Germany, and got some disdainful looks for it, I will post some background on Oktoberfest for those that find this interesting (I’m looking at you mom!).

Back in 1810, there was this massive wedding in Bavaria, where the future King Ludwig the 1^st married Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen.  Because Ludwig was such an awesome Crown Prince, he invited the entire town of Munich to party in front of the town’s gates…. at Theresienwiese. Only it wasn’t called that then, since it was named after the Bride later on.  Anyways, the big hit of the party was the horse races. 

The next year (1811), they decide to repeat the horse races, because who doesn’t love that??  The Agricultural Show was also added, probably to help increase the lovely smell of horses with the lovely smell of livestock.  I might be wrong.  And what do you know – the next year they repeat it, and the next, and the next, until eventually this morphs into the giant Oktoberfest we know today – though no more horse races.  The Agricultural Show, however, does make its appearance every 3 years – 2012 being one of them.  But it looked like it cost money to go into it, so we passed. 

As for the beer tents – the early years they were simply beer stands.  Each year more popped up, because they were so popular.  It wasn’t until 1896 that some rich folks (with the backing of the Munich breweries) set up the first beer tents. 

So why the “Oktober” in Oktoberfest?  The festival starts on a Saturday and ends 2 weeks later on a Sunday – where the last Sunday has to fall on the first Sunday in October.  Confusing enough?  It gets worse – if the first Sunday in October (the last Sunday of the festival) falls before October 3^rd – German Reunification Day – the festival actually lasts a day or two longer and ends on October 3^rd.

In sum – Munich is the ONLY city in Germany that celebrates Oktoberfest, because this is the only place that hosted the Ludwig-Therese wedding back in the 1800s.  And it goes 2 weeks, starting in September, ending in October.  And it is more than just beer – there is basically a mini State Fair that spans the fairgrounds, with rides and fair-food (German-style, so no funnel cake) and even a Flea Circus. 

So next time you hit up your local US-city’s “Oktoberfest”, now you know how wrong it is!  But who cares – the spirit of getting together and drinking and having fun is universal, even if us Americans stole the name from Munich.  Especially when I am sure there have been a fair amount of Bavarians that settled in America over the past 2 centuries.

Pictures of every Oktoberfest tent – Inside and Out

The past few weeks have kept Noah and I rather busy – we had the pleasure of hosting 2 groups of guests, enjoyed Oktoberfest (parades, beer, and festivities) and attended my first FC Bayern game.

There is now a lot of stuff we want to blog about so we capture the memories, and we are quite behind, but in the meantime I can throw up a quick entry.  During our technically 4 separate visits to Oktoberfest (don’t judge – beer was only involved in half of them), we were able to go into each and every tent!  And for those picturing a simple canvas tent like you see at the rodeo – check out these pictures.  These are temporary buildings, with balconies, kitchens, and bathrooms. 

You can click on any picture to see it larger.

Enjoy!

Here is the map of the Wies'n



The Hippodrom



Fischer-Vroni - home of the Steckerlfisch (and it smelled like it)



Armbrust-Schützen-Festzelt

 

Ochsenbraterei

Hofbräu Festzelt (I realized later the only photo of the outside had us in it)

Hackerbräu Festzelt (Himmel der Bayern, or 'Sky of Bavaria')

Augustiner Festhalle

Schottenhamel Festhalle

Pschorrbräu Festhall "Bräurosl"

Löwenbräu Festzelt (the lion on the outside is mechanical - it roars and drinks)

Paulanerbräu "Winzerer Fähnd'l

That's it for the beer tents, last and but not least, the wine tent!

Schützen Festzelt

A Visit from Smarty

After living in Arizona for the last 4 years we have missed that experience of watching summer turn into fall.  However, we got the full experience of the seasons changing this year in Munich.  We were swimming outdoors in August and then wearing jackets while watching the trees change colors in September.  That nostalgic and homey feeling of the fall season commenced with a visit from my big brother Seth and his wife Marty in early September…aka Smarty!

I was so excited about their visit that I dragged Julie to the airport unnecessarily early to greet them.  Their flight status said delayed, but I didn’t care because I figured there was the chance they would make up time in the air.  So contrary to Julie’s request, I said let’s just go anyhow.  And then as we were on the train to the airport I got a text from Seth saying their flight from Rome was just about to take off; which means we left before they did!  My goofball brother later told me he fell asleep immediately when they boarded and when he woke up he thought they had landed in Munich already (when really they had not even departed yet).  So we got to know the Munich airport really well as we had about 2 hours to shop.  We ended up stocking up on some discounted Christmas décor before their arrival.

We started their visit off right with our traditional Bavarian beer garden feast, catered by Aunt Ellen and Uncle Rüdiger, and joined by dozens of friendly bees.

Later that night, we went out for dinner and beers at the Hofbräuhaus, and met up with our friends Eddie and Laura.  Also an older couple visiting from Maryland joined our table and jumped right in our conversations, and they were so lively it was a big surprise to Eddie at the end of the night when he found out we didn’t know them beforehand (I guess he thought they were our other guests).

Saturday we gave them the city tour and did some shopping.  And although we have done this for all of our other guests, it never gets old showing off all the cool sites and stores which are so unique to Munich.  We even bought ourselves a little Bavarian Nutcracker figure to join our newly purchased discounted Christmas décor.

Saturday night we cooked dinner at home and went back out to our local beer garden.  We arrived to find everything closed because of the colder weather...boooo!  We didn’t let that stop us though and we brought our own food and drinks from home instead.  Seth and I ran home to grab the supplies and we returned to see Marty and Julie talking with an older couple.  We were joking that they looked just like the couple from the night before and as we got closer we realized it WAS!!!  We pointed them in the right direction as they continued there trek to the train station to go home…or perhaps stalk us a little bit more?!  

We spent the night catching up on lost time together and reminiscing on old memories while sitting in the cold underneath dim floodlights in the middle of an empty park.  It was the simplest of activities, but being so far from family it is these kinds of moments that we really love when we have visitors- just to have some familiar human contact.

Sunday we walked through the English gardens, made it to a biergarten that was actually open, and strolled along the Isar River.  We forced them to see the river surfers, something they were neutral about but we kept pushing on them until our route somehow crossed paths with them.  We had to cut our ventures short when Sadie started limping and her natural puppy-dog face became even more pathetic looking.  We still made our detour to Oktoberfest to see how the construction was progressing just one week before the opening (with Julie and me carrying the little princess).

We had a family dinner at Aunt Ellen and Uncle Rüdiger’s charming German house just a few kilometers from ours.  But before we ate, we meandered through their neighborhood to see more of the cute town of Pasing.  We strolled through the really quaint ‘Klein Gartens’ where people can rent out plots of space and are required to maintain a beautified space enforced by ridiculous HOA-like mandates.  The whole scene felt like a fairy tale.

Then sadly, after two and half days in Munich, we had to say goodbye and send them on their way to the rest of their Euro vacation.  Thanks for visiting us Smarty, we miss you guys already!

Gaudi, Gaudi, Gaudi

Our summer travel lineup has come to an end as we recently returned from Barcelona.  We are so fortunate to be here and to have the vacation time to travel all over Europe.  And I mean alllllll over.  In about 5 months we have been to Passau, Regensburg and a few trips to the Alps here in Bavaria, UK/Ireland, Prague, Annecy and Paris, France, Sardinia, Italy, Berlin, and now: Barcelona.  And wouldn’t you know it, just as we were leaving Barcelona our bodies finally caved in and became sick.  Nothing serious thankfully, just cold-like symptoms that took about a week shake.  Although we know we are incredibly lucky to travel so much, travelling this much can be really stressful and I know I am looking forward to several months straight at home.

Just like Paris is permanently branded by the Eiffel Tower in every facet, the city of Barcelona has completely adopted the brand of Gaudi the architect.  And sadly we had never heard of him before this trip.  He often uses colorful mosaics in his designs, and so much of the city is illuminated with glistening mosaics on building walls and roofs along with just about every single souvenir imaginable (even mosaic looking t-shirts!).  Everywhere you look, Gaudi designed it, Gaudi is selling it, and Gaudi is running this town – 86 years after his death.  Ok, the owl isn’t Gaudi, but whatever.

We arrived in Barcelona Friday afternoon and met Sandy and Gary (Julie’s parents) at their hotel.  They, along with other friends from Texas, were getting adjusted before setting sail on their Mediterranean cruise two days later- hence the reason we were in Barcelona.  We didn’t waste any time and headed straight for the most visited site in Barcelona – la Sagrada Familia Basilica.  This is clearly Gaudi’s most famous work, although he died in 1926 and it is still under construction until ~2026.  This is probably my favorite church of the many, many that we have seen here because it is so incredibly unique.  Just like some other tourists from Harlingen, TX told us, it feels more like an art project than it does a church.  But this was just the start of our Gaudi adventures.

We spent the evening visiting with all of our visitors from Texas at a hotel roof top swimming pool/bar (their hotel, we were too cheap to stay there).  A setting sun and a glass of sangria as we looked over the city made for an absolutely perfect evening.  But the real show came later that night when we went to the Magic Fountain of Montjuïc.  I heard this was a cool sight, but I really wasn’t expecting something that rivals the Bellagio fountain show in Las Vegas (apparently, what it’s based on).  I’ll let the pictures do the talking on this one.

On Saturday we stormed the city on one of those big, red, hop on/hop off tourist buses (or the HO-HO as Gary liked to call it).  Although we see these in every city we visit, this was a first for Julie and me.  We got a pretty thorough introduction of the city as we rode for over an hour until hopping off at one of the last stops- Parc Güell designed by Gaudi.  The park is very beautiful and brilliantly designed, except for all the tourists (like us) there!  The imaginative designs made it feel like a magical world.  Very cool, minus the crowds. 

We continued our HO-HO touring further out from the city and trekked our way to the highest point of Barcelona called Mount Tibidabo.  Here we found unbelievable views of the whole city and coast.  There is also a family fun park at the top of Tibidabo, which was quite the surprise, and so here we were able to enjoy some good ol’ Ben and Jerry’s ice cream.  After soaking in the sights and views for an hour we caught our bus back home to freshen up for dinner. 

Overall, I would say these tourist buses offer a great preview of a city (best for your first day somewhere new, or if you only have 1 day in a city and want to see it all), but they don’t provide the ideal way to fully experience a place.  For us, the experience of traveling is also about the unplanned stuff that you stumble upon.  You miss out on this experience if you only fly through the city on an upper decker bus.  Luckily, we still had two more days left!

On Sunday we strolled through the gothic district of Barcelona before wishing farewell to Sandy and Gary for their cruise.  We made the obligatory stop for churros and chocolate….yum!  Sorry Costco, you offer a good value but your churros just can’t compete with these.  And then the parents were gone….finally!  No, just kidding of course- we always really enjoy the chance to see our family. 

We spent the rest of the day exploring the city on foot, finding the best deal possible on our Gaudi lizard ornament, and taking breaks in cafes and parks.  Barcelona is one of these cities, kind of like Paris or Rome, where you feel like you can walk forever in any direction and always find something cool to see.  What really makes it special though is the combination of this city charm with the Oceanside/beach culture.  We topped of the night with some delicious Tapas.  I ordered two Budweiser beers just out of nostalgia- they were absolutely delicious.  Don’t tell Germany otherwise they might revoke my residence visa.

Our last day on Monday felt sluggish from the start.  We took some more strolls through the city and stopped at an incredible food market (puts our famous food market in Munich to shame).  Later we made it to the beaches which were really quite impressive considering the industrious activity nearby.  This is not your average stop in Galveston.  We soaked in some sun for about 30 minutes until realizing that today we both were just not feeling well.  So we took shade under a beach bar and had a few drinks along with quite tasty lunch.  Eventually we gave into our fate, went back to the hotel, and spent the evening watching trashy MTV show in English!  And although our bodies quit on us and kept us from exploring Barcelona on our last day, it was a lot of fun to taste trashy American television again while eating a footlong (I mean, 30 cm) Subway sub.  Sometimes the things from home really feel like home, especially when you are sick.  We caught the flight back to Munich the next day, ready to welcome our next string of visitors!