Scott and I were talking over dinner one evening this past week, and the accountant in him came out when he started putting some numbers to our experiences. So, in his honor, let me "hit" you with some numbers...
Days left before we are home: 2
Days spent in Europe: 105 days
Countries visited: 5 (Germany, Italy, France, Austria, Czech Republic)
Biergartens visited: 24
Oktoberfest visits: 4 for Carrie, 6 for Scott, 2 for Colin on Family Days
First's for Colin: too many to count! (But, they include his first taxi cab, domestic & international flights, subway and tram rides, so many museums, biergartens, lakes, foods, learning German....)
Places we had been previously that we revisited: 3 (Cinque Terre, Italy; Salzburg, Austria; and Munich, Germany)
New cities/towns/villages visited: 25 (maybe some quick stops we forgot?)
Innsbruck, Bad Ischal & Hallstatt, Austria
In Germany: Tegernsee, Kaufbauren, Fussen (Hohenschwangau & Neuschwanstein Castles)
Kloster Andechs & Ammersee (1 hour outside Munich), Bamberg, Berlin, Nuremburg, Berchtesgaden (Eagle's Nest), Stambergersee, Freiburg & Black Forest, Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Pfaffenhofen, Regensberg.
Strassbourg, Colmar, & Obernai, France.
Prague, Czech Republic
Modes of transit used: plane, train, boat, subway, tram, funicular, taxi, bicycle, feet, sommerrodelbahn
Debt we racked up...undisclosed! But don't worry, CPA Scott has a plan and a spreadsheet to quickly pay it all off ;)
Items lost: 9 (Scott's brand new shorts (see Cinque Terre post!), Colin's hand me down shorts, Vera Bradley reusable shopper bag, $2 Old Navy flip flops, 2 pairs nice silver earrings, Thomas the Train & Spencer the Fast Engine toys, Colin's $5 Toy Story sunglasses, Colin's fleece jacket)
As one of Scott's coworkers asked me (thanks for the deep thoughts, Peter Röder!), what would I take back in my heart from our time in Germany? So, Scott and I started talking about how we'd answer that. It's really Bavarian, not necessarily German, culture that we've immersed ourselves in for the past three months, and there's definitely a difference. We definitely will take with us a renewed sense of adventure and desire to commune with nature...ask any Bavarian what they did over the weekend, and you'll likely get an answer like, I went for a hike/bike/walk/run/climb/swim/something active outside. (Most) Bavarians also love their biergartens and gemütliche (cozy, communal vibe found in the biergarten with friends, family & good bier)....but it's really that I think they take time and make a priority to meet up with family and friends and spend quality time with the people they love and like the most. We do this too, and although it's true Germans are a very hard-working people, they really seem to put a priority on relationships and really seem to have a much better balance with work and the things that are most important. Material "stuff" also seems to take a back seat to people, relationships, and experiences that are good for the body and soul...for the majority of people I pass each day on the subway and street, clothes, accessories, etc are more about function and utility than impressing anyone. This has been very good for me the past three months. Don't get me wrong, the business men and women are usually impeccably groomed and dressed and there are plenty of chic-y-meeky (hoity-toity) people to be found in Munich, but the masses are just sort of average dressed, usually in flat shoes, jeans, shirt, jacket and scarf-wearing people.
We will also take home a brain and heart full of amazing memories, and we are a changed family in many ways, all for the better.
We can't wait to see our family and friends and sleep in our own comfy beds!
The last load of laundry is done and drying on the rack, then suitcases will be ready to sat on and zipped closed. Borrowed things have been returned. Last trip to the V-Markt for juice and snacks for the plane ride home is done! German bank account will be closed tomorrow. Thank you gifts have been given and some surprises received. The last group work lunch was today for Scott, and Colin and I went along. Favorite platzes, gardens, restaurants, markets have been visited. Colin has played at all his favorite spielplatzes one last time this week. Only one more package to shipped off tomorrow, then we leave on Saturday morning at Dark:30.
I've gotten so behind in my posts due to having an amazing time being tour guide and hosting friends and my sister who visited us during the Oktoberfest the past two weeks, and we've just been enjoying the gorgeous weather the past week. Stay tuned as I relive memories and post more pictures during October of all the adventures we had in July and August!
Auf Wiedersehen, Y'all!
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Time flies when you're havin' fun!
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
No amazing travel pictures today...well, just a sneak peak at our Weis'n (Oktoberfest) pics! Yes, Scott has on lederhosen and I am wearing a dirndl! Enjoy!
I still have to post for our weekends in: Prague, Berlin, Nürnberg, Freiburg & the Black Forest, an authentic Volksfest in the hop-growing town of Pfoffenhofen to warm us up for Oktoberfest, more favorite biergartens, more of Colin's favorite spielplatzes (sometimes conveniently located in the biergartens!), Mommy's Day Out, and Volume One of Oktoberfest!
With just over two weeks left of our time here, I just had to blog in real time about what's been going through my head as I start to reflect back on the past 10 weeks. And maybe make a Top 10 list or two...
One of the things that I prayed about as we prepared for this German adventure was that I would really let myself "be present" and soak in the experiences and really "be present" with Colin spending great quality time with him as he experienced all the new things we were throwing at him. If I had to grade myself, I'd give myself an overall "A." There were a lot of days when we stayed in when it rained and just watched his DVD collection and ate popcorn and cookies for lunch and I did laundry and probably farted around on Facebook or other blogs or Pinterest (my new addiction!) when we could have been at a museum or something educational, but we have packed so much into our short 10 weeks here, that I'm going to tell myself the movie and popcorn days are fine too! It is Summer, after all. Yeah, I think I'm going to continue with this whole "giving myself a break" thing. Maybe I'm getting older, maybe it's been easier since I'm not constantly comparing myself to all my friends I see on a daily basis over here? But I have felt more of a peace that I don't have to be the "perfect mommy/wife/daughter/sister/friend (now add blogger to the list too)." As long as I'm loving God and putting on His full armor (to defend against the spiritual warfare that ramps up when I least expect it or pounds in harder when I'm already down) and go on about doing the best I can each day, that's I'm OK. Easier said than done.
It's been so incredible to see Colin (now 3 years, 5 months old) grow, develop, adjust, adapt, learn new vocabulary in English and German, etc., and we are so proud of him. My dad and uncle think I should write a children's book about Colin's experiences this summer in his perspective. Hmmm...
He knows the names and/or colors for each of the subway stations (their interiors are painted!) that we pass and use on a regular basis. We've had lots of times where he just blows us away knowing directions to go somewhere if we've gone to a place just once or twice. He reminds us about the lines for the bike lanes or the lines in the subway not to cross, holding hands crossing the street or waiting on the green walk sign to walk, etc. Such a big city kid now! And, he knows where all his favorite foods in the market are, and one night Colin went with Scott to the market and showed him exactly where things were on my list. Truly a helper!
He has refined his palette. Three months ago, he ate none of these things which he now loves and asks for by name: he's discovered he likes Edamer cheese, Pizza Margherita, (more) yogurt, rotisserie chicken, brown rice, Käseknocker (sausage with oozy cheese inside), weiners, Nutella (finally!!!), (more kinds of) chocolate, and chocolate croissants. Since we couldn't find cheese Goldfish, he's moved onto plain Pringles. You can tell all my "rules" have sorta gone out the window. But he eats any and all fruit, and green peas. He's just fine, I promise!
He likes SAND!!!!! If you had gone to the beach with Colin, oh, as recently as this past Memorial Day in May and saw the ridonkulous fit he threw over touching any sand, this would be very impressive to you. Now, it's no big deal and he sits down to take off his shoes as he enters any spielplatz with sand on it. HUGE!!!
Colin also can play games, videos, and songs by finding their respective icons on an iPad and our iPhones....very amazing. He's so intuitive. If we have to show him something, it's only once and then he learns where it is. We have had so many looks and questions from people when we've been out and about or at the dinner table at a restaurant. Don't worry, he still loves mostly to play with sticks, rocks, and sand at the spielplatz.
Another major social/emotional milestone with him was about a week ago. I got stung by a pair of angry yellow jackets (stepped on one in the grass when chasing him barefoot at the park, then one stung me on the thigh when I sat down on a bench nursing my foot!). Colin gave me his lovey and kept wetting a rock for me to put on the sting spots (the cold, wet rock did actually feel good!). He kept telling me he was sorry and rubbing my arm, and that we needed to go home and put medicine and a bandaid on it. And, he told me when I could walk on it, he would get in the stroller and we could go home. He was so sweet and caring, even in my excruciating pain, I was blown away how he acted. I know something like that would eventually have happened at home in the US, but the fact that it was in a foreign country and a sort of stressful situation really did fill me with pride and awe in him.
What we will NOT miss about Germany/Europe:
1. secondhand smoke
2. very few places that take credit cards (very challenging to travel every weekend before you run out of money!)
3. not having a dryer (I will probably line dry more at home, but when it's cold outside, or for towels, or you need something clean AND DRY the next day, it's just inconvenient)
4. the unsettling feeling of being a "foreigner" or feeling just plain dumb, even as comfy as we've become in a short time, not knowing the language
5. friends and family so far away and the time difference which makes using Skype challenging
6. how expensive it is to eat, drink, shop, etc with exchange rate to the Euro (see #2)
7. ordering something that you think looks like ground sausage but actually is TUNAFISH! BLECH!! This happened to us twice--once in a quiche and another on a pizza. We can almost laugh about it now.
Top 10 Things we WILL miss about Germany/Europe (in no particular order!):
1. the biergartens & bier
2. the spielplatz (playgrounds) on almost EVERY other street
3. convenient, cheap, and efficient mass transit
4. history around every corner and on every street
5. learning a new language
6. traveling/exploring somewhere new anytime we can
7. the markets and specialty shops for top quality bread, wine, cheese, fruit, veggies, pastries, chocolate...and trying a brand new something and finding new favorites to eat every day!
8. new friends
9. Scott will miss his morning bike rides through the Perlacher forest; and for me, my leisurely bike rides/walks in the Englisher Garten
10. living simply without a lot of "stuff" in our apartment (simple cooking, eating fresh food, shopping often because the fridge, freezer, and pantry are so small)
Okay, 11. no Wal-Mart or driving on Highway 280 in three months
Top 5 things Colin is looking forward to doing as soon as he's home (I actually interviewed Colin for this and he loved that!):
1. playing with my big train table in my house in Alabama
2. going to the train park (Olmstead Park in Mt. Laurel)--he's an equal opportunity lover of a spielplatz!
3. eating Goldfish (as in the Pepperidge Farm variety, we couldn't find anywhere in Europe!)
4. playing with my friends at church...that means church and school (Mother's Day Out :)
5. playing with my family (shout out to Nonna & Pop, Mimi, Mamaw, Granna & Papa, Aunts Claire & Nancy, Uncles Casey and Carter!)
Top 5 things Scott is looking forward to doing as soon as he's home:
1. eat mexican food (well, Tex-Mex...Chuy's, preferably) and some homemade cajun dishes I especially like to cook in the Fall, like Red Beans & Rice and Gumbo.
2. watching SEC football game (in English!) on his own TV in his own home
3. seeing family
4. driving his car
5. going to church
Top 10 things I'm looking forward to doing when I get home (definitely not necessarily in any order):
1. see my family and friends
2. manicure/pedicure/haircut & highlights...no pedi, mani, haircut, highlight, or wax in three months!
3. go to church
4. launch detox diet (after #9 :)
5. Colin goes back to Mother's Day Out=I have time to do something with no kid attached!
6. regular workouts and visits to the gym with provided childcare, like EVERYDAY, probably need 2-a-days for a while
7. cooking my favorite fall soups, stews, muffins, and things with pumpkin and butternut squash in my own kitchen with all my tools, pots, pans, appliances at the ready (can't bake and freeze big batches of soup or quick breads when you have a small Euro fridge/freezer/kitchen!)
8. sleep in my own bed
9. eat a homecooked meal from my mom (I hope!?!)
10. look at the price of something and not have to convert it to how much it's really costing me if I buy it
Looking ahead to the future and getting re-settled, I have ideas and semi-grand plans I want to tackle...
I've really enjoyed the writing aspect of blogging after I forced myself to get through the technical difficulties with the pictures. I'll eventually morph this blog from a chronicle of our travels, to a lifestyle blog and a way for our family and friends to keep in touch. It will probably become a hodgepodge to document our life, home, family, meals inspired by our travels, future trips, etc. I may also chronicle my weight loss and workout plan to get rid of all the pounds and inches I've gained in the past three months....Auf Wiedersehen, 20 lbs! And, I've got a plan about the redesign (lots of DIY and no-cost rearranging/repurposing in our future!) for our downstairs too. Mostly because we've been thinking about baby #2, and will eventually need Scott's office to move from Colin's old nursery to somewhere else, and there's really no other option than enclose the side porch downstairs.
If you've read this far, you may know that I had a complete molar pregnancy in October 2010 and had to be on a 12 month wait to try to conceive again. So...we're nearing the 1 year mark as soon as we get back. This trip may not have even happened or certainly have been so awesome if I'd had a newborn or young baby along with Colin 24/7 in a foreign country. God's impeccable timing!
So, I've begun to think of what I will call this blog after we get back, because Auf Wiedersehen, Y'all wouldn't make much sense once we were home... And, I need a name that would encompass it all, the only thing I will throw out there is this one: Home Ec Teacher's Daughter. (Let me know your thoughts, gently please!! My mom really was a 25-year Home Economics Teacher in her previous career before she became an Ed. D. and an e-learning, non-profit working, grant-writing extraordinaire.)
Speaking of family, we just had friends, Jennifer and Casey Smith, visit us and leave this morning, and Aunt Nancy Meeks is coming in tomorrow morning, so I've got to get some sleep. We've got to show her the city in a marathon tour, go to Salzburg, Austria over the weekend, and then Round Two of Oktoberfest on Monday! I've got to convince her to buy a dirndl!
Thanks for reading! Guten nacht! Auf Wiedersehen, Y'all!
No amazing travel pictures today...well, just a sneak peak at our Weis'n (Oktoberfest) pics! Yes, Scott has on lederhosen and I am wearing a dirndl! Enjoy!
I still have to post for our weekends in: Prague, Berlin, Nürnberg, Freiburg & the Black Forest, an authentic Volksfest in the hop-growing town of Pfoffenhofen to warm us up for Oktoberfest, more favorite biergartens, more of Colin's favorite spielplatzes (sometimes conveniently located in the biergartens!), Mommy's Day Out, and Volume One of Oktoberfest!
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| Going into the Schottenhamel "tent" |
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| From left to right: Carrie Lusk, Scott Lusk, Casey Smith, Jennifer Smith It was so fun to go and be with friends and all of Scott's coworkers that I'd met a few times before. You'll just have to wait until I post for more! SO. FUN. The only thing that I've experienced similar is Mardi Gras parades and balls, except this was much more, um, refined!?! |
One of the things that I prayed about as we prepared for this German adventure was that I would really let myself "be present" and soak in the experiences and really "be present" with Colin spending great quality time with him as he experienced all the new things we were throwing at him. If I had to grade myself, I'd give myself an overall "A." There were a lot of days when we stayed in when it rained and just watched his DVD collection and ate popcorn and cookies for lunch and I did laundry and probably farted around on Facebook or other blogs or Pinterest (my new addiction!) when we could have been at a museum or something educational, but we have packed so much into our short 10 weeks here, that I'm going to tell myself the movie and popcorn days are fine too! It is Summer, after all. Yeah, I think I'm going to continue with this whole "giving myself a break" thing. Maybe I'm getting older, maybe it's been easier since I'm not constantly comparing myself to all my friends I see on a daily basis over here? But I have felt more of a peace that I don't have to be the "perfect mommy/wife/daughter/sister/friend (now add blogger to the list too)." As long as I'm loving God and putting on His full armor (to defend against the spiritual warfare that ramps up when I least expect it or pounds in harder when I'm already down) and go on about doing the best I can each day, that's I'm OK. Easier said than done.
It's been so incredible to see Colin (now 3 years, 5 months old) grow, develop, adjust, adapt, learn new vocabulary in English and German, etc., and we are so proud of him. My dad and uncle think I should write a children's book about Colin's experiences this summer in his perspective. Hmmm...
He knows the names and/or colors for each of the subway stations (their interiors are painted!) that we pass and use on a regular basis. We've had lots of times where he just blows us away knowing directions to go somewhere if we've gone to a place just once or twice. He reminds us about the lines for the bike lanes or the lines in the subway not to cross, holding hands crossing the street or waiting on the green walk sign to walk, etc. Such a big city kid now! And, he knows where all his favorite foods in the market are, and one night Colin went with Scott to the market and showed him exactly where things were on my list. Truly a helper!
He has refined his palette. Three months ago, he ate none of these things which he now loves and asks for by name: he's discovered he likes Edamer cheese, Pizza Margherita, (more) yogurt, rotisserie chicken, brown rice, Käseknocker (sausage with oozy cheese inside), weiners, Nutella (finally!!!), (more kinds of) chocolate, and chocolate croissants. Since we couldn't find cheese Goldfish, he's moved onto plain Pringles. You can tell all my "rules" have sorta gone out the window. But he eats any and all fruit, and green peas. He's just fine, I promise!
He likes SAND!!!!! If you had gone to the beach with Colin, oh, as recently as this past Memorial Day in May and saw the ridonkulous fit he threw over touching any sand, this would be very impressive to you. Now, it's no big deal and he sits down to take off his shoes as he enters any spielplatz with sand on it. HUGE!!!
Colin also can play games, videos, and songs by finding their respective icons on an iPad and our iPhones....very amazing. He's so intuitive. If we have to show him something, it's only once and then he learns where it is. We have had so many looks and questions from people when we've been out and about or at the dinner table at a restaurant. Don't worry, he still loves mostly to play with sticks, rocks, and sand at the spielplatz.
Another major social/emotional milestone with him was about a week ago. I got stung by a pair of angry yellow jackets (stepped on one in the grass when chasing him barefoot at the park, then one stung me on the thigh when I sat down on a bench nursing my foot!). Colin gave me his lovey and kept wetting a rock for me to put on the sting spots (the cold, wet rock did actually feel good!). He kept telling me he was sorry and rubbing my arm, and that we needed to go home and put medicine and a bandaid on it. And, he told me when I could walk on it, he would get in the stroller and we could go home. He was so sweet and caring, even in my excruciating pain, I was blown away how he acted. I know something like that would eventually have happened at home in the US, but the fact that it was in a foreign country and a sort of stressful situation really did fill me with pride and awe in him.
What we will NOT miss about Germany/Europe:
1. secondhand smoke
2. very few places that take credit cards (very challenging to travel every weekend before you run out of money!)
3. not having a dryer (I will probably line dry more at home, but when it's cold outside, or for towels, or you need something clean AND DRY the next day, it's just inconvenient)
4. the unsettling feeling of being a "foreigner" or feeling just plain dumb, even as comfy as we've become in a short time, not knowing the language
5. friends and family so far away and the time difference which makes using Skype challenging
6. how expensive it is to eat, drink, shop, etc with exchange rate to the Euro (see #2)
7. ordering something that you think looks like ground sausage but actually is TUNAFISH! BLECH!! This happened to us twice--once in a quiche and another on a pizza. We can almost laugh about it now.
Top 10 Things we WILL miss about Germany/Europe (in no particular order!):
1. the biergartens & bier
2. the spielplatz (playgrounds) on almost EVERY other street
3. convenient, cheap, and efficient mass transit
4. history around every corner and on every street
5. learning a new language
6. traveling/exploring somewhere new anytime we can
7. the markets and specialty shops for top quality bread, wine, cheese, fruit, veggies, pastries, chocolate...and trying a brand new something and finding new favorites to eat every day!
8. new friends
9. Scott will miss his morning bike rides through the Perlacher forest; and for me, my leisurely bike rides/walks in the Englisher Garten
10. living simply without a lot of "stuff" in our apartment (simple cooking, eating fresh food, shopping often because the fridge, freezer, and pantry are so small)
Okay, 11. no Wal-Mart or driving on Highway 280 in three months
Top 5 things Colin is looking forward to doing as soon as he's home (I actually interviewed Colin for this and he loved that!):
1. playing with my big train table in my house in Alabama
2. going to the train park (Olmstead Park in Mt. Laurel)--he's an equal opportunity lover of a spielplatz!
3. eating Goldfish (as in the Pepperidge Farm variety, we couldn't find anywhere in Europe!)
4. playing with my friends at church...that means church and school (Mother's Day Out :)
5. playing with my family (shout out to Nonna & Pop, Mimi, Mamaw, Granna & Papa, Aunts Claire & Nancy, Uncles Casey and Carter!)
Top 5 things Scott is looking forward to doing as soon as he's home:
1. eat mexican food (well, Tex-Mex...Chuy's, preferably) and some homemade cajun dishes I especially like to cook in the Fall, like Red Beans & Rice and Gumbo.
2. watching SEC football game (in English!) on his own TV in his own home
3. seeing family
4. driving his car
5. going to church
Top 10 things I'm looking forward to doing when I get home (definitely not necessarily in any order):
1. see my family and friends
2. manicure/pedicure/haircut & highlights...no pedi, mani, haircut, highlight, or wax in three months!
3. go to church
4. launch detox diet (after #9 :)
5. Colin goes back to Mother's Day Out=I have time to do something with no kid attached!
6. regular workouts and visits to the gym with provided childcare, like EVERYDAY, probably need 2-a-days for a while
7. cooking my favorite fall soups, stews, muffins, and things with pumpkin and butternut squash in my own kitchen with all my tools, pots, pans, appliances at the ready (can't bake and freeze big batches of soup or quick breads when you have a small Euro fridge/freezer/kitchen!)
8. sleep in my own bed
9. eat a homecooked meal from my mom (I hope!?!)
10. look at the price of something and not have to convert it to how much it's really costing me if I buy it
Looking ahead to the future and getting re-settled, I have ideas and semi-grand plans I want to tackle...
I've really enjoyed the writing aspect of blogging after I forced myself to get through the technical difficulties with the pictures. I'll eventually morph this blog from a chronicle of our travels, to a lifestyle blog and a way for our family and friends to keep in touch. It will probably become a hodgepodge to document our life, home, family, meals inspired by our travels, future trips, etc. I may also chronicle my weight loss and workout plan to get rid of all the pounds and inches I've gained in the past three months....Auf Wiedersehen, 20 lbs! And, I've got a plan about the redesign (lots of DIY and no-cost rearranging/repurposing in our future!) for our downstairs too. Mostly because we've been thinking about baby #2, and will eventually need Scott's office to move from Colin's old nursery to somewhere else, and there's really no other option than enclose the side porch downstairs.
If you've read this far, you may know that I had a complete molar pregnancy in October 2010 and had to be on a 12 month wait to try to conceive again. So...we're nearing the 1 year mark as soon as we get back. This trip may not have even happened or certainly have been so awesome if I'd had a newborn or young baby along with Colin 24/7 in a foreign country. God's impeccable timing!
So, I've begun to think of what I will call this blog after we get back, because Auf Wiedersehen, Y'all wouldn't make much sense once we were home... And, I need a name that would encompass it all, the only thing I will throw out there is this one: Home Ec Teacher's Daughter. (Let me know your thoughts, gently please!! My mom really was a 25-year Home Economics Teacher in her previous career before she became an Ed. D. and an e-learning, non-profit working, grant-writing extraordinaire.)
Speaking of family, we just had friends, Jennifer and Casey Smith, visit us and leave this morning, and Aunt Nancy Meeks is coming in tomorrow morning, so I've got to get some sleep. We've got to show her the city in a marathon tour, go to Salzburg, Austria over the weekend, and then Round Two of Oktoberfest on Monday! I've got to convince her to buy a dirndl!
Thanks for reading! Guten nacht! Auf Wiedersehen, Y'all!
Friday, September 16, 2011
Hinterbrühl and Brückenwirt (Maybe the most historic and unique biergartens)
Here we biergarten hop to two biergartens in the same night. These two (in our humble opinion) are the most unique and historic biergartens on our top 20 list from indispensable The Beer Drinker's Guide to Munich. They are a bit of a challenge to get to with out a car, so we ventured to find them when we had a rental car with handy GPS on Friday, August 26, 2011.
Follow us to Hinterbrühl and Brückenwirt.
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| First up, Hinterbrühl. This was the preferred haunt of Hitler and his top ranking officials, like Gerhring and Gobbels, before and during WWII when they had to be in Munich, rather than in their opulent mountain chalets. I do feel a little eery walking in. Here's their website with more great pictures: http://www.gasthof-hinterbrühl.de/ |
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| It is right near the Isar River and on weekends between 12 noon and 1:00 pm, you can see people on traditional "floss", party raft, which originated from the times when the loggers in this area floated down the river after logging up river all day. |
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| Here we go...think we'll find a spielplatz for Colin?!? |
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| It's a perfect warm summer evening and it's a beautiful place to be. |
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| It's not too crowded tonight...fine with us! |
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| Get your eats and bier here. |
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| Cool kegs in real wooden barrels and brass taps. |
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| Scott gets helles. I have a weissbier. Most foam I've seen on a bier since we've been here...must be a rookie pouring? |
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| They have a trampoline and a pirate themed playground--SWEET! Colin even coordinates with his little pirate shirt on. |
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| Toys galore to play in the sand too! |
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| Inside the gasthof (restaurant), so warm and cozy with all the wood paneling and banquettes. |
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| Dining room in the Gasthof Hinterbrühl |
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| The bretze (pretzel) had JUST come out of the oven and was SO GOOD! Best bretze we've eaten in Munich ever. |
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| Colin was mixing it up with all the other little ones and having a blast! |
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| They had this cool wicker chair decked out with shade cover, foot rest, and a tray for food and drink. Must look into this thing... The Alabama coast and Florida panhandle could use some of these, I think! |
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| We drive about 10 minutes on up the river to Brückenwirt. Here's a link to their website http://www.brueckenwirt.de/wellcome.html And, here's what "the biergarten book" says about it and a link too: http://www.beerdrinkersguide.com/BDGWebsite/Mainframe.html | Bavarians who know how to mix business with pleasure love Brückenwirt. On the banks of the Isar River and in the shadow of Grünwalder Bridge, this small beer garden is home to one of Munich's most venerable traditions: Floß (Floh-es). The plan is simple: gather together about 60 people on a 22-ton log raft, lay on an Oom-pah band, and a whole lot of beer. Then ride down the river, dip your feet in the water now and then, drink the beer and enjoy the day. What a concept! Of course, if you can't book passage, then you can always enjoy it from the shoreline beer garden at Brückenwirt. This beer Mecca is a little outside the urban Munich area and features a great walk (not that long really) to get there. That's why we've devised two separate routes for this one, coming and going, to add some variety. Brückenwirt gets a top rating of 5 beers. |
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| It's a very romantic place at night with all the lights and flowers. |
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| It's a lovely place and the river is right near the string of lights. We will have to come back here during the day and see all the drunken rafters coming down the river who stop here. I'd love to raft down the river, and though you do get lunch and all the bier you can drink, it's 130 Euro when we checked, plus we've have to pay a babysitter, so it's just not do-able for us here and now. For now, we'll just add it to our combined bucket list! |
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| Thank you Beer Drinker's Guide to Munich! There are coupons in the back of the book for at least 6 for free beers, and this is one of them! At around 7 Euro per mass bier or Russ/Radler, this book has paid for itself many times! Scott, the tightwad accountant, loves this and reminds me each time we use one. It's also exposed us to many cool places that only locals may know and has been a fun adventure and a list to "check off" with Scott and Colin. |
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| Prost! |
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| We are drinking Russ'n--half weissbier and half lemon soda. Very refershing and a good way to moderate your alcohol intake! |
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| Sneaking sugar from Colin |
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| Watching Kung Fu Panda. Very serious... |
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| YUM! Almost for got to take the picture before we wolfed this down--warm apfel strudel in vanilla sauce! Best in Germany/Austria that we've had so far! |
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| Guten Nacht! Auf Wiedersehen, Y'all! We're going to Freiburg and the Black Forest tomorrow so I have to go to bed now! |
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Germany...we may have missed the Romantic Road
Rothenburg ob der Tauber (over the Tauber River), Germany
We get there by the A7 Autobahn because we didn't tell the GPS in the car to take us on the "Romantic Road," Bavaria's medieval heartland, which runs from Würzburg to Füssen. Oh well...we got there faster and we're here! And, it's also the weekend of their annual Reichsstadt festival which celebrate's the city's 900+ year history. In the Middle Ages, Rothenburg was a free imperial city where the king/bishop only had to answer to the Holy Roman Emperor, so it had its own laws, taxes, courts, etc. It's a very well preserved walled, cobbled Medieval city, thanks to a couple of German and American generals in WWII who allowed the city to escape more bombing due to their acts near the end of the war. After the war, there was a publicity effort to get people back into these picturesque towns that hadn't been totally destroyed and generate some income through tourism, so the "Romantic Road" was born. It worked!
Two-thirds of the population are employed in the tourism industry, and it really was the friendliest and most accomodating place we've visited so far. 2.5 million people visit a year, but only about 500,000 spend the night, so it was even better and less crowded after all the people in the tour buses vacated the town.
Two-thirds of the population are employed in the tourism industry, and it really was the friendliest and most accomodating place we've visited so far. 2.5 million people visit a year, but only about 500,000 spend the night, so it was even better and less crowded after all the people in the tour buses vacated the town.
Here's a link to Rick Steves' take and one of the reasons we wanted to come visit:
http://www.ricksteves.com/tvr/rhinerothenrse212_scr.htm
And here's a link to the city's homepage if you find yourself planning a trip:
http://www.rothenburg.de/index.php?get=121
And here's a link to the city's homepage if you find yourself planning a trip:
http://www.rothenburg.de/index.php?get=121
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| In the stocks outside the Medieval Crime and Punishment Museum, one of the first big buildings we saw after desperately seeking and finding a public WC (water closet/toilet). We had to park outside the city wall because we missed the morning window of opportunity to drive our car inside the wall to find our hotel. But, it was a short walk, and the walled part of the city is not that big. We bought tickets to go in but.. |
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| Colin delayed plans...he was running through the cobbled entrance and tripped. So we had to deal with a few scrapes and boo-boo's. We postpone museum for later. He refused to wear bandaids. We get him settled down, watching Kung Fu Panda on Scott's phone, and we decide look to find the Market Square and do Rick Steves' self-guided walking tour. Scott in the main street of Rothenburg with Colin in the stroller with his soft blanky covering up his boo-boo's. And we've learned if Rick Steves' says it's a one-hour tour, when you're traveling with a preschooler, it's gonna be more like 3-4 hours... |
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| Everywhere we looked was clean, beautifully maintained and manicured, and definitely OLD! |
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| A shop with locally made handpainted pottery. I could have spent a fortune...I love dishes and pottery! The patterns and colors were so pretty. |
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| Here come some people in Medieval costume. And you can see the arched gate of the city wall down the street. |
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| Most all the hotels, shops, and restaurants have very ornate and symbolic signs like they did before most of the population could read. |
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| Local artists painting en plein air... The clothes on the line down the street were displaying sale items from a textile and linen shop, not drying laundry... |
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| Rothenburg ob der Trauber |
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| Cafes, hotels, retail shops, bakeries, restraurants line the streets |
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| Buy your baked goods here |
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| And wine here |
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| and a sword or weapon here |
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| Um... "Oh, I miss Jack!"~Audrey from European Vacation when they eat dinner and she looks at the plate of sausages at the relative's house that's not really their relatives. I've been waiting for the perfect time to inject some of my favorite European Vacation quotes, so I hope you get it! |
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| A vegetarian or vegan nightmare... |
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| Cured meats and sausages |
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| hotel sign |
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| THE. BIGGEST. CUCKOO. CLOCK. I'VE EVER SEEN! It had a price tag on it and actually was way less than I would have thought, 8,000 Euro. Just go on ahead and order one for that wall/room in your house you need to fill up! |
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| Colin couldn't stop screaming about the big Gummi bear though! Colin is just over three feet tall, so that gives you some idea on the clock... |
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| Market Square, Rothenburg ob der Trauber, Germany |
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| Women dressed in Medieval costume...some even have dirt rubbed on their face for effect! |
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| Town Hall, Rothenburg ob der Trauber, Germany |
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| Councilor's Tavern It was where the rich guys who ran the town government hung out and drank their bier. Note the four small flags hanging from the windows with the town coat of arms, the red castle, for roten Burg |
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| Herngasse, named for the Herren, the richest patrons and merchants have lived since medieval times |
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| a parade through the Market Square with people dressed in armor, chain mail, medieval and renaissance costume |
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| St. George's Fountain (circa 17th century) with a happy boy sitting on it. See the gutter coming out of it? This routed water into the villagers' buckets to help fight any fire that may have started and also for drinking and daily needs. This was part of Rothenburg's ingenious water system: the town was built on a rock and the founders plumbed the one source of water above the town to fill a series of fountains from high to low through the town. Also, the fountains were stocked with fish on market days and times of seige... It makes me very happy that I don't have to worry about water or food supplies or seiges.... |
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| Not sure what era these dancers are dressed to represent, but it's not far off from today's German trachten (lederhosen for men and dirndl for women) |
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| As we walk down the Herrngasse, there are people literally camping in the middle of the street, cooking, crafting, eating and drinking as they would have in the Middle Ages |
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| I know, what are we thinking, right? I consented to buying him a sword but was shopping in a Christmas store while this purchase was made. |
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| Scott told him this was the only way he could carry his new weapon. |
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| Time for a bier brake while we watch the scene around us |
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| We listen to the town band playing traditional German tunes |
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| Selling bier |
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| Then back up the street comes another band parading |
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| Spielmannszug...not a clue...spiel means game or play, zug is a train, spielmann may mean minstrel, so maybe something to do with a travelling minstrel? |
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| Renaissance feasting...playing their tiny flutes |
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| We walk down around the street to St. Jakobskirche (St. Jakob's church), built in the 14th century. For more detailed info on the church: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._James%27s_Church,_Rothenburg_ob_der_Tauber |
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| The main altar of St. Jakobskirche |
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| another altar in the church |
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| This is why we came to the church. It's the Altar of the Holy Blood, a 35-foot high, 500-year-old wood carving of the scene of the Last Supper, carved 1499-1504, by Tilman Riemenschneider, the Michaelangelo of German woodcarvers. |
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| It really was awe inspiring to see it up close with all the details and imagining carving it day after day for 5 years. We said a little quiet family prayer. It's the most precious thing to see a child pray, and then when it's your own child and they are actually sincere and reverent (even if just for a moment), it's really the best feeling! |
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| They were gettin' jiggy... And the old man on the left--his outfit and whole get-up probably cost him 3,000 Euros+ with the vest, pants, shoes, hat, and the silver coin chain. |
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| This was the very happening Altfränkische Weinstube am Klosterhof pub that had spilled out onto the shady street with people in costumes from long ago. Do you see the guy with a head bandage and looks like blood from a fresh head injury? We could NOT figure out if he was in costume or not! |
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| Spinning yarn and knitting, wearing some traditional local clothing (era?) |
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| Big entry with lots of patina on these doors...can you imagine having the keys for those locks on your key ring? |
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| We walk down the street and find the Klingentor, a cliff tower that was the city's water reserve. There was a copper tank high in the tower that held enough clean spring waterfor the privileged few from 1595 until as recently as 1910. |
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| We are at the city wall and walk up along the wall for a bit... |
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| Colin is protecting and guarding me with his sword. |
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| It's made for short medieval Europeans.... |
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| Once moat around the wall... |
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| another church that we didn't stop into...one church per day is about all Colin can handle...and it's not on the self-guided tour, which has taken at least 3 hours at this point and we're about halfway through the high points. |
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| I admire from the outside... |
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| The shell motif, symbol of St. James, is around town on many buildings because pilgrims commemorated their visit to Santiago de Compostela with a shell and usually means that the building is associated with the church somehow. |
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| A really cool coat of arms...if you can know Latin, then you know what it says, smarty pants! |
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| We skip building that was a former Kloster (convent), now the Reichsstadt Museum, because we didn't see somewhere it should have been on this walk? I can't imagine how we get distracted?!? *sarcasm* We stroll around to the Convent Garden where the nuns grew herbs for their concoctions that they were responsible for dispensing before medicine as we know it developed. Look carefully below the plant markers. One has two little crosses on it and the one at the bottom of the picture has three crosses. These crosses were a system of denoting how poisonous/deadly the herb was. Hmmm |
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| We haven't eaten and there's a booth in the garden for flammkuchen. SCORE! It's like the thinnest crust pizza with fresh creamy cheese, lardons (bacon), onion, and maybe some more cheese cooked over usually a wood burning fire. We share one. Also got an Orangina...it was not cold... Man, I miss ice. And it was pretty hot outside too. I could use some ice in my life. And A/C, but that's not gonna happen until we back in the USA. OK, back to Rothenburg. |
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| We are right outside the Convent Garden near the town wall, and there are all these people camped out in tents, in costumes, living for the weekend as they would have in the Middle Ages or Renaissance. It's crazy cool! |
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| Colin was not interested in a horse ride....and was not phased by anything going on around him. |
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| This was a beautiful hotel right on the town wall. Hey that reminds us, when are we going to go back and find our hotel and get our bags and check in? OK, maybe later... |
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| Walking through the town wall--yes, it was as thick as I'm walking through in parts, but some very thin because the city was situated on a cliff to naturally fortify themselves. |
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| A pretty passageway |
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| The town coat of arms, the roten Burg, or red castle. |
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| The gorgeous day, the red tile roofs, and the medieval walled city reminded me a lot of Sienna, Italy, another well preserved, medieval walled city we've had the pleasure of visiting. |
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| A nice American lady volunteered to take our picture. |
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| We played at the Burggarten (Castle Garden). |
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| Colin got some good play time in, and we need to check into our hotel. Thank goodness for Google Maps and roaming on Scott's iPhone to find our hotel because we couldn't find it on the town maps in any of the shops, in our guidebook... |
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| Gummi Bears on the pillows! Colin squeals with joy and delight! Then he goes and gets ours off our pillows too! Did you know Haribo and Gummi Bears are from Germany? Gotta love Germany! |
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| He loves his bed that is just for him, and the Gummi Bears just push it over the edge for this 3 year old! But wait! I saw something on the way in the hotel that is going to make it hard for us to get back out again... |
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| A decked out kid's play area in the hotel! |
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| He gets right to work and found train stuff in one of the toy boxes. We do eventually get him out of the hotel again after we all clean up (i.e. febreeze my clothes and put them back on after I take a whore's bath) and get ready to find dinner. Febreeze/Gain fabric refresher is one of the best things ever and one of the smartest products I packed from the USA. And, well, if you don't know what a whore's bath is, the name is self explanatory. |
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| Another pretty building catches my eye as we head back toward the main square. |
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| And this bäckerei catches my eye too... Those big balls you see are called schneeballen and they are pie crusts crumpled into a ball and rolled in powdered sugar or frosting glaze. Some are coated in chocolate or cinnamon sugar, which sound better to me, but I take Rick Steves' word for it and save my money and appetite and DO NOT try them. Can you imagine? They just don't sound that great, and the other pastries and goodies look even better. |
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| Sausage-a-palooza |
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| How adorable are those little girls in their medieval dresses in that wagon? |
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| We find a guide-book recommended restaurant, Eisenhut Restaurant across from the Hotel Eisenhut (in the above picture) and get some refreshment. I have an Aperol Spritz and Scott has an Erdinger weissbier. Colin has own delicious Capri Sun, ham that I had cold from said previously frozen Capri Sun, apple and two Oreos I packed. We get the "festival special" that is beef goulash with a large potato dumpling with dark gravy and a salad for 12 Euro...yummy, filling, a decent price, hit the spot! Now we are off to... |
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| Night Watchman's Tour in Rothenburg http://www.nightwatchman.de/index.php?&sprache=ENG Rick Steves' says Hans-Georg Baumgartner, pictured above with Scott, jokes like a medieval Jerry Seinfeld. We'll see... |
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| This guy is CLEANING. UP. Each night Easter through December at 8:00 pm, he meets in front of the Town Hall in Market Square to take THRONGS of English-speaking tourists on a tour of his city told from the point of view of the medieval night watchman, the third lowest man on the totem pole (up from the executioner and grave digger). When he walked up and asked who was there for the tour, literally about 100+ people who were milling about and lounging on the steps of the Town Hall, pounced toward this guy. He offered to take pictures with anyone who wanted, then he rounded everyone up and off we went. It was interesting, a few things not in the guidebook, and his delivery was a LITTLE Seinfeld-esque. 7 Euro per person, kids under 10 are free. On the honor system, pay at the end of the tour. We passed by later that night at 10:00 pm and he did another tour in German. SMART! He is CLEANING UP, I tell you! |
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| The Night Watchman in action...maybe closer to 150 people, he probably picks up more as he goes. |
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| Colin was watching Kung Fu Panda on Scott's iPhone...and the rest of us were enjoying our tour! |
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| It was still hot and there were fireworks coming soon, so we got some ice cream at an Eis Cafe. Colin has ein kugel schoko eis (one scoop of chocolate ice cream). |
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| Scott has a banana split... |
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| My treat is a ball of half chocolate half walnut ice cream with walnut liqueur and caramel in the center, rolled in chocolate and hazelnuts, drizzled with kirsche syrup and topped with whipped cream and a cherry! It was kind of like an ice cream version of a Ferrero Roche. I write this I really want another one. Really really badly. We watch fireworks, and they are really good ones! And, there are four big firetrucks that Colin gets to watch too. It's been a long but great day and night. We get a HOT night's sleep in our hotel room, no A/C, windows open, not much breeze. Breakfast the next morning in the hotel and we're out after breakfast. Wished I'd taken a picture of the breakfast spread (meats, cheeses, pickly things, yogurt, cereal, apples, juice, coffee, tea) and the cool restaurant dining room it was in. We head out to go to the Medieval Crime and Punishment Museum that we didn't get to go to yesterday and already bought a ticket. |
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| The Bavarian King's seal from 1818 |
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| A dungeon room in the Medieval Crime and Punishment Museum...that chair has spikes all over it. And that is a rack next to it. Just looking at any of it would make me talk. |
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| There are lots of displays describing the legal procedure for torture, trial, and punishment. |
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| Colin really doesn't know what things are and we don't tell him anything unless he asks...I don't want to scare the kid to death! |
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| Torture and punishment devices...yowza |
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| Stroller was a no-go with the stairs, so Colin rode in the backpack carrier...at least for a little while. |
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| Drawings of torture and punishments being given out, devices, books with the first recordings of torture in drawings... |
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| Documents explaining what punishments were to be given out for certain "crimes." |
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| These were funny to me. They are shame masks, and it was punishment (usually just women) to wear one if they were a tattle-tell/blabbermouth or quarrelsome (see the one on the right with the tonque sticking out?) The one on the left has bells on the top so everyone in town would hear you coming and walking anywhere you went. And at the bottom of the picture were shoes with bells on them too. |
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| Document and seals which signified agreement and acknowledgement of the law |
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| OK, very interesting things (to me) pictured here. The big wooden thing is a neck violin for two women who were quarrelsome--the big holes were for your neck and the two smaller ones for your wrists. HAHAHA You and your quarrel partner had to wear this until you worked it all out and changed your attitudes. Imagine if Jerry Springer or all the fake "judges" on daytime TV had these for guests on their shows!?! And, the big scissors were for public hair cutting....if a woman did something disgraceful or was caught commiting adultery or something along those lines, her hair was cut. Everyone knew what you had done and you were usually scorned or run out of town. OK, this one I love--see pieces of 2 X 2 with a notch in them? Early form of German credit card! A tavern or stüberl owner would make a notch in the wood for each bier the customer drank, then he paid the entire amount once the stick was completely full. And Germany doesn't "do" credit cards--ha! |
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| More neck violins and shame masks for "punishments of honor" |
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| This is also funny to me (because it's not me). Another form of punishment was this cage which was hung by a chain in a public place and could be spun around...and you know it was by anyone and everyone who walked by, and kids who wanted their giggles probably did it all day long. |
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| Top row are chastity belts. Two outer ones are metal--I cannot even imagine.... The explanation said that husbands would make their wives wear them if they were gone for a long trip or away from home for an extended time. OK, OUCH! And, EWWW, how in the world would you use the bathroom? Disgusting and unbearably uncomfortable! Ok, look at the thing on the bottom left that looks sort of like a musical instrument. The circle part was enlarged to fit around the neck of a musician who played badly, and there were finger clamps that held your fingers in position but it was not an instrument, just looked like one. WOW, that would make you do your instrument practice if you were a kid, huh?!? |
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| The traditional hat for unmarried women in the Black Forest region. |
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| And the traditional hat for married women in the Black Forest region. No, these were not punishment... |
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| This barrel is a Drunk Tank...I never knew there actually was one, and this is where the term comes from! The town drunk was made to put his head in this hole of the barrel and walk around with it on. And, if he was really bad, weights could be added to the sides of the barrel. |
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| This is an Iron Maiden. Again, I never knew where the term came from or what it actually was. A women might be made to walk around with this on if she had done something really dishonorable. |
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| Iron crest of a noble |
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| Another crazy cool crest |
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| Look at that sweet, fake, kid smile...he had just gotten in trouble for running around. |
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| A rosary they made people wear around all week if they were not in church on Sunday. The citizens of Rothenburg were required by law to attend church every Sunday. I'm not making this stuff up! Just think if priests and preachers did that these days... |
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| That lasted about 2.5 seconds.... |
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| Crown jewels of Rothenburg |
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| Medieval seal |
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| Box with coat of arms where some rich merchant or patron kept his personal seal |
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| Another cage that could be spun around. Also, we learned that some women put in the cages had a metal gag if they were a "nag". Wow... So happy I'm a 21st century gal! |
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| Hanging out...ready to roll out of here! |
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| Just an amazing old looking barn/house on the way out of the town, just before the wall. |
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| Auf Wiedersehen, Rothenburg ob der Tauber! It's been medieval! |
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