Kate + Will's First Anniversary

We spent Kate and Will's first anniversary paying a visit to Westminster Abbey and Buckingham Palace before pints at the pub. It was a soggy weekend, so we tried to stay indoors, which lead us to the Borough Market, The British Museum, The Tate Modern, and Harrods.

The city was gearing up for the Diamond Jubilee with nearly everything kitted out to celebrate the Queen's 60 year reign. Harrods had cakes and cookies with her likeness, teas to commemorate the big day, and there were dishware and decor with the union jack at nearly every store we visited.

At the Borough Market, as always, there was such an array of produce including things that were new to me, "tomberries" which were the tiniest tomatoes I've ever seen, and purple broccoli, too. It's a test of restraint to walk through the variety of food stalls before deciding what to eat. There are so many incredible options and all along the way people are handing out samples, which only make decision time that much more difficult. I loved the Spice Mountain, which had some of the more unique things I've been unable to find in Munich, including beet powder for natural coloring.

Every time I've visited the British Museum there are plenty of school children in their uniforms. I love seeing them sprawled out on the floors drawing what they see and eavesdropping on their thoughts. They are so fortunate to have such a cultural institution at their doorstep. 

The Tate Modern had their usual collection as well as special exhibits from Yayoi Kusama and Damien Hirst.

There was a particularly unsympathetic letter from Georgia O'Keefe to Kusama that still sticks in my mind. I got the feeling O'Keefe thought of Kusama as a bit of an annoyance, although Kusama remains to be very much an eccentric woman (she currently lives in a mental institution on her own free will). I have to admire her tenacity.

The Hirst retrospective was thought provoking, at times disturbing, but generally fascinating. As the wealthiest living artist it's difficult not to step back and think about how art has evolved and it's commentary on modern life. He also challenges the idea of artists actually creating the art work, since he often has his ideas put into production as opposed to doing things traditionally seen as artisan.

Both special exhibits were very interactive, which provided an interesting element that I appreciated. The last two interactive instillation rooms of Kusama's work were my favorite of hers.

Hirst's diamond skull is on exhibit free of charge on the ground floor of the museum for some of the shock, awe, and those who don't want to part with the 14£ entry.

After the rain let up there was that beautiful after the rain glow of the sun when everything just looks radiant and the colors are more vibrant than ever. I love that. 

I stocked up on books, added a few cook books to my wish list, and look forward to the next time we'll be back to this great city. We're thinking about going back for lunch/dinner at The Cube, which is similar to the Electrolux cooking course, lunch, and New Year's, except with a great view over the Thames and London Eye.

`ello, London!

We added another travel spot to our annual line up: London!

It's going to be so nice... people speaking English, endless book stores, awesome restaurants, seeing the Olympic build up, Pierre Hermé, and Indian food!

I think I'm most excited about the instillation by Yayoi Kusama and the Damien Hirst retrospective (his very first solo) at the Tate. One would be reason enough for a visit, but both is a dream!

In the meantime I'm compiling a list of restaurants and places to visit while we're there. Chances are good we're not going to make it to all of these, but it will be nice to have a list for next time.

As always, I'm open to suggestions and recommendations if you have any to share!

London Pop Up restaurants + shops
Pollen Street Social 
Zuma
Ottolenghi (I have his vegetarian cookbook, Plenty, it's great!)
Dock Kitchen
Fernanadez & Wells
Sketch bar

(When I think of London it always brings smile to my face, because I think of my mother-in-law telling me about a family trip when Stefan was child. He heard his Dad speaking English with the hotel reception and said, "Das will ich auch machen!" / "I want to do that, too!")
(old photos from one of my in-laws' trips)

BMW Art Cars

Often times people get consumed when thinking about the engineering of cars and don't remember that artists are also involved in their production.

The BMW museum has an interesting collection on display of Art Cars by some of the world's most famous artists. While we are more of an Audi / Porsche family, I have to hand it to BMW for these collaborations.

Here are some of my favorites, including Jeff Koons' 2010 edition:

Brandhorst

Munich has done it again. For being such a glorified village of a city we really have some incredible cultural opportunities here. Now there's another option on the block - Museum Brandhorst.

While it was under construction I always called it the 'colored pencil museum', because the exterior is an interesting array of colored ceramic pieces. There's no doubt that it's a place of creativity. Inside the collection you can see pieces ranging from some of my favorites including Basquiat, Andy Warhol, and Damien Hirst.

There is evidently a lot of excitement, because you had to sign up for a time slot for free admission through Sunday and it's fully booked. Within a few hours time the online time slots were triple the capacity. I prefer to visit museums without being herded through, so my tip is to check it out for the normal 7€ or on a Sunday for only 1€.

If you're not in the Munich area, you can check out some of the pieces here and read more about the museum here.

London's Tube

Since I love subways we went to the London Transport museum, which is directly at the Covent Garden subway (as a side note I wouldn't recommend taking the steps when exiting - there are 193 of them!).

The museum is very kid oriented and unfortunately a little less than I hoped it would be, however the little ones were enjoying themselves. There was a lot to look at, but maybe because I've been to the Deutsches Museum and was able to see how subways were built.

This museum didn't seem as sophisticated, but they did have large exhibits of their underground art series. In all fairness it's dedicated to all forms of transport and not exclusively subways.

The Tube has such an interesting graphic quality - it's easily identifiable and I really appreciate that they have taken a rather mundane space and used it as an art platform. The marketing posters are interesting and definitely have a lot of visual appeal.

The gift shop was really impressive. I loved that you could purchase posters and virtually anything with the tube map on it.

I bought several dish towels for my slightly subway inspired kitchen and my quintessential children's book. They also had toys, dish wear, and clothes, as well as many books spanning all topics of transportation. The shop itself is definitely worth a visit.

London

We had such a fantastic time in London and it was nice to see it with more seasoned eyes.

During my first trip, 6 years ago, I remember being awestruck. Now, after having lived abroad for a couple years in a non-English speaking country, I especially loved the familiarity in language, seeing friends, and touches from home in shopping and restaurants (although we didn't eat at any of them) - I simply appreciated that they were there.

It was also nice to see London on sale for a change. The exchange rate has drastically changed (.90€ = 1£) and even with the 10% price difference, things were very affordable. It was also obvious the price reflection hasn't caught up, because several shops had price tags with € and £'s - but even so it was substantially cheaper to buy in £'s.

Despite the great exchange rate, we didn't spend too much time shopping.

Since we flew in late on Thursday we decided to get an early start and walk around our cute neighborhood - Bloomsbury. It's right in the middle of things and even with the gentle mist it was a really nice walk.

When I visited 6 years ago I went to visit my neighbor and a few friends that were studying abroad from my university. They lived right by Russell Square and it was very surreal to be back and vaguely remember things. I'd love to look at those old pictures and see where the heck I was.

On our way through town we stopped at the British Museum, which is such an amazing collection. One of the things that impresses me the most is that it's completely free, which is how I believe it should be.

You can stroll through and just check things out as you have time. It's great for the proletariat and keeps art and culture accessible to everyone.

We were very intrigued by their large Egyptian art collection, particularly because our guide in Cairo was constantly telling us things were 'in the British Museum'. I remembered seeing the Rosetta Stone on my last trip, but it's very incredible to really think how that one discovery changed the course of history and our knowledge of the past.

I also loved seeing one of the maoi from the Easter Islands. It's so nice to see the size of things and it definitely piques my curiosity into the creators and history of such amazing works.

Last time I visited London was also in the Spring. All of the rain could make things dreary, but there's the pay off of beautiful flowers doting the city and giving a bit more color to the surrounds. It's the kind of city that still finds a way to glow, even with overcasts and drizzly weather.

Even with the rain people were out exploring the markets and walking the streets. That could also be due to the Easter weekend and stores closing for the holiday, but I think London always has a liveliness to it.

For lunch we met up with Caitlin, Liane, Jessica and her husband at Wahaca, which is a 'Mexican street food' restaurant. The food and company were both fantastic. It's so nice to meet up with other expats who have the common bond of the trials and tribulations that come from being an international couple.

I have to admit I'm envious that they are able to meet up with each other more frequently and that they have so many touches of home at their fingertips. I guess we just have to plan more trips to visit - even for a short weekend or overnight getaway the food, shopping, and meeting with friends is certainly well worth it.

The food at Wahaca comes in small portions, which was so nice because it allowed us to sample many dishes that we dearly miss. I still can't figure out why (edible) Mexican hasn't made it's way over the the channel to mainland Europe. I guess we're a little less progressive over here.

Vatican: Day 2

Today we ventured past the Spanish steps to the subway. There weren't too many tourists since it was still a weekday, which was part of our rational for going to the Vatican today.

The area is so beautiful. There is something wonderful about the old architecture and all of those cobble streets.

As always the subway didn't disappoint. There are always so many beautiful designs and patterned tiles. I really appreciate the urbanness of it.

When we arrived in Vatican City, I instantly noticed clergymen and women walking around the area. Some appeared to be tourists, while others looked as if they were conducting their daily business. And then we came to Piazza San Pietro. Talk about grand!

The area was really immense. It's also crazy to think this building is from the 4th century. It's even crazier to think that St. Peter, one of Jesus' apostles, is buried under the Basilica and was the reason it was built. Coincidentally it's also the largest Christian church in the world. Stefan kept comparing it to Allianz Arena since they both hold roughly 60,000 people.

We noticed the line to enter the Basilica was moving along rather quickly, however we had 11:00am tickets to the museum, so we couldn't take advantage of that just yet. When we arrived at the museum we were once again surprised to find short lines, even though we were able to bypass them with our tickets.

The museum is rather ridiculous and opulent. It really made us ask a lot of questions about the Catholic church, their wealth, and their secrets.

Every ceiling was better than the next and they were so elaborate and carefully thought out. Many of the rooms were crowded, so I can only imagine what it's like during high tourist season. There were so many beautiful things to see and it took quite some time to walk through and admire this extensive collection.

We were awestruck as we looked at pieces - from mummies and Egyptian works to sculptures and paintings by the masters: Da Vinci, Raphael, Titan, Caravaggio, and of course Michelangelo. Impressive doesn't even begin to describe it. And then we went into the Sistine Chapel.

This is the only time throughout the museum that we felt as though we were slightly herded through - or at least packed in, since we could linger. Due to a filled chapel, I didn't notice the sign saying that photography wasn't permitted. There were people with video cameras blatantly filming and taking photos. I was doing the same until I realized I wasn't supposed to. Oops! The second picture I took by placing my camera on the floor with the self timer since I didn't have a tripod... I wasn't trying to be sneaky. We did the same thing at the Pantheon and the results were perfect.

On our way through the museum we passed several makeshift gift shops that were set up. I noticed a puzzle of the Sistine Chapel and instantly thought of my Grandma, who absolutely loves puzzles and always complains she can't find much variety. We decided carrying a puzzle through the entire day would be a bit much. Then, as we were sending our post cards from the Vatican Post Office (which is reputed to be faster than Italian mail), we got the idea of sending one from there to surprise her. The unfortunate thing is they didn't have boxes large enough to fit it, so we had to break the box down before putting it in the mailer. I'm really looking forward to hearing what she thinks, because I know she'll be very surprised.

After spending a large part of the day at the museum we decided to wait in line for the Basilica. Lucky enough we were behind a group of young American girls who were trying really hard to be cultural. We almost lost it when we heard one of them say, 'It's just like Disney World - they just try to herd you in and out.' I'm embarrassed for this girl and clearly understand why Americans are given a bad wrap when I hear things like that.

After going through a bit of security we walked into the Basilica. I quickly noticed the Pieta to the right. The entire basilica was very ornate. There were so many details. Stefan deciphered most of the Latin for me while I tried to take in every last detail.

I love how every detail seems like it was meticulously planned. Rome, and the Catholic church in this instance, definitely enjoyed displaying their wealth. And the talent of the artists is so impressive and surreal. In situations like this I think of our new found love of building for the moment and not for posterity.

The sculptures are glorious and knowing how much time and skill was invested to make them makes me appreciate all of it that much more.

I would love to see what a modern day Leonardo da Vinci or Michelangelo would create, especially considering they could create so much without using our modern technology.

Again, so much detail was shining down from above. The ceilings and domes with the ornate details, colors, and patterns sparkled in the sunlight. The entire basilica had a warm glow to it, which was very inviting.

The baldacchino over St. Peter's resting place is 98 feet of bronze. I can't even imagine how long it took to plan and bring to fruition, especially with various men working on it. I'm sure they had conflicting ideas as to how it should be done.

Next, we opted to be slightly lazy when visiting the cupola by taking the elevator and then walking 300+ steps, as opposed to a few hundred more. Once we arrived at the narrow walkway around the cupola designed by Giacomo della Porta and Fontana, we noticed all of the mosaics. In several of these photos you can see the scale in comparison to a person. Unreal.

Once we arrived at the top we could see the fantastic reward and beautiful panoramic view of the city. It struck me just how small Vatican City truly is. I can understand how the Holy Roman Empire continues on and on once we tried to pick out the ancient ruins in the distance. Coincidentally I also learned that the black and gold flags in Munich represent the Holy Roman Empire. I also get a good laugh out of fully understanding that Salzburg aspired to be 'Rome of the North'. Those are some pretty big shoes to fill!

There was another viewing deck and of course gift shop, on a lower level roof. I loved the curving lines of this rather androgenous religious figure. So very pretty! After climbing high we decided to go into the crypt and see Pope John Paul II's grave. It was quite moving, especially since there were so many nuns praying in front of it. It also allowed us to get a closer view of St. Peter's burial place.

After a rather long day at the Vatican we continued walking on towards Castel Sant'Angelo and the Angel's bridge. At this point I would have really appreciated having a subway nearby, but every time they work on constructing more they run into ruins and must excavate. Walking for 8-9 hours each day is a lot. Thankfully there was more gelato along the way. The dark chocolate was my favorite.

We walked back to the subway at dusk and then decided that we would stay closer to our apartment for dinner. I will write a separate post about that, because we had a very pleasant surprise.

Deutsches Museum

On a drizzly day there is nothing better to do than head to a museum. I was excited when Lauren picked the Deutsches Museum because I had sadly never visited.

We walked through the halls admiring enormous airplanes, boats, and tunnel construction. I was really fascinated by that. I can't say I was too reassured looking at the cross section of a Lufthansa plane. Is that seriously all that's under there? I guess they have to keep them as light as possible and my enormous bags probably don't help.

Now I know that with my love of subways that I need to head to the MVG Museum here in Munich. If you are in love with subways like I am, you can check out the Metro Bits website that has loads of information on cities with subways.

My other favorite areas included the arts - photography, glass, ceramics, paper, and printing. We were too late for any of the demonstrations, but it was still nice to see walk through the exhibits.

In the photo exhibit they had quite a collection of cameras and information about how they function. I loved their transparent touch screen that allowed you to pick cameras you were interested in to obtain more information.

It was rather cute in the paper area that they had small origami stations and people could try to build the strength of paper using folds. Even the wall and seats were made of cardboard. Lauren tested her hand at making something (we didn't really know what it was) and eventually gave up.

The printing rooms were really impressive. There were really old presses and even a small area about the art of bookbinding. They were all so German thanks to Johann Gutenberg.

I also learned that Germany was very important in making color during the 19th century. I loved their vials of bright colorants.

After going to the museum we headed over to Gast for dinner. We had a great time and tomorrow Stefan comes home to join in on the fun. We'll be going to the Oktoberfest and Coldplay concert.