Advent

Merging traditions is especially important around the holidays. It's difficult to be away from family and not be able to enjoy the festive foods, great company, and different ways of celebrating.

Since moving to Germany I've learned Christmas isn't complete without glühwein, lebkuchen, spiced nuts, Christmas markets, a fondue, and advent calendars.

My friend Emily and I are working on creating a great glühwein spice mix to send home to family. I have my Mother in law's fantastic lebkuchen recipe (Vielen Dank!) - my mom even used it last year and they turned out quite nice. The spiced nuts I make whenever it's even remotely chilly out, and the Christmas markets, well, they can't exactly be recreated. It's magical to stand under the glowing lights with the snow falling and a warm mug of glühwein.

Last, but not least, is the advent calendar.

Germans adore their advent calendars. It's a fun way to add some daily excitement to the Christmas season. I've seen plenty of calendars available, however this one takes the cake... it's so simple, pretty, and modern. The simple typography is stunning. Plus, you can easily reuse the tins year after year and for birthdays.

Stefan has since developed a fondness for American Christmas tunes, my Mom's cookies, my Grandma's baklava, having a Christmas stocking, and blinged out trees with an array of ornaments from our travels. He also appreciates the fact he gets to celebrate twice, since German Christmas is actually celebrated on Christmas Eve.

I'm already thinking of the fun things I'll be filling these tins with, which incidentally begins one month from today!

life is wonderful

Did you see this John Lewis ad yet... it's so sweet. That little crawling baby is absolutely gorgeous.

Isn't life wonderful?

antique photos

One of my guilty pleasures is riffling through boxes of old photos at the antique stores. I love photos, so I find it very hard to imagine how someone could part with these. Surely they have many stories and a history behind them. There are babies, weddings, parties, and my favorite - vacations.

Some are the historical scenes of the lives that cities once lived, while others are people. I admit, I am the creepy person that has photos of people I don't even know.

My favorites are the kids at the zoo or people wearing lederhosen, just because they are funny. I'm not entirely sure what I will do with them - perhaps display them or introduce them to the 21st century and make them digital so I can share them here.

My city collection now consists of:
Rome
the Vatican
Florence
Venice
Capri
Paris
Pompeii
Dubrovnik
Salzburg
Brussels
Trier
Hamburg

I think about how far digital cameras have come and how precious these snap shots and limited film supplies once were.

Now someone's memories are having a second life and making me wonder about the experiences that made them worthy of being captured for posterity... even if posterity means a random American girl living in Munich.

The Secret Society for Creative Philanthropy

I read about the Secret Society at the San Francisco Chronicle and it just made me so happy.

It's great to hear about people doing good things, just because.

A few days ago I met with some friends and we were discussing how in Germany it's not typical to say excuse me, I'm sorry, or to hold the door for others.

If you do, it's typically met with a 'nichts (or in Bavaria nix) passiert' - "nothing happened". One person mentioned she thought this summed up the German culture, while someone else went as far as to tell me once I lost my manners I would be integrated into the German way of life.

3.5 years and counting and I refuse to let that happen, even if it gives me away as a foreigner.

It's really interesting how hesitant people become when you offer to do something nice. They instantly think there must be a catch.

German readers - don't forget today is the last day to enter for the Amazon.com 50€ gift certificate! Just leave a comment on this post about your favorite ways to save when you travel!

Gärtnerplatz

This is one of my favorite places in Munich. It's such a colorful tranquil place that beckons you to take a few minutes of your day and let out a sigh as to how wonderful life truly is.

Even though it was a rainy day, I really appreciated the drops of dew on the flowers and watching little ones enjoy playing in the drizzly weather.

The flowers in this area are all so mesmerizing, but if I had to pick a favorite I think I'd pick the ruffled ones that seem so festive.

Another thing that I love about Gärtnerplatz are the characters. If you're really lucky, you may even see the Bavarian Santa doppelgänger who typically wears very small lederhosen shorts. He always seems to be between this area (including today) and Viktualienmarkt.

He's the type of guy that legends are made of, and alas - once again he escaped without me photographing him. Looks like you'll have to make a trip yourself and keep an eye out for him, but so far many of my visitors have also been fortunate enough to be graced with his presence.

Summer in Munich

Here are a few of little details I've appreciated over the past couple weeks.

I cannot believe it's already August.

We have plenty to do this month:
- finish getting visas
- our final round of vaccinations (The tetanus shot sure did our arms in)
- figure out a packing list
- book hotels
- celebrate 3 years of wedded bliss! (I'm definitely looking forward to that one)

But in the meantime, I love reading a good book at the park and stopping at the biergarten or for some gelato on the way home.

Blumen zum Selberschneiden

When I first came to Germany I was surprised to see so many fields of flowers. Even better is that you can deposit change in a box and pick your own flowers. I was delighted that people here were so honest and that the bright colors on the landscape were so striking.

I still get happy when I see these fields. Often they have gladiolus and an array of other beautiful blooms like ranunculus and sunflowers.

Here are a few photos from today. The storm clouds were starting to roll through, so there wasn't too much time to spend outside. Tomorrow should be a bit better.

At least there was a little bit of time for people to pick some flowers and brighten up their homes during this never ending rainy summer.

Uli's Birthday

I decided to try out my new cookie press for my brother in law's birthday. I love the personalization and it's nice being able to use one of my Mom's old recipes for a touch of familiarity.

The biggest hassle is cutting each and every one of those little letters and characters out, so that they can fit into the press. After that there's the task of washing and storing them, since they are easy to lose, but the results are totally worth it.

The blind debossing reminds me of stationery - which I love. I think they are a fun little way to make a big impact and I'm looking forward to making unique Thank You's and other fun surprises.

Snow

The snow just seems to be perpetually falling here in Munich. I always appreciate when it's a light dusting and everything is still clean looking. I also love the lines and shapes from people and animals trekking through.

It's the perfect day to stay inside and cuddle up with a warm up of tea and to work on a few projects, which is exactly what I'm doing.

Happy ♥ Day!

Today is to our hearts - literally.

I made some heart healthy breakfast bars and then we met with Bruno, our trainer. For dinner we enjoyed some red wine and garlic to add to the theme of our heart minded day. It's a good thing we're married to survive the aftermath. Both from the garlic and from limping around like old people - from our bottle of wine at dinner and work out hangovers from Bruno.

For dinner we went to Tapas Teatro in Haidhausen, which is a decent attempt at a Spanish Tapa's restaurant. It was a 'staycation' experience and I would have guessed we were in Spain. The meal was delicious, but even if it wasn't, I would be disillusioned by the wonderful company that Stefan always provides.

One of the things that I absolutely love about my husband is his simplicity. For example, I love that he tips waiters and waitresses like an American. It's nice to bring happiness to people in the easiest of ways and I love that he realizes this. It's a dreary day to work - surrounded by couples and away from your own partner... or reminded of your loneliness. Here a 15% tip will get you extra drinks after a meal and a handshake when you leave. I also got a good laugh as we were finsihing our drinks when the waiter said, 'Hey Stefan how'd you like that wine?' while conferring with the table next to us as to which bottle they should order.

It's often easy to overlook the simple things. This isn't a day when flowers or chocolates are important. While I appreciate them as much as the next girl, for me it's simply a day to to appreciate what you have, and to let the people in your life know it.

I hope that you had a Happy Valentine's Day and were able to let someone special in your life know how much they mean to you!

Parisian Munich

Yes, life has gone on since our trip. For some reason I am so seriously happy that I can't even contain myself. I have no good reason why, but I will take it.

The weather has cooled off substantially and autumn is really making it's presence felt. I love the brisk wind - and even the occasional rain.

Right before our trip, Stefan and I ran a lot of errands. We were in the Isarvorstadt neighborhood, which is traditionally the gay area of town, when we stumbled upon an adorable little French café called Rive Gauche.

It was as if we had been transplanted to Paris - complete with pain au chocolat and a yummy goat cheese salad. The owner's cute little son also set the tone as he was chatting with them in French.

It was so delightful.

Along with the French theme, this morning I made crêpes and Stefan went into work late. It was such a great start to the week, since he will be away, and a fun breakfast. I always love the little things.

Citizen M's very first guests!

It just so happens that Stefan and I were the first guests to stay in the new Citizen M hotel. We were told as we checked out that they had pushed back their opening date one week after we won free rooms, so we had the entire hotel to ourselves. We didn't initially realize this since there were meetings going on, which I presume were actually workers or investors. Now I have to laugh as they probably wondered who we were as we checked things out.

The Citizen M concept reminds me of what Target is in America in a hotel style - good design that is affordable. Since I really love beautifully designed things, I was happy to see chairs designed by Eames (as a side note the US post office now has Eames stamps!!), Vitra chairs, coat racks, and even my Algue pieces that we'll soon be purchasing.

We stayed in different rooms both nights - one facing the runway and the other facing the highway. They were nearly identical except for a couple small things - one had a vitra chair and a hair dryer and the other didn't. It was small, however beautifully designed and very comfortable. The bed was enormous and very comfortable, which was nice when we came back.

The highlight for Stefan was the Philips touch screen preference menu that allowed us to control the lights, temperature, music, free movies - (recent releases too), and welcomed us with our name on it. Check in was very simple and self explanatory. There were computers set up with baskets of cards next to them and we simply had to put our code / last name in, choose a room, and hold a key up to a sensor. The key also doubles as a luggage tag after the stay, which is a nice way to recycle (and good marketing to spread their name).

The bathroom was comprised of small pods that had rolling doors. There was also a curtain between the sleeping area and restroom for more privacy.

When we initially told Martina we were staying near the airport she was asking us if we were sure we wanted to do that. She lives in the middle of the city right on the beautiful Keisergracht so I am sure she wondered why we wouldn't just stay with her.

It really wasn't a big deal because the train into town took 15 minutes and cost 7€. I'm really happy we were able to stay at the Citizen M and I can't wait to learn where they will be putting their next hotels.

Fondue for two

After a bit of a rough week we decided to enjoy the Switzerland vs. Turkey soccer game in traditional Swiss style - with a fondue. Raspberries always make me a bit nostalgic since we always had them growing in our backyard while I was growing up. For me it's a nice healthy comfort food... especially when paired with chocolate.

Every time we get our fondue pot out I think we should have it more often, with cheese or chocolate, since it's rather effortless and never disappointing.

Something else that never disappoints is watching field sports during rain, like the game tonight. The slipping and sliding makes everything less predictable and a bit comical.

I'm hoping to pick strawberries this weekend at one of the near by fields. It looks like we'll have plenty of fresh fruit for another fondue on Sunday when Switzerland plays again.

Ljubljana + back

The train ride in was pretty uneventful, which I was happy about. I even had my own compartment for most of the time. It was a bit foggy, but I was still able to enjoy the view through the mountains and next to the river once we hit Slovenia.

The Sava river was startlingly clear with a blue green hue. It was beautiful. I was also surprised that the train announcements stopped in Slovenia. I knew we were there because I suddenly saw flags, which struck me how uncommon it is to see them in Germany, because of the WWII history and the fear of having too much pride.

There were several things that I noticed as I walked to my B & B. The architecture and oldness of many buildings was striking. There is a large open air market across from the B & B that I stayed in, so there were still plenty of people humming about despite the rain. The indoor market was not as exciting. I was surprised to see people selling animal hides, which I would expect to see at a souk. There were also people selling clothes and other wearable items, similar to the market in Vienna.

I got settled and explained to the man who gave me my key that I was traveling alone and asked how safe the city was. He asked where I was from and then said 'Compared to Ohio? Yes, it's safe.' He then gave me his business card in case I had any troubles I could call him. I had a cute little room complete with a balcony and tiny kitchenette. I also loved the bathroom floor tiles.

I set out into the old town, which was right around the corner from where I was staying. I couldn't have picked a better location. The streets surrounding the area were very charming and the famed 'Tromosovje' three way bridge was just past the markets leading to the Old Town.

The Ljubljanica river is also there surrounded by cafes and eateries. The social atmosphere is thriving- not so much when you are traveling on your own, but it still gives a nice feeling of community. Traveling alone was sort of strange. I definitely like talking to people more than I was able to and I'd find myself eavsdropping on coversations of other English speakers. Surpringly I even heard several Americans in the mix.

As I was orienting myself I found a book shop and picked up my Slovenian children's book, which happy enough comes from Ljubljana. I am going to have to get it translated, but the pictures are adorable and it looks as though a little girl takes her dog to school in her book bag, however he doesn't like staying in there all day and causes trouble when he seeks her attention.

Right down the street from the book store was the Piranske Soline shop and it was every bit as great as I imagined. I bought salt in many forms - sea salt, salt flower, salt chocolate, and a facial salt. I'm hoping it gives me that fresh glow that comes from swimming in the ocean.

The sales woman at the shop was very helpful ...I'm attributing that to her being kind and not on the amount of products I purchased. I cannot wait for Stefan to come home so we can cook something up with it. I'll also be using it for my cookies.

Another woman who looked to be on a private tour came waltzing in and complained about everything. She said she passed up going to the salt marshes 'because it's not beautiful' and then said that she had tried some of their salt and it was 'saltier than other salt'. I just wondered what gives? She snapped a few photos and bought something small and then she was off to complain about something else.

Andrea recommended that I try the pizza, which I did and was very happy with - so much so that I ate it every day. It was delicious. I found a little pizzeria that served by the slice so I didn't have to sit somewhere and feel lonely. On my last day, when I ordered it again I was so proud of myself for using Slovenian and for the young man to respond in Slovenian. Granted I only said 'one' and 'thank you', but it's a start.

After pizza I went to a pastry and ice cream shop called Zvezda. It was one of the best ice creams I have ever had, which is saying a lot considering that I love ice cream and also worked at Ben + Jerry's. I chose chocolate and blueberry.

The city is filled with art in many shapes, forms, and with different media.

The graffiti is sprinkled around the city. Once again I saw the stencil graffiti, however I was also happy to see some graffiti from more skilled artists. The little monster figures were very cute. It appears the city isn't too enthusiastic about it, as I saw several workers preparing a new canvas for it's under ground artists as it was being painted over.

The large Baroque churches are everywhere and they are distinctly different from one another. Most of Ljubljana is Catholic and I found it interesting that among the churches in the city there were a variety of religious orders. It's not that large of a place.

Art Nouveau definitely caught on in Ljubljana as well. The 'Zmajski Most' (Dragon Bridge) is a prime example of this movement. There were also lights and buildings through the city that echoed this early 1900's period of art.

At night I wanted to be safe and not head to a bar, so I decided to stop at a near by grocery and get some Slovenian wine for the evening. I was happy that I ventured out at dusk because the glowing lights were so beautiful.

I was struck by the tiny details that were just inspiring. Among them were the court yard of the Ljubljana festival headquarters, the bronze city map, a glazed area matching the Sava river underneath a drainage pipe, the colored buildings, the sweet and elegant flower shop, and of course a puppy taking himself on a stroll through town. There are so many interesting elements that I had plenty of time to observe.

While waiting for my train I decided to stop by the Celica hostel, which is a former prison and supposed to be super nice by hostel standards. I don't really have a comparison, although it looks well designed and clean.

The hostel offers a tour daily at 2pm and I was happy to see some of the former prison cells. Each cell was decorated by an artist who was given 500 euros. The results are very interesting. On the tour I also learned that the demolition crew was already at the site and put two holes in the building, which were then incorporated into the architecture. The artists some how were able to get them to stop and over 10 years it was transformed into what Lonely Planet calls 'The hippest hostel'. My favorite room that we saw was 116, because it was very circular, including the bed. There is a dining area, a small prayer room, and the building remains true to compositional directions with the east and west sides of the building taking on the respective aesthetics. Surprisingly, when this was used as a prison there were 14 people in each cell.

It's in an area called Metelkova city, which has a lot of old military barracks and graffiti. Before I came I read that it was compared to Christianshavn in Copenhagen, so I wasn't sure what to expect. I think they only the that could be similar is the graffiti... there wasn't blatant drug use and the people were friendly.

The trip home was slightly more of an adventure than I would have cared for. Rather than taking the direct train to Munich we were rerouted due to a suicide. I heard the conductor blow his whistle twice and the carriage ahead of mine felt the accident. I later learned that Slovenia has one of the highest suicide rates and it's becoming more common place. According to the conductor it was a young man. There is an area close to the train station that crosses a highway and it seems there is a bushy area where people hide and jump out. We sat and waited on the train for close to an hour before they had us get off and then wait for a bus.

I could not believe just how many people walked to the front of the train to take a look. Even worse was parents let their young children walk up and look. The underside of the train was dripping with body matter and I stood there in disbelief.

I am a big fan of street wisdom - those tiny tidbits of information that someone felt was worthy enough to share with the world. They sometimes come in the most unlikely of places, yet give me a sense of commonality and a connection to other people. Maybe it's my state of mind when I stumble upon them, but they resonate with me, especially these that I saw in Ljubljana in light of the trip home.

The only positive thing about all of this was meeting Eva and Sandra, who were also alone and traveling from Croatia and Slovenia. We chatted for the journey home about life, traveling, and America. Sandra kept saying how important it was to live life, which she realized she had cancer in her early twenties. Eva talked about her breaking up with her boyfriend of nine years who then married her best friend two weeks ago. It was nice to have traveler's tales and have ladies my age to travel with. We exchanged emails and Sandra said she wanted to make the trip back to Salzburg this summer so I could give her a tour.

Our voyage took us by bus transfer to Vižmarje, where we then took a train to Jesenice, where once again we had to disembark for a train to Villach, Austria, and get on another train to Salzburg. If we had waited for the train to Munich it would have been another three hours. Eva's boyfriend who lives in Munich was kind enough to pick us up in Salzburg. Poor Sandra still had to go to Berlin. She had missed her connecting train and therefore had to leave at 4:30am.

It was interesting to me how traveling to a country where I really don't speak the language helped me realize just how much German I know. I was forever grateful when I asked the conductor if he spoke 'Angleško', and he said 'Deutsch'.

10 days with my parents

I was forewarned that it would be strange to have my parents depending on my language skills and for me to be more in control of money, since we are able to convert it amongst ourselves. It's definitely a role reversal.

Not only do I find myself ordering food for everyone (simply for the elements of time and clarity), but I also find myself enjoying the fact that I am able to show them around and tell them a little something about Munich. Everything small is new to them and I am able to teach them little things like how to open the door to the subway. I love seeing their views and what surprises them along the way.

It's also been nice for my parents to see that Munich really is 'the village of a million people'. On Monday, we ventured to the Englischer Garten, in hopes of seeing dogs running about without leashes (thankfully my parents also appreciate the simple things). Who else would we see, but a tour guide from Wombats, the hostel that our tour company works with. He's a real jovial chatty character that quickly embraced my parents. We walked through the park as he finished guiding his group back towards Odeonsplatz.

Then yesterday, I saw one of the workers from my favorite Indian restaurant, Ganesha, at the subway. We both said hello and my Dad said I must really frequent this place if he recognized me. My mom said she recognized another woman on one of the buses from the previous day. I just laughed.

These simple exchanges really make me content. There are a few characters that are always standard, one is a big Newfoundland in front of a bike shop and another is a man who closely resembles Santa Claus who wears very short lederhosen everyday. Time and time again I tell my visitors about this man and what do you know- he's ALWAYS at Viktualienmarkt, and it never fails that he has a beer with him. Yesterday he was battling the gale force winds with his entire face covered with a bandana wild west style. He'd lift up the corner and take a sip of beer. Things like that make this home for me. I still need to get a photo of lederhosen Santa.

Some of my parent's favorite things have been seeing the old city limits from the 1300's, the fresh flowers and fruits that are sold around the city at random stands, and the various breads that are equally delicious. Of course there is also the beer.


I was also able to show them the 'dönertier' (döner animal) made famous by comedians Erkan & Stefan. My mom quickly understood why I don't eat meat here if I can help it.




Bavarians and specifically Münchener's for that matter, have a lot of pride. The 'Münchener Kindl' is a major symbol of Munich, and I am still seeing new examples of this through the city. Someone should organize a photo scavenger hunt to see how many they can capture, because they seem to be virtually everywhere. The little details like this keep things interesting.





Something else that we all got a kick out of is the 'erste hilfe 24h'. If you are ever in the vicinity of the Oktoberfest and find yourself needing some first aid, this will be your stop. My favorite things are that along side the typical bandaids and headache relievers are drug tests, pregnancy tests, odor spray, condoms, and coming soon dental care.

Today we went to the Olympic park and BMW's new museum, which I will write about as soon as I get some more time!