Isar Cookout

Munich is such a special place and I can never quite figure out my favorite season here. Summer means hanging out with friends along the river and grilling or visiting biergartens, which is the perfect way to spend a lazy weekend day.

Since we love rules here in Germany, there is a city ordinance of where grilling is permitted in Munich. They even created a great map, which is useful so you don't end up getting fined.

Son of Hibatchi - Our friend Roman introduced us to this grill and it is genius. It heats up in 15 minutes and actually gets warm enough to grill on. It's compact and portable, too. We absolutely love it. 

We use Weck jars to transport and store things, but for dish wear it's sometimes cumbersome to bring actual plates, so paper plates, biodegradable dishes made from palm leaves, or even edible dish wear are a good alternative. 

Here are some food ideas to bring:

- Insalata Caprese

- Potato Salad

- Olives

- Cheese cubes
- Bacon wrapped dates

- Crackers + dip

- Crudité

- Fruit Salad
- Chocolate chip cookies
- S'mores - My Americanness is coming through, but s'mores and cookouts go hand in hand. The best place I've found good marshmallows is actually the home goods store Butlers. As for the graham crackers we use the Vollkorn Leibniz.
(I like to add some knister/pop rocks chocolate to add something unexpected.)
- pre-made cocktails if you're feeling luxurious. The smaller weck tulip glasses are perfect for this.

One more tip: If you like Bon Appétit magazine and have an ipad, you can send a subscription to someone in the US and they can give you the digital version, which is what I did with my mom. It has plenty of great recipes and food stories at your finger tips. 

blueberry season

It's that time of year again. We've nearly plowed through our 3 kilos of blueberries.

I didn't even make anything with them, so it looks like we'll have to pick more so I can make muffins at least.

I'm not sure how long the berries will be in season, because we've had odd weather. First, it was super hot and now it's chilly and rainy. I just don't want to be disappointed like last year when we went and they were packing up for the season. That was a disappointment I don't want to relive.

It's impressive how long the berries stay fresh when you pick them yourself. It really makes me see how long food really takes to ship.

I will love the day when I can grow my own - I need a garden.

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.

Salzburg in the summer

We have had a dreadfully rainy summer here.

Even so, it's still nice to accompany tourists on their first visit to Salzburg. The city doesn't miss a beat, even when the weather isn't exactly cooperating.

Here are a few details from my most recent trips:

The cathedral is finally finished its facelift and the scaffolding is gone. The printed ads for the radio or of scantily clad women in swimsuits have made way for a refurbished 17th century Baroque façade and the angels crowning the Virgin Mary are once again visible.

Others are still searching for peace. There was an Iranian demonstration that brought tears to my eyes. Seeing the images of Neda Agha-Soltan and simply knowing how many people have been displaced breaks my heart. There's so much violence and struggle for the freedoms that many take for granted.

Fortunately there are small details that offer a bit of hope from the evils people put upon each other. Jaume Plensa has an interesting piece of work in the Residenz courtyard, which is aptly titled 'We'. You may be familiar with his Crown Fountain at the Millennium Park in Chicago.

'We' is made from powder coated steel and has letters and characters from various languages, which he says create building blocks for words and thoughts. I always appreciate how art can often transcend things that language barriers cannot.

I think this piece of work would have been better appreciated in a large open area, where many people would be sure to see it.

At the Residenzplatz were the ever present horses waiting to work. Horses always remind me of Austria, probably because they are present both in Salzburg and, of course, at the Spanish riding school in Vienna.

Raspberries

Something that always reminds me of home and summer are raspberries.

My parents have a large backyard with a garden where we grew raspberries. I believe the plants came from my grandparents.

I remember going into the garden and eating them straight from the plant as a child. Our neighbor would collect them to make pie and I would always make my own 'jam' which was simply smashed up berries - no sugar, no preservatives, and no other additives.

Sadly the ones photographed above are from the grocery. I'm still hoping we have some time to pick berries this summer, before the season passes... maybe this weekend!

Walchensee

Today we joined some friends for a nice hike and a day at a hidden treasure that is only one hour from Munich. The climb was a bit intense and it was kind of our friend Timm to over estimate our abilities, however it was much more strenuous than anyone anticipated.

Stefan and I climbed about 1/3 of the way and then decided we would rather spend our day enjoying the beautiful lake and noticing the little details along the way down as opposed to speeding to the summit.

I am so astounded by the beauty of nature and love to look a little bit closer and see the details that everyone misses along the journey. We noticed a snake, two salamanders, a rather large and nicely camouflaged frog, many beautiful wild flowers and a hard to miss, yet adorable, dog who was climbing up that mountain with some serious stamina.

The flowers I always seem to pay close attention to. I'm not sure what they were, but they were very beautiful. I love seeing nature at work and how it is so mysterious and complicated. The insects were at work and the animals were blending into the surroundings - it was just fascinating to observe.

The flowers were quite unusual and striking. Here are some of my favorites from the day.

Stefan and I made up stories along the way stating that there was a mammoth toothpick that had been carved out by woodpeckers and the spiders occupying a fence had their own apartments, which faced the river and since rent was so high for the view not all of the spaces were occupied.

We saw what eerily looked like the face of Frankenstein made from moss, stone, and other detritus.

After hiking back down the mountain side we walked past a family of cows and went to the lake and enjoyed the fantastic views.

There were plenty of wind surfers and a lot of activity at the lake. We could not get over how crystal clear the water was and the turquoise water reminded us of the Maldives.

The mountains surrounding the lake really added to the ambiance and of course having someone wonderful to share the day with never hurts either.

I've been thinking about getting a sailing license which would be a wonderful way to spend the weekends.

Why wouldn't I when we could enjoy views like this? Now I just hope it fits into our schedule!