Slovenian salt

Stefan and I have been busy putting our Slovenian national treasure to use. So far I have used it on a batch of my favorite cookies and our salt grinder is also filled. As I was reading about the salt in one of the pamphlets that was attached, it said when it is used the water from where it is harvested is expelled - surprisingly it really is.

I also bought t-shirts there because I liked the simple designs representing elements of the park and salt crystals. Stefan has been loving his and I'm loving my salt scrub which remarkably does make my skin feel smooth and beachy fresh.

Now I really want to go to the Krajinski Sečovlje Salina Nature Park!

Mangoes + Salsa

I realize I am a bit late for Cinco de Mayo, however it's better to celebrate late than never... especially when that entails eating Mexican food. Also with the combination of warm weather and itching to travel again I'm definitely thinking about sunny vacations. Since time hasn't been on our side recently, we've been enjoying culinary vacations around different ethnic themes each weekend. Nothing beats a fresh colorful salsa and a chilled beverage to welcome the weather and reminisce.

The food we had in Mexico wasn't so great - except for the 'mangoritas'. Below is also one of my favorite photos of Stefan, which was taken during that trip. I believe we had just learned in addition to it being happy hour our 'buy one mangorita get one free' meant we received two each and an additional shot of tequila - Welcome to Mexico!


I love mangoes, so naturally any kind of food or drink that incorporates them is great in my book. I must admit on occasion I do cheat a little bit and buy the mango puree at the Indian grocery. It is easy to have on hand when mangoes aren't in season.

Another simple pleasure is the specialty lime margarita salt that I packed when I moved - what a blessing after weeks like this one. One of my best purchases yet in Germany is my tiny food processor that is used nonstop in the summer for drinks, salsas, and dips.

Fish

Stefan is one of those children that never had any pets. It's quite sad, however he's enjoying the ability to be a proud pet owner. At some point in our lives when we are settled and less able to travel we'll get a dog, however right now we are sticking to fish.

As soon as I met Stefan he was very proud of his new fish that he bought to spruce up his home on campus... that is until Christmas break came. He was traveling to Las Vegas and New York City and needed someone to care for his only surviving fish. That's where my love and devotion took over and I accepted Noah the fish into my home. After Christmas break passed and Noah remained, my roommates resorted to making speech bubble commentary and taping them to his tank saying 'Stefan I miss my Dad'. He also suffered a lot of ridicule for his unique transparent appearance.

Needless to say after that year Noah moved in with my parents and is still living on 5 years later. He's fought random fish aliments and no longer floats belly up thanks to the pea cure. Somehow feeding fish a peeled pea helps their intestinal tract. At first he was reluctant to eat them, which we attribute to his bad vision, however he now awaits his daily treat.

Here in Munich Stefan and I have what he calls our 'fish dealer'. The place we buy our fish is on the outskirts of Munich and it's a serious establishment that is slightly hidden in the basement of a building. In this store they have computers that calculate the pH and keep the temperature and chemicals balanced. It's quite a sight. Not long after we got married we also bought a fish tank and many fish from this fish dealer. We stuck to the fresh water fish despite the more beautiful tanks being filled with tropical fish and corals exactly like the ones we saw in the Maldives.

When we bought our fish we were told they would reproduce. While my parents were visiting my Mom spotted our first baby (that's him at a month and a half) and just today Stefan called me at school to let me know we have 5 new additions. I can't get over how small they are or how quickly they grow. As for the pea treat, our fish weren't as accepting, or perhaps they didn't have the chance to be because our snails instantly found a new favorite treat. They are also quickly reproducing, which means our plants are getting eaten.

As a side note, Stefan's mother claims if a Chinese restaurant has a fish tank then they give money to the mafia. I have no idea where she came up with this, but I find it comical.

Tulips

Today as I was walking home I noticed the most enormous tulips I have ever seen and then I saw an article online about the color displays, as well as Luke + Nan's blog with the most phenomenal images from Keukenhof. Unfortunately it only lasts until mid-May and we are going to the Netherlands in June.


Aren't the colors brilliant? It makes me want to take a flight over the fields!

Back to School

Today was my first day back to German class. I was surprised how many women were there, however I am excited at meeting some new ladies. Most of them were quite vocal, which was a nice contrast from my last school.

While not everyone attended today, there was an interesting array of people with China, Kazakhstan, Iran, Japan, Spain, Chile, France, and of course America being represented. Some people have been here for several months while others have been here for 5 years or so. Whenever I am in a situation like this I instantly realize how hard foreigners must work and how much I should appreciate never having to flee a place due to political strife. I think besides learning German is feeling the common connection and unity over our struggles.


I often find it funny how the moment people learn I have a German husband they act as though learning German should be absolutely no problem for me. I often feel the need to remind people that he works - a lot, and that in order to have a relationship you still need to adequately communicate. I realize that it does have it's advantages and navigating through the Bavarian way of life has been easier due to his language skills, however it's not always uniting since we don't go through that aspect together.

Gradually we do speak a larger mix of English and German, however it's not as easy for me to relinquish one of the last things that is mine. I walk a fine line of wanting to be integrated into the culture here and also maintain a bit of my identity after giving up so much in the name of love.

The woman in my class who comes from Iran was telling me she speaks Persian with her daughter at home and how important it is that the mother tongue is not forgotten. Several sentences later she was being slightly contrary in asking why my husband and I didn't speak German exclusively. I realize I will never forget English and would probably learn German much more effectively if I did use it under any and all circumstances, however I'd rather learn it on my own time without feeling forced and resentful.

It was nice to see I am not the only one with conflicting wishes and ideas about how to achieve them. It will be an interesting month ahead!

Spring details

Stefan and I decided to spend the weekend enjoying the terrific weather. We went on a bike ride and along the way stopped to admire the flowers, grab some ice cream, visit the Auer Dult festival, and of course, no glorious weekend is complete without visiting a beer garden.


My first year in Munich I was excited to visit the Auer Dult after the ladies from the international women's group raved about it. My initial experience was confusing. I expected loads of antiques, wonderful kitchen items, and the illusive German cookie jar for my Grandmother.

Instead I was surprised to see a lot of dental tools, miracle slicers and cleaners that are hawked on TV, cheap jewelry, ladies under garments, and things made from wood. I did find one vendor selling cookie cutters in every imaginable shape, so it wasn't a lost cause.

The German festival foods and children geared activites are also never in short supply at these events, which makes for a good time for families.


This year I knew what I was getting into and had a better time. I also learned this 9 day festival is the largest crockery market in Europe. Stefan was probably very thankful that we had brought our bikes because one of the crockery stands had a magnificent array of white dishes in nearly every shape and size.


After strolling through the mass humanity of the Auer Dult's last day, we headed to the near by Nockherberg Biergarten for a radler (a helles beer mixed with a sprite type soda).

I am very happy that spring is here and that Stefan and I will have the month of May together while he is studying. I will also be studying since I begin my next 100 hours of German tomorrow. I hope I have some characters in my class like the last couple. One of my favorites was Miltiadis, the older Greek man who worked at a paper factory and would bring me random samples. He lived in Munich for 15 years and was just getting around to mastering the language. Everyone has such a fascinating story.

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'.

White Dishes

It's probably jumping the gun a bit to get more dishes and serving ware, after all we don't entertain too often due to having a quaint but sweet apartment. Sometimes I can't resist myself. I love beautifully designed things and dishes are no different -especially if they are white.


When we went to Vienna I even wrote down the dish ware brand at our hotel, the Levante Parliament, because I was that impressed. (If anyone cares they have Alchemy fine china, Mepra silverwear, and Dedon patio furniture... unfortunately I didn't get the maker of the bed + sheets - which were also phenomenal.)

Stefan will be delighted to see I made a few purchases while he was gone. Today I stumbled across a few pieces that compliment my collection... and to think just the other day I was saying 'I think I need some more serving pieces'.

I've developed a new love for the German porcelain brand Kahla. They have some seriously beautiful things that have won quite a few design awards.

Funny how a trip to the post office and bakery can turn into lugging dishes across town. I was also pleased to find a tiny pitcher perfect for coffee creamer (which I don't drink) and milk for tea (another love of mine). It reminded me of being a tiny child and getting the biggest thrill when my mother would fill her tiny pitcher and let us pour milk over our own cereal. Aren't the simple pleasures in life always the best?

Being the Newcomer

Last night we had dinner at our friends Dirk + Constanze's apartment. I love visiting with them although I sometimes feel I start to zone out after a late night combined with drinks and endless German. One of the trickiest aspects of learning another language is not behaving the same as you do in your native tongue. My reactions are definitely off - especially if someone tells a joke or has a word play, and I don't speak as much since the conversation flows. Keeping up with that for hours on end takes a lot out of me. We came home around 2 am, which is extremely late for the couple that is usually in bed by midnight. Then we had a hurried morning while Stefan packed his last minute things and loaded up his ipod with movies for the flight.

Today is a bittersweet kind of day. I'm left to enjoy the beautiful weather on my own.

I decided to head to the Prater Insel, which had a Newcomer's get together with loads of helpful and informative booths ranging from consulates, international schools, and insurance, to tourism for Switzerland and India. I picked up plenty of literature to read in hopes of gaining some more knowledge about the city, and a few free pens to jot down my thoughts, which will help pass time while Stefan's gone. I also love the M♥Dich promotion, so I was happy to pick up postcards with stickers on the front. Another clever ad was from the International Herald Tribune using percentages from one to one hundred of statistics around the world. Certain areas were in bold print to create the world. A few of the statistics that it listed are: 4% of the world does not live in its country of birth. 15% of the world lives on less than $1 a day. 50% of the world's languages have been lost in the last six years. 61% of the world's births take place in Asia.


I always have high hopes that are a bit unfair for these types of events. I always envision that there is an enclave of newly married young women and other young people that I simply have yet to run into. Rather than that being the case, it's typically families and couples that are 40+. My ideas of then heading to a beer garden and chatting about life before Munich and in Munich don't come to fruition. Instead I spent the rest of my afternoon tracking Stefan's flight and waiting to hear that he's arrived safely.

It always seems more difficult to be the person that is left behind. I spend time wondering what new and exciting things he's encountering while I have the small reminders that he was just here. I am happy that I have my upcoming trip to get excited about and focus on rather than dwelling on the fact he's not here. The goodbyes never get easier, but they do make the returns that much sweeter.

Piranske Soline

I am getting ready for my upcoming trip to Ljubljana, which I continually hear good things about. It will be a quiet couple days to myself, enjoying the Renaissance, Baroque, and Art Nouveau ambiance. I'm also very excited to visit Piranske Soline, which is supposed to be a renowned salt shop. The salt is gathered by hand using the same technique they used in the 14th century. It makes me wish I was going to be closer to the Adriadic and able to do it myself. They say,

“Only sea, sun, wind and the hand of the salter are involved in this procedure.”

There's something so romantic and simple about that for me. I love things that technology is unable to replace or replicate that require human hands and take time to create. You can read more about the park where the salt is harvested here.

Sometimes I find it funny how certain aspects of my life seem to crop up time and time again... like salt. I give tours to Salzburg, which is a city that made it's riches from salt. The word salt is derived from the Latin word 'salerium', from which salary comes from, since salt was white gold of it's time and often how people were paid. It continues to pay me!

I am also going to enjoy the Piranske Soline salt flower and dark chocolate bar. That alone is worth the trip for me. They even have a line of body products called 'Lepa Veda', which is the title of a France Prešeren poem about a young woman who goes to live abroad only to miss home. The more I learn the happier I am to be going... it's definitely kismet.

I'm already so impressed with Ljubljana and I haven't even been yet. And I'm sure that my salted coconut oatmeal chip cookies will be even more delicious while enjoy them and think of my trip to Slovenia.

(photo courtesy of Ljubljana Tourism)

German kinder bucher

Whenever we travel we always pick up a beautiful children's book. Sometimes they are in English, while other times we'll find something in the native language of the place we're visiting. I was walking down the street the other day and stumbled upon these two books and was drawn to them for different reasons.

'Mouk' is about a little character that travels around the world sending postcards back to his friends and family. I just love the illustrations by Frenchman Marc Boutavant. I'm always drawn to the maps and information about other cultures, even for tiny readers. His illustrations remind me of the Richard Scarry 'Tiny Town' books that I read as a child, except his have a Japanese feel to them. The busy pages are sure to garner attention and curiosity. Unfortunately this book is not available in the US, which is more the reason to buy it here.

'Noch eins' is a board book that is for smaller children and focuses on counting. It includes the work of Wayne Thiebaud and combines his paintings of cakes and confections with numbers, which is terrific. I've always been a fan of his work which delights my inner desire to be a pastry chef. Besides, what child wouldn't be enamored with images of sweets while learning to count? His paintings are so pretty.

My all time favorite German children's book is one I purchased on one of my first visits. It's called 'Ich' by Philip Waechter. I've not read the English version, however the German version is so delightful. It's the simple tale of a brown bear who tells the reader how beautiful, smart, brave, and special he is although sometimes he feels small and lonely. At the end he says how he runs and runs into his loved ones arms and feels safe. The illustrations are sweet and the story is really charming.

Reading these children's books even helps me improve my German.

Frühlingfest

Today I met up with Brock + Manuel and we decided to head to Frühlingfest, which is basically a small sampling of what Oktoberfest is about. It's located at Theresienwise, and has loads of carney rides and one lone beer tent. I never quite understand why these events aren't marketed towards tourists much at all because there also aren't many locals that go either. It seems like a lot of effort to put everything together and not have more customers. (At Oktoberfest the above tent would be difficult to even find a table in.)


For some reason these festivals always have airbrushed signs with American icons, flags, and awful Cowboy / Native American stereotyped imagery. Isn't it nice to be associated with such kitschy and tacky items?

I'm already looking forward to celebrating Oktoberfest and having friends visit. I can't wait to hear what they think about all of it. I don't think people usually expect the carney twist. Today we even saw a ride that spun and flipped that looked frightening. On the sign it had the universal struck through red circle denoting vomiting and urinating on this ride is 'verboten'. I'm curious how they prevent drunkards from partaking in these rides. Regardless you couldn't pay me to get on one.


We also appreciated the flowers as we walked through the city. There always seem to be new ones in bloom and familiar parks often look different from the new colors and varieties, although the white ones remain to be my favorite.