The worst looking Christmas Cookies - ever

I got a bit crazy today and made some sugar cookie dough. It was the first time I've ever done this. I searched a bunch of sites for a recipe. I ended up picking the one that only needed ingredients that we already had at the house. I took a few liberties when putting the ingredients together such as adding a bit more milk than was asked for and putting a splash ov vanilla extract that wasn't in the recipe in the mix. I was actually quite surprised that they turned out okay.

For the icing, we used some Betty Crocker frosting that I think is mainly used for cakes. I always loved the sugar cookies my mom baked around this time of year and wanted to try to make some as close as possible to her recipe. The cookies came out good, but the frosting we used to paint the cookies was totally different than the icing I so fondly remember.

For a first effort, I don't think they turned out too bad. They look a lot worst than the taste, at least.

Dawn and I have been quite busy recently and apologize for the lack of posts on this blog. After the new year starts we'll hopefully be a bit more consitent.

I hope everyone has a great Christmas and a happy New Year!

Down time or laziness?

Well, I'm sure many of you have noticed that there haven't been many posts lately. I'd like to say it has been due to lots of traveling or some crazy new project, however, the answer is no.

Since we've returned from our honeymoon we've been so busy with stuff. The stuff we like to avoid and put off. The stuff that's not exciting, but has to be done. Well, not all of it is not fun, it just takes time.

We’ve been working on all those pictures from Chamonix, the wedding and trips and the honeymoon. I know there are random ones in there too, but I’m still trying to finish the honeymoon to move onto those. Nate, on the other hand, has far surpassed my photos and been working on more posters for the wall.

I think many of you know that our wedding pictures came back from our photographer, so we’re trying to pick out which ones to print there too. There are so many good ones to choose from and then we must pick sizes and all that good stuff.

Another big thing we’re trying to do is take a break. We’ve done so much traveling up until the wedding and then afterwards that we’re tired. It’s nice to be in your own house or not far from home for a few weekends. We’re trying to do that cleaning thing, whatever that is too :) So much stuff. And for those of you who have seen our little house, it’s full, and much of it needs to go. Thanks to my brother who slept in the gear/wedding/junk room while he was here, and Jef who slept on the couch. It was a lot of fun though. We do wish you could have stayed longer.

We’re also working on Nate’s stuff. Need to keep on those doctors for notes to the insurance that doesn’t believe you need to be in the hospital. That’s a whole different can crap we don’t need to start here.

Anywho, we’re hoping to get back out soon. We have Rome coming up for us over Thanksgiving and then the Hinterbrand Lodge we head to in December.

As for now, Halloween is coming up. We’re heading to a party and haven’t decided on costumes yet. Maybe a white trash pirate, something scary with a big wig, or whatever we can find to throw together in the house. I did carve a Jack O’ Pirate.

Surfing in Ireland - and a bit of my surf history

I used to surf. Not exceptionally well, but I did surf and I surfed often. My first ever experience on a surfboard happened at Pacific Beach in San Diego, California. This was around 1996 or so. I headed out in to the smallish waves with a 6'2" thruster borrowed from an Australian transplant who was an acquaintance and I proceeded to get my ass kicked by the baby waves. I don't remember much about my time trying to stand on the potato chip of a board I was using. I mainly remember watching a girl near me struggling to get up on her board. After one particular wipeout, we ended up near each other. I off-handedly commented to her, "so, you're a beginner too, huh?" She looked at me and sneered, "this is my third year surfing". All I could think was "hey, I ain't doing too bad 'cause I'm doing a helluva lot better than her!"

Fast-forward a few years. I was lucky enough to meet Markus Mead, the king of cool, the king of mellow, the king of cold waves. We became acquainted through a friend I had gone to high school with and that Markus had gone to Western Oregon State College with. I knew that you could surf in Oregon since my roommate my first year at Oregon State, John Lucia, headed for the beach every now and then. I thought he was nuts and rebuffed his invitation to surf the Oregon waves. Markus, however, was able to convince me to brave the cold waters of Seaside one weekend, one of the more memorable weekends in my time at OSU. I didn't do too well, Markus broke the fin on my rented Hammer board, but damn was it a good time! Markus had me hooked. We surfed a few more times before I graduated and finally headed off to Hawaii. I ended up on the North Shore of Oahu, the Shangri La and surfing nirvana of the world. I wasn't a good surfer when I arrived and wasn't that great when I left. But I surfed a lot. And I learned a lot. A lot. One of my favorite scars is from a reef cut I sustained near Waimea Bay on my pinky finger. It runs the whole length of the finger and the finger doesn't bend quite right anymore. I cherish that scar for the memories it brings back.

After Hawaii, I headed for Japan. The waves where I lived weren't great, but we were out there any time there was a swell. I surfed my first blizzard in Japan. I surfed 32 degree water in Japan. I learned how to ride a longboard in steep beach break pretty darn well while in Japan. My roommate and I lived right on the beach and we surfed every opportunity we could. We'd get up at 3:30am right when dawn was breaking to surf before work. Some of our best sessions were in these early hours. The land of the rising sun, indeed.

After Japan I landed smack-dab in the middle of Alaska. I toted three surfboards and three wetsuits along with me. I did paddle out in Cordova on a 1 foot day and we did paddle my boards down the Salcha River in front of my cabin - my only contact with my surfboards while I lived there. I then ended up dragging two of my boards and the wetsuits to Germany with me. For what reason? I don't know. Nostalgia? Afraid to let go of the past? Hope for the future? Germany isn't exactly a hotbed of surfing, but I wanted to bring my boards along anyway. I still haven't touched them since living here, but finally, FINALLY, I got to taste some salt water again - in Ireland.

While in Ireland, Dawn and I met up with Markus and his new wife, Jennifer. It was their honeymoon too, and Markus had put surfing on the backburner on this trip. A smart move, if I may say, because Markus can be described as an ex-surfing junky. Oh, he's still addicted, and boy can he surf, but I think he's become aware of when the surf best suits him and when he is best suited to surf. Markus' friend Mark, a resident of Derry and surely a crazy Irish surf addict himself, tried his best to lure us on a trip down south in a borrowed camper to catch some epic waves while we were there. One problem - this was the day after the epic music/drinking/party night at McGrorys and none of us wanted anything to do with it. Instead, we all settled on driving to Portaleen, a beautiful beach that was catching some nice waves just to the west of Culdaff where we were staying. I immediately broke out the camera when we got there, Dawn and I trailing the others as they headed to get suited up and to get some waves. After walking the beach for a bit, Dawn and I joined up with the group, finding most of them in the water. Sinead, with her bad shoulder, had gone for a run. We found Mark in his Landrover reading 'In to the Wild' which we had given to him and Sinead earlier that day. A book better than nice waist-high peelers? It's one of my favorites too, so I understood.

Dawn and I had no surf gear, and frankly, I was a bit wary of paddling out due to my messed up knee. However, the weather was nice, the air was warm and the waves looked damn tasty. Dawn had tried surfing before, also in San Diego, and was gung-ho to go out and give it a shot in Ireland. Luckily, Carey had a suit and there were plenty of boards for Dawn to use. Mark also had an extra suit for me but I was hesitant. Once Dawn got out there, though, I had to go in. She can make almost anything look fun. Watching her in the surf reminded me of what I was missing and the joy I used to feel when a wave hits you in the chest and knocks you over. I suited up as fast as I could - too fast, in fact - and put Mark's suit on backwards. I went out anyway. Just being in the water again was enough for me that day. I'd taken my pictures, documented the fun everyone was having, and got wet again. It was enough for me. The best part was seeing the smile on Dawn's face and realizing just how much we really do have in common. When you see pure happiness it's really easy to recognize - she was there.

For pictures from this day, go HERE There are also some random pictures HERE

On Monday of our trip, we didn't have a lot planned. The night before, Markus and I decided that we should attempt a dawn patrol session and Dawn and I agreed to meet him at 7am the next morning. I think we all kind of forgot that we were at 55 degrees north latitude and that it wouldn't get light until 7:30am or so. Plus, the weather wasn't looking too good. But, we eventually headed down to the port of Culdaff finding the winds favorable and the waves not too bad. Where we first checked, although not large, the waves looked a bit menacing and there were a lot of rips forming on the beach. Markus ran up the beach (literally) to check the river mouth, ran back, and reported that it looked good there and that the waves weren't quite as mean looking. He could have handled any wave on that beach with ease, but I’m happy he stuck with us.

After a five minute walk down to the river mouth, I concurred with his assessment that things looked good. Markus and I paddled out while Dawn took the boogie board out to mess around in the shorebreak. Markus and I had some good chats while sitting in the water and it felt GREAT to be out there with him again. We laughed and smiled and enjoyed watching Dawn play on the inside on here booger - she was having a blast. Markus caught wave after wave while I struggled, holding back knowing my knee wouldn't hold me on a quick pop-up. At one point, being the dumbass that I am, I popped up normally and had my knee quickly buckle on me sending me straight in to the water. I didn't say anything at the time, even after being asked by Markus and Dawn if I was okay, but I was hurting. I eventually conceded the board to Dawn, giving her a chance at doing some real surfing while I took the boogie board to play around inside. This actually hurt worse than surfing. I was getting frustrated - I just wanted to catch one wave, relive the old feeling of gliding down the face, getting one decent wave in Ireland. I finally coaxed the board back from Dawn, ready to give it one last go. Bad idea. I DID catch a wave and I DID get a short ride and I DID catch a surfboard to the head. After getting thwacked, my first thought was my recently repaired broken jaw. I was a bit dazed but realized nothing was out of the ordinary until I heard Dawn scream. I was apparently bleeding pretty badly from a cut just above my left eyebrow. Markus, in his infinite wisdom repeated the old idiom to me – ‘Just one more is never a good idea’. As previously stated, I ‘m a dumbass…..

We headed back to the car, went back to the River House, had Jennifer perform some triage and then left for the hospital in Carndonagh. Thirty minutes in, some glue and a bandage and 40 Euros later and all was well with the world. My head hurt and that's what everyone seemed concerned with. Truthfully, my knee was hurting way worse than my head. So it goes.

Anyway, I've now got my Ireland souvenir, something better than any tattoo and something that will always bring up good memories. Kind of like my pinky scar from Hawaii. It could have been much worse if the board had hit me an inch or two lower on the head. Finally, a stroke of luck for me in a warped, sadistic sense. But damn, it was all worth it.

What's the Craic? Our Honeymoon in Ireland

Disclaimer: This may upset some sensitive types out there or people who lick the Queen's boots, but in this post when I refer to Ireland, it will generally mean both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland as a whole. We were back and forth between the countries numerous times, often in the same day. So, instead of typing 'The Republic of Ireland" or "Northern Ireland", I'm just going to use "Ireland." If the cause calls for it, I will specifically refer to the country proper.
-------------------

Ah, Ireland. The home of leprechauns, fairies, billions of sheep, rainbows, potatoes and Guinness Stout. It's also home to some of the nicest, most friendly people that you will ever meet. Ireland and Northern Island sit on a wee island in the eastern Atlantic Ocean, a stones throw from Scotland, Wales and England - and I mean this literally. This isn't bravado talking and I'm not taking a piss at the size of the country, but I'm pretty sure that I could hit Portpatrick in Scotland with a stone thrown from Donaghadee in Northern Ireland. But anyway, back to the people being nice. I have traveled here and there, been around the block as they say, and I have not met a nicer people than those I've found on the green isle of Ireland. Helpful, accommodating, generous, funny, fun-loving, polite - these are just a few words to describe the people who live there. God, what a pleasant change after living in Germany the last few years!

If there is one downfall to the island, it's the wetness of the place. Yes, it rains in Ireland - a lot! And it's often grey and blustery to boot. Now, I'm only basing this off of 10 days of being in country and a three day trip to Dublin back in May, but from my personal observations and what I've gathered from the locals, a 'nice' day is when it's not raining sideways and the wind is below 20 knots. But, the dampness and the clouds - it's different in Ireland. The landscape is perfectly built for such weather, soaking up the rain, producing vistas draped with bright green carpets of grasses and bushes. It is surprising, that in such a supposedly dreary place, just how bright things are. It also helps that the locals are used to this type of weather and don't let it affect their lives. I've been to many places where a few raindrops or even a threat of dampness drives everyone indoors and off of the streets. This is not so in Ireland, where the possibility of rain on any given day is almost a sure thing. Life goes on, even when it rains, and the Irish deal with what weather conditions they have better than most and more cheerfully than anyone.

We arrived in Belfast and the weather was as expected - Drizzly, windy and grey. Ahead of us was an hour and a half drive in our rental vehicle, a nice Landrover, to Culdaff located in Country Donegal, Republic of Ireland. For the driving portion of our trip, we brought along our trusty navigation system hoping that it would direct us to Culdaff with no problems. There are basically two routes to Culdaff from Belfast. One involves driving to Derry and then north up the peninsula while the other follows the coastline which eventually leads to a Ferry crossing of Lough Foyle and is the most direct way. From what I had researched on the internet, I was pretty sure that the route to Derry would be the best choice since the roads were supposedly better and more well-traveled. I needed something easy, something to bolster my confidence of driving on the 'wrong' side of the road. Our GPS unit would have none of it, however. I tried to trick it by following signs to Derry, ignoring the directions to 'go 1.5km and make a U-turn' to get us back on the GPS's preferred path – the shortest route. Eventually, the GPS won. At one point, I had no clue where we were and no signs for Derry had been observed for at least a half an hour. Much to our demise, we found ourselves at a Ferry dock, ready to shell out the 12 Euros for the crossing. But, as often happens in these moments, serendipity struck and we ended up eating one of the best hamburgers we've ever had in Europe. The small restaurant next to the dock provided the food and luckily we had enough time between Ferries for Dawn to run over and get a burger to go.

That night we met up with my good friend Markus and his new wife Jennifer at the River House in Culdaff, the cottage they were staying in for their visit. We had a good, albeit short, visit with them before deciding to turn in for the night. Dawn and I were still very tired from the wedding activities of the previous week and needed a good night’s rest knowing that the next day would be a busy one. I didn't end up sleeping quite as long as I would have liked, but felt refreshed the next morning and relished in having a lazy morning reading the newspaper and generally relaxing before everyone else awoke. When everyone was finally up, showered and we had some food in our bellies, we discussed what we were going to do during the day. We decided on doing some hiking along the coast and visiting some areas where Markus had not been on previous trips. As soon as we were geared up and ready to leave, there was a knock on the door. It was Mark Patterson, an old friend of Markus's, who had driven down from Derry with his girlfriend Sinead to see what we were up to. Our plans were immediately set aside as Mark had shown up with some fresh lamb that needed to be prepared for the evening’s meal. He also wanted to give us a tour of some local megalithic ruins in the area and we jumped at the opportunity. We ended up visiting four or five sites, all beautiful and haunting reminders of times past in Ireland. For a while, I even thought we were on a hunt for whales. It turns out, we were looking for old wells, something I would embarrassingly learn later after my Irish accent translator was tuned in better.

That evening we ate a fantastic meal of fresh lamb and what seemed like 20 side dishes. Josh and Carrie, two Yanks living and working in Belfast and long-time acquaintances of Markus, also joined us for dinner. There were plenty of laughs to go around - as they say in Ireland, the craic was good! After enjoying the meal and gulping down pints of cider and glasses of wine, we headed over to McGrorys, a local Inn and Pub that often hosts fantastic musical acts and concerts. That night, an Irish band was playing, a well-known act in the country that we were very lucky to be seeing during our stay. The concert was great, but what happened afterword in the pub was even better. On Friday nights at McGrorys, musicians gather to 'jam' in the pub, playing old classic Irish songs and also freestyling, playing whatever comes to them in that moment of inspiration. On this Friday night, not only were there the usual musicians, but members from the band that played that night also joined in. Mark joined in the musical melee on guitar and Sinead picked up the Bodhran, an Irish drum, banging away, both of them truly enjoying themselves and doing a damn good job of keeping up with the others. As the night wore on, pint upon pint of Guinness and Cider were consumed and eventually, the Irish whiskey made an appearance. After a couple of shots, I knew I was done for and finally headed up to our room in McGrorys (Dawn and I checked in earlier that day) around 4am. Mark and Sinead had shown us a great day and they had plans for us the next day, too. I was a bit afraid of what those plans would be considering a few of us got fairly pissed (drunk) and had gone to bed so late.
------------------------------

This post is turning out a bit longer than I thought it would. I'll get on with the rest of it tomorrow. I may even have to divide it up in to a few sections. We experienced so much on our trip that I'd hate to leave anything out. Tomorrow - our surf experiences in Ireland. It only resulted in one hospital visit and I will now have a nice souvenir from our trip (it's not that bad - promise!).

What a Great Time...

Wow! What a trip this has all been. Last night was had dinner with most people for the last time before we all venture to our next stop on the trip. Many will be heading to the airport and home, while a few are headed for another week or so of adventure, and we'll be going on our honeymoon. The week of hopefully fun filled excitement and travel are over and I think we've all made the most of every minute we've had.

It all started last week, as everyone came to Germany on Thursday. With and interesting adventure of travel for everyone, they all arrived. Thirteen people came by train, lead by Nate's brother Jef, and the others got rides from Nate and I. You'd think I could fit more people in my little Golf... :)

After what you'd think would be an early night and some cake construction, many traveled to Regensburg for a quick tour around town, then back for a BBQ. It was great getting to talk to everyone and have everyone meet each other and just blend together like a bunch of Midwesterners. Oh wait, I guess we did all come from the Midwest, so we seemed as one big family.

The wedding came and went off without a hitch. I tried to hide from Nate all morning, since he hadn't seen the dress or knew that I had a veil. We got everyone packed into the castle and dressed, que the music and here we go. We walked into the room and I thought we were followed by the paparazzi. This has got to be the most photographed wedding since any in Hollywood. A wall of cameras met us as we walked down the aisle, with at least 2 video cameras in there too.

By the end of the ceremony, we'd asked to remain standing instead of sit for the vows, Kyle had flicked an ant off of me, Jef looked for the ring, my ring got stuck, and the officiant had asked the photographer to come from where he was to get a picture of us kissing. It really was a great ceremony and we laughed as Nate and I understood some of the German that was being translated, which literally stated we would now be "infected with rings."

The reception was great. We had 50 people come to eat, drink and be merry. Lucille found Bailey's, we took shots, Nate couldn't resist taking pictures anymore and I made Chris dance to another embarrassing song -which is what I must do at every wedding, it's tradition. I think mom drank 5 entire bottles of wine, but she was having a good time. She not only danced till the bus came at the end of the night, but was dancing again in the morning and ready to go.

Next morning we had everyone head to Rothenburg ob der Tauber. What a beautiful city. This time we were there earlier and sent people in a few directions for views and shops. This was another day of train riding, but everyone seemed to be getting the hang of it, and it's a deal for 19 people traveling together. Osu even liked it, although some jerk made us buy him a train ticket, even though we were told he didn't need one. So, after Osu paid, we let him sit on the seat and he watched out the window. Of course he thinks he's one of us.

Monday we planned to go to Munich, but trains were running late due to Oktoberfest. We decided that Passau or Nurnberg would be best and the Passau train came as we were deciding, so we all got on the train to Passau. This was a longer ride, so some took naps, as travel was starting to wear on us. Many walked through town and bought more gifts, while others sat in beer gardens and watched the boats go by. Another train ride back home and Tuesday was a break day.

Tuesday I drove Kyle, Chris, Andy and Jef to the airport and got them headed home. It was strange to have our house empty after the few days we all spent together. We had a good time drinking on a Sunday night, breakfasts and goofiness at night as we are all tired. Nate opened the Atwood Travel Agency that day and I began the changing of my documents.

Wednesday we got everyone sent off to Nurnberg on the Diane and Dale Tours. The double 'F' Jeff had gone the day before and scoped it out for the day. It sounded like everyone had a good time. Nate and I ran errands and did a little more paperwork and packed for our honeymoon. We had one last dinner together and said our goodbyes. It was a great night!

We're so happy that you could all come to our wedding. It meant so much to us and we had a blast with you all. Before we all left it was if we were all one big family. We shared breakfasts, jokes, walks, dinners, and all our treats with each other. We couldn't have asked fore better family and friends!

So now, we head to Ireland. In just an hour we'll be leaving our house to drop off Osu and head to the airport. Maybe we'll even run into a couple people in the group. We look forward to seeing you all again soon, and hopefully get home to see everyone else too :D We Love You!!

One More Week...

So, here we are. One more week until the 'Big Day.' It seems time, until this point, had been moving slowly. Outside three weeks till the wedding, we worked on little things and met with vendors. Things were a little more...leisurely. Now, we're going "Oh, crap."

Nothing is out of control or in great need of assistance, just ...it's almost here. Those last little things we have to do are all coming, and the list has been growing. Granted, not everything on the list is for the wedding or visitors either. We have some work things to finish up, cabin stuff, honeymoon, name changing, doctor stuff we must submit ourselves, car stuff, and ski club stuff. At least we can spread it out between the two of us. Osu doesn't help out with mush around the house, but he is good at cleaning the kitchen floor if something is spilled.

We're anticipating a few visitors soon too. Next Thursday, we'll have 17 people coming to Germany. Plans to head to a few cities, and all hang out are upon us. There is a wedding in there somewhere too :) Although, it will be interesting as we do not yet know how it will really go, just a guess. A plan is a plan, and that's where we'll start.

So, hope those of you coming are all getting packed. Just checked the weather and it looks like 60s and 70s for the week you're here. Possibly some rain too, so be ready. The weather does change frequently, so we'll give you an update over the weekend. German sites are hard to predict, but usually change a lot unitl three days out. For those who can't come, we'll have good pictures. And now, back to lists...

Chamonix, France - Days 2 and 3

We were too tired yesterday to post anything from the hotel last night. Yesterday was a busy, yet very rewarding day. This morning we got up at 6am and were out of the hotel by 7am or so. We then stopped in a parking lot in Chamonix under the Augille du Midi and had a quick breakfast of some leftover baguette, cheese and sausage plus a banana thrown in for a little healthy balance. This was also a good spot to let Osu do his morning thing before we hit the road.

So, we just got home a short while ago after 10 hours or so on the road. We took a different route back and the scenery was AMAZING through the northern reaches of France and and all of Switzerland. We made a lot of stops to take pictures, check out the scenery and to stretch our legs in the warm and sunny Alps. The drive back was great until we hit Germany. It's always kind of a bummer to spend time in places that are so beautiful only to drive back to the Ohio-esque looking lands of Germany. It kind of deflates you and makes us wish that somehow we could find work someplace in the Alps. The only consolation is that we can drive as fast as we want on the Autobahn making a blur of the farmlands on the way home.

We are busy downloading our pictures now and should have some posted soon. We will give a full report on our trip in the coming days if and when we have any downtime. Not likely with the events coming up, but we will try!

*Update - Dawn and I took over 1600 pictures in three days between the two of us! We're leisurely going through them now before bed. It's going to be a while before we get through them all. The two I've posted caught my eye as I was going through them and I thought I'd put them up with minimal processing. The top one is of the Aiguille du Midi and the one below is from the top of the du Midi of some climbers early in the morning. More to come soon!

Chamonix, France - Day 1

Hey all,

we had a really nice drive down to Chamonix from Germany today. No really bad traffic to speak of and the weather was great. We took a bit of a roundabout way to get here but it was supposedly the quickest. The last leg of the trip took us through the heart of Geneva in Switzerland. After navigating this city, we crossed the border in to France. The scenery was very nice most of the drive down, but nothing compared to the view after being in France for 15 minutes. As we made our way towards Chamonix, we came around a long bend in the highway and there was Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in western Europe (Mt Elberus in the Caucus mts is the highest, but don't tell that to the western Euros...). Thankfully, the French in all their wisdom, provided a very nice rest area with great views of Mont Blanc and the surrounding Alps. We pulled out here to take a rest and took a bunch of pictures as well.

We arrived in Chamonix about 30 minutes after the rest area, finding our hotel easily. I guess we had just missed the big summer rush of tourists and found the hotel and the town to be fairly quiet. Quite nice compared to some of our other travels this summer. After getting settled in our room, we took a walk in to the downtown area of the city. All I can say is, Wow. What a beautiful and picteresque town. This is my kind of place. Outdoors stores, restaurants with fantastic smells wafting out the windows and doors, tons and tons of wine/meat/cheese shops, art galleries and bars. We really didn't see a lot of tourist crap that is so common in places like this in Germany and Austria. It seemed half the people in town had just finished hiking or backpacking or biking - a very active populace.

Chamonix sits in a narrow valley surrounded by mountain peaks. It's probably the most scenic town I have ever been in. Active glaciers pour down the eastern slopes from Mont Blanc and the other peaks, seemingly close enough to touch. Gondolas head off in every direction high in to the mountains. We will be exploring a few of these tomorrow. It is hard to describe - just absolutely gorgeous. We took hundreds of pictures already today. I'm a bit worried that I may run out of memory cards on this trip!

One thing Dawn and I try to do when we are visiting a new country is to find a place that serves hamburgers. This sounds silly, but we like to try these fine American delicacies to see what other countries takes are on them. So far, we've tried hamburgers in Liechtenstein (not bad), Belgium (ick) and now France. The French, at least this place in Chamonix, did a good burger. Really good. I took pictures of them and will post them after we get back.

Anyway, we're sitting here in our room listening to Oregon State destroy Portland State in football. The third quarter has just started, but I think we'll be shutting this down soon and getting some sleep. We've got a big day ahead of us tomorrow!

Well, we'll try to get some sleep if we can. Osu has some pretty noxious gas right now, the kind that can and will wake you up. May have to crack the balcony door for the night........

In honor of the opening of college football season this weekend.....

I've changed the color of the blog to Orange and Black. GO BEAVERS!!! I'll change it back to something a bit more moderate in a few days......maybe ;)

Just be thankful I'm not a Whoregon 'uck fan. You'd burn your retinas if I changed the blog to their school colors.


And, in honor of tonight's game.........




GO DONKEYS GO! FTDs!!!!!!!!
You may have to be from the Northwest or Oregon to really get this entry.......

Travel Information for coming to Germany

First of all, let me say, Dawn and I are extremely excited for everyone to arrive in two weeks! We know it's a long journey over here and we appreciate that so many of you are taking the time to come spend a very special day with us! We know it's the first time for some of you to Europe, and even if it isn't, it can still be a little confusing and you may not know exactly what to expect. For this reason, we've got some information to help you with your trip, packing, and even some information on a few of the places we plan on visiting while you are here. If you do have any specific questions on something we haven't covered, please feel free to email us at any time.

Money

Most of Western Europe and an increasingly large part of Eastern Europe uses the Euro. The only countries in Western Europe that do not are Switzerland and England/N Ireland. You will need Euros while you are here in Germany, but don't waste time acquiring them in the US. There is no need for this anymore. Almost all ATM machines in Germany will accept your US-based ATM card and they will give you a better exchange rate than many banks. Because of this, Travelers Cheques are also not necessary. When you need some cash, it will be readily available. Your first Euros can be obtained at the airport when you arrive. Credit cards are also accepted in many places and do give the best exchange rates, but use isn't quite as wide-spread as in the US. It's always good to have some Euros in your wallet, just in case!

Weather

For most of the year, the weather in Germany is, well, pretty cruddy. However, September and early October are usually pretty darn nice. Nights can get relatively cool (low to mid 40s) while days are usually warm and sunny (60's up to 85). There is a link on the right hand side of this page that will give you the forecast for Parsberg. I have checked the 16 day outlook and it is looking dry and fairly nice in two weeks. I will update this section as September 17th gets closer as the German long-range forecasts are notoriously bad.

What to Bring

Because of the variable weather, make sure you pack a variety of different clothes that cover all conditions. Even though the weather is normally pretty nice this time of year, you can also experience short-lived torrential rain storms (just ask my brother - we did find a good sushi place in Munich while trying to get out of the rain though!). Also make sure to bring a comfortable pair of walking shoes. The cobblestones take their toll on your feet! Other things to bring include your medications, extra contacts or eye glasses, small toiletries such as soap and shampoo and any Bavarian clothes you may have if you plan on joining us at Oktoberfest. If you do forget something such as a toothbrush, you'll have no problem picking one up in Parsberg. There is a drug store next to the hotel that most of you will be staying at.

Travel and Day Trips

Dawn and I have planned some day trips while you are here that should prove to be a lot of fun. The area we live in is surrounded by a lot of interesting sites and cities all within a short drive or train ride. If you'd like, take the time to visit some of the links below to learn a little more about these places. At the bottom of the page is a map showing the locations we plan on visiting. The yellow house is Parsberg and the red symbols all represent planned or potential day trips. You can click on each symbol to bring up links to more information on each place.

Parsberg

This is the place we've called home for over a year now. It's a quaint little town close to nothing but central to everything. We like it. It's basically got everything you need to survive including numerous grocery stores, some shopping, a HUGE furniture store, a castle, a few guesthouses a couple of churches, pharmacies, drug stores, the main hospital in the region, a drug rehabilitation clinic, a halfway house for crazy people and a gas station. So, if something goes medically or mentally wrong while you're here, you're covered! More info on Parsberg, if you can read German, can be found here: http://www.parsberg.de/ If you can't read German, enjoy the pretty pictures!

Regensburg

This is a cool city. It lies along the Regen and Danube river and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. There are some old Roman ruins within the old city and many other fantastic buildings, narrow streets and a nice shopping area to explore. Regensburg also boasts one of the largest cathedrals in the region, and I must say, it is quite impressive. Regensburg also claims to be the birthplace of the Bratwurst and is continuously battling for this title with Nurnberg. The current Pope is also from Regensburg. You can read more about this city here: http://www.regensburg.de/tourismus/international/english/through_the_ages.shtml http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regensburg

Rothenburg ob der Tauber

This is one of the more picturesque places that Dawn and I have found in Germany and Europe. Rothenburg is a beautiful, medieval walled city that is a destination for tourists from around the world. If you only have the energy or time to make it on one of the day trips, this is the one to go on! Hours can be spent wandering the twisting lanes, checking out the unique shops and exploring the old castle fortifications. The world-famous Kathe Wohlfahrt gallery is also located here and open year-round for you to explore. Read more about Rothenburg here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rothenburg_ob_der_Tauber http://www.rothenburg.de/index.php?get=121

Munich

As some of you may know, the day Dawn and I get married coincides with the start of the world-famous Oktoberfest in Munich. Be thankful we won't be going down there on the opening weekend, however! Instead, we've planned to visit Oktoberfest and Munich on the following Monday which should ensure lighter crowds and easier access to the beer tents and attractions. Munich is by far one of my favorite cities in Europe. Even after living here for over three years, I have not fully explored everything it has to offer. Unfortunately, we will only be down there for one day. We plan on going to Oktoberfest and then visiting the Marienplatz area and if there is time, sections of the English Garden. There is too much about Munich to write in such a limited space. Please check out these links for more information on the city and Oktoberfest: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munich http://www.muenchen.de/home/60093/Homepage.html http://www.muenchen.de/Tourismus/Oktoberfest/7548/index.html http://www.muenchen.de/Tourismus/Sightseeing/Attractions/7569/index.html

Nurnberg

We don't have an organized trip planned to this city, but if you are looking for something to do, this is a great place to visit. Nurnberg is a short and easy train ride from Parsberg and offers up many attractions to keep you busy for the day. We love going to Nurnberg for some of the great restaurants located there, to visit the castle and to visit the great museums located in the city. Just ask and we can help you plan a day trip here any time. I have provided some links for Nurnberg in the map above. Just click on the red icon to access these.

View Parsberg, Germany and the Surrounding Area in a larger map

Ahhh, to be a tourist

I've heard from a friend that Rick Steves is in fact a pretty cool guy. "I don't know", I said. "He seems like kind of a geek and his travel show absolutely bugs the hell out of me." My friend then went on to inform me that Mr. Steves tailors his show to the typical American tourist by highlighting the big attractions, playing on the cultural stereotypes of a place and basically dumbing down travel to make it easy for first-timers. My friend further told me, after having attended a Rick Steves talk, that he has some crazy travel stories and is a very down-to-Earth type of guy with a pretty satirical and witty sense of humor. I guess Mr. Steves has found his niche and is doing quite nicely and probably does help out a lot of people and those people really enjoy his show. It is nice to hear, for such a well-traveled guy, that he really isn't as big of a bonehead as he seems on the TV.

See, I'm more of an Anthony Bourdain kind of guy. I love his travel/food show, "No Reservations" and really enjoy reading his literary works. He's a tell-it-like-it-is, politically incorrect, no-holds-barred type of host who focuses more on the locals perspective rather than the just-off-the-boat tourist types. He shows you things in cities that most normal tourists will never see. That's how I like to travel. Away from the crowds, away from the tourist traps, away from the disneyland-esque features of a place that attract rubes like flies are attracted to a pile of my dog's........well, you get the point.

However, I must state that we ALL are guilty of being the tourist I have learned to loathe from time to time. It just can't be helped. No matter how much prior research is done before a trip, you still tend to gravitate towards the most popular sites the first time you visit a place. They are magnetic and have to be checked off of the list of 'must sees' before you can move on and really start exploring. I mean, you go to Paris, you're going to see the Eiffel Tower. You're more than likely going to wait in line for three hours to enter the Louvre. When in Rome, you're not going to miss the Colosseum. You're more than likely not going to miss seeing the Sistine Chapel and Vatican City either. Hell, you've traveled that far and spent that much time on a plane, more than likely sitting next to some stinky Euro or a screaming baby, so you're not going to skip out on these iconic places.

I've been labeled as being 'lucky' and 'fortunate' and people say they are envious of the places I've lived. The lucky and fortunate part are true and I don't dispute this and I have absolutely no complaints. However, being envious of my life may be a bit of a stretch. What a lot of people don't understand is that I also work a full-time job in these places, deal with mundane tasks such as mowing the lawn, grocery shopping, paying bills and everything else that makes living a responsible life in today's modern world possible. I hagle over my cellphone bill with clueless Vodaphone employees, deal with medical bills that are incorrect and put up with nosey neighbors who just can't seem to mind their own business. Same scheisse, different country. However, Germany is not America and dealing with the differences in the culture and dealing with them in a different language does tend to raise the blood pressure just a wee bit higher.

"Yes, but you live in EUROPE! EUROPE is GREAT! We were there for two weeks and had a fantastic time and can't wait to go back!"

Yes, you also had your room cleaned for you daily, didn't have to cook meals or shop for your food, had disposable cash which the main purpose of is to spend frivilously, had two full weeks to leisurely roam around and see what you wanted.................. It's just not the same when living here and you're dealing with limited vacation time and choices such as "should I go see my family at Christmas or take a week in Chamonix to ski?" Trust me, it's not easy making these decisions. You tend to hoard your vacation time and try to use it in the best way possible, and believe me, it's not for one week trips to the spas in Baden Baden or to go hang in Amsterdam and then London. Instead, three-day weekends are used to travel to places further afoot and normal weekends are used to hit up areas within a reasonable driving distance. No matter what type of a trip it is, though, you're going to come back exhausted, worn-out and just a bit more disillusioned on the whole Europe travel deal. Then you go back to work on Monday and hope you don't fall asleep at your desk.

So no, don't be envious of me. I'm envious of YOU. I'm envious of the obvious tourists I see casually strolling down the narrow streets in Lisbon, taking the time to peacefully enjoy the city, even if they are waisting half of their time seeing some of the obnoxious built-for-tourists sites. More than likely, I'm the obvious tourist walking very quickly by you trying to escape the traps and pitfalls that someone like Rick Steves showcases on his program. I'm the guy with the map out, looking for the places I'm least likely to run in to groups of non-residents to try to get a REAL feel for the place in as little time as possible. It's a crappy way to do things, but when your options and time are limited, you do what you have to.

I realize that I won't live here forever so I really do try to be more than just the typical tourist when I travel. I've enrolled in the crash course "Real Europe - 101" and let me tell you, the professor is tough as nails. I know that it may sound like I hate the tourist hordes that descend on the continent every summer, but really it just all boils down to jealousy. Yep, I'm lucky as hell to live here, but damn I wish I had more time to enjoy it!

Future plans include taking over Mr. Bourdane's job when he retires.......

Pre-Wedding Bliss

We are now down to 30 days from the wedding and 28 until many guests arrive. Family and friends are flying from Oregon, Washington and Minnesota to Munich and Nuremburg for a whirl-wind wedding weekend/vacation.

I’ve been doing a lot of planning and making lists. Nate and I finally sat down last night to look over all my lists while having dinner and checking out Gasthaus Grosshauser again. Lists for times, flowers, guests, music, helpers, vendors, and questions. This time I arrived with center pieces in hand and Nate toting his newest camera for a few more pictures to send to the DJ and photographer.

While waiting for dinner, we set up the center pieces and looked at new ways to set up the room for better flow and spacing. Nate also took a picture of me as Bridezilla, that famous wedding monster. Actually, we were faking that to show the size of the room two ways for Nate’s amusement. It looks something like the huge people in a tiny room from “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate factory.”

So, now, we continue to progress through the days and small tasks to get ready for the wedding. Nate says his job is to keep me stress free, to keep him stress free. No stress here. My dress is in, every box has shown up with wedding supplies I could not buy here, and only a cake to bake and altered suit coat await us. Not bad. Our guest room is also the home of all things wedding. And Nate thought we couldn't fit anything else in the house :)

Now I’m looking forward to the between things, like the Parsberg Volksfest, maybe a couple weekends camping, and a baking weekend.

Can’t wait until you all get here; we’ve got a lot of fun planned!

Revisiting the past in Mittenwald, Germany

This past weekend Dawn and I traveled down to Garmisch, Germany to do some camping at the Edelweiss Lodge and Resort's "Wilderness Campground". One of us will put up a full post on our trip soon - probably once we're finished going through the 600 or so pictures we both took (pics now done and can be found HERE). Now, however, I'd like to share a little story about one of the most memorable incidents that occurred on my student exchange trip to Germany back in 1990. The pictures in this post are mostly from my trip to Germany back in 1990. The last 4 are from our trip last weekend.

Nineteen years ago, I and a rag-tag group of Roseburg High School students, traveled to Germany to take place in the German-American Partnership Program student exchange. The first month of our trip was spent in northern Germany around the town of Lüneburg where we attended some classes, explored the countryside and lived with our host families. The next month was spent traveling to other locations in the country which included spending a week in Berlin, taking a boat trip down the Rhine River and eventually ending up in Munich.

This story begins in Munich, my favorite city, by far, on the trip. At this point in my life, I had never seen a city like Munich before. The architecture, the plazas and squares, the unique Bavarian lifestyle, the Alps in the distance, the enormous English Garden city park...... It was almost too much for me to take in and appreciate at the time. On one particular day while the rest of the group went to visit the Dachau concentration camp, I was allowed to roam free, unencumbered and unsupervised, around the city. I had already been to a few of the concentration camps with my host family in northern Germany and asked not to go on this particular trip. I wanted to explore more of Munich on my own! This was truly one of the most fun days I ever have had in my life. I'm 17 years old, in a foreign country, visiting an amazing city and there was no one to tell me what to do or where to go. It was fantastic! When I reconnected with my group later that evening, I learned that we would be taking the train to Garmisch-Partenkirchen in the Alps south of Munich the next day. I couldn't believe my luck. All day I had been enjoying Munich, but off in the distant loomed the Alps, teasing me with their green slopes and snowy peaks. The only thing that could beat the day I had in Munich would be a trip to those distant mountains, and we were going the next day!

The train trip the next day to Garmisch only took an hour and a half but seemed like an eternity to me. I really had no interest in the town of Garmisch itself, I just wanted to get up in to the mountains to do some hiking. Upon arrival at the train station, I was ready to start climbing. After my previous day of freedom, I thought that it would be no problem to take off on my own to do what I wanted while others did what they wanted. This would not be, however. As a group, we slowly wandered through town, looking at cheap souvenirs, admiring the kitschy Bavarian tourist crap displayed in the store fronts, finally ending up at the Hausberg Gondola two hours later. It was torture for me. I had no interest in cheap lederhosen or felt hats - I wanted to get up in them thar hills and do some exploring! Finally, as a group, we loaded in to the gondola and headed up the mountain. The views were spectacular and just wetted my appetite for what lay even further up the slope.
After exiting the gondola, Jamie Peters and I asked for permission to wander off on our own. We were granted this permission but given explicit instructions to be back at the train station by 5 PM. "No problem", we thought. "We'll climb this mountain and be back down there with plenty of time to spare!" And climb the mountain we did - and fast! We found a nice trail that headed uphill, ending up near the ski jumps that were used in the 1936 Winter Olympics. One of the most memorable things from the hike up was getting passed by a guy going downhill on a bike. I'd never seen a mountain bike before and thought this was the coolest thing ever (and a new hobby of mine was begun upon my return to the States). After snapping a few photos at the top of the mountain, we quickly headed back in to town as time was getting short. We did get a little lost trying to find the train station again, and in our wanderings, ran in to our group who were also lost. Finally, our fearless leader and chaperone on the trip, Frau Barr, got us going in the right direction but we had to run to make the train back to Munich. I think Jamie and I took the "Run!" command a bit too literally, sprinting well ahead of the group and hopping on the wrong train. We also led another of our group astray who ended up joining us on the adventure to come.

Shortly after realizing we were on the train heading to Mittenwald and not Munich, we became a bit panicked. Hearing our worries, an American backpacker on the train tried to help us out but only informed us further of the predicament we were in. There were no stops between Garmisch and Mittenwald and this was the last train of the day between the towns. This was not good. We had to be on a train to Frankfurt the next morning at 10am. Although fully appreciating the pickle we were in, I took it all in stride. The views from the train window were amazing and the Alpenglow hitting the peaks at sunset was beautiful. Bolstered by my 'alone' day in Munich only 24 hours earlier, I decided we would make the best of this. Upon arrival in Mittenwald, I would ask around for alternative travel back to Munich. If that failed, I would then try to book us in to a hotel for the night with plans to take the first train back to Munich in the morning. We had a couple of obstacles facing us, though; first, none of us could speak German very well, especially in a Bavarian dialect. Second, we were very low on money. Our chaperone doled our money out to us daily, leaving us with little on-hand cash (in retrospect - what a stupid policy - especially for instances like this!). This was before the days of ATMs or cell phones, which leads us to the third obstacle - our chaperone had no idea where we were!

I tried to remain calm once we arrived in Mittenwald while Jamie and Jeff were going a little crazy. To help further keep my wits about me, the first thing I did was find a beer garden and order me a half-liter pilsner. Hey, when in Rome (or Mittenwald)......... After enjoying the beer, I found a hotel and asked about rates for the night. I don't think we had enough money between us to cover even half the cost of one room which was pretty pathetic. The desk clerk at the hotel was very nice, though, asking around about buses going back to Munich that night. She said to check back with her in an hour or two to see if she had found us any seats. So, there we were in Mittenwald with little money, no travel options at the present time, no room to sleep in and no real plan except to wait for the train in the morning. What to do? Yep, go get another beer. Jamie and Jeff were still pretty frazzled, but I did get them to calm down a bit and enjoy a small beer each. We eventually headed back to the hotel and were informed that there were no available buses that night. At that point, I really didn't care. It was a beautiful evening and we were in a beautiful place. I would be happy sleeping on a park bench, waking up to the glow of the sun on the mountain peaks and taking the first train back to Munich. Jamie and Jeff conceded that this was the best option available to us and that it was smart to stay in one place in case anyone was looking for us.

Across the street from the Rathaus was a nice little park with some cozy little benches - one for each of us - with a beautiful view of the Karwendelberg Mountain which towered over the town. For the first hour, the plan was working fine. We sat around, chatted and laughed at our predicament. We started to get tired and decided to try to catch some sleep. That's when the Polizei (Police) showed up and kicked us out of the park. They didn't speak English, our German was bad and they weren't very happy that three Americans were destroying the beauty of the town by sleeping like bums in the park. Fair enough, but where to go and what to do now? That's when we heard it - the shrill voice of Frau Barr, calling to us from across the street. It was close to midnight at this point and she was in a state of irate panic. Relieved, yet angry at the same time, she came over to us thankful that we were okay, but pissed at the situation we had put ourselves in. She kept mentioning parents and the embassy and a bunch of other crap that I just blocked out. We were fine, we stayed put like we should have and handled a bad situation the best we could. She was lucky it wasn't some of the other kids on the trip because it could have turned out a lot worse for some of them!
Frau Barr was able to get us on a bus at 1am that night that took us back to Munich. It turned out to be a bus of older travelers on some kind of tour of Europe. They got a kick out of us being on the bus with them and the trip back wasn't bad at all. We made our train the next morning, arriving in Frankfurt at our hotel, the whole group back intact. I wonder if we should have told our parents that the hotel Frau Barr booked us in Frankfurt was in the red light district with hookers hanging right outside the front doors? Nah, we'd put her through enough!

So, that's the story. While down in Garmisch last weekend, we ended up having some time to kill and decided to drive the 20 minutes to Mittenwald so I could relive this experience from 19 years ago. I was able to find most of the places we visited in the town and take pictures of the places I'd been. A lot had changed in Mittenwald, but it was great going back. I never thought I would see that place again, but there I was. At first, I kind of wandered around with a silly grin on my face remembering the experience and taking it all in. I eventually snapped out of it and Osu, Dawn and I had a great couple of hours exploring the town. Thanks, Dawn, for taking this trip down memory lane with me!

July skiing and camping in Zillertal, Austria

One of the big things we realized after this trip was that being a weekend warrior in Europe, well, kinda sucks. We've found that a general rule of thumb when planning our trips is to add an extra hour of time for every 100 kilometers we are going. It doesn't matter which way we head from our little town, the rule applies no matter if we're heading to Holland or Dresden or Austria. Google maps says it's 3 hours to get to our destination in Austria which is 200 kilometers away? Simple - it will take us 5 hours at the very least. Yes, Germany does have the autobahn, a free-wheeling fast-paced strip of pavement where a seemingly disproportianate collection of asshole drivers congregate. Yes, there is no speed limit in places, but this doesn't help much when there is construction every 10 kilometers, the Dutch ground-force hauling their ubiquitous camping trailers clog every uphill section in existence and traffic jams stretching as far as one can see crop up seemingly anywhere and for no reason. Still, we put ourselves through this every couple of weeks and have really started to wonder, is it worth it?


In most cases it is, but do too many of these weekend trips back to back and you will eventually burn out. A typical summer trip is as follows; Pack Thursday night, rush home from work Friday and hit the road. Arrive at destination at 9 or 10 PM, set up camp/check in to hotel, find something to eat, get to bed late. Do whatever on Saturday, fighting the crowds along the way. Sleep after a long day of doing whatever we were doing. Wake up Sunday and decide whether or not we feel like getting home late that night or not, do whatever, make the long drive back home, unpack, sleep. Monday, go to work early, get home, clean up the rest of the mess from the weekend, do laundry and then start to plan the next trip. It's really not all that relaxing.

This latest trip pretty much followed the recipe above, but we did have a good time. We arrived at our unbelievably overcrowded campsite near Mayrhofen on Friday night just in time to pitch our tent and get everything in it before being hit with some truly crazy thunderstorms. After getting the tent up, we pretty much spent the next 4 hours stuck in it because of the weather. It was some of the strongest rain I have seen in years and the thunder and lightning was impressive as well. Osu did not enjoy it, but he behaved pretty well for being imprissioned in the tent with us. Our friends who were supposed to camp with us this night ended up not being able to find us for a couple of reasons. One, the weather was so bad on their drive down (we missed this) that they arrived hours later than expected and it was dark by the time they found the campground. Two, when they got to the campground, there was no way to find us amongst the hundreds of other tents pitched in the 'tent-only' area which was simply a grassy field next to a road tucked in with all of the camp trailers.

The next morning we awoke to some much nicer weather and headed up to Hintertux for some snow skiing. I love going to this place in the summer. The crowds are thin, the snow isn't all that bad and the views from up there are amazing. We did end up meeting with our friends at Hintertux - us after having slept in a soggy tent and them after a night in a beautiful 4-star hotel. After skiing, we headed back to the campground and had a nice relaxing evening together, caught up after not seeing each other in a while, cooked a good dinner and then proceeded to bed. Surprisingly, we all managed to get a good nights sleep and woke up fairly early on Sunday, cooked a good breakfast and then packed the camp up and left.

The weather was gorgeous on Sunday, so instead of heading back home via the autobahn, we drove some backroads up to Achensee on the border of Austria and Germany. This seemed like a great plan not only to us, but to half of Europe as well. The place was absolutely packed and we didn't end up sticking around for long. Our next stop was the Aying brewery east of Munich where we stopped for one of the most meat-laden lunches I have ever had. It was good, but damn! I felt like Fred Flinstone when I picked up the plate of ribs and the chicken I ordered. No human should be allowed so much meat at one time!

We eventually got home around 6 PM that evening, not rested, not relaxed and tired as hell. Even a full-nights sleep didn't prepare us for work the next day and it was rough for both of us. But, that's how it goes out here and I guess we've learned to live with it. It is frusturating, though, knowing what's out there but how hard it is to actually enjoy. Too many people, too many cars, too expensive, too many people and not enough time. The camping in no way is anything like what camping in the US is like. I now know why the Euros buy tents that look like small apartment buildings for camping - if you don't, someone will inevitably pitch their tent two feet from yours. You need a buffer and a 500 square foot tent will provide this I guess.

Anyhow, we'll be off camping again next weekend again but hopefully in a less-crowded area where we are able to enjoy a little more solitude. The place where we are staying labels it as a 'wilderness camping experience', but that remains to be seen. I'll report back on that when we get home, hopefully with a little more energy and thought.

(wow, that was some bad writing. probably the quickest post I've ever put up, though. And I'm tired.)

Indianapolis - a pleasant surprise

Well, the trip to Indy was better than I expected. The workshop I attended was ho-hum, but the city itself was a nice surprise. I found plenty of time to explore mainly by ducking out early from evening social events linked to the workshop or just skipping them all together. I felt it was in my best interest to get out, wander and enjoy the decent summer weather (since summer has been non-existant in Germany this year). I arrived in the city on a very bumpy and turbulent flight from Atlanta on the evening of July 4th, my first time in the US in a number of years on this holiday. I was looking forward to viewing the fireworks that night, but alas, the weather would not let this happen. It was plain nasty out, making it feel like I hadn't even left home. However, the next day dawned sunny and bright, ensuring that the show would go on that night.

Indianapolis, although the 14th largest city in the US, does not really feel like a big city. The downtown area was specifically designed to be pedestrian friendly and it truly is. One can easily walk from their hotel downtown to a number of local attractions in a matter of minutes. Conseco Fieldhouse (NBA Pacer's home), Lucas Oil Stadium (NFL Colt's home), Victory Field (AAA Baseball Indian's home), the zoo, the NCAA headquarters and the Hall of Champions, the state capital, the Indiana State Museum and many other sites are all within a 10 minute walk of central downtown. There are also many, many great restaurants in the area, offering up a diverse selection of food that would satisfy even the most discerning tastes.

One thing I did find odd about the downtown area, however, is that there didn't appear to be many people living there. It mainly seemed to be an area for business and tourism, temporarily housing the many people who visit the city each year for the Indy 500 and other auto races, swimming events (Michael Phelps was in town while I was there), tennis events, conferences in the gigantic conference center and pro sporting events. There were no farmers markets, no grocery stores and really none of the local flavor that you find in most cities. That was all fine and dandy though, since I essentially was a tourist on business. Worked for me!

I was only in the city for a week but got a good feel for the area pretty quickly. One of my more memorable experiences involved leaving early from a company social being held at the worst 'German' Restaurant I have ever been to and simply walking around with my camera, enjoying the warm summer evening. On this night I made my way out to the baseball stadium and enjoyed a couple of innings of AAA ball as the light slowly faded towards the horizon. I then wandered to the edge of White River State Park and witnessed a gorgeous sunset over the river from a bridge that doubled as a walking/biking path and outdoor art gallery. After snapping numerous pictures from this vantage, I made my way along the canal walk and towards the capital building where I was stopped by a state trooper and questioned for taking pictures in the area. After showing the officer some of the pictures I'd taken that evening, we ended up having a pleasant chat and I luckily was able to avoid being declared a terrorist and sent to Gitmo. The next day, a colleague and I rented some sweet cruiser bikes and went for a nice ride along the river. At least it started out nice. After a wrong turn, we ended up in a fairly seedy neighborhood and definitely got a workout pedaling the three speed bikes at maximum velocity until we came to a more familiar area of the city.

The trip concluded on a high note at Lucas Oil Stadium, home of the Indianapolis Colts NFL football team. For the paltry sum of 45 dollars, workshop attendees were allowed access to the inside of the stadium where a buffett dinner was being served and a 'football extravaganza' was being held. The dinner was probably the worst meal I ate on the entire trip, but having the opportunity to play catch and kick footballs on the Colts field was well worth the price of admission. It was my first time on an NFL field and I must say, I was impressed. I made the most of this opportunity, running around wildly, throwing long balls to various acquaintances in the endzone and taking every chance I could to punt footballs from the 50 yard line. I woke up the next day more sore than I have been in months, but it was worth it.

Overall this was a great trip and I was pleasantly surprised by the experience. I wouldn't necessarily recommend planning your next vacation to Indy, but if you're ever in the area, definitely stop by and check the place out. It's different from a lot of US cities and is unique in its own way. More pictures from the trip can be found on my Flickr Site.

Off to Indianapolis for the week

Paris, Kathmandu, Sydney, London...... Indianapolis. Nothing against the city of Indianapolis, but I'm just finding it hard to get excited about this trip. Twenty hours-plus of travel, it's for work, and it's about as far from the mountains and an ocean as you can get. I have driven by the city before, as in seen it from a distance, and remember this thought going through my head; "There's Indy. Probably as close as I'll ever get." And I was fine with that. But, now I find myself traveling from Germany to spend an entire week in the heart of the city. It could be worse, I guess.

One thing that does cause a tiny bit of concern is something I read yesterday on Wikipedia about the city. There was a little factoid stating that is was the most conservative metropolitan area in the United States. I kind of find that hard to believe after visiting Texas last year and having lived in Alaska, both of which are pretty conventional and inflexible when it comes to some viewpoints. I don't think it will be a big deal and shouldn't affect me. Hey, as long as the food is good, I'm able to sleep well and the conference I'm attending doesn't bore me to death, I should be a happy camper.

I wasn't going to take my good camera with me on this trip, but Dawn convinced me that I probably should. Indianapolis looks like a nice city and it might be fun to wander around in the evening doing a little urban photography. It's better than staying in the hotel room watching the latest reality shows.

Anyway, we're off early tomorrow. Dawn is going to drive me down to Munich and then I'm off. I doubt I'll post much of a trip report after this one, but may put a link up if the pictures are decent.

Cherry Pickin'

I’m sure a few of you have seen the pictures of our house on our Flickr sites. Our back yard is full of fruit trees and bushes. We have apples, pears, figs, blackberries, raspberries, grapes, currants, black currants, strawberries, sweet and sour cherries. That is a LOT of fruit. Most aren’t ready until late June into July and some a little later.

We’ve excitedly been waiting for cherries since last summer. We have a huge tree that grows behind the garage, and it’s a perfect boost into the tree for prime picking. There were so many cherries last year that we were giving them away, because they would go bad before we could eat that many. Since German refrigerators have small freezers, if any, there was little we could do to save them for later.

This year we are ready. We bought a freezer with enough space to save a few cherries for late fall or winter, our mouths salivating at the thought of yummy cherries. With the weather not being so nice and sunny, July has crept up on us and the cherries are ready.

We went out picking Monday night. We could see all those shiny deep red ornaments hanging from the tree. To the top of the garage with our bowls, we began picking. It didn’t take long to find that most of the cherries have either become too ripe and split, or been attacked by bugs. After we finished picking for the night, we came in with one almost full bowl.

It was late and I didn’t really want to clean cherries, but if I let the cherries sit, they might get bugs through the day. With my new cherry pitter in hand (Thanks Jef!), I got started. It’s awesome! I love it! I really wish I had it last year with all the good cherries. Definitely beats cutting them in half and digging the pit out with my fingers.

Last night I baked a cherry cobbler or crisp, whatever you want to call it. It was good, but cherries not as sweet as remembered. Next time we’ll try a pie or just eat them from the tree, although Osu likes them all.

Lisbon Trip Report - Heat, Tired Feet and good Seafood Meat

I took 699 pictures. Dawn took close to 200. This was a new record for us on a four day trip and should indicate a couple of things; 1) Lisbon is a picteresque place with many interesting sites and features, and 2) The weather was nice enough to pull the camera out often.

Lisbon is a crazy place compared to most European cities we've visited. It's big, crowded, dirty, hot, stinky, and the traffic is absolutely bonkers. But, we also found this city to be vibrant, friendly, fun-loving, beautiful and a great place to visit. Not once did we ever feel we were in any danger or threatened from the numerous beggars and drug pushers in the city. More than anything, they added a bit of character to the place due to their comfort with who they are and what they were doing. They were part of the scenery, and in a way, part of the charm of the city, mixing in perfectly with the busloads of funnily-dressed geriatric tourists from all over the world.

If anything, Lisbon is a city full of contrasts. I've never seen a place where people are so polar-opposite in their actions. The traffic and drivers in the city are crazy-aggressive, making full use of the horn on the steering column. I read a lot about Fado music while in Lisbon and how it is the heart and soul of the area, but to me, the honking of car horns is more representative of this city's soundtrack. On the other hand, when they aren't in their cars acting out scenes from 'Mad Max', the Portugese people are one of the most laid-back people I have ever met. Rarely are solid plans made - things just happen when they happen. I had a tough time grasping this concept at first, but slowly began to appreciate this outlook on life. It's such a drastic change from the go-go-go of America and even Germany.

If I only had three words to describe our first day in the city it would be these: Hot, Walk and Tired. We landed in Lisbon at 8am after a 3 hour flight from Munich and were at our hotel by 9:15am. Our hotel was located right off of Liberdade Street close to the central congregation point for the city tour buses and this is where we headed after getting checked in. One of the first things we always do when visiting a new city is buy a ticket for the Hop on / Hop off tour bus so that we can get better acquainted with the sites in the city. Usually, this works out well and we enjoy the tour. This was not one of those times, however. As we later found out, Lisbon is a place built for touring on foot or by the much more intiment street and cable cars. The Ho-Ho bus here just wasn't up to par and we ended up hopping off it at the Praca do Imperio Palace, the farthest point away from where we started the tour. We thought a nice, leisurely stroll down the waterfront would be great from here and that we could hop back on the bus further down the road as we made our way back. Well, this didn't quite work out either. It had gotten hot - like 100 degree hot by the time we embarked on our foot journey. The waterfront also turned out to be not-so-scenic and more industrial than anything. After about a mile of walking, we tried to find a bus stop so we could get back downtown, but this proved to be impossible due to a really crappy map they provided us and due to the fact that the roads along the water front are a mess and make no sense what-so-ever.

We eventually did get off of the waterfront, ending up on a narrow street in the Bairro Alto neighborhood. At this point, Dawn's feet were killing her and she was desparately in need of some new shoes. Her flip flops just weren't cutting it (well, they were cutting her feet) with all of the walking we were doing. Luckily, after a few blocks, we stumbled upon a family-run shoe store. At this point in time, we were both a bit disenchanted with our experience in Lisbon. I would have to say the visit to the shoe store is where things turned the corner, however. The people in the store were extra friendly and went above and beyond to find a pair of sandals for Dawn that would be comfortable and fit her needs. With new sandals and some new-found energy and optimism, we left the store and continued on with our journey. The rest of the day found us walking the narrow streets and alleys of Alfama where we visited the Se de Lisboa Cathedral and then Castelo de Sao Jorge. We also witnessed an attempted bag-snatching which was foiled by some street workers, were asked for money from a 20-something who claimed to be from Prague and hungry (sorry buddy!) and were approached by a guy selling the cheapest looking watches I've ever seen.

Our day ended by us getting lost on our way back to our hotel, eventually finding it in the most roundabout way imageinable. We ended up eating a very late dinner at our hotel, then collapsing on our bed. It was a very long day that started at 2:30am and found us walking for around 11 hours in the blistering sun. Still, it was a gratifying day and very memorable.

Part II of the trip will be posted soon. In the meantime, you can check the pictures out from the trip HERE and pictures of Dawn and I on the trip HERE

We're off to Lisbon, Portugal for the weekend

We've been so busy with prepping for the wedding, work and life in general that we really haven't had much time to do any research on this place called.....Portugal. I think it's south of us, but I'm not really sure. Does anyone else ever get annoyed when someone says something like "We went down to Canada this weekend and it was great!"? DOWN? If you're in the US, it almost certainly is UP in most cases or OVER if you live in Alaska. I swear, I hear Americans at work doing this all the time and it bugs the crap out of me. The geographer in me, I suppose. But anyway, I digress. I do believe we will be going DOWN to Portugal and luckily we are meeting up with our good friends Johannes and Carla. Johannes is a British-educated German (meaning he speaks English better than I do) and Carla is his lovely trilingual British-educated Portugese wife. They met at University in England, and I met them when we all lived in the same building in Weiden. We will be leaning heavily on them for guidance on what to see, what to do, how to avoid the pickpockets that I've read so much about and most importantly, the best places to eat. And, if I'm physically feeling up to it, a good surfing beach in and around Lisbon.

So, we may not know much about this place now, but we'll assuredly be experts when we get back late Monday night. We'll make sure to take plenty of pictures, as always. Enjoy your weekend! Alegrias!

How to fit in as a German while in Germany

This entry is meant to be a simple guide to help those who may be planning on coming to Germany at some point in their lives. The great thing about Germany is that things really don't change much as the years roll on, so feel free to bookmark this and use it even if Germany isn't in your plans until 2025. Everything written will still hold true, probably until the turn of the next century. This guide can also be helpful for those that may never even step foot in this wondrous country. Use a few of the hints written here to gain favor at your local German restaurant, because everyone knows more gravy is better than less gravy on your knodel.

No matter what they say, Germans still love David Hasselhof

It's seriously freaky. I've seen grown men weep when one of his videos comes on at the local Gasthaus. I think it's out of respect and joy, but sometimes German emotions can be hard to read. The picture to the left was taken at the local Rewe grocery store in my town. The Germans try to indoctrinate the kiddies at an early age. I think there is even an hour of "Hasselhof Appreciation" at every kindergarten in Germany twice a week ensuring the youngsters carry on the love-fest for this cultural icon. But, ask a German while in Germany how many Hasselhof records they own and they will look at you with a quizzical expression as if they have no idea who or what you are talking about. They go to great lengths to keep Germany's love affair with the Hof a secret - I'm not sure if it's out of selfishness or shame. Either way, never approach this topic directly. Before coming to Germany, watch some Knight Rider, endure a few episodes of Baywatch, learn a couple of the Hof's songs - they will just know you are one of them without you saying a word. If you put in the effort and truly learn to embrace the Hof, don't be surprised when you get invited to sit at the Stammtisch (locals table) hoisting brews with dudes in lederhosen and slamming one liter mugs together while shouting, Prost!

German Fashion - the socks and sandals thing is true

I still remember being laughed at by a large group of German High School students when I was on exchange in Germany the summer before my senior year. Our group had been in Berlin the week before and I had found a screaming deal on some Birkenstocks at the KaDeWe department store. Both Jamie Peters and I bought a pair. However, I was the only one who decided to wear them to our first day of classes at the Gymnassium (German HS). To this day, I still believe I was laughed at because I didn't wear socks with my sandals. Oh, I tried to at first, slipping the sandals over my socked feet as I was getting ready to leave in the morning. I felt silly, though, and ended up going sans socks for a more natural, and in my opinion, more comfortable sandal-wearing experience. To this day, I still won't wear socks with my sandals even after experiencing this humiliation. I am in the minority, however, while living here. Check out the chap in the picture on the right (taken today). Fair enough, I've gotten used to seeing such things over here, but this guy had Mickey Mouse socks on for craps sake! Mickey Mouse! Anyway, I still get looked at funny when going sockless in my Birks or Tevas but I just don't care. For anyone visiting, though, I do recommend packing some sandal socks to avoid getting stared at, or worse yet, laughed at. There is a fine line with acceptance over here and this can only help you.

More German Fashion - this one geared towards the ladies

I don't have a lot to say on this. I can only pass along what I have observed and learned while living here. For some God-awful reason, 85% of Bavarian women above the age of 40 dye their hair. I'm not talking highlights or casual touch-ups either. I'm talking dye colors that defy nature. Colors that will never be found in a box of Crayolas. Colors that don't exist on the ROY G BIV color spectrum. I don't think it is absolutely necessary for a visitor to go to these lengths since the practice is not ubiquitous, but doing so may gain you A LOT of favor with the locals. If you do decide this is an avenue you want to take before coming to Germany, just be aware that you may experience a lot of stares and even spontaneous crying from little kids who happen to gaze upon your 'do before landing in ze Vaterland.

That's it for tips tonight. I'll add more in the coming days. Hey, I'm here to help. If you have any specific questions about Germany or any worries before coming over, I'd be happy to address what I can. I don't know everything about this country - yet.

Okay, time to go put some of Hof's music on and slowly drift off to sleep.........

Dublin- The greenest green I've ever seen

So, it’s been a few weeks since our trip to Dublin. As you might have guessed we’ve been busy with wedding stuff, Nate’s hands haven’t really been working, and other stuff I can’t even think of right now. Since you’ve all been patiently waiting, I figured I’d do a quick recap before we get too far behind.

We took our first trip out of a new Ryan Air airport in Memmingen, about 2 and a half hours from our house and 1 hour west of Munich. The airport was very small, but we got through quickly. We saw many other Americans heading out to Dublin for the Memorial weekend as well. While waiting in the airport we were asked if we were ‘from the island.’ Didn’t think we looked that Irish, especially since between the two of us, I don’t think we have a drop of Irish. The plane came and everyone rushed to the line. We bought a pass to board before everyone else, since Ryan Air has a free for all run to grab a seat kind of excitement included.

We landed in Dublin, grabbed our bags and headed for a taxi to drive us to the hotel. Our driver was nice and mentioned a few place to make sure to see. The hotel looked good from the outside, but our room was hardly big enough for us to both stand in the room with our suitcases at the foot of the bed. We couldn’t even walk around the bed. The bathroom got better; the half shower door thing fell off the wall while showering. But, the staff was nice.

We ventured down to the Liffey River and walked back through the Temple Bar area and checked out the mostly pedestrian area. This is the main street with all the night life and restaurants. There was also a jazz festival going on, so random groups were playing around in little squares.

After wandering around for some time and long lines at many restaurants, we settled for some Chinese, which left something to be desired. We wandered down towards the Grafton shopping area for some night pictures and headed back to the hotel to have a rested day on the bus tour.
Saturday started out well. It seemed that we wake up before most people, since the road were a bit quiet starting out. We wandered down Dame Street to our bus pick up spot. Off we were on a big green bus to begin our tour of Dublin. The bus driver was awesome. He sang songs, told crazy stories, and made you feel welcome to the city. Since this was our Hop on, Hop off tour, we stopped at the Kilmainham Gaol first; it was the farthest place from our hotel.

Kilmainham Gaol, was a prison built in 1789 to replace an old dungeon type jail and offered single rooms to try and reform prisoners into not wanting to reoffend. It didn’t really work and became overcrowded and found many people committing crimes to have food during the famine. Several people trying to fight for Ireland’s freedom were also incarcerated here, including Joseph Plunkett, who was married to Grace Gifford the night before he was executed. We had a great tour guide here, and learned a lot about the history of Ireland, very interesting.

We completed the tour and decided to head back to the Guinness Storehouse and our free pint. We walked, as I didn’t think it was too far away. We walked more than a few blocks, but the pint was worth it. We bypassed the tours and crowds and headed straight to the Gravity Bar. I don’t really like Guinness, but if ever in Ireland again; I’d have to have one. It’s so dang good! We enjoyed with some guys from France and decided to have lunch in the restaurant a few floors below.

It was time for more of our bus tour, so we waited at the stop outside the storehouse. Would you believe there were Germans that came and waited behind us, only to push in front of us to get on the bus while they were helping a man in a wheelchair off the bus? Of course, just like back in Germany, which I thought we were trying to escape. So, our new bus was not as fun, all the information was recorded and monotone. It was good we were off to the Jameson Distillery. We found it down a few streets from our stop, although the line was long for a tour. We skipped the tour and Nate got a coffee with Jameson whisky and sugar. The sugar was good at the end.
We walked back to the Temple Bar area again and in light rain, the busses were all full. We looked for a pub to duck into, but alas, this side of the river had no pubs to be found. Strange for what we thought about Dublin.

We wandered back to our side and down Dame Street. We came to a pub and went in to enjoy the atmosphere. After finishing our first beers, we found the place starting to fill up and the TVs were all switched to rugby pregame interviews and game recaps. The place was packed as the rugby game started, so we decided to stay and join the festivities. The beers kept coming and they even brought out snacks for all the fans. The game was between Ireland and England, we cheered for Ireland. Ireland scored, the crowd roared, and Leinster Ireland won the Heineken Cup.

Our last full day in Dublin, began quiet again. We walked down to Trinity College to check out the Book of Kells. Here we found the greenest grass we'd ever seen. It looked fake and almost neon in color. Since the college didn't open till noon, we decided to come bakc later. Things are open on Sundays, just not before 10, and the college till noon. We wandered to Grafton Street for more pictures, then to St. Stephen’s Green. A nice walk around the park and back to the St. Stephen's Green Mall, so see the architecture, similar to the Gaol, and get a few souvenirs. This was our day to hit up the Boxty House for lunch. They serve a large potato pancake with meat surprises in the middle as a specialty called the Boxty. Found a recipe for these. They are sooooo good.

We rounded out our last night with some Celtic music and Riverdance. We were sat at a table between Americans from Virginia and Germans. It’s always interesting who you run into or can’t get away from while you’re traveling. The band started playing music about halfway through dinner, the guys were really funny. Then dancers came out moved their legs so fast for 30 minutes that no picture has them not blurry. The Legends of Tara singing group came back out for another hour, but stopped early, because they close bars early on Sundays. It was a great show and very entertaining.

We came back late Monday to an empty house with work and Osu waiting for us the next day. I’d like to go back to Ireland, but it won’t be to Dublin. Next time, I want to see the pretty countryside.