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.