A German Barbecue

Yesterday, I slept in a bit and then got up to go to church. Colleen wanted to join me, so we met at Marienplatz under the golden statue of Mary at 10:15. We chose to go to St. Peter's Catholic, as it was right near the central square and seemed rather welcoming. We scooted past the tourist crowd in the back and took a seat in an empty pew. Of course the service was all in German and some Latin, but we still had the opportunity to enjoy the beautiful architecture, stained glass, frescoes, and of course, the music. The choir was amazing and the organ was beautiful as it filled the huge space. As people went up for communion, we slipped out the side door and wandered for a bit.

We made our way to one of the gates at the end of the old city and took a few pictures there. I had thought about going to the Residenz Museum, but decided that I'd rather go to the main square, watch the glockenspiel and go back to Grafelfing. So, I watched the glockenspiel, and left Colleen with a walking tour group in Marienplatz, and went back to Grafelfing. I managed to time it so that I arrived back in our neighborhood right when the annual wine festival was beginning for the afternoon, so I stopped in to sample the wine, have a bratwurst sandwich, and listen to the band warm up. After taking the glass back for the deposit, I headed back to the house for an afternoon nap and listened to a RadioLab podcast. The cat joined me for the afternoon nap, so that was kind of fun. After our naps, I put my shoes on and got the soda out of the fridge downstairs so that I could meet Petra (from the library), since she had agreed to take me to the barbecue.

So, I met Petra just outside of her car and rode with her to pick up Dr. Veltze and were then on our way to Lyme, Amanda, Colleen, and Mary's place, where their landlord had graciously agreed to host a German style barbecue for us. What an amazing spread of food! He cooked pork chops, chicken legs, and lots of sausage and pork belly on the grill. His wife had made huge bowls of potato salad, green salad, sauerkraut, tziki (sp) sauce (the Greek yogurt sauce for dipping), and roasted red peppers. Petra had brought lots of freshly baked bread, including pretzels, for us to share. And we all contributed drinks, although the landlord had a case of beer that he provided, which several people enjoyed. The family dog, Popalina, was a lot of fun and thoroughly seemed to enjoy the extra attention.

The weather was nice and warm for most of the afternoon, although the rain started to fall just as we were finishing dinner. So, we moved to the covered patio where we enjoyed coffee, espresso, and lots of dessert until almost 10:00. The conversation and cultural exchange was wonderful, as the landlord, Herr Igenher, had lived in Canada for several years and traveled quite a bit, and Dr. Veltze relayed some of her stories of traveling in South America. There were lots of laughs and jokes, and we discovered that despite some cultural differences, food seems to be the great equalizer and icebreaker.

When all of us seemed to be winding down, I went home, with Petra dropping Dr. Veltze off before going back to Grafelfing. I got home around 10:30 and headed straight to bed. Our last Sunday in Munich was a wonderful mix of relaxation and experiencing the culture in a way that most tourists never get to.

A Day in Prien am Chimsee

On Saturday, I woke up early to catch the train to the Hauptbanhof, so I left the house a little after 7:00. When I arrived at the Hauptbanhof, I met the group and before the train was scheduled to leave, picked up a pastry and a cup of coffee. We were still waiting for Dr. Veltze at 8:30 and the train was scheduled to leave at 8:45. So, Colleen called her landlady and found out that she had left the house. Dr. Veltze arrived at 8:40, but there was not enough time to get to the platform before the train left. Apparently, all of the clocks in her house had stopped for some reason, so she didn't realize what time it was until it was too late. So, we waited around the train station for an hour for the next train.

After riding the train for about an hour, we arrived at Chimsee. From there, we took a small older train to the ferry landing and took the ferry to Frauen Islen, the women's island, where the convent was located. The island was on the lake and the ride was beautiful with the mountains that surrounded the lake. We all enjoyed watching the sailboats on the water and the birds flying and swimming around.

When we arrived at the island, we decided to eat lunch first, since we were eating as a group and the money we had paid ahead of time was paying for our meals.
The restaurant had a beautiful view of the lake and mountains and we sat out on the patio. Everyone got wonderful food and most people shared. Mary had a yummy homemade pasta with cheese, bacon, and cabbage that came in an iron skillet that was beautifully hand forged. I ordered a spinach pasta with roasted veggies and a cream sauce, which I shared with others. Amanda ordered fish and a salad, and she shared the potatoes that came with her meal with anyone who wanted some. Tiffany and Shea ordered a penne pasta with tomato cream sauce and side salads. Since Tiffany didn't like the salad dressing, she shared that with us also. For dessert, I ordered a wonderful iced coffee. Some of the others ordered fantastic looking cakes and Shea ordered a banana split, that was beautiful with berries and whipped cream.

After lunch, we walked around the island I poked in some little pottery shops along the coastline. We also explored the exterior of the convent, that has been on the island for almost 500 years. When I was tired of walking, I found a bench along the water and watched the ducks and boats go by. I wrote the last of the postcards that needed to be written and mailed and sat there until it started to sprinkle rain. I found a little alcove beside the ferry landing where we stood until the rest of the group gathered for the ferry back to the mainland. Despite the rain, we enjoyed our time on the island and had a fantastic day.

We took the ferry back and a few of us decided to walk back to the main station instead of waiting on the small train. So, we got to see a little of the town and visit while we waited for the others to arrive. We took the train back to Munich and arrived back at the Hauptbanhof around 7:30. Lyme, Amanda, and some others wanted to go to Marienplatz, so I joined them for a little while and visited at a restaurant, but I left earlier than the others since I was tired. I got back to the house around 10:00, spent some time with Alegra and the cat, and went to bed.

A Day at the English Gardens

On Friday morning, I got up about the usual time, but took my time getting ready, checking email, and catching up on reading I'd both been wanting to do. When we were ready, we took the train to Pasing to pick up some breakfast pastries (I had an apple cinnamon pastry)and coffee and headed back to the train to go to the English Gardens.

I took breakfast to the English Gardens and found a nice spot on the lake to eat and watch the ducks and swans. It turned out to be a beautiful day with a nice breeze, so I walked around all different areas of the gardens, finding some waterfalls, grassy areas where kids were playing, and a nice path along the river. I ended up heading over to the Residenz Museum area, mostly to see what was over there and decided that I'd come back and do the museum on Sunday. When I started getting hungry for lunch, I walked back to the English Gardens and got food at the Chinese Tower area. I had potatoes and sausage, and an order of cabbage. You can see my previous post about the English Gardens to see a picture of this meal.

After lunch, it started to sprinkle rain a bit, so I walked back to the station and went to Marienplatz, instead of going to Olympia Park as originally planned. I did a bit of shopping in Marienplatz, and stopped to pick up the tea infuser we'd seen before at the JA Henckles store. I went back home after that, since we had a little bit of grocery shopping and some other errands to do on the way. I picked up some more bread, lunch meat for picnic lunches, cheese, and a few snack items, like crackers and cookies, at the grocery store. I did a snack supper of cheese, salami, and some other items, and had a few hours of down time before going to bed.

A Day in Wasserburg

Yesterday I got up and ready early so that I had time to make breakfast before I headed to the train. I left the house about 7:50 to catch the 8:10 train, only for me to realize part way there that I’d left my train pass at the house (yes, again!). This time, I turned around and went back for it, none too happy with myself. When I was off again, this meant catching the 8:30 train, with no time in between at Pasing to stop at the ATM and get some fruit, which I had originally planned to do. When I arrived at Pasing, I literally had to run to catch the bus to the library so that I would be there at the appointed 9:00 to ride with the group and library faculty to Wasserburg.

When we arrived at Wasserburg after an hour or so charter bus ride through the country and past the soccer arena, we did a group tour of the historic medieval city, with some of the group doing the English tour and most of the library faculty doing the German tour. Petra and Ursula joined us for the English tour, as well as Carolina, so it was fun to get to know them a bit better. (Pictured here is Petra and Lyme.)We saw several inner courtyards, some sights along the river, and some historic buildings with frescoes. We also saw the guest house where Mozart stayed a few times on his trips to and from Salzburg. Since Wasserburg is located on a peninsula, we had some incredible views of the town and river at higher points along the trip.

When the tour was over, we all gathered at a traditional German restaurant where I had schnitzel and shared some sauerkraut and sausages. We forgot to take pictures, as we were enjoying the company so much, but they were both delicious! Ursula and Carolina both ordered a strawberry and basil cream parfait for dessert, which they let us sample, and it was very tasty. I’ve heard of people using basil in desserts, but will now have to try it myself after tasting this!

Many in the group went on a boat ride after lunch, but I opted for the walk along the sculpture path along the river. The pathway goes most of the way around the peninsula and has a variety of modern and post-modern sculptures installed, so that’s what you see pictured here. There were many more pictures of the sculptures than I could post here. I also found a small antique/flea market in a little corner of town, a few tea and coffee shops, and some gelato. I ordered a scoop of gelato on a cone, cappuccino, and headed back to the river to enjoy the cool treat and a beautiful view. After finishing our gelato, I met up with a few others from the group and sat by the river to wait for the rest of the group to gather before leaving.

We left Wasserburg around 5:00 and returned to the library around 6:00. Petra offered to give me a ride back to Grafelfing, as she lives a few houses over from our home away from home. So, I took her up on that and were back at the house in no time. After fixing dinner of bread, tomato, cheese and salami, I did a few things online and I wrote the abstract for my paper. I visited a little with Petra and her mom, gave her the tea I’d picked up for her during the day, and went to bed. All in all, a lovely day!

Finishing touches at the library

Yesterday, I got up and ready. I had breakfast of Nutella a sandwich and an apple and Petra dropped me off at her shop, from which I walked the rest of the way to the train. I went to the Pasing station as usual, and then on to the library.

When I arrived at the library, I had about an hour to put some finishing touches on my rough draft of the paper before we went on a tour of the library at 11:00. Our tour was directed by a former director of the library who was instrumental in helping to develop the historical collection of the library, with some of the holdings dating back to the 1800s. He showed us the museum upstairs, which we had all seen, but he pointed out some of the interesting pieces, such as one of the first printings of the Robinson Crusoe books, and also told us a bit more about some of the illustrators highlighted in the exhibit. After that, he took us to the stacks, in the basement of the castle, where they hold approximately 580,000 books in over 130 different languages. The shelves are rather intriguing, as they move at the push of a button, so that they are stored essentially spine to spine, so that there is not a lot of room taken up between shelves for walking room. He shared with us several interesting facts about the library collection, including the fact that the collection is entirely dependent upon donations, primarily from publishers, and private donors.

Additionally, most of the historical collection was made up of the donations of a few private donors who had an interest in childrens books, such as fairy tales or adventure stories. Some of the books are popular titles, such as Alice in Wonderland and Mary Poppins. He also shared with us some titles which were popular in other countries, but when an attempt was made to publish them outside the country of origin, the popularity did not continue to the outside countries. Some of the most interesting books in the historical collection were those that were novel (pardon the pun) for their time, including one of the first interactive books with sound (made with a series of bellows, pipes, and strings) and those with movable parts. There were also some of the first color illustrated books, which he explained were done by hand by primarily women in a small publishing house.

When we left the stacks, we went upstairs to a small room that housed the table where Jella Leppman, the founder of the International Youth Library, sat with colleagues to orchestrate the beginnings of the library. There was also a series of books by Eric Kastner, a very popular childrens book author, as well as posters from the movies that were based on his books.

When we finished the tour, it was time for lunch, so we went to the cafe. Lunch was calamari stuffed with rice, parsley, and covered in a creamy tomato sauce, or gnocchi with fresh Parmesan cheese and tomato sauce. I tasted both and both were wonderful. I forgot to take pictures, though, so no photos of the food.

After lunch, we went back to the library, where I took some pictures of some of the exhibits and did a bit of reading before I was ready to leave. We left the library and went to Marienplatz, where we found the botanical gardens again (which Petra has since informed us are the old ones, she says the new ones are much more impressive) and I had hoped to take Benny to the beer garden there. However, due to the slight rain, it was closed, so we walked through Marienplatz and explored some of the stores, a church, and saw the glockenspiel, although it was not going off at the time we saw it. We did find the JA Henkles store, which was a lot of fun, since I have some of their kitchen tools at home. We discovered a whole array of items we hadn't seen at home, and before we leave, I may pick up a few things from there.

Leaving Marienplatz around 6:00, I went home by the S6 and had dinner of a salami, tomato, and brie sandwich on some crusty and yummy rolls that I'd picked up at the discount bakery. I had also chosen what I thought was a cheese pretzel, but I discovered that it also had salami and pineapple, so it was a wonderful addition to the meal also. (The great thing about being here is that we can walk off all of the carbs we eat during the day, so I don't feel badly at all for eating all that bread!) I visited with Petra and the girls a bit in the evening (they were all watching the Michael Jackson funeral). At about 10:30, I finally went to bed, knowing that it would be another early morning.

Augsburg

I got up and dressed early yesterday and arrived at the station in time to get breakfast before the train arrived. I had a wonderful pastry and a cafe latte, a bit of a splurge for breakfast, but tasty none the less. Our train ride to Augsburg took about 40 minutes, so it gave me time to plan what was important to see, one being the Jewish Cultural Museum, since it might be valuable to my paper.

When we arrived, we picked up some maps from the information desk (which turned out to be less than helpful since not all of the streets were marked) and I headed to the Jewish Cultural Museum with Dr. Veltze and Tara, our Iranian friend who is a scholarship student at the library. No one else seemed interested in this museum, so it was just the three of us. When we arrived at the museum, we discovered that there was a huge translation barrier between the gatekeeper (there was literally a gate), and us. Eventually, we managed to explain that we wanted to see the museum, which is housed in part of the synagogue, and were allowed in. There was no cost to enter the museum, but we soon discovered that we were going to learn very little unless we paid 1 E for the printed English guide. The museum had information about the presence of Jews in Augsburg from the middle ages through WWII, and up to the present day. The artifacts were beautiful, many of them done by hand, and the synagogue itself was incredible, with many ornately decorated alcoves. We were not allowed to take pictures in the synagogue, so I picked up a postcard for 1 E.

We ate lunch at a Turkish restaurant, which appealed to Tara, who has had trouble finding food that agreed with her stomach and sense of taste, as the food is vastly different from Iranian food. I had a salad with some seasoned meat and a piece of bread that was sliced perfectly to make a sandwich. It was quite tasty and reminded me a bit of Greek food with the yogurt sauce.

After leaving the Jewish Museum, we made our way to the Fuggeri, by way of a Catholic cemetary, which was very elaborate and appeared to be for the wealthy members of the community. What surprised me most were the miniature gardens that were at each grave site, including shrubbery and vines. When we arrived at the Fuggeri, we were pleasantly surprised that they offered a student rate of 3 E, and went inside. The Fuggeri was a family that was extremely influential in Augsburg during the 1500s, as they were wealthy from the spice trade and served many of the popes in providing capital for certain things. The amazing thing that the brothers did in Augsburg was to create the first (in the world) form of housing for people on a low income. Their idea was to create an area where people could live in reasonable housing at affordable rates, in hopes that this would enable them to save enough to start their own business or purchase their own property. This complex is still open today, and is incredible shape. The family still owns and operates the endowment which helps to finance it. Rent is still 0.88 E per month, as it originally was, but now tenants have to pay outside fees for water, sewer, and garbage. There were two model apartments open to the public, one being furnished as it might have been originally, and the other has been renovated and furnished as it might be today. Today, the primary residents are elderly people on fixed incomes. (The picture here is of Tara and a cardboard cut-out of the tour guide, who dresses as the Fuggeri brothers likely would have.)

After visiting the Fuggeri apartments, we walked to find a cafe so that Tara and Dr. Veltze could have a drink to cool off. Tara had some Turkish tea and Dr. Veltze had a Coke. I sipped from my water bottle and we chatted about Tara's home, her family, and her lifestlye. After this, we went to St. Anna's Lutheran Church, where Martin Luther spent some time, and I had the chance to discuss some of the basic tenants of the Christian religion with Tara, and explain the similarities and differences between the Protestant church, the Catholic church, and Judaism. She was very intrigued and shared with me a bit about her own Muslim faith.

We also visited the Maximillian Museum, which houses great collections of Renaissance and Baroque artifacts, including silver services, china, frescoes on ceilings, and many statues. We didn't spend as much time here as I could have, but it was more a function of the fact that I had kind of reached my saturation point for the day with artifacts and history, rather than the group pushing me on. Dr. Veltze wasn't feeling well due to a cold, so the two of us sat in a beautiful little courtyard here and she had a cappuccino, which she said gave her the energy to get through the rest of the day.

After visiting all these places, we headed back to the train station and on the way found a snack for me for dinner, a salami sandwich, and Dr. Veltze and Tara found a little table at a beer garden to have a look at some of the books that they had purchased throughout the day. When the group was gathered, we all headed for the train and ended up back at Pasing around 8:30. I was home by 9:00 and ready to fall into bed. If I had the opportunity to go back to Augsburg, I certainly would, since it sounded like the others saw so many things that we didn't get to see.

Fourth of July

I woke up around 7:00 this morning, but laid in the bed until about 7:30. Once I was up, showered, and dressed, I enjoyed my regular breakfast of Nutella on toast and a banana. After breakfast, I did a bit more reading for my paper and then took a little break to listen to the news and check email. After some more work on my paper, adding to the math unit, and a little break to chat with Benny online, I had 34 pages. Overall, my paper is pretty much done, it just needs some polishing and I need to tie up some loose ends with the handouts and rubrics for the unit itself. I also need to add a few more resources to the bibliography, but I should be able to get that done tomorrow evening and Monday morning early.

I got ready to leave the house around 4:00, but almost as soon as I closed the door behind me, the rain began to come. It rained for most of my walk to the train, and then abruptly stopped. Thankfully, I had my umbrella and rain coat, so I didn't get too wet. I stopped in Pasing to get a pretzel as a snack, but when I got to the bakery, I discovered that they were out of pretzels, so I settled for a peach filled doughnut instead. (I know, real bummer.) I hopped on a train at the Pasing station to go to Marienplatz, where I met the group for dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe. (Not my first choice, but after working on the paper all day, I needed a social outlet.)

I arrived early, so we would be sure to have a table, not knowing how crowded it might be on a Saturday night. I ordered a hamburger with fries and an orange soda that was reminiscent of Fresca. Everyone seemed to have a good time and enjoy the live music, and it was fun getting to know our new colleague from the library, Tara, from Iran. She is primarily a translator, but she also teaches some language courses at her university, including Prussian. We left Hard Rock around 9:00 and took the trains our separate ways to get home, since we've got an early day tomorrow.

The walk home was beautiful as the sun set and the moon came out. It wasn't as dark as the picture here makes it seem and it was still dusk when I arrived back at the house. Petra and Petra were both here when I arrived, so I visited with them and played ball with Alegra some. They were watching boxing on TV, and it was kind of nice to watch something on TV that I could make sense of without having to understand all of the commentary, although I'm no boxing fan. But for now, I'm in my pajamas and ready for bed, knowing that tomorrow will be a long day in Augsburg, but a beautiful one.