I am not the Charmin Bear

2012-01-19T16:01:00.001-08:00

If you are driving around, and happen to see my brain trudging alongside the road, please gently coax it inside your vehicle, and bring it home to me. No questions asked. I just miss it.

Silly Signs and other odd sightings

2012-01-18T13:57:00.000-08:00

I like to take pictures of signs that don't quite make sense to me, or that are unusual, or just strike me as funny. Here is a link to my album of silly signs. Click here.

http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2035282&l=a4241&id=42001632

alligators

2012-01-18T13:55:00.000-08:00

I am bored today so I think I'll start a creative writing class. I'll have just one student. Me. This morning while I was out for my morning walk I ran into an alligator. It was about to eat me. So I yelled, "Stop!" And he did. Alligators aren't used to being yelled at. I asked him if he'd brushed his teeth today. He didn't know what toothbrushing was. So I ran home and got him a toothbrush and taught him how to brush. While he was busy I snuck away. Tomorrow I think I'll ride a llama. The end.

flour

2011-05-26T02:55:00.001-07:00

i have a flour collection.

new to the neighborhood

2011-05-26T02:54:00.000-07:00

we got a new signpost. i wonder what they will put on it.

Oh, they put in a sign that said you can't park there anymore without paying a fee.

What I've been doing

2011-05-25T08:54:00.001-07:00

I've been making quilts. Or, at least, quilt tops. Batting is way too expensive here, so I'll finish the quilts at home. Here is the one I made last week. It still needs a little embroidery and a border.

double tall bikes

2011-04-26T09:54:00.000-07:00

I shouldn't be surprised that bikes can be parked two tall, since our car does that too.

Spring series

2011-04-26T09:49:00.000-07:00


April 11


April 21


April 26


April 11

April 21


April 26

I met a new friend today

2011-04-11T09:20:00.001-07:00

Back in Munich, again

2011-04-08T06:19:00.000-07:00


My suitcase had lots of room. You can see what is important to me: books, food, and otc drugs

I decided to document Spring from our window.


This is the other view of Spring.

Munich

2011-04-04T10:44:00.001-07:00

I'm baaaaaack!

Eek, the horror!

2010-10-08T06:22:00.000-07:00

I was near the Riem Arcadien the other day, and saw some men constructing a big box. I was puzzled, because it seemed awfully early to be setting up for a Christkindlmarkt. But there they were, cutting and nailing plywood, and painting it a bright, cheery red.

About a week later, I walked past the same spot, and I felt a bit horrified. Because this is what I saw. Well, mystery solved at least, right?

No! That wasn't the end of the horror. Because inside the mall there was, believe it or not, a second one. I'm still shuddering.

We got a new oven and cooktop!

2010-10-04T03:04:00.001-07:00

We've lived in Munich for 2 1/2 years now. And we always felt like the oven didn't bake things very well. Rob finally figured out why. The top element wasn't working. No wonder things never got browned, and no wonder I felt like we were drying things rather than baking them. So he called the landlord, who came and looked at it. About two weeks later, an oven guy came and took some measurements. About two weeks after that, the oven guy came back with a new oven and cooktop. When the oven guy called to make the installation appointment, he spoke no English, and so I muddled thru with the German I know. Fortunately we understood each other enough. The next night I made cornbread and it was tasty!

My liquids beat Lauri's cereal!

2010-09-26T08:51:00.000-07:00

Yup, I'm back in Munich again. We're probably not going to have a car for long, so I cajoled Rob into driving to Edeka and Hit to stock up on liquid things. Walking to the local market is great, and easy, and all that, but I hate schlepping the heavy liquids every time. So we bought beverages! What does this have to do with cereal? You have to read my daughter Lauri's blog (...and then I found a tambourine) to understand.

I'm puzzled

2010-04-16T07:32:00.000-07:00

We live there

2010-04-16T05:55:00.000-07:00

This is the view when I am walking home. There are always bikes parked along the sidewalks.

oops

2010-04-15T11:28:00.001-07:00

I'm silly. I thought a tajine went in the oven. No, it just gets simmered on top of the stove. Tonight I made a chicken tajine with lots of onions, walnuts, and pomegranite juice. Yum.

Tagine

2010-04-14T04:16:00.000-07:00

Even before we went to Morocco Rob has been fascinated with Tajine. It's a dish and also a dish. Meaning, it's the name of a kind of food, and it is also the dish it's cooked in. We ate tajines in Morocco several times, almost always chicken. So for a realllllllly early Father's Day gift I bought him a tajine. It arrived this morning (TZZZZZZZZZT!!!!!! that's the sound of the door buzzer, loud and surprising and usually causing me to jump about a foot into the air) and I happily unpacked it and then wondered, will this tajine, which is larger than I thought it would be, fit into our tiny oven? The answer is, just barely.

League of Accidental Hausfraen

2010-04-14T04:06:00.000-07:00

Shortly after we moved here to Munich I found a website called "Toytown Germany." It is a site for English speaking expats from all over the place. The first event we attended was an American Stammtisch with a 4th of July party, in 2008. Encouraged by the seeming plethora of English speakers, I created a group for people that like playing board games. Almost 2 years later, we regularly see all but one of the 6 game playing people that first came to our apartment. Now the group meets at restaurants around town, most recently at a place called "Amigos Locos." Encouraged by the success of that group, I went looking for something to do during the day. My friend Kathy, whom I met at one of the games nights, signed up for a League of Accidental Hausfrauen meeting. I thought, what the heck, sounds like a good thing, and so I signed up too. The group meets at restaurants all over Munich, sometimes as often as once a week. Some weeks there are 5 women, some weeks there are 30. Sometimes there is even a hausmanner. I've met a lot of nice women in this group, from Seattle, and Russia, and Iceland, Finland and Australia and New Zealand. England and Ireland and France. Some of them have been in Germany for 20 years, and some have only been here for a week when they first come. It's always a relief to go somewhere and converse in English for a couple hours! Here is the sign the most recent restaurant used to reserve our table for us. Reserved, from 11:30 hour, on 13th of April 2010.

Ravioli

2010-04-14T04:01:00.000-07:00

Last summer for his birthday I bought Rob a ravioli form. He likes to make his own pasta, especially for Maultaschen (the German version of ravioli, basically). We had a pasta roller thing already. Well, last weekend Rob finally got around to actually trying the ravioli form. By the way, it tasted as good as it looked!

A glass of water

2010-04-14T03:48:00.000-07:00

When you go to a restaurant in Munich and ask for water, it is likely they will bring you a bottle of sparkling mineral water. I don't like sparkling mineral water, so I learned to ask for it without gas, "wasser ohne gas." But sometimes it still tastes exactly like sparkling mineral water, only it's flat. Ick. So I needed to ask for plain old tap water, "leitungswasser." But when you only want free, tap water, you don't get much. Look at the size of the tea cup compared to the glass. It's only about 3" tall! And it only came half full!

...and then she said, "something blue"

2010-04-11T06:24:00.000-07:00

Last night we had another Toytown games night. We meet at a mexican restaurant not far from our apartment. Not that the food really tastes like mexican food. But anyhow. We never quite know who will show up. There are always a few newbies. So last night, we got to the place a few minutes before they opened, and were waiting around outside (and it was cold--it snowed this morning!) and a young woman walked up. Not exactly an ordinary woman. Young, for sure. Very slender. Black shoes, black tights, full, flouncy black skirt. Orange blouse, black vest, black gloves, black hat. Purple glasses. Glitter near the eyes. We asked her if she was looking for Toytown, and yes, she was. So we went into the restaurant, got seated at our usual table. The waiter came over and asked what we'd like. Rob: "dunkeles weiss bier, bitte." Me: "a glass of white wine, please." The girl: "Something blue."

Jesus is in my bucket!

2010-04-08T12:16:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago I looked in my bucket and there He was, staring back up at me.

No wonder

2010-04-07T07:39:00.000-07:00

Here i am, back in Munich. When I arrived last week, I wondered why the faucet sprayed sideways more than downward. Then I unscrewed the aerator and found out. I bought a new one. The water here is very calcium rich.

I was in Morocco, part V

2009-10-21T02:55:00.000-07:00

I've been back in Munich for a couple days, and it's time to finish my story about Morocco. From Fez we took a taxi to the train station, and then a train all the way back to Casablanca. It doesn't cost much to upgrade from second class on the train to first class, so we enjoyed once again sitting on the upper story of the train. And the air conditioning worked very well, so it was a comfortable ride. It hardly seemed like a 3 1/2 hour journey. Sitting across from us were two young men from England, and we had fun talking to them. Once again in Casablanca, we took a taxi to our hotel. It was a relief to be in a large hotel again, with lights that worked well and a real window, a shower that drained well, carpets that seemed clean. We knew where we wanted to go to dinner that night, we had spotted a restaurant a week earlier that looked nice. I tried (once again) to get roasted chicken, but, once again, they didn't have it. So I ended up with a breaded chicken breast. It wasn't very good, and my tummy didn't need any more trouble than it already had, but it was dinner and it filled me. We went back to our hotel and I had a nice glass of wine while Rob had a can of Casablanca Beer in the bar.
The next morning we got up leisurely, ate some breakfast, wandered, ate lunch, took a taxi to the train station, took the train to the airport. For our final train ride we didn't have enough dirhams to go first class, so we rode in second class. A little dirtier, but the seats were still comfortable. When we arrived at the airport, the first inspection happened at the entrance to the airport, before we even got to the ticket counter. After getting our tickets we had another inspection. They let us bring our bottles of water with us. Amazing. It felt really good to get on the airplane, to know that we were on our way back to Europe. At this point I don't think I'll return to Morocco any time soon. Aside from having a sick stomach almost the whole time we were there, it was difficult to deal with such a complete language barrier, the heat and humidity, the culture, dealing with people begging to be hired for taxi rides, to give us a tour, to eat in their restaurant, to buy their goods...
And so we arrived in Madrid. It was too late at night to get a flight to Munich, so we had booked an airport hotel in Madrid. Except it wasn't at the airport. It was an hour's train ride, into the middle of the city. We negotiated the trains (3 of them) and were exiting the last station when I heard Rob shouting on the stairs behind me. Then he punched a guy! It turns out the guy had his hand in Rob's pocket, trying to steal his wallet! We had been so cautious in Morocco, and nothing had happened, and then we got to Madrid, and this! We couldn't believe it. Checked into our hotel (beautiful room there), and headed out for dinner. It was "only" 10 pm, so we thought it would be no problem. But 10 pm on a Sunday night. Most places were closing. We ended up eating tapas at a cafe counter. It was good, it was fast (it gave Rob heartburn all night), and we went to bed. Woke up at 6:30 am Madrid time, which of course was 4:30 am Morocco time), got a taxi, went to airport, flew home to Munich. Ahhh...it's so good to be here!

Yes, I AM in Morocco, part IV

2009-10-17T02:48:00.000-07:00

Fez. This is the farthest we are going. We bought our bottles of water and had a very pleasant half hour ride on the train from Meknes. Via email, our hotel host told us to beware of people posing to be tour guides, of people telling us our hotel was no good, or closed. Everywhere we have been on this trip there have been guides, wanting to show us around for money. What we've learned is that they will take us to shops owned by their relatives, pressure us to buy. It is true, too. Our hotel arranged a guide for us, which we thought would be the smart thing to do, instead of getting some random person off the street. We told him no shopping, that we wanted to see the medina, the tannery, and the handcrafts. We're glad we hired him, the medina here is huge, twisting, a labyrinth. It was wonderful to see. Parts of it date back to the 9th century. The guide said there's never been an earthquake or a fire in the medina. But as the tour went on, we hurried past stalls where tin was being hammered, where looms were zooming, clothing sewn. We did get to the tannery, finally, and our guide abandoned us for awhile, left us to the tannery guide, who explained just a little about the dyeing process for the skins, but then led us all over his shop so that we would hopefully buy a purse, a bolster for our feet, a jacket. I told the guide I was ready to go back to the hotel, my feet were tired, my stomach was growling. He said ok, but just one more stop. Rob had asked him where we could buy some saffron, so I assumed he would take us there. Instead, he took us to a carpet warehouse, where there was huge pressure to buy a carpet. What pattern do you like, tree of life or tribal? What color, do you want it woven, knotted, or berber? I can sell you this rug for so cheap, so cheap you wouldn't believe it. No? But look at this rug, 360,000 knots per inch square meter (I know, huh?) Look, here, here is how we will ship it, look at this small bag, straight from our door to yours. The rugs are an investment, look, it increases in value and in your old age, you can sell it for so much. The more you walk on it the softer it gets. And on and on. I kept saying no, no, no, I don't want a rug. Finally we left. I was done with not only Fez, but with Morocco too. It was such a frustrating experience. I was an American, I wanted to be nice, to leave them with good thoughts of Americans. I should have left as soon as I realized their intentions, to not just show us some pretty rugs, but to Make Us Buy one.
Back at the hotel, we ate dinner. Salad this time was 9 small plates of various things. Dinner was a chicken tajine with nice, simple saffron rice. Then came some pastillas, which I couldn't/wouldn't eat because of the wheat. Bed time was such a relief!
The next day was much better. We set off on our own and found some bottled water and a bank (dirhams go flying out of the pocket, the withdrawal limit is 2,000 (about $250) and everything, including hotel, is paid in cash). Then we wandered past a huge garden, part of a palace, and into the Jewish quarters, called the mellah. A couple people said, "closed, nothing to see." And really, there wasn't. But it was quieter there, away from all the bustle, and we found a nice cafe where we could sit and have some mint tea and coke. We meandered back to our hotel dar, relaxed in some chairs on the inner balcony, and then hailed a taxi for dinner. We had decided to eat in the newer part of town. I couldn't believe how many hundreds of people were outside. As soon as the sun sets, everyone goes out to do their shopping and visiting. Few Moroccans actually eat at restaurants. We were dropped off near the restaurant, but weren't quite sure where it was. Fortunately an older gentleman saw that we were lost, and he guided us there. He didn't even ask for a coin! At the restaurant we were the only people for a long time. We had great food, steak in a wine sauce, lamb, and french fries. And the best part--a whole bottle of wine. It's not easy to find places here that serve alcohol. As usual, when we left we grabbed the remainders of our bottle of water so that we could brush our teeth and have a bit to drink at night.
Now I am caught up. Today we go back to Casablanca via train, tomorrow we fly to Madrid, and monday morning we fly to Munich. I can't wait to get back home!

Why am I in Morocco?

2009-10-16T10:02:00.000-07:00

We boarded a train bound for Meknes. It promised air conditioning. It didn't deliver. So it was a hot, stuffy 2 hour ride from Rabat to Meknes. When we arrived in Meknes we managed to hail another petit taxi. We rode from the newer part of town into the old town, another medina. Our room this time was in a dar, off of the town square. We followed the signs through the twisting paths. In the medinas, the walls and doors are very old looking. We were told by our guide in Fez that the people who live behind the walls save the "wow" for the inside, and keep the outside of their places very plain, so as not to make anyone jealous.
When we got inside, we were invited to sit down for tea on a comfortable sofa. Our hostess spoke English fairly well. She told us that the weather here has been unusually hot for October. It's not typical for it to still be in the 80's and hotter this month. They worried a few years ago about a drought, worried that their whole town would disappear and be taken over by Moroccan desert. I am not sure which world I would rather be in: here, where it's still too hot to be comfortable in the sun, or in Munich, where it is snowing and the highs have been in the 30's.
We were given a tour of the dar, which had 17 or so rooms for guests. Most of the places where we have stayed have been built on a square, with all the rooms opening to the middle. This place was no exception. In the lobby there was a fountain against one wall, and rooms opening off the other walls. We were shown upstairs to our room, and then continued up to the third story, and the roof. There were comfortable places to sit on the roof, small tables and chairs, and plants in containers.
We ventured out to find some food. We walked into a cafe where there was a tall glass fronted refrigerator. In most places in the States and in Europe, you help yourself to things inside these fridges and then take them to the counter to pay. Not so here. I had grabbed someone's pepsi and tried to pay for it. The men sitting in the cafe were all staring at me and snickering. I wanted to melt into the floor! I quickly put the pepsi back and we left.
Almost all of the restaurants we have eaten at have consisted of tables and chairs outside on the walkway. We chose one that promised roasted chicken for me, and a tajine for Rob. And we actually did get what we asked for. Woot! The downside though was the cats. There are cats everywhere here. When we first got here I thought the cats were cute, charming. At dinner they became pests. There must have been 10 of them, some of them persistently putting their paws on us, some hard to shoo away even with our feet. (We didn't kick them, just shooed them, I promise!) Interestingly, I ended up with 5 insect bites that night. Fleas, I think. At least we haven't encountered any bedbugs on this trip!
We took another spin through another medina. They are always crowded places, with people and animals vying for the walkway. Donkeys are the common way to transport things into the medinas. Motorcycles and mopeds go roaring through too. Pedestrians don't have the right of way here. There are few traffic lights in the cities, and no signals to indicate that the crosswalk is safe to pedestrians. Watch out for taxis and tour buses! Taxis outnumber personal cars, probably three to one.
The thing to see in Meknes wasn't really in Meknes, it was in a city called Volubilis. It's a Roman ruins. Dry, dusty, rocky, hot. So we hired a grand taxi to drive us there and back. When we arrived, guides offered to lead us, hawkers offered to sell us hats and water, pottery and postcards. We took lots of great photos, saw lots of old mosaic floors that had been unearthed and roped off, lots of falling apart pillars and walls. After we had walked forever (Rob with his Morocco book in one hand, camera in the other) we went back to our taxi, found our driver, and went to another city called Moulay Idriss. It was named after the guy who, in the 9th century, brought Islam to Morocco. It consists of many whitewashed houses, perched on the side of a hill. We walked through the souq (marketplace) and then found our driver again, and were transported back to our square in Meknes. I tried to order roasted chicken for lunch, instead got a chicken sandwich, so swapped with Rob and ate his chicken brouchettes instead. And shooed at more cats. And apparently got sick from the chicken. We've both visited the toilette more times than we'd like.
Late in the afternoon we walked down to a masoleum but didn't go in. Then we walked down one hill and up another to eat at a restaurant that sounded really good in our Lonely Planet book, but wasn't open. So we hired a taxi and went back to our square. We opted to eat in our riad. We both ordered a chicken tajine. I was surprised at all the courses. First they brought out dishes of olives. Then a basket of bread. Then mint tea. Then soup. Then "salad" which wasn't the lettuce salad that we think of when we think salad. It was three dishes, one of lentils, one of red and green peppers, and one of something squishy. I think it was squash. And finally, our tajines. The chicken and rice was really good. We accidentally left before dessert.
Anyhow. The next day we left for Fez.

I am (still) in Morocco, part III

2009-10-16T07:52:00.000-07:00

The train trip to Rabat took about an hour. We sat upstairs and could see the countryside as we chugged past. Air conditioning was advertised but not very vigorous. I felt sad seeing all the poverty along the tracks, people living in hovels with tin roofs, tires perched precariously to hold the roofs down. In Rabat (the name of the train station was Rabatville) (I immediately pictured rabbits) we were met by another taxi. He held the name of our hotel on a sign. Before we even got going, we had trouble. The other taxis (the petite taxis) were angry at him. They parked him in, and wouldn't let him out. Shouting and much hand gesturing occurred. Finally, they relented and let him back out. Unfortunately, he made a wrong turn and had to go right back through the same area. Thankfully, the drivers just glared at him but let him through.
When the taxi reached the kasbah where we were staying, a policeman whistled at him and made him pull over. They bickered for awhile, and then our driver was allowed to proceed. There WAS a sign that indicated we were approaching a one way road from the wrong way. Regardless, we went in. The road here was just wide enough for a single vehicle and a pedestrian (if the pedestrian squeezed up against the wall). We could have reached out our windows and touched the whitewashed walls. There were sales stands along both sides of the street selling water, fruit, postcards, etc. When we had driven a couple hundred meters we met a vehicle coming from the other direction, so our driver had to back up to a wider space. Forward again. Met another vehicle. The driver of that one didn't like that we were blocking the way, and I was afraid of another angry encounter. Both drivers got out of their cars and started yelling. Lucky for us, our driver opened the trunk and let us get our luggage out. Someone grabbed my suitcase, and started loping down the road with it. I had to yell at him to stop several times so we could catch up. He brought us to our door, a large blue door in the midst of all the white walls, and Rob handed him a couple dirhams. For the next 2 nights we were staying here. It was a riad. That means that besides having many rooms, there was also a garden area. There were several terraces and vines hanging overhead and clinging to the whitewashed walls. Long sitting areas covered with cushions and pillows lined several walls. We could hear birds, see the ocean (the Atlantic!) and finally relax. While I unwound in our room Rob went out to the gardens and had a cup of mint tea with our host. We spent an afternoon wandering around the Kasbah des Oudaias. We enjoyed the Andalusian garden, strolled through a museum, and ate some cookies at a cafe. We also walked around in the medina twice. We felt totally lost in it the first night, and spent at least an hour searching for food. When we found a restaurant, I was happy to see that there was roasted chicken offered. But...the waiter told us there was no chicken available. So we got brouchettes instead. They were chicken. I know, it didn't make sense to me either. (Brouchettes are like shish kebab.)
When we wandered into the medina again the next day we enjoyed all the different stalls. They were selling silk fabrics, leather sandals, fresh foods (ok, that was stinky because there was a lot of fresh fish), pottery, eggs by the dozen, junky plastic trinkets, etc. The hawkers were not as annoying as we thought they would be. There wasn't a lot of pressure to buy. And I think the only thing we bought was a couple postcards. Next stop: Meknes.

I am in Morocco, part II

2009-10-16T03:44:00.000-07:00

On Sunday morning we woke up in Casablanca. Rob went downstairs for breakfast, and I used the hot water maker so I could drink the first packet of hot chocolate, and eat the first packet of oatmeal that I brought with me. It's a good thing that I brought my own (one set for every day) because breakfasts here consist of bread, bread, and more bread. In different shapes and sizes, but still all bread. And some olives here and there. There IS fresh squeezed orange juice, and it is delicious. Then we set out to find the train station, which was supposedly just across the street. We couldn't find it on our first try, so we went back to the hotel and asked for directions. It really was just across the street, but down a bit. We bought our train tickets for later in the afternoon, and then went back to our room, rested, checked out, checked our luggage, and flagged a taxi. Rob wanted to see Hussan's mosque. It was huge. We didn't get there until 2, when an English speaking tour was to happen. But we were in line to buy entrance tickets, so we missed the first part of the tour. Things happen in their own time here. No matter. When we into the mosque, we were given bags to hold our shoes. Then we walked quickly from group to group until we found a guide that was speaking English. The mosque is enormous! We went through a lot of beautiful rooms, including one filled with fountains.
We also were taken to see the women's hammam, sort of like a steam room. The guide said that women sometimes go there 2 or 3 times a week for a massage and gossip. After our tour, we set out on foot for a restaurant. We walked for probably half an hour, without finding anything but men only cafes, so we hailed our second taxi of the day (another petit one). Rob asked to be driven to a large park (he had seen it on a map, and was sure there was food there.) But the taxi driver didn't understand, because Rob's French is very limited, and neither of us speaks Arabic (go figure). After driving around for awhile we ended up in an area with several restaurants, so we got out and paid our driver. After eating, we figured out where we were with Rob's cell phone, and then walked back to our hotel, passing the large park on the way. At the hotel we rested in the lobby for awhile and then walked to the train and headed off to Rabat.

Here I am in Morocco, part I

2009-10-16T02:14:00.000-07:00

A couple months ago I was looking at my map of Europe, and I noticed how close we were to Africa. So I said, "Hey Rob, we should go to Tanzania, it's not that far away!" And he said, "hmm" and then a few days later, after gathering opinions from friends, he said, "Morocco is a better place to go." By then I was wondering why on earth I had even thought about going. But I said, "Okay, Morocco, and then we can see Gibraltar, too!" Well, I had just a weekend in mind, but Rob booked 9 days of exciting travel: fly into Casablanca, then spend 2 days in Rabat, 2 in Meknes, 2 in Fez, another in Casablanca, and then a night in Madrid. OK. I can handle it. Then we talked with other friends, who told us about the more scary side of travel in an Arabic country, and I looked at websites for information on what we should bring, how we should dress, etc. They said bring your own toilet paper, don't wander alone, and if you want to be respected you should wear long sleeves and long pants (or long skirt). I planned to do all that, plus we got a passport/money holder for Rob to strap around his leg, and I sewed holders into my pants/skirts.
So last Saturday afternoon we took the train to the Munich airport, then flew to Casablanca via Madrid. We arrived at midnight to us, but only 10 pm to them. We had requested that our hotel arrange to have a taxi pick us up, but we hadn't had confirmation of that. So we were pleasantly surprised when we saw a man bearing a sign with our name. He grabbed my suitcase, and waiting impatiently while Rob went to an ATM to get some cash. Dirhams are the currency here, and they are only available here. As soon as Rob had his cash, the taxi man took off at a brisk walk (with my suitcase) so we quickly followed him. There are two kinds of taxis here, "petit taxi" and "grand taxi."
Petit taxis are available for local trips, and they go directly to your destination . You have to agree on the price, first, because most of them have "broken" meters. Grand taxis are for local trips or trips between cities. If you don't pay to have the grand taxi to yourself, you end up with 4 people in the backseat, and two people plus the driver in the front seat. And these are regular sedans. Mostly old (really old) Mercedes. The other option in a grand taxi is to pay for the privilege of keeping it to yourself. Spendy but nice!
As soon as we got away from the airport we knew we were in for a wild ride. Two traffic lanes in each direction become 3 or 4 lanes in each direction. Often we were driving down the middle. I have no idea how they don't have more accidents! Pedestrians crossed even the busy roads at random. Stop signs are only suggestions, and traffic lights are just tolerated.

things that make me wonder

2009-10-05T13:37:00.000-07:00

They sell that?

2009-09-16T12:48:00.000-07:00

Do they sell this in America?

Welcome back

2009-09-16T12:43:00.000-07:00

Rob and some other "people" welcomed me back to Munich a few weeks ago.

The other night, they did the Conga.Please don't say anything to the dog. He's a bit embarrassed.

Oops

2009-09-16T03:58:00.000-07:00

Today I actually fell out of my chair. Landed on my elbow and twisted my knee. I felt so stupid. But earlier today I tempted fate. I watched a pot of water come to a boil. Now I know.

you know you don't have a dryer...

2009-09-10T13:07:00.000-07:00

when your washcloth looks like this:

Screens

2009-09-01T08:46:00.000-07:00

Living in Munich, we’ve adjusted to life without window screens. In fact, we hadn’t seen a window screen until we got to our hotel in Schwerin. Our afternoon and evening went like this:

Afternoon: Oh look! One of the windows has a screen!

Evening: Oh crap! Look at all the mosquitoes! Let’s turn out all the lights, maybe they’ll all fly back outside…Hmm. That didn't work.

Evening, part 2: Rob to the rescue! In the dark, Rob jumped on the bed, ready to start shooing the mosquitoes out the window. This pic was really taken in the dark, with just the flash.

Evening, part 3: Oh crap! Carnage! Will the hotel charge us for cleanup? In the morning we used a damp towel and attempted to get some of the smashed bodies/blood off the walls.

Now we know why there was a screen in one of the windows. Lesson learned. Hotel on lake = only open the window with a screen after dark.

Update

2009-08-17T21:23:00.000-07:00

Guess what! I'm heading back to Munich on Thursday, and that means I'm going to start updating my blog again. Woot!

For now, I'll just say that I made 18 pints of jam and jellies today.

american sauce

2009-06-01T11:25:00.000-07:00

On Saturday night, in a little town called Wiesen, Austria, we went to a pizza restaurant. Mostly we went because they had spare ribs on the menu. I ordered the "Spare Ribs American Style" and used my best German to say that I couldn't eat MSG. This totally confused the restaurant owners, so after lots of gesturing and such they showed me the bottle of "American Sauce." I'm not sure why it's American. Instead of BBQ sauce with tomato and honey or molasses, the sauce had cheese as the main ingredient. It sounded really weird, but after all the hubbub I would have felt bad to decline the sauce, so I had it. And, actually, it was okay!

Identity Crisis III

2009-05-22T06:27:00.000-07:00

Since Rob didn't think it was all that silly for women to have cute little bows on all their tender little underthings, I decided to take a little revenge.

Identity Crisis I

2009-05-07T11:51:00.000-07:00

So I've been wondering...why, oh why, do manufacturers/designers think that women need to have little tiny bows on the garments they purchase? Do they think bows will make us feel more feminine? Or maybe we'll forget we're female so the bows are there to remind us? And on bras? I mean, come on, isn't the fact that we're wearing a bra enough of a reminder? Bah. I hate bows.
Here's an idea. Do the same for menswear!

Identity Crisis II

2009-05-07T11:47:00.000-07:00

Where is it from? It's got a Cuban plate, a Ukrainian plate (upper left) and a German plate (lower left).

Englischer Garten

2009-05-04T08:05:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was a nice sunny day so we rode our bikes to Englischer Garten. Here are some photos. We rode 17.4 kilometers, or, about 10.5 miles. Woot! The last photo is of some surfers who "surf" in the Isar River where there are some rapids. It's really dangerous for them, they can easily hit their heads on either side of the riverbank where there are bricks piled up.

Alps

2009-04-27T05:47:00.000-07:00

Yesterday when Rob, Stephanie and I were driving back to Munich via Italy and Austria, Rob offered up an interesting tidbit. He said that in German, Alptraum means nightmare. So, I know that in German "traum" means to dream, so does "alp" mean "bad" or "evil?" This afternoon I did some research on the roots of the word, and here is what I have learned. Some scholars think the "alp" comes from "albus," meaning "white," or "altus," meaning "high." Both these definitions say the word comes from the 16th century French and Latin. Websters 1828 dictionary offered this:

ALP, ALPS, n. [Gr. white; L. albus] A high mountain. The name, it is supposed, was originally given to mountains whose tops were covered with snow, and hence appropriately applied to the mountains of Swisserland; so that by Alps is generally understood the latter mountains. But geographers apply the name to any high mountains.

I thought the most interesting interpretation came from wikipedia. There, alps are related to elfs, and the female version of an alp is a mare. You can read this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alp_(folklore). I think I like the wiki version best.

It was under the oven the whole time!

2009-04-17T11:42:00.000-07:00

Yesterday the landlady and her significant other came over to repair our refrigerator. Which was great, because it was getting rather difficult to open and shut. Anyhow, the guy lifted the fridge out of its spot on the wall (and then realized it would be best if I took all the stuff out of the fridge so it wouldn't fall on the floor), removed a bunch of screws, took off the cover and took off the old hinges. Two of them came off in several smaller pieces, which explains why the door didn't work well. But anyhow, after he screwed in the new hinges (which fit perfectly) he needed a stool to reach up to the top of the door. So the landlady reached UNDER THE STOVE and pulled out a stool! Are there any other things hiding in my kitchen? Oh, and the door works great now! We don't have to lift it over the freezer to shut it anymore.

Easter, Munich style

2009-04-15T06:59:00.000-07:00

Some things about Easter are the same here in Munich as in the States. People hang painted eggs on trees. There are chocolate Easter bunnies everywhere. I get the impression that Germans don't have a tradition of dying Easter eggs with their children. Instead, pre-colored eggs were sold everywhere. I took this picture at the ViktualienMarkt. Also, another thing that I noticed was different is that Germans don't eat jellybeans. And, besides baby chicks and bunnies, they have frogs as Easter mascots too. Anyhow, we had a nice day, the weather was beautiful. I planted flowers in pots I found in our "basement," worked on a quilt, went for a bike ride with Rob, and made delicious chewy chocolate cookies, and ate dinner on the patio.

more funny signs

2009-04-15T06:24:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we took the S-bahn to the end of the line in Gruenwald. There is a big forested area there that looks like fun to bike through. But we didn't have our bikes with us, so instead I took some pictures. We liked the concept of a "dog toilet" and also found the license plate on the red car funny (DU DU). My biggest question, would anyone want to eat at this restaurant? It sounds a bit like the plague! It's name, if you can make it out, is "Eboli."

Older than dirt, almost

2009-04-08T06:55:00.000-07:00

When I was at my parents' house recently I noticed that a lot of things looked old. So I got out my camera and snapped some pictures. I felt a little bit naughty, like a snoop. But here's what I found. This sign has been on the back of the toilet since the early 80's.
And you can guess how long the Rolaids have been in the medicine cabinet, eh? And how about that shaving cream! Does the Fuller Brushman even exist anymore?

olay

2009-04-07T09:08:00.000-07:00

I was at the store yesterday to buy some soap,
and I saw this (see picture on left) which reminded me of this (see picture on right): Why is it Olaz in Germany, and Olay in America?

Munich, again

2009-04-05T11:58:00.000-07:00

By the way, I'm back in Munich again. I arrived late on Friday afternoon, without my luggage. I left Portland last Sunday, and stopped in Orange County for a few days to see my parents and Rob's parents. Then on Thursday I got back on the plane, to fly to San Francisco. Unfortunately, the plane departed almost 2 hours late. So I had only 15 minutes in SF to get from one gate to the other. Unfortunately, to complicate things, I accidentally left the secure area, so I had to go back thru the screening. I ran the whole way. I made my plane with about 2 minutes to spare. My seatmate was nice, she slept the whole way, because she was going to a Salsa dancing convention. So that was okay until 3 hours into the flight when I began losing my field of vision, and ultimately passed out. I came too, and began blacking out again. I tried to put my head between my knees, but there was no room with the seat in front of me. I knew I should call for help, but couldn't figure out how to with no vision, and I couldn't sit up straight enough to reach for the call button without blacking out again. My in and out of consciousness lasted for about 30 minutes, and things gradually improved. Needless to say, I was pretty spooked by the whole experience, and I have no idea why it happened. I was hydrated and nourished and fairly well rested. I hope it never happens again!

Ladders

2009-04-05T11:49:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went to OBI, where we bought paint and brushes and rollers and a ladder so that I can paint a couple walls. Only in Germany would a ladder come with an owner's manual in not just German but 9 other languages too. So I thought, being a responsible ladder owner, I better read the English part. The first part read, "Before using the ladder, from a health aspect, are you able to use the ladder?" and I stopped there.

Plate Update

2009-03-20T20:43:00.000-07:00

I saw EEK, EEL and EEM this week

My weekend

2009-03-08T22:39:00.000-07:00

went something like this:
pack, drive, paint, roll, paint, roll, paint, pull, pry, snow, pry, drive, rain, sun, snow, hail, rainbow, snow, hail, sun, rain, sun, long soaking bath.

Meg & Tacos

2009-02-27T22:57:00.001-08:00

I used to think of Meg like this:

But now I picture her like this:

License Plates

2009-01-28T18:41:00.000-08:00

I don't generally blog from home but here I am. Some of you know of my lasting infatuation with license plates. If you don't, here's the story. When I was in high school my parents bought a new car. My mom, the observant one, said, "I sure hope the license plate isn't a ZIT." I was confused, and wondered why the heck she would say that. Turns out, she knew the trick about license plates: In California, they are issued alphabetically, so the first one was 000 AAA 000. Then 001 AAA. And so on. So when they bought the car, the state was on license plates such as 000 ZIT and 001 ZIT etc. Turns out, mom didn't need to worry. Our license plate was xxx ZYT. Hmmmm. Maybe she should have worried a bit more, because how else would someone pronounce ZYT but "zit?" But things made sense then. We'd had an old station wagon: 535 EOL, and an old '68 dodge dart: ZST 196. My dad's dodge colt: 137 UJQ. Later we drove that colt to Texas, and then it was HCQ something. Texas followed the same license plate pattern. And so does Oregon.
It's fun when license plates spell things besides ZIT. I've seen vans that have the letters CAR, and cars that have the letters VAN and VCR. We're generally unfortunate in the plates we get, things like UJQ, HCQ, PGQ, VBB, VKZ, YCF, and XJZ. We gave our girls personalized plates for Christmas one year: BUN 1 and BUN 2. It's what they call each other. I don't know why. I hope to see a plate on a VW bug that says BUG (by accident, not by design). Right now the most recent plate I've seen is EDF. Soon there will be an EGG. Maybe it will be on a yellow car.

home again

2009-01-09T07:15:00.001-08:00

And seriously jet lagged. I tried to stay awake as long as I could, so I went to bed at 9. I woke up at 3 am. 3! If I count right, in the last 54 hours I have slept for about 10 hours. If you would like to sell me a ladder to the moon, today is probably the day to do it. I'd think it made perfect sense.

Crochet, part 2

2008-12-31T06:46:00.003-08:00

And here is the scarf again. I got some of my friends to help me hold it down so that I could take a picture. Now the body of the scarf is 2/3 done. After I finish the skein of multi colored yarn I'll figure out how to put the fringe on.

Travel

2008-12-30T06:21:00.000-08:00

I have now been to Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Hessigheim, Bessigheim, and Bietigheim (I think). On Sunday we drove to Rothenburg, checked into our hotel, and then went for a walk. Rothenburg is one of just 3 cities in Germany that have a castle wall all the way around them. We walked along/on/near most of the wall. In some places it was made of wooden planks, and some places were made of stone or brick. There were a few too many places that had planks or ceilings above our heads that were a little too short for Rob. He thunked his head a few times. Ouch! Even though most "stores" are not allowed to open on Sundays, a few were open because they sold beverages/food. So Rob finally found the perfect Bavarian hat. We had dinner in a "classic" German restaurant, with great steak for me and goose or duck for Rob. On Monday morning we drove to Hessigheim to meet Laura and Jorg and their girls. Jorg grew up in Hessigheim and we enjoyed seeing his hometown. From there we followed them to Bessigheim where we walked thru a really old part of town (some buildings from the 1300's), and then we drove to Bietigheim, where we had lunch, walked, played on the playground(s) and walked some more. I think that all day the temperature hovered in the mid to upper 20's. Brrr! Finally, we drove home. It was a very fun day, and so good to see old friends again.

Christmas and after

2008-12-27T10:40:00.000-08:00

On Christmas day we got up late, had breakfast, opened gifts, went for a walk, watched a movie, ate coffee cake (a tradition) and had a roast beef dinner (also our tradition!). The roast beef was roasted on a rotisserie spit in our toaster oven. I had to get creative when it came time to tie the roast so that it wouldn't droop on the spit. I ended up using embroidery floss. There was no option of finding an open store, because here EVERY store is closed on Christmas day. In fact, they all close by 2 pm on Christmas Eve. And, to our surprise, they were all still closed the day AFTER Christmas. I'm glad we had leftover roast beef! We went for a short walk that day too (ok, so every day we go for a walk of some sort) but it was sooo cold that we didn't stay out for long. I won't complain, I've heard it's been even colder and much wetter in Oregon. I wish I could have been there to see all the snow, but cabin fever may have gotten me! On another topic, in the last week two sets of friends have become grandparents, so congratulations to Brad and Darsy, and Gail and Joe!

Bunny!

2008-12-24T09:15:00.000-08:00

I told Rob a few weeks ago that I needed a snuggly creature for when I get homesick and lonely. And tonight, I met my new friend. He's perfect!

Crochet

2008-12-24T08:53:00.000-08:00

A couple weeks ago when I was at Hertie looking for bias tape or thread or something like that, I saw some yarn and fell in love. When Lauri was here for a visit two weeks ago, she wanted some yarn too, so that she could knit on her plane ride back to Oregon. I took it as a sign that the yarn and I were fated to be together. I decided that I should learn to crochet. But I don't know how, and seeing pictures of the process isn't very helpful. So I am learning by trial and error (lots of error). Here's a picture of what I've got so far. By the way, it's a scarf and I figure it's about 1/4 done.

Holiday Plans

2008-12-23T05:26:00.001-08:00

What are we doing for the holidays, anyhow? Rob is working thru Wednesday. On Thursday we'll open some gifts and hopefully skype a bunch of friends and family. Friday, maybe go for a long walk. Hopefully we'll have a little bit of snow again. Saturday we might try to see the Kandinsky exhibit at a museum near us. Sunday we're driving to HockenSchmokenBerg (I made that up, we really are driving somewhere, but I forget where), and then on Monday we'll see our friends Laura, Jorg, Laina, and Min. Tuesday relax. Wednesday go to John and Janine's to celebrate New Years--they call it something different here. There is a show that lots of Germans watch traditionally on that evening, it's called "Dinner for One" and it's a British show so it's in English. And some time that week we'll also go to the Pinotek Museum which Rob says is really cool. We may meet friends to play games on the 5th, and on the 7th: Homeward Bound!!! Rob is coming with me, and he'll be in Oregon thru the 15th. So, that's what we're doing. What are you doing?

Shopping

2008-12-23T05:16:00.000-08:00

In an effort to be prepared for Christmas I went shopping today. I think a lot of the shops will be closed tomorrow, and of course they all will be closed on Christmas day. In Germany, all the shops are closed on Sundays, too, so we get used to buying enough to last. My first stop was Vitalia, which is the place that sells GF crackers. They didn't have any, so I bought pretzels instead.
Then I headed back towards home, and stopped at Hertie. There, I bought kartoffelen (potatoes, so we can have mashed potatoes), Merz Ora-Nekt (Apple/Orange/Nectarine juice), Tortillas (actually, chips), Eier (eggs, 6, brown, non-refrigerated), Hackfleisch (ground beef/pork mix), Pikante Kraeuter (cheese spread for the crackers I didn't find), and Orangensaft (OJ). It cost 12.13 Euros for these. Then I took it all home, dropped it off on the counter, and headed out again, this time to Tengelmann. There I got Bio Piccolin (mini Tomato Mozzarella pizza bagel things), H-Milch (almost nonfat milk, also not refrigerated), Broccoli, Zucchini, and, the most important part of the Christmas meal: Schmorbra! Hopefully that translates to a roast beef. (16.21 Euros)

every morning

2008-12-21T07:07:00.000-08:00

When I wake up and take a shower I see a back brush. In German, it says "bath," but I can't help but feel like I've done something wrong because of it's English meaning. Really, I didn't do it! Fortunately when I dry off I see my towel holder on the mirror, and the bright red flower cheers me up. Some day I might just go out and buy a can of paint and paint a wall some happy color. Just for fun.

what you see, what i see

2008-12-18T10:31:00.000-08:00

The doors in our apartment are made of a wood veneer that I don't think is all that pretty. But anyhow. When I'm in the bathroom and the door is shut, you might think I see this---^

But what I really see is this:

Cemetary Visit

2008-12-17T08:27:00.000-08:00

Nope, we don't know anyone buried here. But we needed to get out, go for a walk, and this cemetary is not far from our apartment. It had snowed a few days earlier. This is what we saw.

I fought the can...

2008-12-17T08:22:00.000-08:00

...and I won. I was making chicken with onions and tomatoes. Delicious, actually. But the tomato part was difficult. We had a can of tomatoes. We had a can opener. But the can opener was made for US cans, and the tomatoes were canned here in Germany. Bad idea. Since then, I have been to the store and bought a German made can opener.

Dust bunnies

2008-12-17T08:19:00.000-08:00

So, I've been feeling really dusty. I sweep the floors probably twice a week, and yet there's always so much dust. I finally figured out why. You know how when you dry a load of clothing in the dryer, you have to clean the lint filter? Well, since we don't have a dryer, we don't have a lint filter, so I think the clothes just delint as they choose, wherever they choose. Thus, this is what the dustpan looks like on a weekly basis.

Stop, or go?

2008-12-17T08:14:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure what this means. The stop sign says stop. The green light says go. So what are you supposed to do here?

Fun Facts

2008-12-03T11:17:00.001-08:00

Or so I think.
1. The majority of the sidewalks I walk on are made of cobblestones.
2. You can't buy bleach just anywhere. In fact, I can't even find any.
3. In the winter, babies and sleeping bags are synonymous.
4. I hear a police siren at least once a day. And no, it's not all in my head.
5. My oven is more of a dehydrater than a baker.
6. I spent 6.99 Euros today on a pack of just 4 AAA batteries. That's almost $9!
7. Here, when you want to buy ginger, you look for Ingwer.

Vienna and more

2008-12-02T10:35:00.000-08:00

We took the train to Vienna this past weekend. It took about 4 hours, the same as driving, and there was no worry about finding a parking space. Trains in Europe are a great way to travel. When we got there, we had reservations in a little family run hotel. My nephew Scott and his girlfriend Kelly met us there. It was great because they had already been there for a few days, so they knew all the Ubahn stations and things to do.

We went to the Haus der Musik, which is a four story house, all about music. There were all sorts of interactive programs to play with, displays of all the prominent Austrian composers, and video stuff and audio stuff and wow! It was really cool. We also went to the Hundertwasser Haus, which is a crazy big apartment building with windows of all different shapes and sizes and columns in random places and wow! Here's a picture:

We also went to the Christkindlmarkt (yes, the sign in the picture says "Wiener" because that means Vienna). It was pretty. We must have walked miles and miles that day. At the end of the day we went to a traditional American Thanksgiving dinner held at a restaurant. Kelly's sister, Amy, is in Vienna for study abroad, and the 8 or 9 students and their host families and some of their teachers were there. Afterward dinner but before pumpkin pie Amy played the cello and a couple students sang.

Back in Munich, I've been to the shopping centers a few times to get some Christmas decorations. So far I've found two strings of lights, two candle holders, and a wooden woodcutter figure. And we went to the Christkindlmarkt here, which just opened on Sunday. I got a delicious donut-like thing that had been sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar. I've gotta go back and get another one when my gluten intolerance allows.

I spent a couple hours making some decorations out of paper too. I've got snowflakes hanging in the windows and paper balls hanging from the light fixtures.

Well, Rob heads off to Ireland tomorrow for just one night, and then Meg and Lauri are coming on Sunday. I can't wait to see them and take them all over the place. We're going to go to Nurnberg and Salzburg and who knows where else.

Back in Munich

2008-11-24T08:03:00.000-08:00

I went from fall to winter in one day. It was fall when I left Portland. It's winter here. Last night we had several inches of snow. When I went out today, I saw a man driving a little golf-cart like vehicle up and down the sidewalks, sprinkling gravel as he went. Christmas decorations are going up all over the city, especially at Marienplatz. There are a lot of huts selling nuts and dried fruits, and even an ice skating rink.

Back in Munich Again

2008-11-21T13:28:00.000-08:00

Today, or maybe yesterday, I was driven to the airport in pouring rain, flew across dark skies, and landed in strong wind gusts in Frankfurt. After having the gate changed three times, I finally boarded my flight from Frankfurt to Munich. Only an hour long, but what an exciting hour! I thought we were going to crash when we took off. It was really scary! Now I am safely here, back in the apartment, which looks so much homier than the first time I came here. I brought my wii and numerous games, a portable dvd player, and my kindle (see Amazon if you haven't heard of it). It was a lot of electronics to take through security. And why did I go through security twice to get here? That was odd! But I'm here. And secure.
And now I'll start blogging pretty regularly again.
Tomorrow, I want to see pretty snow and xmas lights, and buy a toaster oven. (It's snowing right now!)

october

2008-11-01T12:40:00.000-07:00

Here's the pumpkin I carved, a man named Dylan, and a mysterious sunny circle around my table. You can figure out which is which.

Smart Bird

2008-10-20T22:21:00.000-07:00

I have a very smart bird. This morning, he made a little sound, which I like to think of as a little kiss. In response, I made a kiss sound back. Then he made two kiss sounds, and I did two back. Then he kissed three times, and I did too. Then he did four in a row, and I did too. Then he lost count. But wow! I have the smartest parakeet on the block, for sure. Just don't ask him about the vacuum incident. I'm not sure he's gotten over that yet.

Nose Day

2008-10-14T21:05:00.000-07:00

Today I had my septum undeviated and my turbinates shrunk.

This is what I look like tonight. An icepack on my cheeks and a gauzy moustache under my nose. How lovely.

comments

2008-09-17T17:38:00.001-07:00

I just realized that my settings don't allow many people to add comments to my blog. I think I have fixed it. Please, feel free to comment now!

Home!

2008-09-17T17:28:00.000-07:00

I'm home. My flights were smooth, everything happened on time, and the house is standing. There are tons of weeds to pull in the yard and I'm looking forward to getting out there tomorrow. I'll try to round up some of my houseplants and get my parakeet soon. Thank you to everyone who helped keep things going, with a special thanks to Monica!

homeward bound

2008-09-14T13:48:00.000-07:00

I come home on Tuesday. I can't wait. My plane lands at 11:20 am. Stephanie will pick me up at the airport, and I will treat her to Panda Express Orange Chicken. I can't wait!
I have dinner with Meg and Mladen on Wed night, sewing with Steph on Thursday, and games at the Volz's on Friday. Then Saturday and Sunday I'm packing surveys for the church fund raiser. And I get to see my church friends on Sunday morning, too. The next week is wide open. I hope I get to see lots of friends then. So everybody, call me, and let's hang out!

Quilting

2008-09-11T10:42:00.000-07:00

But first, here's how they sell corn here.

When I packed for Germany, I brought fabric for 2 quilts. The first one was already cut out and ready to go when I packed it. After sewing only about 9 of the 48 squares I gave up. I'll work on it back in Oregon. The second quilt has been my focus this week. So here are some pictures of what I've been doing now that my suitcases are packed (yah, a bit early). First, here is the link to a picture of the quilt in the magazine that inspired me. And now here are pictures of my progress. First, cut, then partly sewn, then sewn some more. The rest has to wait for Oregon cuz I don't have the border fabric purchased yet, and I don't want to spend 20 Euros/meter for it!

Ole Madrid

2008-09-09T10:52:00.000-07:00

We went out for dinner tonight, to a place called Ole Madrid. It was really good. The strawberry margarita tasted like a strawberry margarita. The chicken wings were good too (not sure why they're considered spanish). The nachos con queso was good too. My only question: why do the Germans think that vegetables belong in tortilla chips and tacos? There were carrot slices in my chips!

vienna hotel, trip pics, and silly signs

2008-09-06T03:45:00.000-07:00

Here is a link so you can see my facebook picture collections: click here for our fancy hotel room pics, click here for our Slovenia and Austria in general pics (lots of castles and rooftops), and click here for updated silly signs.

I forgot a few things

2008-09-06T03:36:00.000-07:00

Other things I look forward to that didn't make the top 10 list:
a. soft water--my hair is looking rather frazzled
b. the clothes dryer--then my clothes will be soft before i put them on and wear them for a few hours
c. TV in English, on a screen bigger than about 4x6 inches
d. cashiers that talk to you and ask if you found everything
e. Tillamook Mudslide icecream
f. drinking fountains
g. free public toilets

Top 10 things

2008-09-05T12:08:00.000-07:00

When I get back to Portland, I look forward to:
10. Panda Express (orange chicken)
9. Mazatlan Mexican (strawberry daquiris and enchiladas)
8. A seemingly endless supply of dark chocolate M&Ms
7. My house
6. Driving my car whenever I want, wherever I want
5. Shopping at normal grocery stores
4. Church
3. Sewing
2. Playing games with friends
1. seeing Meg and Lauri and Mladen and Keith and Stephanie and Mike and Nicki and David and Aurea and Rawdon and Kathleen and Colin and Julian and Monica and Emma and Jeff and Alex and Brad and Darsy and MB/DA and Ward and a prego Jennifer and...everybody...

there's a piano in my hotel room

2008-09-02T11:25:00.000-07:00

Solska Pot apparently means "school crossing" in Slovenian.

no kidding! a baby grand in my room. The last time we were told our room had been upgraded, it was a sad story: we were above a bar in a very hot room. This time it looks and feels too good to be true. But we're in a room facing into the back, about the 4th or 5th floor (they call it the 2nd floor, but you enter, then reception is one floor up, then the mezzanine, then floor one, then floor 2. I think). Today we are in Vienna. The last 2 days we were in Graz, where there was no internet. Actually, you could use the machine in the hotel lobby, cost 1 euro for 10 minutes. At 9 minutes and 53 seconds I still hadn't connected to my email. Got my euro back!
Here, also, is a pic of the dragons we saw in Ljubljana (a tshirt there said loob-lah-nuh)

Ljubljana

2008-08-30T11:20:00.000-07:00

We've been in Ljubljana for 3 days now. We've had fun here. We drove over to Trieste, Italy, yesterday. Today we roamed around the town and took the funicular to the castle in the middle of town. I'll inclue here a picture of one of the dragons we have seen around town. Dragons seem to be the mascots of Ljubljana. Tomorrow we go to Graz, Austria. If you get bored today, try typing Ljubljana. It's hard. I think fingers are used to stretching out to the aeiou instead of typing a thousand consonants in a row. Some fun towns we've seen: Uggl and Egg. Also, a street named Duh. Oh, whoops, I don't have dragon pics on my laptop yet, so instead I will show you some funny signs we've seen.You can't really have any sort of fun at the lake. You're not even allowed to pet snails!

slap savica

2008-08-27T12:10:00.000-07:00

Slap means waterfall, I think, and Savica is the name of the falls that feed Lake Bohinj. 9 km bike ride each direction (that's 5.4 miles each way) and a short hike. Very pretty. More later.

Austria

2008-08-26T12:07:00.000-07:00

We're on vacation again. This time it's Austria and Slovenia. It's been a beautiful trip so far. Warm weather and dry. Except on the Grossglockner Road, but that's cuz it was so high in elevation. Here are a few pictures I took in Innsbruck. The dragons were in a royal garden near a playground. And I was glad to see that both men and women are allowed to cross the road there. Apparently, tho, only if they are dressed up. And I'm not sure what they are supposed to do between 6 am and 10:30 am. It's hard to post pictures in a hotel lobby, so I'll get more up in a few days, or whenever we actually have internet access in our room. Right now there are three women and a man staring at Rob and I. I think they're speaking Slovenian, cuz it doesn't sound like German.

Proof!

2008-08-23T11:19:00.001-07:00

When I see a sign or hear an announcer and I don't know what it means (ie, it's in German or some other language), I tell Rob it means that there are bears around, and you better watch out. He always laughs and doesn't believe me. Now I have proof. When we were at the bank today, withdrawing money for our vacation, it was right there on the screen: Bearbeitet. Pronounced in German, it says, "bear-bite-it." See? You do have to watch out for the bears. We knew someone was taking a 1% bite out of every purchase we make (I'd show you our bank statements, but, um, well, you know) and now there is proof. It's the bears.

Dishwasher Salt, or, An Ironing Board on my Head

2008-08-22T11:43:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I spent about 4 hours taking trains and walking to find an ironing board, an ice chest, and bandaids. I needed bandaids for my toes that got rubbed raw when I finally wore my cute new black shoes, on which I had to replace the button a few weeks ago. I needed an ironing board because one of the legs on the board that came with the apartment went left when the rest went right, and leaning the ironing board against the wall just doesn't work all that well. And we wanted an ice chest for our upcoming vacation. I found the ironing board and ice chest, but couldn't carry them both home, so I didn't get either, and instead today we went to get them when Rob got off work. We took the train to the train to the walk to the store. By the time we were heading home, it started to rain. So, after we got off the train near our apartment Rob began carrying the ironing board over his head. I wasn't so lucky, because the ice chest really isn't big enough to cover me. So Rob shared the ironing board. I'm sure we looked pretty weird walking down the street but we were dry!

Today the little red light on the dishwasher got to me. It said, "Salz." I know that means salt. The dishwasher was asking for salt. It has been asking for salt for a week or two, and today was the day I decided to find the salt. I found the specialsalz in the dishwasher section of the local store. I opened the place in the bottom of the dishwasher that said salt in 4 languages. Then I didn't know how much to put in. So I got Rob to get the manual down (stored above the fridge). I couldn't read it. Rob could read some words, but didn't get the gist of it. I typed the information into google translator and got this:
"Door open, remove basket. 2nd Cap stocks of the salt container counterclockwise untwist. 3rd Only for initial start-up: Salt tank fill with water (about 0.5 l). 4th With delivered to funnel opening of the stock container stuck. Special salt due to funnel in the reservoir to fill. Assets depending on the version grain approximately 1.0 - 1.5 kg. Tank with special salt not overfill.

The filling of the water runs Spezialsalzes ousted from the salt tank in the bottom of the Spülraums. This is fine, because this water at the start of the next Spülprogramms off. 5th Opening the stock container of salt remains clean. 6th Cap in a clockwise direction until it reaches zudrehen otherwise special salt into the dishwater. Troubled glasses could occur as a result. 7th If you do not immediately after your Salzeinfüllen the dishes, you should see the program run Vorspülen. this will übergelaufenes salt water and salt grains off. Depending on the grain it may take a few hours until the salt is dissolved in water and salt control display again goes off. The setting of the Wasserenthärters and thus the salt consumption are dependent on the local water hardness."

This was fine, but I was still a little puzzled about what to do, so I opened Babelfish and translated again. This time I got this:
"The water displaced when filling in the special salt runs from the salt storage vessel into the ground of the Spülraums. This is harmless, since this water is evacuated with the start of the next rinse cycle. 5. opening of the storage vessel of salt remainders clean. 6. Cover cap in the clockwise direction to a complete stop otherwise arrives special salt closes in the rinse water. Cloudy glasses could be the result. 7. If you immediately after the salt filling in your table-ware to rinse should not let you run the program Vorspülen. thus overcrowded seawater and salt grains are rinsed out. Depending upon granulation it can take some hours, until the salt dissolved in the water and the control display salt expires again. The attitude of the water softener and thus salt consumption depend on the local water hardness."

I decided to pour in about .75 liters of the salt. I'll find out what attitude it has when I run it.

My Eyes were Wellin'

2008-08-20T04:37:00.000-07:00

Today I had to go to the market before lunch, because I had no lunch in the apartment. A few days ago we talked to Meg and Lauri on the phone. Meg mentioned that she had sent a package. So every day when I go out, my heart starts pounding a bit when I walk past our mailbox. I peek into the slot to see if there is anything there. Today there was! A blue card with lots of German words on it. I have no idea what it said, except at the top, where it said addressee: Mom and Dad. I knew what it meant. Our package had arrived. But where was it? I determined that as soon as I got home with my cheese spread (lunch) I would open up my laptop and google translate the German.
On my way to the market, I saw a yellow bike, and a woman pedalling it. It was about two blocks from our apartment. On it was a big yellow bag with the post office symbol. I thought, aha! Mail is delivered by bike. And I continued on to the market.
On my way home, the pedaler of the yellow bike was stopped at a building right in front of me, so I said, "Excuse me, do you speak English?" and she shook her head, no. Then I pulled the blue card out of my purse and asked, "How?" She said, "Moment." She walked away with some letters in her hand, about 50 feet (sorry, I don't do meters yet), and stopped at a big green bin that I had thought was a trashcan. She jingled her keys, then reached in and walked back to me. Handed me a package from Meg!!! I recognized her handwriting immediately and tears sprang to my eyes.
How did that happen? The timing, the location, whoa! I quickly said thanks and sprinted home to open the package. Oohed over the paper punch for scrapbooking, ahhed over the book for Rob, and drooled over the Dagoba organic chocolate bar. Then I remembered the cheese and pork in my purse and put it away.
Thanks Meg, you made my day!

Silly Signs updated

2008-08-18T06:28:00.001-07:00

I like to take pictures of funny signs and store names. To see my collection so far, click here.

Cover your eyes

2008-08-17T09:07:00.000-07:00

Today we decided it was time to go to the Englischer Garten. It's a big, big park just to the east of the city center. The weather was beautiful so we decided to ride our bikes. The garden has a big Chinese pavillion in it, and seated in the pavillion, several stories up, was an oompa band. You know, the typical German band that plays polka like music. So, English garden, Japanese structure, German band. Hmm. There are tons of paths, some just for walking and some for biking. You can generally tell the difference because of signs like these.

We rode for awhile, up near a lake with paddle boats and lots of geese and other water fowl. Then we saw this other view. If you haven't seen female buns before, you may not want to scroll down. But really. You may not have heard of Veggietales before, but there is a silly song about a ceboo in it. I'm not sure what a ceboo is, but the song ends with questions, like, "did the sick ceboo get better? Did the sad ceboo get happy?" So questions like that were flowing through my mind: Did the girl know her buns were so exposed? Did her boyfriend notice when he walked up? Was he embarrassed for her, or did he enjoy the view so much that he said nothing? Does she always dress like that? To protect the innocent, I won't tell you who I was biking with. But he asked, as you might, "was she even wearing underwear?" So here now is the picture. Eek!

Anyhow, we rode around for awhile longer and then headed home. I also took pics of pretty buildings, which I will post somewhere soon.

Water Chestnuts

2008-08-16T12:48:00.000-07:00

Today, being Saturday, meant that it was shopping day. Our wishlist was simple: a can of water chestnuts and a lightbulb. Also, return the charger that we bought for the dead cell phone. We got on the Ubahn, went three stops, and transferred to the next train for one stop. Our destination was Marienplatz, which is the shopping district in the center of Munich. It was extremely crowded because it's a tourist destination. We've learned that it's really good to hold hands going through places like that. People tend to go around you then instead of through you. Anyhow, our first stop was Karstadt. It's sort of a mishmash of little shops. When you go in there's a candy shop on the left, and bedding on the right. Towards the back is a cell phone store and some stationary. A few weeks ago, we discovered the great downstairs secret: They've got foods that people from other countries seem to like. So we got our water chestnuts. Why did want them, anyhow? For cashew chicken. Last time Rob made cashew chicken he used celery for the crunchy part. It was okay, but not great. So now we are set. We bought 2 cans!
Next stop, Saturn. No, not the planet. Saturn is larger than a Best Buy but smaller than a Frys. We showed the receipt for the phone charger at the door. A woman stamped it and sent us upstairs. From there we went to the service desk. They said to take the charger and receipt to a person in a blue shirt. The first person in a blue shirt said to take it to exactly the department in which we bought the charger. Finally, we found an available blue-shirted person there. He took the charger from us and stamped the back of our receipt. We filled out our address and such, and then he stamped it again and filled out some other blanks. Finally, we were told to take the receipt back downstairs to the cashier (kasse) where we would get our refund. We walked past a lightbulb display on the way there and got our lightbulb. Also we saw an indoor/outdoor thermometer gadget. So we bought those, got our refund, and crossed that off our list.
We had also heard of a toy store near the end of Marienplatz. It was just past a McDonalds near a big fountain. We found it and headed downstairs, where we heard there were games. Wow! There sure were! We looked for one called "The Struggle for Rome" but didn't find it. We did however find a new expansion for Settlers, called Traders and Barbarians. Looks good. Also got a game for Keith (yes Keith, it has to do with...s oh wait, i can't tell you.)
Success!

another inspiration by Meg

2008-08-15T07:43:00.000-07:00

Today I sat on my bed all day.

This is a sentence that Meg wrote in her school journal in kindergarten. It applies to me today. It rained a lot and instead of going for a bike ride we decided to stay in. So far, all day. And it's almost 5 pm.

How I live

2008-08-14T06:45:00.001-07:00

Here is a link to views of our real house, our apartment when Rob first moved in, and our apartment now. just click here.

Today I opened my first bag of dark chocolate m&ms. Rob brought me 4 bags from Colorado! Yum. He also bought a new cell phone because his old one really was dead. So you can once again call me on it if you really want to spend a lot of money. Since Rob was jet lagged from his trip, he slept in some, and then we went to the big grocery store I discovered last weekend. We bought 44 Euros worth of groceries at one time! Probably a record. See, the good thing is, Rob and I DROVE to the store, so we could stock up. Both tomorrow (friday) and sunday the stores will be closed. Tomorrow is some sort of Catholic holiday and a lot of people have the day off. Including Rob, not because he's Catholic but because his company observes the holiday here. (sorry Portland TQS's)

Done!

2008-08-13T10:09:00.001-07:00

I finished! I finished at 6:59 pm. And Rob called to say he'd just landed at 7:06. Woot! Last night I dreamed that Meg has been hatching sheep. Yah, I know, it's weird. But she was really good at it, kind of like my mom hatching tortoises. So, Meg had this whole bowl of sheep, and they were really cute. They were small, like, each sheep could fit in your hand, and of course they were much cuter than real sheep. They were fuzzy and cottony. Good job Meg! Not only are you good at transporting moths and old people, but you can hatch sheep too!

progress

2008-08-12T10:42:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I figured out how to open a bottle of wine with a weird corkscrew. I also wandered around the center of the city without a map. Before I went out I had been working on the puzzle for several hours. I had a lot of conversations with myself. I said, "we need to get out," but me said, "just one more piece and then we'll go," and then I got annoyed with me and we left. Today I worked on the puzzle some more. We also went out (myself and I) ( I don't know where me was). I checked out the third mall in the Munich area. I think it's the best. Altho it didn't have a toy store. I also managed to take the garbage out today. Not a pleasant job, because the dumpster is in an enclosed area, so it's unpleasant to breathe. So I don't. Until I've gotten out and shut the door and walked about 20 feet. Takes skill! Tomorrow sometime Rob comes home. Hooray! someone else to talk to. I actually called my Dad yesterday, and told him how much I felt like him when I check my map for an hour and wish I had a compass so I knew which way was which. Not sure he was impressed. Oh well.

Skype

2008-08-10T13:25:00.000-07:00

I just set up my Skype account so that it can display my Oregon cell phone number when I call. It says it won't show all the time, but it might. Now you can tell it's me calling. Although, when you see 123456000000 calling, that may be me too.

And here are some pictures of the puzzle i've been working on. What else to do while watching the olympics? Bonus: There are some earrings in these photos. Can you spot them?What are you wondering? Do you have any questions about life in Munich? I'd love some ideas on what to write about. At the end of any blog entry there is a little word that says "comments." Anyone can click on that and leave a comment. It can be anonymous, or you can enter your name without having to put in any more info than that! Talk to me!!
The olympics are still sounding like ooga oogah flooga omega blah blah blah. blah blah United States oogha flooga. blah blah...

2008-08-10T10:38:00.000-07:00

It used to be the question was, "do i need it," and, "can i afford it." Now the question is, "can i find it," and if i can, "can i carry it home?"

Olympics

2008-08-09T09:12:00.000-07:00

This is what the Olympic coverage sounds like to me: blah blah blah blah oh! blah blah blah twenty five blah blah. blah blah cat blah blah blah.

Today Rob left for Colorado. So I did what I do best: I went shopping. Actually, I wanted to explore the two malls in Munich that I haven't seen yet. I went to one in Neuperlach. I found a big toy store with tons of games. And then I finally found it...a store that is almost like Fred Meyer. Lots of selection of foods. And other things. Hooray! At the toy store I got a puzzle, because that's a good thing to keep me busy while I watch the Olympics and Rob is gone. Here is what the puzzle looks like now. It has 2000 pieces. I saw the cats in the picture at a store called Kaufhof. They were made of china and quite expensive. I think that's why I chose this puzzle though. It looked familiar.

And for dinner tonight. Stew. Note number one: potatoes that have been stored in the fridge for several weeks can probably be used to play raquetball. Note number two: Celery comes with slugs. That's right. I was rinsing off my celery and there it was. In my sink. A slug. EWWWWW. So I picked him up with a big paper towel and threw him in the trash. Then I hurried and finished cutting up my vegetables to that I could take him and the trash out. By the way, to take my trash out I have to bring my key. To open the door to the trash bins, to open the door to my building, and to open the door to my apartment. Cool thing: we have a buzzer, so when friends come they can ring the buzzer, and then I can push the button and it opens the downstairs door for them. Uncool thing: Newspaper delivery people randomly push buzzer buttons until someone opens the door for them. Annoying!