Dust bunnies

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?

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

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

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

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

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

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.