The connection is back! Hooray! It actually came back sometime over the weekend, but we were out all day yesterday and I didn't have a chance to update.

The picture above is a shot I took of the Kampenwand (that is the mountain with the big rocks at the top) where we went hiking yesterday. It's in Aschau, Germany, which is just a short train ride away from Munich (about an hour and a half by local trains). We've been having beautiful spring weather lately so we thought a hike would be a fun way to spend Sunday afternoon. It turned out to be a very snowy way to spend the afternoon.

We took a cablecar to the top of the mountain and walked back down. The snow was pretty deep -- up to the middle of my thigh in some places. I got very, very wet. It took us about four hours to walk back down the mountain. We stopped for lunch at an Alm along the way (a restaurant up in the mountains, reachable only by foot or snowmobile at this time of year).

Anyway, the pictures turned out nice. I'll try to post them in the next few days, along with the others I've taken recently.

We had a fun visit with Kathryn last week. On the weekend we took her to the Augustiner Keller, a big antique market in Munich, and the Neue Pinakothek museum. On Monday she and I went to Salzburg for an adventure that included the castle, both of Mozart's houses, the Cafe Sacher, and an Austrian man who insisted on buying us dinner. The whole time Kathryn was here, people assumed she was German (because, hey, she looks German) and were surprised when she only spoke English. Tuesday Kathryn and I did some shopping for Memory games and other souvenirs, and since she left on Wednesday I have been busy breaking in my first pair of Birkenstocks. Now we are looking forward to some more friends who are arriving this weekend. The visit season has begun, and I am glad!

Interruption of Service

Currently our Internet service at home is not working. I'm updating today from the Internet cafe downtown (which you may remember from my posts last September, when I first arrived in Munich).

Anyway, I'm unable to update regularly at the moment, or access e-mail for that matter (except for when I come down here). I hope to be back in a few days, but I'm not really certain how long it'll take. So check back in; I hope to return shortly. (Apparently, the problem is wider spread than our apartment, so I hope it'll be resolved on Monday.)

For a treat, here's an example of what it looks like when I type on the German keyboard as if it were an English one.

Currentlz our Internet service at home is not working. Iäm updating todaz from the Internet cafe downtown (which zou maz remember from mz posts last September, when I first arrived in Munich.

Anzwaz, Iäm unable to update regularlz at the moment, or access e0mail for that matter (except when I come down here). I hope to be back in a few dazs, but Iäm not reallz certain how long itäll take. So check back inö I hope to return shortlz. (Apparentlz, the problem is wider spread than our apartment, so I hope itäll be resolved on Mondaz.)

These guys were playing music in the Hauptbahnhof during Fasching. I loved their wigs.

George Michael sez: FREEDOM!

In honor of Kathryn's visit from the US, this morning I got up and made Freedom Toast for breakfast. Hahahaaa. Let me tell you, it tastes much better than when we used to call it French Toast.

Just kidding. We think it's just as stupid as everyone else does.

It has been a nice visit so far, though, and we've done lots of sightseeing and fun things. Friday night we went to the Starkbierfest at the Augustiner Keller, and things got pretty wild and rowdy towards the end of the night, with Germans dancing on the tables and belting out "Take Me Home, Country Roads." (Always a favorite in the Munich beer halls.) Today, we're headed to the Neue Pinakothek and possibly the great Munich chickensteak (um, that would be the Hofbräuhaus). Tomorrow, Salzburg (yay!), and Tuesday, shopping in Munich.

Last night we went to see Puccini's La Bohème at the Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz. What a beautiful theather! So very, very nineteenth century. We were charmed from the first moment we stepped inside. Then we got a big surprise -- the opera was performed in German! Kathryn and I had seen that opera together years ago at Penn State (in Italian, of course). Anyway, last night was lots of fun. We had a great time. Followed by ice cream.

It Worked!



Yay! My pictures are liberated from the camera!

This is a shot from Cafe Münchner Freiheit from a few weeks ago, just around Fasching. We've had a lot of sunny days lately, and everyone takes the opportunity to get outside whenever possible. Notice the blankets that the restaurant puts out on the chairs, so you can wrap up if you get too chilly.

In other news, Katynka has arrived! I met her at the airport this morning and now she is showered and dressed and ready to hit the town! So we are headed out. Possibly to the Cafe for lunch, first, then on to Marienplatz!

Thanks to Maria for the tip about the Compact Flash card reader -- that made a huge difference for me with the pictures. I'm so relieved.

Autofrei Leben

Our big project these days is getting our German driver's licenses. It's more involved than you might expect, especially in comparison to getting a DL in America. Today I went to the Führerscheinstelle (what Alicia refers to as the DeutscheMV) and took the following (only for my driver's license -- Marty has to do all the same things):

• My US driver's license and the previous one that expired in January


• An official translation of my US driver's license (cost: $36)


• My passport


• Official papers from the city that show I live here (cost: $5)


• Certificate from the first aid class I had to take on Sunday (5 hours, cost: $21)


• Certificate from the eye test I had to go and take this morning (cost: $6)


• Passport photos (cost: $5)


• Contract from the driving school through which I will take the test (cost: $100 plus $112 for book to study for test)


• Fees for DMV (cost: $38)

So anyway, I took all of that stuff to the DMV and submitted an application. In six weeks they will write me a letter saying I can go and take the test. Then I will be able to get a German driver's license.

Luckily, we only have to take the written test, not a driving test. If we had to do the driving test, we'd also be required to take a couple of driving lessons.

Marty is doing the same process, so it's a good bet that neither of us will be driving again until late May or early June.

It makes me think I'll never complain about the Connecticut DMV again...

I don't have a ton to say, but I thought I'd update in case anyone was getting tired of David's naked bod on the page. (Like one could get tired of David.)

We had a pretty good weekend. Went to dinner with some friends on Saturday night and spoke lots of German. Apparently my German has improved since the second class, which is good, and now I just need to keep practicing. Yesterday we headed up to the Olympic park and walked around for awhile, and then came home so I could cook Katynka's fast and easy for dinner. Yum.

This promises to be a quiet week. Maybe I'll have a chance to do some updates around here, but my camera's still not communicating with the PC so I don't know about new pictures. We'll see.

Vacation Plans

Plans for Florence are proceeding smoothly. Our trip is scheduled for Easter week, which is a busy, crowded time in Italy. Nevertheless, I managed to book a hotel room near the center of town, for a reasonable price. The hotel was recommended in Rick Steves' guidebooks for Italy and Florence -- we have had a lot of success with his London and Germany guides, so I hope things will work out well.

I have booked our tickets for the Uffizi (April 15) and the Accademia (April 16). It's great that you can call ahead and reserve your tickets, as I understand the lines are prohibitive. Just looking through the list of the different pieces in these two museums is overwhelming. I can't wait to see.

We are planning to go down from Munich on the night train, I think, and possibly return the same way, unless the prices for flights fall drastically in the next couple of weeks.

I visited Florence once before, in 1984. Almost twenty years ago, now. I remember seeing David, and the straw market, and very little else.

And now for something completely different: these pancakes are making me hungry!

Oh, oh, oh!

Everyone MUST go to Google today! March 6! Go now!

This Time Last Year...

... I was dreaming about Kid Rock. That still makes me laugh, man.

Weekend Fun

It's Fasching tomorrow (Karnival, Mardi Gras, etc) and all around town this weekend we saw people dressed up in costumes. Last Thursday at work, Marty saw a man wearing a tie that had been cut off halfway down his chest. When he saw the second tie like that, the asked someone, and learned that the Thursday before Fasching is the day when men get their ties cut off with scissors. Okay!

We didn't dress up, but we had a good weekend too. Friday night was an English evening with a Canadian woman I met in my German class and two of her friends from England and New Zealand. We met at the Löwenbräukeller in Stiglmaierplatz and shut the place down.

Saturday I discovered that there was a double feature that night at the cinema -- Chicago and Moulin Rouge. I'm sure nobody's surprised to hear I couldn't resist that. We were out really late, since the first movie didn't start until around 11pm. But boy, was it fun. Chicago was all right -- I think I'd probably like it better on the stage, with all the original Fosse choreography, but it was enjoyable.

Of course, it was no Moulin Rouge. And my oh my, was it nice to see that movie on the screen again. Two years after I first enjoyed it, that film sits firmly in my top five or ten of all time. I absolutely love it.

Sunday we went on the train out to Freising to visit another friend from my German class. We walked all around Freising, up to the Dom and the Weihanstephan beer university and through the altstadt. It's warmed up a lot in the last week or so, and all the gelato stores were open and everyone was out walking around town. I took a bunch of pictures but, thanks to (I think) some Windows XP updates, I am finding it impossible to liberate them from my camera. I will keep trying.

Tomorrow morning at the Viktualienmarkt is the big Fasching celebration, I think, so if the weather is clear I may try to get down there and take some pictures as well. It should be interesting. In the meantime, we've been enjoying the sugary Faschingbrezn (like donut pretzels) and Krapfen with apricot filling.

Finally, a note for those of you with sandwich grills. Marty and I had one of these years ago when we lived in Pennsylvania, and recently we got one here in Germany. Any sandwich filling works great in the grill but some are more sublime than others; for instance, we have always loved grilled peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and now I can also vouch for the yum factor of peanut butter and nutella. But I think yesterday we discovered something even better. I put leftover spaghetti sauce on a slice of bread, topped it with grated cheese and another slice of bread, and grilled it. Oh. My. God. It was so good. We were both completely shocked. I recommend it wholeheartedly! (And incidentally, this looks like a nice grill, and the price is certainly decent as well... if you're in the market for one.)