Speaking Randomly...

+ I've edited my journal archives. I doubt anyone's favorite entry got cut, but I like the mix better now. It's not like I update it anymore, anyway, and some of those old entries gave a really skewed view of who I am, you know? They were accurate once, but they're so old. At first I was just going to take the whole archive down, but then I thought about Firth Frenzy, Big Yellow Bob, and Bootleg Capitol of Connecticut, and changed my mind.

+ I'm listening to They Might Be Giants' eponymous debut album today. It's been years since I played this one, and although I can see that Flood is probably a smoother record, this one has so many of my favorite songs -- "Hide Away, Folk Family," "Youth Culture Killed My Dog," "Nothing's Gonna Change My Clothes," and others. It's a classic. Incidentally, I've wanted to buy Lincoln for years, and I can't believe I still haven't done it. Someday...

+ Seems like the RW Memory Game is experiencing a resurgence in popularity. It's addictive, isn't it? Maybe after our trip to Italy next month I'll add some more pictures to it. Hey, you never know!

+ Speaking of the trip to Italy, if anyone has any suggestions about places to visit/shop/eat in Tuscany, now would be a good time to write me and share ideas.

+ After Ziggy's trip to the vet last week, we learned from his blood test that he has a thyroid problem (hyperthyroidism). Now he has to take a pill twice a day. That's been quite an adventure for all of us, let me tell you. But we're (all) getting used to it. From what I've read, hyperthyroidism is pretty common in cats around Ziggy's age and older, and it's treatable by surgery, radiation therapy, or medication. Seems like the surgery is a lot more common in the US than it is here in Germany, and I'm sure if we were there we would consider it. Maybe later. He's otherwise in excellent health.

+ At Wal-Mart this week they had cheddar cheese on special, so I got some to make macaroni and cheese with. Cheddar is not very common here in Germany, but there are many different types of German, Austrian, Italian, Swiss, and French cheese to choose from. Yum! Anyway I think I'm going to take the time to make my old recipe this time (instead of Laura's awesome fast one). I want the onions.

+ Oh, man! Kitchen casualty! One of my Italian baking dishes broke a few weeks ago. (The square one, in these pictures.) I was so disappointed! At least I got my money's worth out of it... I think I got it for $3 on clearance at Homegoods in Connecticut. The oval one that matches it is still going strong.

+ Well, I think I've bored y'all enough for one day, here.

Love it or leave it.

Yesterday, Marty came home from work shaking his head over a vehicle he had seen on our street. It was a big Chevy van with an American flag flying from the antenna and four or five American flag decals plastered on the back of it. It also had four US license plates (a real one from Wyoming, and a few fake ones from California and other places), in addition to an actual, current, Munich license plate. And it had a cover on the spare tire depicting a little cartoon boy pissing on a Volkswagen symbol.

It's rare enough to see a Chevrolet on the streets of Munich (most people here drive German cars), but a big van draws attention because it's just so... big. Here in the land of the $5 gallon of gas, most people think smaller is better. Even the few SUV-style vehicles you see on the road are much smaller than their counterparts on American highways. So a big van like that is definitely going to make an impression.

I don't even know what to say about all the flags and tags, and the insulting visual commentary about Volkswagen. I'm a patriotic person, but I'd think one American flag decal would be enough for anyone. I guess not for this driver. Who on earth could be driving that monster? Dude, if it's that bad here, I'm sure nobody would miss you if you just went on back home.

Anyway, it made me think some about the different experiences I've had with Americans here in Germany. Living in one of the most popular tourist destinations in Europe has made me more aware of what "normal" American behavior looks like through foreign eyes. Do y'all realize how loud Americans talk? Just on a regular basis? When you're in a train car with even just two Americans, you can generally hear them all the way at the other end of the car. Not because they're speaking English. Because they're speaking LOUD.

Just last week in a shoe store, I somehow got in the middle of four or five American ladies who were trying on Birkenstocks. This is a very nice shoe store right off Marienplatz that does a lot of tourist business, and although not all the clerks speak great English, they speak enough to give good service and be helpful. Well, when a male clerk I'd never seen there before came up and started speaking very good English to these women, you'd have thought it was the second coming of Christ. "Oh thank God, he actually speaks English!" one of them shrieked, as if she hadn't heard her mother tongue in a year. "And he's cute, too!" her friend answered, just as loudly. The man appeared to be embarrassed. But not as embarrassed as I was.

I am proud to be an American, and I don't mind if people know I am one. I certainly don't try to hide it. But I'd rather that they be pleasantly surprised that I don't match the negative stereotypes than resigned because I do.

This site should be helpful for any Ugly Americans in training, with German, Spanish, and French phrases for things like "It's better in the States," and "How much is that in real money?" Actually, the whole page just made me giggle, because the idea of people who want to say these things making the effort to say them in a foreign language is hilarious. Also, if anyone was actually crazy enough to use these phrases, many of the translations wouldn't quite get their point across. For instance:

Where is the Cathedral?
Où est le bordel?
¿Dónde se da masajes?
Wo geht's 'n hier zum Puff?

Thanks to Neil for pointing the site out.

Guess where I had lunch today. I took this picture from my table:



Here's a hint:



There's only one place I know of in Munich to get that particular selection of condiments on your table. I believe it might be the only place in the city that actually serves Sweet-N-Low and French's mustard, period.

That'd be the Hard Rock Cafe, of course! I was in the mood for a hamburger, and when the mood strikes, that's where I go. Today I met Renee there and we had lunch in the sunshine as gaggles of tourists drifted by.

Thanks to Renee, who knows a lot because she's a librarian, this entry isn't just about my lunch. Do you know what today, April 23, is? If you said World Book Day, you'd be right. But here in Germany today is something more.



That's right, today is the day of German beer! On April 23, 1516, the Reinheitsgebot (beer purity edict) was proclaimed by Duke Wilhelm IV. This law states that German beer can be brewed using only four ingredients: malt, hops, yeast, and water. To this day, beers brewed in Germany for sale in Germany can be made with only those same ingredients. (No rice, no tannin, no foam stabilizers, like you find in beers like Budweiser and Miller.)

A few other facts, which I lifted from the German Embassy in Washington, DC:

• On average, each German drinks 138 liters of beer each year. Only the Czechs and Irish surpass them. Bavarians consume 50% more beer than the German national average, making them the nation's kings of beer consumption.
  
  
• Some 1,200 German breweries employ about 65,000 workers, and German beer accounts for more than 10% of the worldwide market. Production exceeds 115 million hectoliters per year.
  
  
• Germany brews dozens of types of light and dark beers, from the smoky Rauchbier of Bamberg, to the yeasty, opaque Hefeweizenbier of Bavaria, to Kölsch, the pale ale of Cologne, to the woodruff or raspberry syrup-sweetened Berliner Weisse of the German capital, just to name a few. Nearly all are available in the United States.
  
  
• Beer is healthy! One liter contains 45% of the daily recommended allowance of magnesium, 20% of potassium, and significant quantities of vitamin B and niacin. Its high carbohydrate content makes it easily digestible and a quick energy source. Beer has 45 calories per 100 ml - less than whole milk or grape juice. Researchers at the University of Oregon have found that hops, a key beer ingredient, help reduce the build-up of carcinogens in the body. Beer also contributes to hair health, giving it shine and volume.

You know that Earth Day slogan, "Every day is Earth Day"? I believe in Munich we could say, "Every day is Beer Day!" But they were celebrating downtown today -- at the Weisses Bräuhaus im Tal, Schneider Weiss was demonstrating the making of Weissbier in a big vat on the sidewalk. And as my friend and I had lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe, we saw hundreds of people going into the Hofbräuhaus right across the sidewalk. We could even hear the band when the door swung open. (In the first picture in this entry, the Hofbräuhaus is the white building on the right with the stone arch and the maypole on the corner.)

Prost!


Picture was taken on the first Sunday of Oktoberfest 2003.
But I'm wearing the same sweater today!

Ziggy was a very good boy on his trip to the vet today. He let them take blood and give him a shot, without any complaining at all, and he didn't seem at all perturbed by the little dog who was in the examination room with us (that dog was just coming out of general anesthesia, so he wasn't too concerned about Ziggy, either). We'll get the results of his blood work tomorrow. It's hard to believe he's almost 12 years old! He had to have the "geriatric" blood test.

It was the first time he's been out of the apartment since he arrived in Munich (well, if you don't count his renegade escapes into the hallway). He hated the car just as much as ever, but the vet wasn't too far away and we were there and back in an hour. Pretty painless!

Turns out that after July 3 of this year, pets traveling in the EU will be required to have an identifying chip or tattoo. And a pet passport. Could be interesting. I imagine if Ziggy has to have it, we'll go with the chip (which is placed just under the skin and isn't much more involved than getting a shot). I know Odin already has one, and he doesn't even live in Europe! But then, he's always been on the cutting edge of technology.

Ziggy says if he does have to get a tattoo, he wants this one:

Black swans in Munich's English Garden
April 2, 2004

Apparently, black swans like these are rare (or at least rarer than the white ones). I took this picture in the English Garden a couple of weeks ago.

We're having better weather this week than last -- no surprise, since our guest left on Saturday...

I'm sorry I haven't been updating much. I'm on pins and needles waiting to find out where we'll be moving next, and it doesn't make for very interesting things to write about. Our stay in Munich should be finished sometime in the next couple of months.

Rothenburg ob der Tauber (by night)
April 8, 2004

Susie and Katynka at Augustiner Keller
April 3, 2004

I'll tell you what's missing from the American snack food market. This.

Also, this:


Fresh Steckerlfisch at the Chinese Tower
April 4, 2004

Turn left at the sign of the dancing cat.

Here is Ziggy in a fetching pose on the sofa. Perhaps practicing for the cat ballet?

I've been happy to see that Marel Trout has been updating lately. Check out her "Book of Cattitudes" entries posted since the beginning of 2004. She takes the funniest, prettiest pictures of her cats.

Katynka is here safe and sound, and we've already been out catting around (so to speak) Viktualienmarkt and Marienplatz. I hear Odin is living it up with the grandparents in Pittsburgh. Lucky boy!

The picture on the right was taken in the Viktualienmarkt this morning. Click on it to see a larger version. It's really spring! Yay!

Restaurant recommendation: If you're looking for authentic Nürnberger Bratwürstl in Munich, try the Bratwurstherzl am Viktualienmarkt in the eastern corner of the market. The sausages and grilled meat are absolutely great, and they don't short you on the beer like some other Nürnberger places in Munich (Glöckl am Dom). Also, they're affiliated with the Bratwursthäusle bei St. Sebald in Nürnberg (our favorite source for those wonderful little grilled sausages), and the experience is as close to Nürnberg as you can get in Munich. Try it!

English Garden
April 2, 2004

I love my bike!

Today a friend and I met in the English Garden for a bike ride in the sun. We picnicked at the Chinese Tower beer garden and then rode all the way up to the northern perimeter of the park. I had to stop and take a picture of this swan on the lake, and the people feeding the birds (below). You can click on the pictures to see the larger versions.

It really looks like spring out there. The willows are yellow-green, and little flowers are coming up along the paths in the park. The animals are all acting crazy. When Marty and I went walking tonight, we spotted two geese flying away from a dog that was chasing them as fast as it could -- twenty feet below them on the ground.

Even the RATS are acting crazy. Yesterday one ran out of a shrubbery right in front of me as I was walking back from the grocery store. In fact, it ran right under my foot! I had to dodge to keep from stepping on it! I was totally surprised -- mostly because I had never seen a rat so up close and personal before. But it kept on trucking and sped off under a parked car. I think it was as surprised as I was.

Katynka arrives early tomorrow morning. Marty and I are both excited that she's coming for a visit. Whether or not we'll have a repeat of last year's Starkbierfest visit is up to her. She is our only guest who has ever drunk two liters of Starkbier the day she arrived. She set the bar high -- I don't know whether even she can live up to that!

I'm so tired, I keep mistyping. I'm sure this entry would be a lot more entertaining if I just left the mistakes instead of correcting them.