Some of the women from my chorus, after we sang at a US voter registration event here in Munich last week.

Your next car?



Seen yesterday at Burg Trausnitz in nearby Landshut: the Käsekäfer. I'm getting hungry just thinking about it!

It's not unusual to see private cars with advertising on them over here. Say you want to buy a Smart car, but you don't quite have the funds. What if you get a car that's decorated with someone's ad, for a business or a product? The advertising subsidizes your personal car, so you don't have to pay as much, and voila! You can afford it.

But then there's stuff like this. Marty speculated that this person was just "expressing their individuality." I don't know, but I liked the car.

Books for a very good cause.

Pamie has started her 2004 book drive. This year's effort will help the San Diego public library system, which has been hit by budget cuts that resulted in a reduction in services and new books. Go and check out her explanation of the project and join the fun.

I already sent a few books to the Lemon Grove branch of the library. Because no library should be without a copy of Judy Blume's Blubber, or The Black Stallion by Walter Farley. And I sent this one with fond thoughts of a tree-loving, library-using friend.

As a child, I read library books all the time. My life has been greatly enriched by the opportunity to do so. I encourage every Raspberry World reader to consider helping out this great cause.

And you know, you can even search and see if your local library has a wish list. Who knows?

Just a quick note to say I've updated the Postcards from Europe page with our February doings. That includes the weekend trip to London and my pictures from the Bavarian National Museum, as well as a few other things.

I intend to get the pictures from Florence and Tuscany up next, but it's going to be a big job.

Enjoy the pictures!

Stay Out of the Kitchen!

It doesn't happen often, but sometimes I have days when it becomes obvious that I should steer clear of the kitchen. Today was definitely one of those days. I started off first thing this morning by making brownies for a party we were going to. All went well until about twenty minutes after I put them in the oven, when I smelled a horrible smell and realized they were already too burnt to eat. And they were supposed to cook for 25 minutes! But I think I simply had the rack too high in the oven, and they were too close to the heat. They were burnt black on the outside, and raw in the middle. Yum!

Then, I was making my breakfast and took out a bottle of orange juice. I shook it up, as one does, and discovered that the lid wasn't on correctly. And by "discovered," I mean that it exploded in my face (in my EYES!) and splattered all over the cabinet and the floor. It honestly wasn't as bad as it could have been, but with orange juice in my EYES it was bad enough!

Once I got the juice cleaned up, I decided that it was best I stayed out of the kitchen for the rest of the day. Marty made us sandwiches for lunch.

And then we went to the party -- a going-away party for us -- which was catered. (Caterer in German = Party-Service.) Delicious food, and also probably a lot safer than letting me help in the kitchen today. We had a lovely evening with our friends from Marty's job, and were back in our own apartment by midnight. And now it's time for bed. Maybe tomorrow will be a better day in the kitchen.

The mighty Rhine, taken from Gedeonseck, near Boppard
Click to enlarge

The Bendiest Bend on the Rhine

Last weekend Marty and I visited Köln (Cologne) and the Rhine valley. The Rhine river has been an important trade route for centuries, and it still is today. It is over 1300 kilometers long, connecting the Swiss Alps with the coast of the Netherlands, and it's full of barges carrying imports and exports up and down the river. Since we only had a day or so to see it, we focused our attention on the small section between Koblenz and Bacharach, where most of the Sehenswürdigkeiten (sights) -- like all those famous castles sitting on top of vineyards -- are located.

We visited a couple of really interesting castles. Rheinfels Castle, in St. Goar, is a huge medieval ruin, complete with secret passages that require a flashlight(!). Marksburg Castle, in Braubach, is the only medieval castle on the Rhine that has never been destroyed, and we toured the interior along with a group of German teenagers who appeared to be on a school trip (on a Sunday?).

We stopped in Boppard to look at some well-preserved Roman ruins, and ended up also taking a Sesselbahn (chair lift) to the top of a hill where we could see the huge horseshoe curve in the river. The picture above is a composite of several photos, and the ones below show how we got up there, what else we saw, and how we came back down.

I'll post the rest of the Rhine pictures on the Postcards page later on.



Click to enlarge

1. How we got up there (look how close we were to the vineyard!)
2. The sign at the top of the lift
3. Vierseenblick, or a place where the Rhine supposedly looks like four lakes
4. Coming back down
5. A view of the curve on the way down

All is revealed...

The decision is made. Our time in Munich will be up at the end of July, and after that we'll be moving back to Connecticut.

I don't think I've talked about it much here, but it wasn't always certain we'd be coming right back to the US when Marty finished his project here. In fact, up until yesterday we were almost certain we'd be going to Italy next -- Marty had been offered a job there -- but due to circumstances within the company it isn't going to work out after all. It would have been a great adventure, of course, but today I find that I'm looking forward to the next place even if it's not exotic and different. It will be nice to get back to familiar places -- and even more, to familiar faces.

I've even started looking up barbershop choruses in Connecticut already. You know this is serious!

So we'll be in Munich until the end of July, and then we're headed back to the US. The next few months are going to be BUSY!

Ponte Vecchio, Florence

One of my favorite spots in Florence is the Ponte Vecchio, the "old bridge." It's the oldest bridge in Florence, standing since 1345 at the Arno's narrowest point in the city. Both sides of the bridge are lined with shops -- today they are jewelry stores, but originally these shops housed butchers and leather tanners.

The switch from butcher shops to luxury goods happened in the 16th century. After the Pitti Palace was built in the Oltrarno (other side of the Arno) district, the powerful Medici family found that walking across the bridge to the Piazza della Signoria (Florence's main square) was insufferable, due to the raucous crowds and the horrible smells coming from the shops. As the ruling family of Florence -- the richest and the most powerful -- the Medicis had a private corridor (designed by Vasari) built that runs above the shops on one side of the bridge, and connects the Pitti Palace with the government buildings on the other side of the Arno. They also decreed that the bridge should no longer be used for meat and leather shops, but should only house gold and silversmiths.

Since the corridor is very difficult to get access to (today it's a gallery for a rare collection of artists' self-portraits), most people today have to cross the bridge the plebian way. During the day when the stores are open, it's absolutely packed with wandering tourists and large groups, all jostling to take pictures. But Marty and I found that in the morning, before the shops and the postcard stalls opened for the day, it was a beautiful, peaceful place to visit. The view of the Arno is magnificent. You may even recognize the bridge as the location where George threw Lucy's bloodstained photographs into the river in the movie A Room with a View.

The first morning we visited the Ponte Vecchio, Marty and I noticed these padlocks. There were others, too, attached to every bit of exposed metal on the bridge. We asked a tour guide about them and learned that they are part of a romantic tradition. Lovers come to the bridge and attach a padlock, then throw the key into the Arno to demonstrate the undying nature of their love.

I'm still not sure what that combination lock represents, though.

Click on small pictures to see larger versions.
Learn more about the Ponte Vecchio and its history.

Tired and Happy

Tonight I went to the midnight sneak preview of the new Harry Potter movie here in Munich. I even wore my Slytherin scarf. What? It was cool out!

Thank you again for the wonderful scarf, Amanda!

Anyway, I'm not going to spoil anything, but I will say that I really loved it. And I can't wait to go and take Marty too.

Now, bed.