Josh rented a UFC movie for tonight. It's 140 minutes of UFC, bad acting, and Nick Nolte. So, I'm distracting myself by writing a new blog entry. :)
On Friday night, me, Josh, and our friends Lacie, Yahreen, and Marcus went to the Freinsheim Rotweinwanderung. Yes, I know that's a mouth full. Freinsheim is the name of the town, and "Rotweinwanderung" just means "red wine hike". Here's the translated link.
It was snowing at our house when we left, but by the time we got to Freinsheim (an hour away) the sky cleared up. That just meant it was even colder, so we hurried to find the wine.
So, here's how the red wine hike works. There are 13 large party tents set up all throughout the vineyards in the area. A hiking trail connects all of the tents together. Josh and I guessed that maybe the whole walk was a mile and a half, but that's really just total guessing. All of these tents have wine and food available, and you go from tent to tent eating and drinking. Oh, and you get torches. There were burning logs set up every so often on the trail to light the way, but you could also carry your own torches throughout the hike. So, lots of wine, plus lots of fire. The Germans aren't too big on safety.
Actually, the thought of carrying torches was much more romantic than it really was. It's a real hassle carrying around a glass of wine, a handful of food (pretzel, sandwich, etc) and a torch. Basically, our DD (thanks, Yahreen!) was the one who carried the torch most of the time. It was such a hassle, Josh and I didn't even bust out the camera. (the others took photos, so I may upload those later).
It actually worked out perfectly that four of us were drinking - 4 glasses in a bottle. I think we ended up getting 5 bottles of wine on the whole walk. Yes, that sounds like a lot (and it is). BUT, with the amount of walking we did, and the time we spent drinking, and the food we were eating - nobody went overboard. We definitely had a very good time, but there were no...."ill effects".
Memorable moments? Well....there was the German who crop-dusted me and Yahreen. The older drunk American lady that was totally hitting on Marcus (but she was a riot). The superawesomedelicious cinnamon & sugar crepe filled with applesauce. The shooting star that Lacie and I saw (NO, it wasn't a result of the wine, we really did see it!). The live band that was playing in the middle of the vineyard. Having to use Yahreen's phone as a flashlight in the port-a-potty (I was verrrrrrry careful not to drop it). It was really such a fun fun fun time. Freinsheim has a wine walk every season, and we'll definitely make this a regular thing.
The next one is in April, and I think we'll do it during the day for that one - just to be able to see all the flowers blooming.
The rest of the weekend was pretty relaxed. Josh and I went to Möbel Martin in K-town. It's basically an expensive Ikea...well, a very expensive Ikea. It was 3 huge stories of uncomfortable looking European furniture. There is something so distinct about German-style furniture. The beds and couches sit so low to the ground, and everything is very....boxy looking. I have to say, I'm not a huge fan of that style (although I do love Ikea), but it was still fun to look around.
Saturday night, I went out with a couple friends for a girls' night/birthday dinner at a local Italian restaurant. It was good food, but I'm not sure if any locals eat there - it seemed more like it caters to Americans (by the end of the night, the restaurant was completely full of nothing but Americans). One thing was pretty neat, though. When we first got there, the restaurant was mainly empty - except for a young couple sitting next to us. All of a sudden, the waitress comes out with a plate that had sparklers sitting on it, and a little box resting on the plate. Yep - the guy next to us proposed to his girlfriend. I've never seen a proposal before, but it was pretty cute. She was crying, and we all clapped (although, in my head, I was making fun of her for crying like a big baby ;) ).
All in all, it was such a fun weekend. I can't wait for the next one!
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Thursday, January 19, 2012
the3six5
the3six5 is a blog where I signed up to be a guest author. Every day, they get a new author to write a diary entry based on their day. My day was January 18th. I just couldn't get into the writing groove yesterday, so I'm not exactly proud of my entry. I was just in a slump. But, if you care to read it, you can check it out here.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Weekend Recap
Pampered Chef Party
Pool tournament (I was just a cheerleader this time)
Super awesome flea market ($3 for a brand new copy of Modern Family Season 2!?!)
Slot machines!!
Beatles Rockband marathon ($10, brand new at the flea market)
Family walk in the country (Sasha loves being off leash & running through the fields)
Shopping trip with the girls at a nearby mall
Marathon of horrible movies (please don't ever watch The Expendables)
For a weekend where we didn't actually go anywhere and do anything, we sure did a lot. This place is so much better for us than Ohio was. Life is good.
Pool tournament (I was just a cheerleader this time)
Super awesome flea market ($3 for a brand new copy of Modern Family Season 2!?!)
Slot machines!!
Beatles Rockband marathon ($10, brand new at the flea market)
Family walk in the country (Sasha loves being off leash & running through the fields)
Shopping trip with the girls at a nearby mall
Marathon of horrible movies (please don't ever watch The Expendables)
For a weekend where we didn't actually go anywhere and do anything, we sure did a lot. This place is so much better for us than Ohio was. Life is good.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Trip to Schwangau & Munich - Part 2
It's New Year's Eve, and we get up early for our first full day in Munich.
Although, the bed at the Mövenpick was so comfortable, I didn't want to wake up. I'm not much of a morning person. Both Josh & my parents can attest to that.
I had one of those hop-on/hop-off tours planned for the day. Well, actually, I had three bus tours planned for the day. I didn't really make the most of our time on this day, unfortunately. The City Sightseeing bus had three different routes, going to three different parts of the city. I thought that would be the best starting point to explore Munich. Boy, was I wrong.
I will note, that Munich is the EASIEST city to navigate by car or by foot. It was at least the easiest city that Josh and I have ever explored. Yes, we have GPS, but everyone knows those things don't necessarily create a problem-free driving experience. There were directional signs everywhere, and clearly painted lanes on all the roads - not true with many cities in Europe. In some cities, you just have to say a couple Hail Marys, and try not to die of a heart attack from the sheer fear of it all. Not the case with Munich.
We found parking in the train station lot, which was unfortunately very expensive. But, we DID get to go into a car elevator. Scary as hell, but freaking cool.
And now on to the bus tours.
First off, it was snowing (which turned to rain in the afternoon). So, the double decker bus, which normally has an open top, now had a cover on it. Also, each trip was about an hour, with maybe a 30 minute wait to get in. This was just toooooooo much time wasted sitting in a bus. It got pretty boring. For future reference, just do one bus tour - the main one. Anything else, just plan to go on your own.
So we did the first two bus tours...
After the first two bus rides, we decided we needed a break. So, a quick trip back to the car for lunch, and then we explored the train station for a little while.
A quick note about public restrooms. Most of the time, if you're in a public restroom in Europe, it's a pay toilet. You pay anywhere from 30 euro cents to a whole euro to use the bathroom. You're essentially paying for an attendant to be in the restroom, keeping it clean & stocked. Let me tell ya - I don't mind paying to use the restroom ONE BIT. 1 euro is pretty high, and I complained to Josh about having to pay a whole freaking euro to go to the restroom in the train station. Until the next day, when we were by the train station again, and I really needed to pee. No pay toilet in sight, but there were free toilets available.
:|
I will never again complain about paying a whole euro to use the toilets in the train stations. Blechchhhhh.
Anywho, it was time to hurry up and use our last bus ticket, for the "main" city center tour. Unfortunately, at this point, we were bored, tired, cranky, and cold. I swear my butt cheeks froze at some point. So, we didn't really make the most out of our bus tour.
At this point, it's mid afternoon, and we're FINALLY done with the stupid buses. Off to explore Munich on foot, right?
Oy.....I don't know if it was because it was New Year's Eve, or what, but apparently everything started shutting down at 3pm. Crapballs...
We did hang out and watch the ice skaters. I don't know why we didn't take pictures of this, because it was the best part of the day. Watching all the people flail about on the roughest looking rink I've ever seen was awesome. They had these little polar bear-shaped carts that the less experienced skaters could hang on to & push around. Seeing the frat daddies have to use them was priceless. Oh, and then there was the kid that didn't so much as skate around with the push cart, as he did stand in one place and suck on the bear's ear. It was frackin' hilarious. I need a video camera. Someone out there on the interwebs - buy me a video camera, please. I'll post all future videos of kid-on-polar-bear suckage if you do! How can you pass that up?
Anyway, it was starting to get dark (it starts getting dark at 4pm during the winter around here) and my cheeks are still frozen, and we're frustrated that everything is closed. Well, except the Jesuit church (which was nice). The Aycocks really like going into churches. Which is weird, because I would have figured we'd burst into flames upon entrance....
Even though it was NYE, I didn't have anything planned. Our hotel was 25 minutes away from the city. I'm not so good with crowds. We would have had to take public transportation to and from the hotel after partying during NYE. Partying in downtown Munich just didn't work out. I promised Josh that next NYE, we would actually plan to stay in a hotel somewhere, in the middle of downtown, so we could actually enjoy the festivities.
But, we did have a good time at the hotel. We weren't the only sad losers staying there, with no plans. After a dinner of a sandwich for me, and cold canned spaghettios for Josh (he is SO WEIRD sometimes!!!) we hung out in the bar and shared a bottle of wine. Apparently it's a custom for everyone to bring their own fireworks to the party, because at LEAST two groups of guests came out with backpacks full of 'em. We went outside after the stroke of midnight, and the light show started. Fireworks were going off EVERYWHERE!!!!! Every house around the hotel (plus the hotel guests) had a major arsenal of fireworks. It was awesome. I can't imagine what downtown Munich must have been like (if we go next year, I'm taking a hard hat & protective goggles).
You know the one thing I always forget to do at the stroke of midnight?
Wish Josh a happy birthday.
Yes, New Year's Day is the Mister's birthday. No one with him ever remembers it's his birthday until 15 minutes AFTER saying "Happy New Year!!!". Poor guy.
Anywho, then it was off to bed to get prepared for the next day. Which neither of us were looking forward to.
Dachau.
Now, those of you that know me, know I'm a weird hippy with lots of weird ideas and beliefs. Scientifically, I consider myself an absolute agnost, bordering on atheist.
But then I also do weirdo hippy things like tarot cards, past life regression, ghost "whispering" if you will. So, please forgive me for all the weirdness that's about to be transcribed.
I've had several past life "specialists" tell me that I was a nazi in a former life. Not only that, but so was Josh, and we were a nazi couple back in the day. Whether or not I believe that, I don't know. But I do totally believe in past lives, so.....who knows.
We spent about two hours there - an hour and a half walking through the main part, then a half hour in the "crematorium" section.
It was cold, cloudy, and relatively empty of people, which made it all the more eerie. Then, it was onto the crematorium/gas chamber section. FYI, there was no evidence that the gas chambers were ever used for mass killings (but that doesn't mean it was never used at all).
This section was so strange. It was like a beautiful wooded park, with a canal running along the edge. We're walking thru the trees, squirrels are playing in the brush, and then we come up on this...
Execution range & blood ditch.
Then, we walk around and come to the buildings. There was an old crematorium, with just the "ovens" but the newer one was built with several rooms. First, the disinfecting room.
From there, it was off to the gas chamber. The gas chamber was disguised as a big shower, so as not to panic any prisoners forced into the chamber.
It's at this point that my mind/body is inundated with psychic and karmic bad juujuu. I had to get out of this room. Josh was somewhere else, taking photos, so I was by myself in this building. And, I had to get out of this room. So, I pretty much sprint through it, where I end up in the "death" room. This is the room where the bodies were stacked, waiting to be burned in the next room (the crematorium). Well, I didn't really want to be in this room either, but at least I didn't feel like I was being chased.
But then I try to walk thru the crematorium to get out of the building.
Nope, nu-unh, wasn't gonna happen. I had about a thousand eyes on me, daring me to walk thru the next room. Eeeesh, even writing about it is giving me major goose bumps. Excuse me while I go do a sage smudging....
Anyway, I'm stuck in the death room, not wanting to go back thru the gas chamber, but DEFINITELY not about to walk thru the crematorium by myself.
Josh is FINALLY done taking pictures of whatever he was taking pictures of, and is now in the gas room. All I can say is "I can't walk through the crematorium by myself. Hurry up." He says, "ok." But he continues to take pictures. So I'm still in the "death room" limbo. Finally, he's done, and he comes with me to the crematorium. Then I realize that him being there doesn't really help. A thousand eyes are still focused on me, he's taking pictures, and I'm trying my damndest to NOT LOOK TOO CLOSELY inside the room. I just know I'll be able to see the eyes that I can feel.
Finally, I bust through the door, out to the open. It helps a little, but eyes are still looking. I rush Josh through, because all I want to do is leave the area. Finally, we do. On our way back outside, back away from the eyes and the weight that is now balancing on our shoulders, we stop at the camp prison.
Oy, this is almost as bad. Most of the doors to the prison are closed, but you can see inside through little cutouts in the doors (imagine insane asylums that you see in movies - you know the solid door, with a cutout for the tray of food, and the little window that you can see through). I only made it about a quarter of the way through before I left the prison as well. I just knew I was going to look in one of the windows, and see a prisoner looking back at me.
We were done. I was ready to Get. Out.
All in all, I'm glad we went. I do feel like it's really important for everyone to visit concentration camps. And I'm sure we'll go to more while we are in Europe. But, I'm not looking forward to it.
After our time at Dachau, we needed a drink. So, we went downtown to Munich, to go to the famous Hofbräuhaus.
It was crazy packed, mainly because it was the only biergarten open on New Year's Day. Basically, it was just long rows of tables & chairs. If you find an open seat, you better hurry up and park it, because the next person who sees it will. It seemed like it took us forever to find an empty spot. Finally, we got one. We ordered some beer & a pretzel basket. Oh, it was the best thing ever.
Then I realize there is a sign hanging over the table were sitting at. I assumed correctly that this was one of the many tables that were reserved for the regulars. As long as the regulars aren't there (and don't make you move) you can use the table...I assume, anyway. But, wouldn't you know it, the "owner" of this table sat down as soon as we were served. It must happen all the time, and he said it was absolutely no problem to share the table with us.
Good, cuz I wasn't movin'. :)
He was a nice, English-speaking German. He said he had been coming to the Hofbräuhaus for 35 years, three (sometimes four) times a week. Then he asked us our opinion of Obama. Then we talked about work or something, I don't know. Tip of the day - try to hang out and talk to the locals. It's fun, and you both work on your second language communication skills.
After our bellies were full of bread & beer (ha! I love alliteration) we went on to explore the Marienplatz. This is basically the walking district in downtown Munich. There were piles of broken glass and firework carcasses EVERYWHERE. That must have been one fun celebration, and I was kind of sorry we missed it. Oh, and going on family walks on NYD to pick up bottle rocket sticks must be "the thing" to do. Tons of families were out, smiling, picking up firework trash.
Other than Munich being a really easily navigable city is that there were no...down-on-their-luck people (for lack of a more polite word than "beggar"). In Paris, we couldn't go more than ten steps without someone stepping in front of us asking for us to buy something, or give them change. We saw one homeless person in Munich, and there was this "troupe" of guys playing pranks on tourists (it was pretty cute & harmless) but that was it.
More walking, more sightseeing, more picture taking. Josh got a new lens, flash, and camera strap for Christmas, so he was taking a TON of pictures.
We wanted to go relax a little bit, so we went back to the Hofbräuhaus. Unfortunately, it was way busier than it was just an hour or two earlier. Luckily (or unluckily, depending on who you ask) there was a Hard Rock across the way. So...(ick) we went to Hard Rock for a drink.
We were pretty tired, and emotionally drained, so we headed back to the hotel for the evening.
The next day, we slept in a little (8am is sleeping in for us during vacation) then packed up and left! The drive was 4 hours long, but Josh had work the next day (after 11 days off) so we wanted to get back home in enough time for him to decompress & relax a little bit. We've never been on a truly "relaxing" vacation. I think it'd be boring, anyway.
All in all, we had a great trip. Every trip we go on gets a little easier than the trip before. We become better planners, better packers. On this trip, we ate two dinners out, and had three snacks out, and one breakfast was included in our hotel. Everything else that we ate, we brought ourselves. I think that's pretty good, but it could get better. Next time, only ONE bus tour. And, next time we're in a big city for NYE, I'll splurge and get a hotel room close to the action.
Next time we go to Munich (and we'll definitely go again) we're going to do the BMW museum, the Olympic tower, the Bavarian palace, and the Erdinger tour.
Also, Josh is going to learn how to use a bidet correctly.
Although, the bed at the Mövenpick was so comfortable, I didn't want to wake up. I'm not much of a morning person. Both Josh & my parents can attest to that.
I had one of those hop-on/hop-off tours planned for the day. Well, actually, I had three bus tours planned for the day. I didn't really make the most of our time on this day, unfortunately. The City Sightseeing bus had three different routes, going to three different parts of the city. I thought that would be the best starting point to explore Munich. Boy, was I wrong.
I will note, that Munich is the EASIEST city to navigate by car or by foot. It was at least the easiest city that Josh and I have ever explored. Yes, we have GPS, but everyone knows those things don't necessarily create a problem-free driving experience. There were directional signs everywhere, and clearly painted lanes on all the roads - not true with many cities in Europe. In some cities, you just have to say a couple Hail Marys, and try not to die of a heart attack from the sheer fear of it all. Not the case with Munich.
We found parking in the train station lot, which was unfortunately very expensive. But, we DID get to go into a car elevator. Scary as hell, but freaking cool.
And now on to the bus tours.
First off, it was snowing (which turned to rain in the afternoon). So, the double decker bus, which normally has an open top, now had a cover on it. Also, each trip was about an hour, with maybe a 30 minute wait to get in. This was just toooooooo much time wasted sitting in a bus. It got pretty boring. For future reference, just do one bus tour - the main one. Anything else, just plan to go on your own.
So we did the first two bus tours...
After the first two bus rides, we decided we needed a break. So, a quick trip back to the car for lunch, and then we explored the train station for a little while.
A quick note about public restrooms. Most of the time, if you're in a public restroom in Europe, it's a pay toilet. You pay anywhere from 30 euro cents to a whole euro to use the bathroom. You're essentially paying for an attendant to be in the restroom, keeping it clean & stocked. Let me tell ya - I don't mind paying to use the restroom ONE BIT. 1 euro is pretty high, and I complained to Josh about having to pay a whole freaking euro to go to the restroom in the train station. Until the next day, when we were by the train station again, and I really needed to pee. No pay toilet in sight, but there were free toilets available.
:|
I will never again complain about paying a whole euro to use the toilets in the train stations. Blechchhhhh.
Anywho, it was time to hurry up and use our last bus ticket, for the "main" city center tour. Unfortunately, at this point, we were bored, tired, cranky, and cold. I swear my butt cheeks froze at some point. So, we didn't really make the most out of our bus tour.
At this point, it's mid afternoon, and we're FINALLY done with the stupid buses. Off to explore Munich on foot, right?
Oy.....I don't know if it was because it was New Year's Eve, or what, but apparently everything started shutting down at 3pm. Crapballs...
We did hang out and watch the ice skaters. I don't know why we didn't take pictures of this, because it was the best part of the day. Watching all the people flail about on the roughest looking rink I've ever seen was awesome. They had these little polar bear-shaped carts that the less experienced skaters could hang on to & push around. Seeing the frat daddies have to use them was priceless. Oh, and then there was the kid that didn't so much as skate around with the push cart, as he did stand in one place and suck on the bear's ear. It was frackin' hilarious. I need a video camera. Someone out there on the interwebs - buy me a video camera, please. I'll post all future videos of kid-on-polar-bear suckage if you do! How can you pass that up?
Anyway, it was starting to get dark (it starts getting dark at 4pm during the winter around here) and my cheeks are still frozen, and we're frustrated that everything is closed. Well, except the Jesuit church (which was nice). The Aycocks really like going into churches. Which is weird, because I would have figured we'd burst into flames upon entrance....
Even though it was NYE, I didn't have anything planned. Our hotel was 25 minutes away from the city. I'm not so good with crowds. We would have had to take public transportation to and from the hotel after partying during NYE. Partying in downtown Munich just didn't work out. I promised Josh that next NYE, we would actually plan to stay in a hotel somewhere, in the middle of downtown, so we could actually enjoy the festivities.
But, we did have a good time at the hotel. We weren't the only sad losers staying there, with no plans. After a dinner of a sandwich for me, and cold canned spaghettios for Josh (he is SO WEIRD sometimes!!!) we hung out in the bar and shared a bottle of wine. Apparently it's a custom for everyone to bring their own fireworks to the party, because at LEAST two groups of guests came out with backpacks full of 'em. We went outside after the stroke of midnight, and the light show started. Fireworks were going off EVERYWHERE!!!!! Every house around the hotel (plus the hotel guests) had a major arsenal of fireworks. It was awesome. I can't imagine what downtown Munich must have been like (if we go next year, I'm taking a hard hat & protective goggles).
You know the one thing I always forget to do at the stroke of midnight?
Wish Josh a happy birthday.
Yes, New Year's Day is the Mister's birthday. No one with him ever remembers it's his birthday until 15 minutes AFTER saying "Happy New Year!!!". Poor guy.
Anywho, then it was off to bed to get prepared for the next day. Which neither of us were looking forward to.
Dachau.
Now, those of you that know me, know I'm a weird hippy with lots of weird ideas and beliefs. Scientifically, I consider myself an absolute agnost, bordering on atheist.
But then I also do weirdo hippy things like tarot cards, past life regression, ghost "whispering" if you will. So, please forgive me for all the weirdness that's about to be transcribed.
I've had several past life "specialists" tell me that I was a nazi in a former life. Not only that, but so was Josh, and we were a nazi couple back in the day. Whether or not I believe that, I don't know. But I do totally believe in past lives, so.....who knows.
We spent about two hours there - an hour and a half walking through the main part, then a half hour in the "crematorium" section.
It was cold, cloudy, and relatively empty of people, which made it all the more eerie. Then, it was onto the crematorium/gas chamber section. FYI, there was no evidence that the gas chambers were ever used for mass killings (but that doesn't mean it was never used at all).
This section was so strange. It was like a beautiful wooded park, with a canal running along the edge. We're walking thru the trees, squirrels are playing in the brush, and then we come up on this...
Execution range & blood ditch.
Then, we walk around and come to the buildings. There was an old crematorium, with just the "ovens" but the newer one was built with several rooms. First, the disinfecting room.
From there, it was off to the gas chamber. The gas chamber was disguised as a big shower, so as not to panic any prisoners forced into the chamber.
It's at this point that my mind/body is inundated with psychic and karmic bad juujuu. I had to get out of this room. Josh was somewhere else, taking photos, so I was by myself in this building. And, I had to get out of this room. So, I pretty much sprint through it, where I end up in the "death" room. This is the room where the bodies were stacked, waiting to be burned in the next room (the crematorium). Well, I didn't really want to be in this room either, but at least I didn't feel like I was being chased.
But then I try to walk thru the crematorium to get out of the building.
Nope, nu-unh, wasn't gonna happen. I had about a thousand eyes on me, daring me to walk thru the next room. Eeeesh, even writing about it is giving me major goose bumps. Excuse me while I go do a sage smudging....
Anyway, I'm stuck in the death room, not wanting to go back thru the gas chamber, but DEFINITELY not about to walk thru the crematorium by myself.
Josh is FINALLY done taking pictures of whatever he was taking pictures of, and is now in the gas room. All I can say is "I can't walk through the crematorium by myself. Hurry up." He says, "ok." But he continues to take pictures. So I'm still in the "death room" limbo. Finally, he's done, and he comes with me to the crematorium. Then I realize that him being there doesn't really help. A thousand eyes are still focused on me, he's taking pictures, and I'm trying my damndest to NOT LOOK TOO CLOSELY inside the room. I just know I'll be able to see the eyes that I can feel.
Finally, I bust through the door, out to the open. It helps a little, but eyes are still looking. I rush Josh through, because all I want to do is leave the area. Finally, we do. On our way back outside, back away from the eyes and the weight that is now balancing on our shoulders, we stop at the camp prison.
Oy, this is almost as bad. Most of the doors to the prison are closed, but you can see inside through little cutouts in the doors (imagine insane asylums that you see in movies - you know the solid door, with a cutout for the tray of food, and the little window that you can see through). I only made it about a quarter of the way through before I left the prison as well. I just knew I was going to look in one of the windows, and see a prisoner looking back at me.
We were done. I was ready to Get. Out.
All in all, I'm glad we went. I do feel like it's really important for everyone to visit concentration camps. And I'm sure we'll go to more while we are in Europe. But, I'm not looking forward to it.
After our time at Dachau, we needed a drink. So, we went downtown to Munich, to go to the famous Hofbräuhaus.
It was crazy packed, mainly because it was the only biergarten open on New Year's Day. Basically, it was just long rows of tables & chairs. If you find an open seat, you better hurry up and park it, because the next person who sees it will. It seemed like it took us forever to find an empty spot. Finally, we got one. We ordered some beer & a pretzel basket. Oh, it was the best thing ever.
Then I realize there is a sign hanging over the table were sitting at. I assumed correctly that this was one of the many tables that were reserved for the regulars. As long as the regulars aren't there (and don't make you move) you can use the table...I assume, anyway. But, wouldn't you know it, the "owner" of this table sat down as soon as we were served. It must happen all the time, and he said it was absolutely no problem to share the table with us.
Good, cuz I wasn't movin'. :)
He was a nice, English-speaking German. He said he had been coming to the Hofbräuhaus for 35 years, three (sometimes four) times a week. Then he asked us our opinion of Obama. Then we talked about work or something, I don't know. Tip of the day - try to hang out and talk to the locals. It's fun, and you both work on your second language communication skills.
After our bellies were full of bread & beer (ha! I love alliteration) we went on to explore the Marienplatz. This is basically the walking district in downtown Munich. There were piles of broken glass and firework carcasses EVERYWHERE. That must have been one fun celebration, and I was kind of sorry we missed it. Oh, and going on family walks on NYD to pick up bottle rocket sticks must be "the thing" to do. Tons of families were out, smiling, picking up firework trash.
Other than Munich being a really easily navigable city is that there were no...down-on-their-luck people (for lack of a more polite word than "beggar"). In Paris, we couldn't go more than ten steps without someone stepping in front of us asking for us to buy something, or give them change. We saw one homeless person in Munich, and there was this "troupe" of guys playing pranks on tourists (it was pretty cute & harmless) but that was it.
More walking, more sightseeing, more picture taking. Josh got a new lens, flash, and camera strap for Christmas, so he was taking a TON of pictures.
We wanted to go relax a little bit, so we went back to the Hofbräuhaus. Unfortunately, it was way busier than it was just an hour or two earlier. Luckily (or unluckily, depending on who you ask) there was a Hard Rock across the way. So...(ick) we went to Hard Rock for a drink.
We were pretty tired, and emotionally drained, so we headed back to the hotel for the evening.
The next day, we slept in a little (8am is sleeping in for us during vacation) then packed up and left! The drive was 4 hours long, but Josh had work the next day (after 11 days off) so we wanted to get back home in enough time for him to decompress & relax a little bit. We've never been on a truly "relaxing" vacation. I think it'd be boring, anyway.
All in all, we had a great trip. Every trip we go on gets a little easier than the trip before. We become better planners, better packers. On this trip, we ate two dinners out, and had three snacks out, and one breakfast was included in our hotel. Everything else that we ate, we brought ourselves. I think that's pretty good, but it could get better. Next time, only ONE bus tour. And, next time we're in a big city for NYE, I'll splurge and get a hotel room close to the action.
Next time we go to Munich (and we'll definitely go again) we're going to do the BMW museum, the Olympic tower, the Bavarian palace, and the Erdinger tour.
Also, Josh is going to learn how to use a bidet correctly.
Monday, January 9, 2012
Trip to Schwangau & Munich - Part 1
Hello, folks.
Let's cut the small talk, and I'll just get right to the trip...which is what y'all want to read about anyway, right?
On December 29th, the Mister & I headed out for a 4 night trip to Schwangau & Munich. Just so ya know, Schwangau is the town where King Ludwig's castle Neuschwanstein is located, as well as his father's castle, Hohenschwangau.
We dropped off the furry kids as soon as the kennel opened, and we were off on the road. I was bound and determined that we wouldn't spend crazy amounts on food during the trip, so the car was loaded with all the picnic essentials - cooler full of meats & cheese, as well as bags full of breads, chips, snacks, etc. etc. etc. And maybe a couple bottles of wine...or a box...
Our first night, we were headed to Schwangau, with a quick pit stop in Stuttgart to get gas. Stuttgart is home to a bunch of military installations, and we are able to fill up our car on any base (or any Esso station in Germany - but if you're off-base, you have to use a prepaid card, and it's just a slightly bigger hassle). The entire drive was 4 hours and 20 minutes, with Stuttgart smack dab in the middle. Now, I tried as hard as I could to find an address for the Stuttgart base....but I didn't realize how MANY military installations were in the town. Also, I didn't realize that it wasn't a town, but rather a large city. Luckily, we found a street sign that said "US Military Installations" with a big arrow.
Jackpot!
Except, no. That was the only sign we saw for about 45 minutes of driving around town. Meanwhile, I have to pee, so I'm quickly becoming Courtney the Cranky. Josh hates traffic, and as we were in the middle of a big city, he was quickly becoming Josh the Irate. FINALLY, after about an hour of searching for a base, we found one of the Army barracks. Of course, they had no gas station. But luckily, they did have a public restroom. Courtney soon became cheerful again.
We were able to get an address from one of the workers at this base, for ANOTHER base that had a gas station. Yay, right? Not so much. We circled the town for another 45 minutes, trying to find the stupid place. Yes, we have GPS, but it doesn't work very well when you aren't given a street number.
So, we just gave up and used a German Esso station. We still get the same price as we would on-base, but like I said, the card is prepaid, so you have to be careful in remembering how much you have on your card.
As we drive away from the Esso station, we see the sign for the base with the gas station....of course.
So, leaving Stuttgart in our dust, we continue on to Schwangau. About 40 minutes or so away from our hotel, we encounter:
SNOW!!!
It really was a pretty area, but I wasn't prepared for that amount of snow. Luckily I brought extra jackets...
We stayed at the Schlossrestaurant Neuschwanstein. To get up to the castles (which are not together, by the way, so really you have to do this twice to see both of them) you have 3 choices. You can walk, take a horse-drawn carriage, or take a bus. NO CARS ALLOWED! The walk up to Neuschwanstein supposedly takes about 40 minutes, and it's up a really steep hill, and in this case, it was cold & slushy. Buuuuuuut, at the top of the hill (still another 7-10 minutes to get up to the castle) there is a lovely restaurant. And, on the top floor of this restaurant is a hotel - either rooms w/bath or rooms with a shared bath. For 65 euros, we got a room with a shared bath, free breakfast, AND, the best part - a parking spot at the restaurant/hotel. The only people allowed to drive up this hill are the workers of the restaurant or the castle, and the guests of the hotel - and there are only maybe 10 rooms. Now, when we first arrived, we were nervous to actually drive up the road (what with the tons of people, and the "no cars" signs everywhere). But, a friendly neighborhood shop owner ensured us that it was perfectly ok for us to go up that road if we had reservations. Although he did warn us that the horse-drawn carriage drivers were nasty meanies who may yell at us (he told us just to ignore them). Nice.
It took us at least 20 minutes to go up the hill (400 meters??) because of all the people walking, not to mention the slow-as-molasses horse carriage we were behind.
Finally, we made it. The room was fine, no frills, but fine. We did have a bathroom sink in the room, just not a toilet or shower. It was maybe 4:30 at this point, and the castle closed at 5:30 (no matter - we had tickets for the next day). Even so, we walked up the rest of the hill to go to check the place out.
Here's our hotel/restaurant. Our room is the one with the light on on the top floor in the middle (facing the camera).
Didn't mean to leave that light on when we left...oops...
That night, we had sandwiches in the room, and then went down the now-empty road to check out the local towns. Schwangau was absolutely a ghost town. It was barely 6:30pm, but everything was closed except for the few hotels & their restaurants. So, we drove a few kilometers away to check out the town of Füssen.
And...everything was closed there, too. There were restaurants open, of course, but no bars or shops or anything. EXCEPT for....wait for it....a Woolworth. Yes, there was a Woolworth in the middle of the Bavarian town of Füssen. Weird, eh? But it was awesome that we found it, because I was freezing and needed a hat. I could have walked around that store for an hour, but it smelled faintly of vomit, so we left to walk around town some more.
Before long, my legs were numb, so we headed back to the hotel. There's nothing like laying in bed in a hotel room, watching tv (BBC or CNN are basically the only English channels you can get in smaller hotels), and enjoying a glass of wine.
The next morning, we were up bright and early to enjoy the hotel's free breakfast. European breakfasts are THE BEST!!! Fresh breads with all kinds of meats & cheeses, some fruit, and some yogurt. Just give me the bread basket & wheel of cheese, and I'm set for the day.
And, it started snowing at some point during the night, and was still snowing. Yay for my new 2euro Woolworth hat!
We had tickets for both of the castles. Hohenschwangau was first on our list. We had a couple of hours before our tour started, so we walked around the now crazy-busy town. MAN do Japanese people love to travel in groups!!
And, Josh bought himself a new hat. :)
In the background is Hohenschwangau. Like I said before, the busses weren't running because of the weather. So, we either had to walk up, or take the horse carriage. Hohenschwangau is totally doable, no question. It took us about 10-15 minutes, but only because we kept stopping to take pictures.
It was REALLY starting to snow hard at this point, so I'm glad we walked up the hill, just so we could warm up a little bit.
Unfortunately, neither castle allows pictures inside. But Hohenschwangau was really neat. It was King Maximillian's vacation home, so the rooms were small. But, there were murals painted on almost every wall in the castle, depicting scenes from folklore. Our guide, Wolfgang, was really good. The tour lasted about 50 minutes, and then we had about an hour and a half to make it to Neuschwanstein for our next tour.
It was about a 20 minute walk down the back side of Hohenschwangau to the parking lot. Luckily, Josh and I still had the parking permit that the hotel gave us - and it wasn't dated! So, we just used it and drove right back to the hotel. There is no way my ankle would have been able to make the walk up to Neuschwanstein. Hell, even if my ankle was never broken, I doubt i would have been able to do it anyway. :/ I'm not one for physical exertion. We thought for half a second about taking the horse carriage up, but the line was ridiculously long. And, I really don't feel comfortable with the idea of a horse carriage anyway (don't forget, I'm a hippy-vegetarian-peacelover)
It was still snowing, and even though the plows had run all morning, it was still pretty slippery driving up the hill. After we parked, it was still another 7-10 minute walk up to the castle gate. By the time we got up there, my ankle was pretty tired, but we only had to wait 10 minutes for our tour.
Oy, it felt like we had to take a million steps up to the starting point of the tour. Maybe 150 steps in total, which isn't that bad, except my ankle was extremely pissed off with the weather, and Hohenschwangau, and all the other walking we did. I can't imagine trying to do it after walking up the Neuschwanstein hill....
Again, no pics inside this castle. This castle was much different than Hohenschwangau - MUCH more ornate. Unfortunately, it was never finished. King Ludwig died under mysterious circumstances before it was done.
And then, the million steps back down to get out of the castle, and walk down a now VERY slippery, slush covered road to get back to the hotel and our car.
But ya know what was really awesome? Outside of the hotel/restaurant, there are vendors selling food & drinks. We got more glühwein, and balls of fried dough covered in powedered sugar. It was the best thing after being out in the cold and snow, and the perfect reward for all the walking/staircases my ankle did.
It was pretty nice sitting down in the warm car after all that. So, it was now time for us to go on to Munich.
It only took an hour to get to Munich, but we were staying on the OPPOSITE side, so it took us about an hour and a half. We stayed at the Mövenpick hotel near the airport. Yes, it was out of the way (about 25 minutes to get to central Munich), but it was worth it. It was a really nice hotel. We didn't get free breakfast, but for three nights, it was only 140 euros.
The beds at this hotel were SO COMFORTABLE!!! Plus, they gave us rubber duckies in the bathroom. You know it's a good hotel when they give you a rubber ducky. :)
We ate at the hotel restaurant that night. Hotel restaurants in Europe aren't like what they are in the States. People here eat at hotel restaurants all the time, even if they're not staying at the hotel. Hotels just get really excellent chefs, and it's no big deal to do that.
And, I gotta say, it was a great meal. Three courses, with a bottle of wine, for a total of 45 euro. Not bad, eh?
After the day we had, it was so nice to fall into the awesome bed, with full tummies and sore feet, and call it a night.
Let's cut the small talk, and I'll just get right to the trip...which is what y'all want to read about anyway, right?
On December 29th, the Mister & I headed out for a 4 night trip to Schwangau & Munich. Just so ya know, Schwangau is the town where King Ludwig's castle Neuschwanstein is located, as well as his father's castle, Hohenschwangau.
We dropped off the furry kids as soon as the kennel opened, and we were off on the road. I was bound and determined that we wouldn't spend crazy amounts on food during the trip, so the car was loaded with all the picnic essentials - cooler full of meats & cheese, as well as bags full of breads, chips, snacks, etc. etc. etc. And maybe a couple bottles of wine...or a box...
Our first night, we were headed to Schwangau, with a quick pit stop in Stuttgart to get gas. Stuttgart is home to a bunch of military installations, and we are able to fill up our car on any base (or any Esso station in Germany - but if you're off-base, you have to use a prepaid card, and it's just a slightly bigger hassle). The entire drive was 4 hours and 20 minutes, with Stuttgart smack dab in the middle. Now, I tried as hard as I could to find an address for the Stuttgart base....but I didn't realize how MANY military installations were in the town. Also, I didn't realize that it wasn't a town, but rather a large city. Luckily, we found a street sign that said "US Military Installations" with a big arrow.
Jackpot!
Except, no. That was the only sign we saw for about 45 minutes of driving around town. Meanwhile, I have to pee, so I'm quickly becoming Courtney the Cranky. Josh hates traffic, and as we were in the middle of a big city, he was quickly becoming Josh the Irate. FINALLY, after about an hour of searching for a base, we found one of the Army barracks. Of course, they had no gas station. But luckily, they did have a public restroom. Courtney soon became cheerful again.
We were able to get an address from one of the workers at this base, for ANOTHER base that had a gas station. Yay, right? Not so much. We circled the town for another 45 minutes, trying to find the stupid place. Yes, we have GPS, but it doesn't work very well when you aren't given a street number.
So, we just gave up and used a German Esso station. We still get the same price as we would on-base, but like I said, the card is prepaid, so you have to be careful in remembering how much you have on your card.
As we drive away from the Esso station, we see the sign for the base with the gas station....of course.
So, leaving Stuttgart in our dust, we continue on to Schwangau. About 40 minutes or so away from our hotel, we encounter:
SNOW!!!
It really was a pretty area, but I wasn't prepared for that amount of snow. Luckily I brought extra jackets...
We stayed at the Schlossrestaurant Neuschwanstein. To get up to the castles (which are not together, by the way, so really you have to do this twice to see both of them) you have 3 choices. You can walk, take a horse-drawn carriage, or take a bus. NO CARS ALLOWED! The walk up to Neuschwanstein supposedly takes about 40 minutes, and it's up a really steep hill, and in this case, it was cold & slushy. Buuuuuuut, at the top of the hill (still another 7-10 minutes to get up to the castle) there is a lovely restaurant. And, on the top floor of this restaurant is a hotel - either rooms w/bath or rooms with a shared bath. For 65 euros, we got a room with a shared bath, free breakfast, AND, the best part - a parking spot at the restaurant/hotel. The only people allowed to drive up this hill are the workers of the restaurant or the castle, and the guests of the hotel - and there are only maybe 10 rooms. Now, when we first arrived, we were nervous to actually drive up the road (what with the tons of people, and the "no cars" signs everywhere). But, a friendly neighborhood shop owner ensured us that it was perfectly ok for us to go up that road if we had reservations. Although he did warn us that the horse-drawn carriage drivers were nasty meanies who may yell at us (he told us just to ignore them). Nice.
It took us at least 20 minutes to go up the hill (400 meters??) because of all the people walking, not to mention the slow-as-molasses horse carriage we were behind.
Finally, we made it. The room was fine, no frills, but fine. We did have a bathroom sink in the room, just not a toilet or shower. It was maybe 4:30 at this point, and the castle closed at 5:30 (no matter - we had tickets for the next day). Even so, we walked up the rest of the hill to go to check the place out.
Here's our hotel/restaurant. Our room is the one with the light on on the top floor in the middle (facing the camera).
Didn't mean to leave that light on when we left...oops...
That night, we had sandwiches in the room, and then went down the now-empty road to check out the local towns. Schwangau was absolutely a ghost town. It was barely 6:30pm, but everything was closed except for the few hotels & their restaurants. So, we drove a few kilometers away to check out the town of Füssen.
And...everything was closed there, too. There were restaurants open, of course, but no bars or shops or anything. EXCEPT for....wait for it....a Woolworth. Yes, there was a Woolworth in the middle of the Bavarian town of Füssen. Weird, eh? But it was awesome that we found it, because I was freezing and needed a hat. I could have walked around that store for an hour, but it smelled faintly of vomit, so we left to walk around town some more.
Before long, my legs were numb, so we headed back to the hotel. There's nothing like laying in bed in a hotel room, watching tv (BBC or CNN are basically the only English channels you can get in smaller hotels), and enjoying a glass of wine.
The next morning, we were up bright and early to enjoy the hotel's free breakfast. European breakfasts are THE BEST!!! Fresh breads with all kinds of meats & cheeses, some fruit, and some yogurt. Just give me the bread basket & wheel of cheese, and I'm set for the day.
And, it started snowing at some point during the night, and was still snowing. Yay for my new 2euro Woolworth hat!
We had tickets for both of the castles. Hohenschwangau was first on our list. We had a couple of hours before our tour started, so we walked around the now crazy-busy town. MAN do Japanese people love to travel in groups!!
And, Josh bought himself a new hat. :)
In the background is Hohenschwangau. Like I said before, the busses weren't running because of the weather. So, we either had to walk up, or take the horse carriage. Hohenschwangau is totally doable, no question. It took us about 10-15 minutes, but only because we kept stopping to take pictures.
It was REALLY starting to snow hard at this point, so I'm glad we walked up the hill, just so we could warm up a little bit.
Unfortunately, neither castle allows pictures inside. But Hohenschwangau was really neat. It was King Maximillian's vacation home, so the rooms were small. But, there were murals painted on almost every wall in the castle, depicting scenes from folklore. Our guide, Wolfgang, was really good. The tour lasted about 50 minutes, and then we had about an hour and a half to make it to Neuschwanstein for our next tour.
It was about a 20 minute walk down the back side of Hohenschwangau to the parking lot. Luckily, Josh and I still had the parking permit that the hotel gave us - and it wasn't dated! So, we just used it and drove right back to the hotel. There is no way my ankle would have been able to make the walk up to Neuschwanstein. Hell, even if my ankle was never broken, I doubt i would have been able to do it anyway. :/ I'm not one for physical exertion. We thought for half a second about taking the horse carriage up, but the line was ridiculously long. And, I really don't feel comfortable with the idea of a horse carriage anyway (don't forget, I'm a hippy-vegetarian-peacelover)
It was still snowing, and even though the plows had run all morning, it was still pretty slippery driving up the hill. After we parked, it was still another 7-10 minute walk up to the castle gate. By the time we got up there, my ankle was pretty tired, but we only had to wait 10 minutes for our tour.
Oy, it felt like we had to take a million steps up to the starting point of the tour. Maybe 150 steps in total, which isn't that bad, except my ankle was extremely pissed off with the weather, and Hohenschwangau, and all the other walking we did. I can't imagine trying to do it after walking up the Neuschwanstein hill....
Again, no pics inside this castle. This castle was much different than Hohenschwangau - MUCH more ornate. Unfortunately, it was never finished. King Ludwig died under mysterious circumstances before it was done.
And then, the million steps back down to get out of the castle, and walk down a now VERY slippery, slush covered road to get back to the hotel and our car.
But ya know what was really awesome? Outside of the hotel/restaurant, there are vendors selling food & drinks. We got more glühwein, and balls of fried dough covered in powedered sugar. It was the best thing after being out in the cold and snow, and the perfect reward for all the walking/staircases my ankle did.
It was pretty nice sitting down in the warm car after all that. So, it was now time for us to go on to Munich.
It only took an hour to get to Munich, but we were staying on the OPPOSITE side, so it took us about an hour and a half. We stayed at the Mövenpick hotel near the airport. Yes, it was out of the way (about 25 minutes to get to central Munich), but it was worth it. It was a really nice hotel. We didn't get free breakfast, but for three nights, it was only 140 euros.
The beds at this hotel were SO COMFORTABLE!!! Plus, they gave us rubber duckies in the bathroom. You know it's a good hotel when they give you a rubber ducky. :)
We ate at the hotel restaurant that night. Hotel restaurants in Europe aren't like what they are in the States. People here eat at hotel restaurants all the time, even if they're not staying at the hotel. Hotels just get really excellent chefs, and it's no big deal to do that.
And, I gotta say, it was a great meal. Three courses, with a bottle of wine, for a total of 45 euro. Not bad, eh?
After the day we had, it was so nice to fall into the awesome bed, with full tummies and sore feet, and call it a night.
Thursday, January 5, 2012
New Year, New Me
Hahaha, just kidding.
I am of the opinion that the whole New Year's resolution thing is crap.
And I don't think I'm a total asshole, so I don't think I need to become a "new me". And if you do think I'm a total asshole...well, eff you, and get off my blog. :)
I do, however, need to work on some things. I would be a gorgeous, thin, successful, rich person if it weren't for my damn procrastination problem.
With that being said, I'm going to TRY to work on the blog more. And myself more. But I'll make no promises. Except I promise that this blog won't turn into some sort of weird "betterment" blog, where I just give updates on how I'm sucking on the whole "non-New-Year's-resolution" resolution.
Although, I think I have a good excuse for not being Miss Bloggy-McGee lately. It was the holidays. That darn husband of mine volunteered me for every single cooking opportunity possible at his place of work. Bake sales, Christmas parties, going away parties, etc... - I was always cooking. Plus, some friends of ours had a baby, so I was cooking for them. Plus, Josh is Mr. Social Butterfly, who ALWAYS wants our house to be party central.
And then, there was the crocheting. I am a craft nerd, and like to crochet. Unfortunately, word got out. I have never made so many hats in my entire life. So the past two months have been nothing but cooking & crocheting. Not to mention the cleaning from all of the cooking & hosting.
Now that the holidays are over (even though my xmas decorations are still up) HOPEFULLY things will calm down, and I won't have to be June Cleaver so much.
I curse way too much to be June Cleaver, anyway.
Just sit back, relax, and wait for new blogs to come rolling in. I know y'all are all on the edge of your seats, right?
I am of the opinion that the whole New Year's resolution thing is crap.
And I don't think I'm a total asshole, so I don't think I need to become a "new me". And if you do think I'm a total asshole...well, eff you, and get off my blog. :)
I do, however, need to work on some things. I would be a gorgeous, thin, successful, rich person if it weren't for my damn procrastination problem.
With that being said, I'm going to TRY to work on the blog more. And myself more. But I'll make no promises. Except I promise that this blog won't turn into some sort of weird "betterment" blog, where I just give updates on how I'm sucking on the whole "non-New-Year's-resolution" resolution.
Although, I think I have a good excuse for not being Miss Bloggy-McGee lately. It was the holidays. That darn husband of mine volunteered me for every single cooking opportunity possible at his place of work. Bake sales, Christmas parties, going away parties, etc... - I was always cooking. Plus, some friends of ours had a baby, so I was cooking for them. Plus, Josh is Mr. Social Butterfly, who ALWAYS wants our house to be party central.
And then, there was the crocheting. I am a craft nerd, and like to crochet. Unfortunately, word got out. I have never made so many hats in my entire life. So the past two months have been nothing but cooking & crocheting. Not to mention the cleaning from all of the cooking & hosting.
Now that the holidays are over (even though my xmas decorations are still up) HOPEFULLY things will calm down, and I won't have to be June Cleaver so much.
I curse way too much to be June Cleaver, anyway.
Just sit back, relax, and wait for new blogs to come rolling in. I know y'all are all on the edge of your seats, right?
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