Italienisch Essen
Labels: california, grete, italian cooking, travel
Travelogue about two Texas guys and their infatuation with Germany.
Labels: california, grete, italian cooking, travel
Rick Steves, please don't hate me. We finished packing within the 12-hour bubble. We should be sleeping soundly, with visions of Stonehenge and foamy beer in our heads, but no we're frantically downloading music and books (Kindle is comin' with, ya'll), cleaning and cutting up bird food, and making sure loose ends are wrapped up. It didn't help that I had two full weeks of travel during the past two weeks - but that seems to always happen right before a trip. The zen will come, just not tonight.
More from my journal:
The next day we took the train early to München, found our cute hotel, and set out to conquer the city.
Nothing prepared us for the Jodelwirt - it took two nights to find it - but I am so glad we did. You climb up these stairs and enter a tiny room with a table, a bar, and a man perched in between it all with an accordian in his lap, a microphone stretched out of the ceiling, and the biggest shit-eating grin that you've ever seen that quickly turns to a "howdy" glance and - whenever he finds a moment - a joke - about someone or something - and sure not everyone understood it - and his thick Bayern accent tripped up my poor German - but the room would roar with laughter.
He made fun of us because I couldn't find a place to put the coats and he also asked where we were from and put a few "yippees" in [his songs] for us. How fun, we stumbled home after a bajillion Ayinger [beers].
Cute, crowded Salzburg. We arrived on a national holiday and in a successful attempt to keep locals from heading to München for shopping, they put a lot of effort in a huge Christmas market. I think three whole huge city squares had booths setup, plus a few non-official clusters of booths in other streets or hidden squares.
For dinner, the place we wanted to see was closed so we walked up into a tiny street tucked past the crowds - and found a tiny restaurant with Weihenstephaner on tap and insane Goulash. I had the deer, which didn't taste like any of the deer I have had before.
It was a little slow, but we ate early and the early sundown plays tricks with your head. It darkens around 4 here.
Labels: Austria, Germany 2008, photos, travel
From my journal:
I have mixed emotions over Vienna. The people are friendly, [but it is] not as pretty as Slovenia and definitely more modern, but without the chicness of Germany.
Is it a money thing? At the crossroads of Eastern/Central Europe, it seems like there is a very mixed identity and culture.
The sightseeing was awesome and probably would have been better if we hadn't have had the 6 hour train ride plus a sleepless night above yet another nightclub. I can pick them, can't I!
Seeing the Hapsburg palace and treasury was so neat. We saw crowns, clothing and serviing pieces for centuries of Kings. You could spend days in there.
Labels: Austria, Germany 2008, photos, travel, Vienna
After a busy week getting back to work and cleaning things up before everyone else leaves for the holiday, I'm also diving into our pictures and so happy with the results! I'll be posting them periodically through the next few weeks.
Labels: Germany 2008, Milan, photos, travel
Already, Ryan received a compliment on his Slovenian hat. "Is that
Labels: Germany 2008, travel
See the moon peeking out of the left corner? A very large and orange
Labels: Germany 2008, travel
Quite an international mixup here, but we are both sad to leave yet
Saw the Anne Frank house (we both cried), many Rembrants at the
Reiksmuseum, and toured the Heinekin brewery. Then topped off with a
few at a local bar and are back and ready to sleep.
It has been a long but incredible journey that would have not been
possible without the care and love of temporary Austinites Rich and
Sandy. I think they know more about our city than we do and can't wait
to see them. Thank you thank you thank you!!!!!!
Labels: Amsterdam, Germany 2008, travel
Hello ryan,
Labels: Amsterdam, Germany 2008, travel
Hello Scottandryan,
Labels: Amsterdam, Germany 2008, travel
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Labels: Amsterdam, Germany 2008, travel
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Labels: Amsterdam, Germany 2008, travel
Can you believe it? Westmarkt church, canals, bikes, so cool. Just
Labels: Amsterdam, Germany 2008, travel
Seriously, it's like climbing a ladder!!
Oh, and other than the drug pushers, the red light district is quite
interesting, like being in Vegas...but it's all serious! Strange.
We're retiring early to make the most of our day in Amsterdam. Unlike
the Slovenes and Ryan, I have no resemblance to the Dutch, really.
Labels: Amsterdam, Germany 2008, travel
I am writing this from the train to Amsterdam...quite a long ride but
We left Munchen/Munich mid-morning and arrived in Rothenburf Around 2
and had enough time to rumble our suitcases through the cute medieval
town, check in, do a self guided tour, and walk the old old old wall.
We loved it! The entire countryside had snow on it, and we enjoyed
getting local specialties from the bakeries and cramming them in our
mouths while watching the white forest below.
After another fantastic German meal (we both had Scnitzel which is
technically Austrian) we walked to the main square for the
Nightwatchman's tour! The guy has done it for 17 years and must enjoy
it! He took everyone who gathers on an hour tour with history, facts,
stories, and lots of laughs. We both enjoyed it and laughed when we
saw him later doing a German version.
We ended the night at a wine bar in a cute old house, tried Pear and
Plum brandy, and were in bed by 11.
This morning we saw the Nedieval Crime and Punishment Museum, a
chilling collection of artifacts that make me happy to live in the
21st century! Next we grabbed our bags and headed to the train station.
We also are celebrating out 12th anniversary today and tomorrow!!!
We'll have a late meal because the train is late...but it will be a
good one!
Tschüß!!!
Labels: Germany 2008, travel
We have always loved this city, the approachable size, the Bayerische
Of course today we went to the Deutsches Museum, and of closed early
fir an annual staff meeting but we had an hour and a half of free
visiting...it is amazing!
After, we walked on the Englischer garten and then walked for hours
around the Schwäbing area on a misty day.
Night ended up at the Jodel Wirst, upstairs in a small space with the
pictured singer/accordianist/yodeler who made the house roll with
laughter! We didn't understand too much but knew when he was making
fun of the Texans in the room. soo much fun!!!
We hear that Rothenurg has a lot if snow so we are not sure what
tomorrow's travel plans have in store for us...another fabulous
adventure, I an sure!
Labels: Germany 2008, München, travel
Ja, I am writing this from the HB haus!!! We had a great day in
We had Weißwurst in Virtulienmarkt and the city is full of yule.
(Jessica...the lush ferns and mosses are beautiful!)
Labels: Germany 2008, München, travel
The lack of updates were to a lack of good wifi in salzburg. What a
Took an early train to Munich and are ready to eat and drink! More
later!
Labels: Germany 2008, travel, Österreich
Afterva looooong day of heavy sightseeing (man, we hit it hard
We ended up at the Bermuda Pub or something like that and people
watched for hours, having a riot of a good time.
I know that Vienna is a favorite for many, but we are longing for a
small town. Tough to find one that is not deserted in winter...that's
why we are packed and heading to Salzburg! "doe, a deer..."
Ohhh we miss our babies super much today but know they ate happy and
well taken care of. I got some egg shell in my bread and Ryan asked if
I was molting! Hahahajaa
Labels: Germany 2008, travel, Österreich
But in the place named for something that sounds touristy we actually
Labels: Germany 2008, travel, Österreich
Cold and windy and beautiful...lots of museums, walking, and sub-par
Labels: Germany 2008, travel, Österreich
We are in Vienna after a 6 hour train ride and 20 minutes on a bus
I can pick these hotels...the second right next to a club. Haha we
should be partying there! But...we'll settle for some ambien.
Labels: Germany 2008, travel
Cockta is a coke equivalent that was made when coke was not imported
We are off to catch our 6 hour train ride to Vienna.
Ciao!
Labels: Germany 2008, slovenia, travel
Heading out for some sightseeing and shopping at the market stalls
Labels: Germany 2008, slovenia, travel
> By chance, we are in ljubljana on the celebration of the Christmas
Labels: Germany 2008, slovenia, travel
Don't you love a combo bathroom/shower/toilet? 77 euros a night!
Labels: Germany 2008, slovenia, travel
At Mueller, a department store chain in Ljubljana...Ryan was
Labels: Germany 2008, slovenia, travel
Ryan secretly snapped this at lunch today...it's a slovenian wine and
Labels: Germany 2008, slovenia, travel
We missed snow in Milan, the flood in Venice (we arrived two days
No whining on this trip! We pressed ahead with our morning walking
tour with Marijan, a native Slovene who speaks impeccable English and
is a walking encyclopedia! 3 hours of amazing facts, history,
architecture, and culture through the cutest hidden town we have seen.
I selfishly almost don't want to talk about it.
But it deserves to be seen!
With big smiles, and wet shoes, wet socks, wet everything, we are
drying things off with a Jabortnik-looking hairdryer before heading
off for coffee and cakes or maybe some Schnitzel.
Labels: Germany 2008, slovenia, travel
First, thank you for the comments and emails! We are happy to have you
This brings us to magical Ljubljana. Being here us special to us both
because ryan's great grandfather cane from here. The streets were full
last night of students and young tourists, drinking hot drinks, beer,
and talking in the freezing night air, compounded by the brisk river
that barrels through the city center.
We couldn't pass it up and walked around until about 1 am. I can't
imagine what day will bring to the sights...the bridges, the castle up
on the hill, the church that serenaded us all night (along with rain)...
We meet Marijan, our guide for the morning, in 40 minutes so we better
get going.
Hvala! (thanks in Slovenian)
Tschüß
Labels: Germany 2008, slovenia, travel
Insider note...our favorite Croatian blog drinks Union beer... Nas
Labels: Germany 2008, slovenia, travel
We said ciao to Silvia after another amazing meal that she Christina
Labels: Germany 2008, slovenia, travel
Ryan is chatting with Lele, who we met last night at dinner, in
We leave for Ljubljana in 2 hours and I will be sad to leave...
Labels: Germany 2008, travel, venice
When you picture the most ideal day in Venice - playing by our rules, of course, which means being more of a local than a tourist - what do you picture? Maybe the sweetest local person, a third generation Venetian that actually speaks Venetian (it's different than Italian) comes to pick you up and offers you to stay in her house with original Terazza floors? And walking in her, mother is cooking fresh lunch (Oreccete) with bread and wine on the table. And you are greeted with kisses on the cheek? And what if her mother's cousin worked at a local espresso bar, who teases you while gifting you espresso (with a shot of grappa of course) while chatting like a regular?
Labels: Germany 2008, italian cooking, travel, venice
Ciao! We made it here safely and just had an awesome first day here in Milan. The flight was fine, although we only slept maybe 1 or 2 hours. But we did drink our fill of some good wine so that probably didn`t help too much. As we approached Milan to land, one of the flight attendants handed us a bottle of dessert wine, saying something about not wanting to count it on their liquor sheet and wanting us to have a warm welcome to our Europe adventure. How sweet! This is the second time they`ve done that to us on a flight to Europe!
Labels: Germany 2008, italian cooking, Milan, travel
We made it to the airport, flight is delayed a tad. Luckily I found
The kids will be super happy with the parents! Sandy even gave Grete
her inhaler by herself, hissing and all! We hope they have fun while
we are out.
Labels: Germany 2008, travel
We had a nice Thanksgiving here at home, with Ryan's parents and our friend Kris. Lots of cooking and the normal madness that ensues around it; I realize now how key it is to get everyone out of the kitchen to stop dinking around with the dishes that they have been working on. By the end, I had claimed ownership on everything (be damned how much time you had already spent, it's mine to finish up!) and the Kitchen Dictator (Küche Diktator) pushed everything to completion.
Labels: Germany 2008, Thanksgiving, travel
Woke this morning with the trip stuck in my head; the nervousness is always pleasantly unpleasant. I suppose it's nice to know that I've still got it in me! Not traveling that much for work is making me soft!
Labels: Germany 2008, travel
After a couple strong days of work, I left the office today with a resolve to push it all out of my head and get focused on the task at hand...packing, prepping, and letting the excitement charge through me. We are certainly ready, packing list done, money obtained, railpasses bought, seats reconfirmed, parents are here...just need to make it all come together.
Labels: travel
So...what have we been up to...too much, and we're almost 1.5 months from our Europe trip with so much to do. The largest issue that has been grinding through my head (beyond the market, work, getting our rental house ready, etc. etc.) is the tail-end of our trip in December.
Labels: Germany 2008, travel
Travel day - and Ryan wasn't feeling very well. We slept in, which was lovely, and then packed. We skipped breakfast this morning and just had some coffee before the shuttle picked us up.
Another grey day. Oh well, let's go out and sit in it anyway! We spent a good amount of time out there, reading, relaxing, swimming in the pool (the ocean was angry with huge waves plunging in).
Rainy and grey - damn Hurricane Ike. Feeder bands started to hit Cancun, so a beach day was out.
Highlights of this day:
Buenos Dias! We're back from 5 lovely days in Cancun, our first trip to Mexico for both of us and also our first beach/Caribbean vacation. It was a success and we enjoyed celebrating Ryan's 30th birthday with such a unreal location.
I've been quiet about the secret vacation that we're heading off to soon...Cancun! I had to keep radio silent on this, since it was Ryan's birthday present. We've never done a "Caribbean" vacation, never spent time on the beach, never been to Mexico, and our passports have been rusty since Germany in 2006. 5 days, 4 nights, direct flight, no plans. Bliss.
Labels: travel
As told to my Mom:
Labels: travel
I am sitting on a bench atop the Santa Monica Pier, basking in bright but tepid California sun, compared to the burn of Texas', The 73 degree wind is chilly; it has been a long June.
Labels: travel
Taking a brief sojourn south into Italy, this was a super healthy and super yummy dish from Ellie Krieger. She is fast becoming my favorite food personality (haha) on FoodTV. Her food is healthy, smart, simple to prepare, but fabulous to eat.
Labels: Deutschland, general cooking, soccer, travel
Ah, crap, I just got stuck on Tripadvisor looking at hotels in Europe. I should not do that because it makes me really sad because I want to not only go visit but BE there. The rational part of me KNOWS that the grass is greener on the other side; but how long until the green fades away? What if it takes 25 years? Wouldn't it be worth it?
Labels: travel
A lot of our friends are going to Europe this year: Melissa and Robert are heading to England and France, and then Melissa and Spencer (different Melissa) are going to Italy, Germany, and France.
Labels: Germany 2008, Regensberg, Schweiz, travel, Österreich
I do like to travel - unfortunately, most of it is for business and without my husband - but I do spend hours researching potential trips, especially internationally. So, I thought it might be good to record some of my favorite travel-related websites:
Labels: travel
The last thing we needed was another Germany guidebook. Or a discounted one from Costco (discounted because it’s the 2007 edition...the 2008 one will be out this fall). And how do I know this? Because I’m tracking Rick’s 100-day summer trip through Europe to update his guidebooks.
Labels: Rick Steves, travel
Last night, on Globe Trekker (a fantastic travel show on PBS and The Travel Channel that we’ve watched for years), they showed their Paris City Guide 2 -- an updated look at that fantastic city...I remember going there when I was 16 with my friend and his Dad...it was a magical, albeit short, trip.
We made it. What a long day. We took our first and only Taxi in Europe to the airport (tired of lugging the luggage and didn't want to waste time navigating the public transport) and it was a quick and short ride. Checked in, went through passport control, went through security and then had some coffee in the British Airways lounge.
Labels: germany 2006, travel
This morning, we got up and went directly to the Galleria Kaufhaus on Alexanderplatz for breakfast and also to buy our duvets. I think I might have mentioned this before, but in Germany (and likely most of Europe) each person normally gets their own duvet and no flat sheet...they have sheets that wrap the duvet and that essentially is your sheet! We loved them so much that we wanted to buy them there and ship them back.
Labels: germany 2006, travel
Yes, we slept in...but got up very quickly to continue our touring of Berlin. After a brief episode of not being able to find Ryan's drivers license (we looked everywhere in a panic and after Ryan has almost fainted from shock I found MY driver's license in my pocket and I thought I had put it in my security belt (this pouch we are wearing around our waists under our clothes for protection...very smart). Ryan tells me to put mine in the pouch, as he thinks his has been stolen or lost, and I do and guess what I find.....bingo, his I.D. After a brief pummeling of Scott for causing Ryan a near heart attack (and a pretty good poop) we started our day.
Labels: germany 2006, travel
We are literally in the middle of what was formerly East Berlin...they have done so much construction, however, and this area is happenning and hip. Last night after the update we walked down our street and everyone was between 16 and 35, all had big beers in their hands, walking down the street and checking out the scene. So cool. The boys are pretty rowdy and very 'in our face' especially when they are talking to servers.
Labels: germany 2006, travel
We knew that today would be tough. So we slept in. Had another fantastic Frühstuck at the castle and then repacked everything...because we had to drop the car (nicknamed Lars for now) off to be shipped and then had a 4.5 hour ride on the train to Berlin.
Labels: germany 2006, travel
We slept in a bit this morning but had Frühstuck and then took a nice, long walk around Baden-Baden. Vegas could only wish it was this authentic. Lots of Germans take their 'wellness' here. Doctors will regularly prescribe a few days of wellness to help improve mental or physical stress...so they come to places like this to enjoy the thermal baths. 'Bad' in german means bath or spa so you see a lot of towns called Bad Stürbingen or Baden Baden.
Labels: germany 2006, travel
Woke up early to go for a walk through quiet Triburg up to the waterfall before frühstuck. After the walk had frühstuck and met two sisters from America! They were hilarious and we had fun sharing stories. One was from just outside Carmel Indiana and the other from New Jersey. We actually went to Residenz museum the same day in München and probably walked right past eachother!
Labels: germany 2006, travel
Spent the morning walking through Lindau (slept in a bit) and climbing a lighthouse that overlooks their manmade bay. It has a lighthouse on one end and a tall statue of a lion...the bavarian lion! But we were not in Bayern long before we went back into the state of Baden-Würtemburg. Up along the Bodensee we drove and then entered the enchanting Schwarzwald...the Black Forest!
Labels: germany 2006, travel
(Doing this update on the 11th as we didn't have time to do it in Lindau)
Labels: germany 2006, travel
Finally I got this to post correctly! Thank you for all the great emails and wellwishes. We tried last night and this morning to get this website to post so you could get our update! We love sharing this fun with you.
Labels: germany 2006, travel
We are alive! I know we didnt get an update in yesterday but we werent able to get to an internet cafe. After a beautiful day in München (we toured the Residenz...a huge palace of the Würtemburgs, the ruling party up until 1918, did a bunch of shopping at great places like Dallmyer, purveyors of fine coffee and this fantastic lemon liquor that we sampled one morning) we decided to push the limits and try to find a place to stay outside of München.
Labels: germany 2006, travel
Guten Tag! We are in Münich now after a beautiful morning in Stuttgart and a lovely 2.5 hour train ride to München on a high speed train. Got to our hotel and then promptly went for a bier in the Englischer Garten (10 times more beautiful than central park), a 2 hour factory tour of the BMW factory, and then a bunch of bier at the famous Höfbrauhaus! The beers are 1 liter which are HUGE!
Labels: germany 2006, travel
RICH and SANDY...send us an email and let us know how you are doing!!??!!
Labels: germany 2006, travel
Wir sind in Deutschland!!!! We can hardly believe that we made it...the flight was very, very long and we didn't sleep too well, but at least we made it with 1 hour of sleep in us and our luggage made it as well.
Labels: germany 2006, travel
Only a couple hours to go...we slept great last night and are feeling quite rested. Modern medicine is amazing. We are not taking our laptop but nearly all of our hotels have internet access and terminals so we will be updating our travelogue (what you are reading now...) as we go along!
Labels: germany 2006, travel
We are almost in the 48 hour bubble before we leave! Big announcement of the century -- we are fully packed. Uh, YEAH! That doesn't usually happen to us and the other great thing is that we are ending up taking far less than we thought. One duffelbag, one manpurse, and one backpack. Total -- not each, but total! So...we'll smell, who cares? (No really they do have laundry machines over there.)
Labels: germany 2006, travel
We are getting so close!! Right now I'm trying to finalize the rest of the itinerary -- lots of things to fill in on every page!
Labels: germany 2006, travel