Schnee 2010!

Guess who moved in to Munich last night while we were sleeping....yup, Jack Frost!  I am feeling a little badly this morning about the geraniums.....but am generally happy that the city (and the Christmas Markets) will have a pristine dusting of snow! 

The Perfect Day

What makes a perfect day?

• time with the Hub in the morning over coffee in bed, talking and listening
• yummy brunch with friends
• time outside in a beautiful setting
• sunshine
• snow on the ground or in the air
• meeting friends and hanging out
• meeting new doggie friends that their owners let us pet and get our puppy fix
• Gluehwein
• quiet time in the house with no computers on and focusing on being together
• a hot bubble bath
• cooking dinner together and sitting down to eat it at the table
• finishing a knitting project
• chocolate
• reading
• putting pajamas on before 8 o'clock

In other words, today was the perfect day.

Berlin Birthday

The Hub had to be away for my birthday...again...this year for work, so he surprised me with a trip to Berlin!

We stayed in a hotel near the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church.  This is the famous church that was half destroyed in 1943 by an Allied bombing raid. The original church spire is still intact and also the remaining first floor, with it's beautiful mosaic has been converted into a memorial center.  There is a new spire and church that is made of glass tiles-read: modern...personally, I think that the dichotomy doesn't work, but who asks?

On our first trip to Berlin, we didn't get to visit the Museum Insel (Island).  This turned out to be one of our very favorite parts of the city!

 

One of the highlights was a visit to the Pergamon Museum.  We were given the suggestion to visit it by our friends who had recently gone there and it did not disappoint.This place is seriously cool. Inside the museum we found original sized stone-by-stone reconstructed monuments from Turkey, such as the Pergamon Altar:

and The Market Gate of Miletus, both brought from Turkey:

and, the Ishtar Gate and Processional Way, from Babylon:

Very Raiders of the Lost Ark, huh?

When in Berlin, one must Currywurst...since it is the place where this late-night, after the clubs, eat so you don't get a hangover treat was invented!  We had ours with a beer under a bridge that lead to an outdoor market.

One of our stops was KaDeWe-one of the oldest and largest department stores in East Berlin.  We immediately found the food department on the top floor-decadent and deliciousness everywhere!  We stopped at the Veuve Clicquot concession and had a birthday toast!  A bit hungry after the champers, we stayed and had lunch.

We went to see Checkpoint Charlie-and ended up going into the museum there, which was pretty interesting. It was originally started by a man who opened it in a house right next to the guard station, and it has grown into the adjacent buildings.  Notice if you will, the view from above, taken in the museum-there is a McDonald's just behind the guard station-ugh.  Can't we Americans share better parts of our culture than Mickey D's?

 Check out the line for the Reichstag...holy mackeral!  We didn't go in because we didn't want to wait in it.  Since it was our 2nd time to visit it, we were okay with that!  

Ich bin ein Berliner!

"Please Note..." .dogs are okay, no ball playing, no bike riding, but hooray for pretzels!

The Berlin Wall was erected in 1961...and split the city of Berlin into halves...on one side, East Berlin was occupied by the Communist Regime.  One the other side, West Berlin was carved into pie pieces-British, French and American sectors...the city remained separated until 1989 when the wall "fell".  In 1990, formal reunification took place.

Where the original wall stood near the Reichstag there is a plaque and a shadow line that followed where it stood- and if you follow it along, you will see that the wall stood directly in front of the Reichstag and the Brandenburg Gate-it is incredible to think that the wall stood directly in front of these major monuments.  Families were separated, businesses lost, and life as Berliners and Germans knew it changed for over 20 years.

 

 

   
Even the walk signals in half of the city remain the same as they were when the city was split by the wall...here is a copy of the Ampersand Man...the walk symbol in East Berlin:

  
 Oh, and by the way, I found the perfect souvenir for you.  I hope that they fit!

Thanksgiving

This is a picture of the turkey that I cooked last year-I have to say, I am very proud of this bird...it was the first Thanksgiving that I cooked in my own home.  Looking back, it was a Thanksgiving that was made up of many firsts, that first bird, our first Thanksgiving in Munich, our first Thanksgiving as married people, and the first Thanksgiving in a very long while that I wasn't working retail.....


Last year, I had 6 people plus us (and Bailey somewhere under) at our table.  This year, the Hub is in Sweden and is responsible for a presentation on Thanksgiving day.  Ugh.  I was supposed to go up there and meet him, but we decided that since he has been traveling so much this month that he would come home for the weekend and get the chance to wake up in his own bed with his own stuff in his own place.  I actually encouraged this and canceled my ticket to Gothenburg earlier in the week.

But now I am feeling a little melancholy about it-the Hub has been telling me all about the snow that is falling there and it sounds wonderful...I have had generous invites from a few friends to tag along to their holiday feasts..but I am just not in the mood.  I looked for a turkey in our local grocery store this week, and saw none-last year I bought mine and it was one of three that they had on offer...also, I hadn't seen cranberries until I discovered one container in the produce section yesterday!  It seems strange that I was more in-tune to it last year.  Maybe I am missing my old job and the whirlwind that is the holiday season...maybe it is the absence of the Hub...the promise but not delivery of snow here in Munich (although yesterday we had a little!)...whatever it is, I have decided to take it easy, and have a pajama day here in the apartment.


The general plan for the day goes like this: eat nothing of much nutritional value, read in bed, stay in the pj's until a late shower and then put the pj's back on, watch movies (Pride and Prejudice for certain-the Keira Knightley one...don't judge...I love the scenery and the music and can't stand that BBC version with the irritating Mrs. Bennet and the too-old actresses who play Elizabeth and Jane...Colin Firth, of course, can stay-and I most likely will watch a season or two of Gilmore Girls...), drink loads of tea, do some knitting, make yams and dressing and maybe have a salad with ranch dressing.  Luxury!  Just thinking about it is perking my spirits!  Ahhhh....an entire day to myself.  Sounds decadent!  Must add chocolate in there somewhere.....

So, while you are all sitting down, watching the Lions lose and having turkey, I will be missing you all, a lot.  I will be thinking about having the dinner that I did last year, but enjoying my day on my own.  Really. 

Happy Thanksgiving to you all.  Gobble Gobble!

Manchester side trip-Shropshire and Chester

 After an auspicious beginning, we were off from Manchester in our (2nd) rental car and driving on the other side of the road:

 We decided to throw caution to the wind and take a weekend trip from Manchester out into the country.  The Hub worked a half-day and then we were picked up by the rental company, only to find out that they had no GPS's in any car in their fleet and they not reserved an automatic for us.  I can drive a stick shift, but I am not so certain how well I would do with it left handed instead of right...so they hunted down and found us an automatic at another location...when we arrived at the second location, we found out that there was a place to buy a map up the road, so we set our sights on there first.  But, within minutes we discovered that there was something seriously wrong with the car-at stop lights it lurched and calmed down in neutral.  Hmmm.....

We decided to turn around and go back to the rental place-the mechanic took a look under the hood and asked whether we had had it serviced recently...umm, since we had the car a total of 13 minutes, that wasn't possible...he told us then that someone had left the oil cap off and there was oil all over the engine as a result.  Yikes!  Thank goodness we turned around-we would have been stranded on the side of the English highway system for sure.

So, a new car was organized and we were off...what we didn't know is that while all of this was going on, we were losing valuable daylight...and by the time we drove to our destination for the weekend, it was pitch-black and were driving on the opposite side of the road than we were accustomed to driving...on winding 2 lane roads with thick hedges that looked like concrete walls and were closer to my side of the car than I was happy about....

After a good dinner, some wine and a good night's rest, we were ready to get back in the car again, and at the suggestion of our hosts, we headed up to the town of Church Stretton and the hills above, where we got out and did a little hiking about:

 We then found our way to the little city of Much Wenlock, and drooled over the local pottery in the shop windows:

 ...before finding our way back to where we were staying.  We passed a lot of sheep on our travels about and even saw a sign that read "Please don't feed the sheep"!

 I would be absolutely remiss if I didn't mention that we stayed at a wonderful B & B in Shropshire, very close to Ludlow:  The Stone Barn Guest House.  Here are some pictures and then the link.  Our hosts, Helen and Colin were absolutely terrific.  I have to be honest with you all, this is the first B&B we have stayed in...I wasn't completely sure that we were B&B sorts...after our stay here, though, it is settled.  If every Bed & Breakfast is as warm and inviting as this one, maybe I am one of those sorts.  Helen and Colin were interesting, very kind, and made our visit to that part of the UK so great.  They gave us suggestions of places to visit, made reservations for us at a Michelin starred restaurant (which they then canceled once we tasted the amazing dinner that Helen cooked-we decided to eat in both nights it was that yummy!) and offered us a lovely glass of wine when we arrived.  If you are ever in the region, I hope that you will look them up-we liked it so much, that I think that we have gotten Helen on-board for a cooking weekend with us (and maybe a few of our friends?...).  They have 5 guest rooms...and this old stone barn has been updated and made into a wonderful place to hang your hat for a few days.

http://www.stonebarnshropshire.com/ 

Don't you like the Hub's attempt at making the bed?  You can tell his part is on the left, huh? After our stay at The Stone Barn, we were off again, winding our way back to Manchester in order to fly out on Sunday morning.  We wound our way through the edge of Wales and then into the town of Chester.  We arrived on a busy Saturday in the shopping area...and walked around, did a little shopping of our own-Robert found a new pair of Timberland boots and I drooled over the woolens in the Joules store there.  Chester is full of Tudor-style buildings and was really pretty!

 We were sad to leave quaint Chester, but alas, had a plane to catch the next morning...so one more cup of tea and a mince pie and we were off to an impersonal hotel at the airport...dreaming of Helen's chicken with garlic cream cheese and her goulash.....and planning our next visit.....

Magnificent Manchester

The Hub has been on the road every week in this month of November, so I decided to tag along with him to Manchester, UK...I had very few expectations about Manchester-except for the fact that it, in fact, had both a Marks & Spencer and a Gap store, that it lays claim to such bands as the Beatles and the Smiths for both of their unique sounds...and that it was 2nd banana to London.

Boy, was I surprised by what I found:

Manchester provided us with some of the best Thai curry we have had in a long while-maybe since we were in Thailand.  It has an area that is nicknamed "The Curry Mile" and one of the largest Chinatowns to be found. I found the city to be lovely-red brick and mortar buildings and bustling streets.  I stopped and had a lovely tea at a small tea shop (as shown in all of it's beauty in the first pic) in the Northern Quarter-which I could have spent days exploring.  The Quarter is chocked full of independent and artist owned stalls and shops...heaven.  And good tea too.  The thing that I liked about Manchester the most, though, was the friendliness of the people.  Everywhere I went, I met happy and cheerful people-ready to help in shops, cafes or with helpful directions on the street (my map was pitiful).

I had come to Manchester thinking that I would find a broken down, dodgy town. What I found was nothing of the sort and  I left realizing that it was a real jewel...and with my bag full of Cadbury treats!