Thursday, July 21, 2011

Mein Carsharing

In this post I told you about the Call a Bike program that Deutsche Bahn has here in Munich.  Well, look what I saw on street today:

Looks like Deutsche Bahn has gotten into the 4 wheel, motorized variety of vehicle sharing too!  Emblazoned with their Flinkster logo, the car I saw was compact and new.  Here is a pdf  of the info that DB has put together.  If you already have a Bahncard, it appears as if you get a better deal up front on the one time fee and a 25 euro voucher to boot. I also noticed that they have targeted the Uni students, have a refer-a-friend compensation and also have an Android app.....pretty smart, DB!


Carsharing had started to become more common in the US before we moved to Germany.  I lived in Atlanta, where having the availability to a car was important.  The carsharing concept was one that always made sense to me...and in Atlanta, you could rent a convertible Mini for the day!


Although this one is a Skoda, it still is pretty cute...and I do find it interesting when an English word makes it's way into the German vernacular..."mein Carsharing"...nice marriage of the two languages.  Although we won't need to do any carsharing, as a part of our ex-pat life here includes a car, I do know a lot of others that have no availability to a one.  I can see a trip to Ikea or a quick day trip out of town made much easier with the availability of a car short term!

 **UPDATE**
A day or two after I posted, I was walking in my neighborhood and saw this....

A Flinkster Fiat c500!!!  Swoon........

Friday, July 15, 2011

A little Italian roadtrip

This year in Bavaria in the month of June we were granted three long weekends so we decided to make the most out of two of them and take some road trips to neighboring countries Italy and France.  One of the coolest things about living in Munich is the close proximity to many other places...we are pretty much dab in the middle of Europe here, with the borders of France, Italy, Switzerland, Austria and Croatia (to name a few off of the top of my head) just a hop in the car away.

For the first long weekend we decided to drive down into Sud-Tirol through mountain roads, taking the long and slower route to our destination of Padua.  Below is a picture of a section of the Brenner Pass-an elevated highway through the mountains-sorry the picture is a little rough, but at the speeds they drive over here a shot was hard to capture!


So, off to Italy we go.  First to Trento where we booked a room in an old palace and had a little wine and a few snacks to relax before dinner.

You have to love Italy...they always bring you snacks when you have a little wine or cocktail.  Drinking is mostly done paired with eating, so they always provide you with a lovely little nibble.  I adore the presentation in the little silver serving dishes perched over doilies...very refined, no?

We had left a very cloudy day behind in Munich, and woke to this beautiful view from our hotel room's little patio.  Some serious majestic view...


After a quick trip into Trento, we were on our way headed south...but a few pics of Trento and the gorgeous frescoes that decorate the buildings.....






From Trento, we put the GPS on "alternate route" and wound our way toward Padua via two-lane mountainous roads.  Since we weren't in any hurry to get anywhere, this was perfect and provided us gorgeous views of the scenery.




In Padua we walked the city and lounged at cafes.  We visited the Cappella degli Scrovegni, a small chapel built by a son of a Usury-a man who lent money with exorbitant interest payments attached-to pay for his sins and to, he hoped, free his father from purgatory which is where all Usuries went to repent their sins on Earth.

There was some interesting art surrounding the chapel, but we couldn't take photos inside.  Here is the Wikipedia page so you can get a look at it (or a full sized reproduction in Japan, which is a little weird-but it gives you an idea).


Padua is the home of the oldest Universities in Europe, dating back 800 years or more.  It tends to be overshadowed by the other Italian cities that are close...Venice and Florence.  But, it is worth the trip to see it on its own.



We had a few sunny days here and decided to hop over to Venice for one of the afternoons.  The train ride from Padua cost us 3 euros one way and took about 25 minutes.  So easy and affordable!  This was a big decision for us...we have not been back to Venice since the very first time the Hub and I traveled there while we were dating.  I always say that this was the trip where we found out that we could really be together...traveling is an important step in a relationship, and during that trip he woo-ed me with a hotel on the grand canal.  It was a perfect trip, with a huge harvest moon that illuminated the corridors and waterways.  It was, in a word, perfect.  I had been reluctant to return-I didn't want to break the spell that Venice had cast over us...but we had a sunshiney day and we decided to take the trip. 


What a different (and equally lovely) city that met us!  The first time we went in October...warm days, cool nights.  This time, we felt the direct heat of the sun and saw the throngs of tourists that we had escaped  on our first and not during prime time visit.  Bustling, busy and thriving...what a nice compliment to our first encounter without overshadowing it....










How can you not gush about Venice?  We caught a late train back to Padua and were headed back to Munich the next day...but not before I found my favorite velvet espadrilles and snatched up this lovely rose colored pair!


Arrivederci, Italy....we'll be back soon!


Friday, July 1, 2011

Bikes I like


I have been a really bad blogger as of late.  Not to make excuses, but I have noticed that it seems to be happening to several of the bloggers who author blogs that I read too.  It is not that we haven't been doing good stuff that I take pictures of with every intent on showing to you...really.  We have had great trips to Italy and then to the German and French wine routes. Munich is always good at providing a funny or beautiful picture.  I am not sure what my deal is, but I have been building this collection for you of bikes I like that I see on the street for a little while, and I felt like an apology for my blogger's malaise would be well received between them.  Hopefully you agree...





More "bikes I like" and posts to come.  I think that I have broken the ennui with the pictures of these beauties.  Some new, some well worn, some with great accessories.  All of them I like, a lot! 

Thanks for hanging in with me.  Talk to you soon!