Flat Stanley gets around

We get to live in a pretty cool place.  We also get to travel to other cool places.  So, when a friend of mine from home asked if we would help with a Flat Stanley (FS for short) project for her son, I gladly said yes!

We are a couple without children-for those of you who know me, you believe me when I say that I really do like other peoples' kids.  I try to be a good auntie, and I really won't hand them back to their parents unless there is a sticky nose....but I digress....

So when this friend asked if I would help wtih FS, I took my job seriously.  I printed out a new FS before each trip, making sure that he looked his best...as good as a hockey mask wearing, chainsaw toting guy can look.  I posted some examples of the finished product that I sent back to the US.  I thought that I would share, since I had a great time pulling FS out of my bag and taking pics of him in interesting and important places we visited.  It was fun and always brought a few snickers from other people with their serious cameras (I used my blackberry so I could send the pics via email right away) and their serious pictures.

So here for your viewing pleasure is the debut of Flat Stanley's world tour:

First stop: Amsterdam...

At the Anne Frank Haus

Amsterdam Central Station

Then off to Hong Kong...

FS at Victoria Peak

Hiking the Hong Kong Trail

Visiting the Big Buddha (Tian Tan Buddha)

And finally in my own back yard, Munich...

At the Hofbrauhaus

In front of the Rathaus with the Glockenspiel

We may have one or two more trips to bring FS along with us: to Manchester, UK and Switzerland skiing...so stay tuned...atleast FS packs light...

Amster-Amster Dam-Dam-Dam

We spent the weekend in Amsterdam, mostly to get out of the house, but also because Amsterdam is one of our favorite cities in Europe.  There is something amazing and beautiful of this city of planned canals, a floating flower market, a whole lot of bikes, some of the tallest people you will ever see, the red light district, and coffee houses which do not serve coffee.

We had a lovely weekend.  And, although it was cold (and snowy!) the city showed us its beauty around every corner.  And, a lovely dutch pancake is perfect on a cold snowy morning...

So, here is the trip in a few pictures:

       

       

Bailey the Dog

This is one of the last pictures that I took of my beloved dog, Bailey.  We found out last week that she had a rather large cancer on her liver.  She was gone within  4 days.  I am heartbroken.  Bailey was the tipping point whether or not we came to Munich...the first question that I asked the hub when he told me about the opportunity to come here was "can Bailey come? Because if not, the answer is no..."

While I have been here in Munich, BTD has been my constant companion.  We walked, went to the bakery, the bookstore and restaurants together.  She slept on the couch as I read and welcomed visitors into our home.  We danced in the living room when we thought no one was watching. Bailey was a great ambassador, making friends canine and human alike.

I thought that I would take a moment here to honor her and jot down some of the wonderful things that made her, well, her.

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  Bailey and I became family almost 12 years ago.  Her mother was a stray found in Detroit, a Black Lab that they named Lucky...who had 8 puppies.  Bailey was one of the 4 girls in the litter.  When we went to "just look" at the puppies, my X and I were looking at the boys...but she caught our eye and rolled over and went to sleep in my arms.  If we had chosen a boy puppy her name was going to be Brutus-after the Ohio State Buckeye's mascot...thank goodness that didn't happen...the name was the X's idea as he was a fan and I would have been left with a dog named after the enemy.
  
  
  
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  She and I forged a life together on our own after my divorce...she weighed in on whether or not she liked my dates and was always spot on.
  
  
  

• Sometimes her upper lip would get caught up and it would look like she was smiling.  I called her "Smilin' Hank"...see the pic at the end of the post for illustrative purposes.

• Bailey was great with kids and other dogs.

• She loved to lay on the deck outside my office in Atlanta-she would put her chin between the rails and lay out there all day.

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  She was a bit of a Houdini and could open the back door of my old house in Grosse Pointe on her own. She could get into any cabinet, my nightstand drawer and also the trash compactor at my parents' house. I swear she had a retractable thumb that came out when I left her.
  
  
  
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  She had a comb-over down her back-her fur grew from right to left.
  
  
  
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  She had ears that were plagued with yeast, but were the softest part of her.
  
  
  
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  Bailey loved peanut butter, people food, the garbage, and had a certain penchant for licking the oatmeal or ice cream bowls. She was a terrible beggar when it came to food.
  
  
  
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  She could catch pieces of popcorn in the air-it was one of her favorite treats.
  
  
  
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  She did this full on, in-the-air spin when I was putting her food in her bowl-a sign of super-joy. She ate faster than anyone I have ever seen.
  
  
  
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  She hated when the mail carrier would put the mail in the door slot-and taught my parents' dog to look up into the slot to scare the mailman.
  
  
  
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  She knew the sucker in the room who would scratch and pet her-and would plant herself next to them.
  
  
  
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  She would spontaneously stop, drop, and roll around on her back, getting a good scratch on her head and back.  She also loved a good chin scratching.
  
  
  
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  She ate so many things that she shouldn't have...a cookie jar full of chocolate treats meant for one of my managers, a loaf of bread stolen from the grocery bag before I knew it, a can that had dog food in it while she was staying at my friend's house, cereal-Easy Mac-Swiss Miss cocoa mix at that same friend's house from her lower cabinets.
  
  
  
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  She didn't like being contained...broke out of a screened-in porch, the horse barn up north and was so happy to get out of that crate at the Munich Airport.
  
  
  

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  When she was in trouble, she would stare up at you lovingly-wagging her tail. Like as if to say, don't be mad at me, look how cute I am.
  
  
  

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  When she was a puppy, she had a cute little white blaze on her chest-about 5 white hairs...so adorable.
  
  
  

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  She loved the snow-rolling around in it, eating it, chasing down snowballs.
  
  
  

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  She could flip her toys in the air and catch them.
  
  
  
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  She had a "wubby" that she loved to chew on and would curl up with it every day and mouth it-if she caught you looking at her while she was with her wubby, she would stop and look at you out of the corner of her eye until she thought you weren't looking and then carry on.
  
  
  
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  She had beautiful brown eyes and a tail that curled up at the end.
  
  
  
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  She woke me up in the mornings by either thumping her tail against the bed or by sticking her nose next to my face. When I would play possum, she would always know and make a little "HAARRRR" noise to let me know I wasn't fooling anyone.
  
  
  
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  When the hub got up in the morning, she would hop up on the bed and take over his spot that was warm. 
  
  
  
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  She wore different collars that coordinated with the seasons-but mostly liked the ones that were pink.
  
  
  
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  She slept on my bed when I was away from the apartment and slept up-side-down on the couch, spread eagle. She snored something fierce.
  
  
  
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  She could back up and walk in reverse.
  
  
  
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  When the hub came home after work, she barked and wiggled and demanded he pet her immediately after coming through the door.
  
  
  
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  When you gave her a treat, she offered you both paws to shake, one after the other, like a sort of can-can canine dance. She could hear the treat jar from a mile away.
  
  
  
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  Even as sick as she was, she licked the tears from my face during her final days. She hated to see me upset.
  
  
  
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  She was, without a doubt the best $25 I ever spent.
  
  
  

She was full of personality. I miss her more than I can say...this is just a quick list off of the top of my head...there are so many other things that I could tell you about my girl.  I really thought that she would return to the states with us when our assignment here is finished. I am eternally grateful that I got to spend this past year with her, concentrating on forging our life in Munich.  I am heartsick and I miss her very much.

The hub has a meeting in Amsterdam tomorrow, so I am going to join him and we will stay the weekend.  The apartment is just too quiet.  I now know what the phrase "the silence is deafening" means.  A change of venue will be the best for us.  I can't pack up her things yet, although seeing them makes me weepy. So it is best to just get away.

Bailey the Dog 3/1998-1/2010

Rutsch into Sylvester

We had a great time spending the Rutsch (the slide) into 2010 with friends down by the lake where we spent the 4th of July.  New Year's Eve is called Sylvester here, after St. Sylvester who's feast is on December 31-he was Pope for almost 25 years and died in the year 335 (thanks Wikipedia!)...

Fondue was on the menu, with bread, figs, apples and tomatoes for the dipping....along with delicious champagne, prosecco and beer.  Dessert was a yummy tiramisu. We held tightly to our bread as we swirled it through the delectable cheese, as it is a Swiss custom that if you loose your bread in the cheese you must run a naked lap around the house!

The big event came at the stroke of midnight, when everyone spilled from their houses into the chilly night to set off fireworks and participate in the revelry that is Sylvester in Germany.  We had seen people in the main train station as we were catching our train loaded down with packages of fireworks of all kinds...bottle rockets, sparklers, roman candle-type things that shot sparkly goodness into the sky.  Stuff that you could never buy in the states...well, except in maybe Alabama at Big Daddy's....but that is another story. We had heard that New Year's was a really big deal in Germany, but we were totally unprepared for it...

In the states, you go to watch the fireworks from a distance...ooh and ahh, and then go home.  Not here-the fireworks here are all about participating-people were launching bottle rockets out of recently emptied champagne bottles and even out of their hands! The air quickly became so thick with a sulfur-laden smoke that blanketed Munich.  Church bells from every bell tower heralded the arrival of 2010. People cheered and kissed-I have not ever seen such rowdy rabble rousing from our host community...let's face it, the Germans can be a pretty buttoned up bunch...and are not nearly reckless.  But....wow.  They do know how to ring in a new year.  The economy in Munich has not been nearly as affected as many other places in the EU or the States...but I think that this Sylvester celebration was  a fond a dieux  or auf Wiedersehen to what was a very difficult 2009 for many.

As I write, it is January 6th, and the streets are littered still with broken bottles, confetti and remnants of fireworks.  On  the morning of the first, I was out walking Bailey the Dog and saw an overworked Munich city street sweeper out with his brown twig witchy looking broom sweeping what debris he could from the sidewalk....I wished him a guten Morgen, but he only grunted grumpily back at me....I am certain that he was feeling the immensity of his job...

I count myself as fortunate in this past year-I got married, embarked on this great Munich adventure, started to learn German, reconnected with some wonderful, old friends via the Facebook and made some great new ones a long the way.  Happy New Year to you all-I hope that your 2010 is filled with adventure and friendship!

Hello stranger.....

I have been a very bad blogger...please forgive the absence, as the holidays found me back in the US for the first time since we moved to Munich. The hub has been back several times...visiting family and friends on his way to working someplace or another, but I have stayed behind each time. Total immersion.

So, I am hoping that you will forgive my total immersion back home in the US. We visited Atlanta first-visiting the hub's family, staying with our dear friends, eating wonderful food and trying to squeeze in all that we missed about our former city. We were there for a weekend-and it proved to be not nearly long enough...I didn't get to see even half of the people that I had wanted to connect with, and some of our old stomping grounds remained, well, un-stomped. Next time we will visit Atlanta for longer-that is a promise I make to myself.

Then we went to Michigan, for the actual day of Christmas, to be with my family. It was there that I got to drive my car (which my mother is taking fab care of...), go to Target, see a movie with my neice and to get to know my younger neice (5) and nephew (3) a little better. We relaxed, read, ate and I got the chance to spend a most enjoyable breakfast with my father and his pals, better known as the Pancake Club...

This "band of brothers" meets regularly at the Pancake House, to have breakfast, chew the fat, and talk about events and the days gone by. I was lucky enough to procure an invite to the breakfast and privileged to meet this group of interesting men: comprised of my father, 2 German born gents who told me stories and Bavarian jokes, a spry 90-something year old who told me wonderful stories, my parents' neighbor/good friend who is a great companion to my dad and a life-long local who told me about his love of my hometown and travels in the US. I got to speak a little German (my new friends were kind enough to not correct my grammar mistakes however plentiful), listen to some interesting stories and eat some yummy pancakes...which I haven't had since earlier in the year when we moved. I enjoyed myself very much and hope that I didn't embarrass my father too much!

The time in Michigan was also not nearly long enough. I haven't seen most of my family (except Skype) since last Christmas...and it was really good to be home. I drove for the first time since April (gotta love that Munich transportation system!), had some yummy cake with real frosting, drank some of my favorite soda: Faygo Rock n Rye, and spent some cherished time with family and some good, old friends.

Days before we flew back to MUC, that fool with the incindiary device flew into my home airport from Amsterdam-we ended up having to get to the airport 4 hours ahead of our flight home...I felt a bit robbed of the time-but will not let our visit end on a creepy note.

So, I am hoping that you forgive the absence of blog posts-I was just busy having some quality time with my peeps! But now I am back, and excited about 2010 in Munich. Please keep visiting and reading, as I am hoping for some adventures to share with you in the upcoming year.

(the pictures above were taken from the apartment in early December...I didn't have much for this post and hadn't posted these...I thought that they were too pretty to keep to myself....)

Merry Markets

We have had a wonderful time visiting the various holiday markets that populate what seems to be every bit of space around the city. I had heard about the markets when we moved here-and they have lived up to the considerable hype. There is nothing better than a crisp day or evening, strolling around the markets with a steaming mug of Gluhwein-a hot mulled wine, of which my favorite is the cherry version that you can get at Sendlinger Tor. The air is filled with the aroma of roasting chestnuts, warm sugared nuts (we tend to favor the macadamias-see below), delicious baked goods and, of course: wurst grilling. I have been filled with a sense of fun and wonder (maybe after a few Gluhweins...) and the Christmas spirit.

I get now why people come here just for the markets. But, if they only see the large one at Marienplatz, they are missing out on the real gems. Many of the markets are themed-there is one over by the Rindermarkt that has nativity scenes...the one at the Muenchner Freiheit Ubahn station is full of local artisans...and the one at Wittelsbacher Platz (I think..) is medieval in theme.

Here are a few pics of several of the markets, including some of the fare we have sampled:

At Muenchner Freiheit where we had yummy delish fried apples rolled in cinnamon. We were treated to the market this day with a lovely dusting of snow fluffies under the hanging lanterns-gorgeous!

In Marienplatz, the largest market which is set up all around the beautiful Rathaus:

At Sendlinger Tor, where we sampled our favorite cherry Gluhwein and Rotwurst:

At the Chinese Tower, where we had yummy, warm, sugared macadamias and I bought some wonderful felted wool:

In the courtyard at the Residence, arranged in a beautiful setting, with mechanical animals (think big, talking moose that sings) for the kiddos amusement:

This has been my first winter holiday season in many years that I haven't been swept up in the business of the retail season at work...this year, I was swept up in the sights, sounds, smells and tastes that are the Christmas markets here in Munich!

Check Mates

At many of the parks sprinkled throughout the city, you see not only playscapes for the kiddos, but also areas for the older generation too. The chess men (named so because I have not yet seen a woman playing-must be a guy thing...) have their own area for their fun.

Cold, rain, running errands, nothing keeps them away. I have seen a nice mix of young and old guys out at the chess boards-it seems like it provides a good destination when a guy's just got to get out of the house.


I try to be sly and take the pictures. The chess men seem to think I am a little off...as I stop to watch their game and sneak a picture here and there.

But mostly, they are engrossed in their game. It makes me want to call "next" just to see what they would do.