October 26 - November 1, 2008

Oliver at the Munich airport

Oliver in his Lederhosen for Halloween

My mom’s yard in Virginia

Oliver at the Reston Zoo

Alpaca at the Reston Zoo

Tortoise at the Reston Zoo

For more Weekly Winners visit SarcasticMom.com.

From the US Consulate in Munich:

Join Us on September 14th!

In honor of the 50th Birthday of the American Consulate’s building, Consul General Eric Nelson invites all American citizens in Bavaria and their families to an “Open House” on the lawn of the American Consulate General, Koeniginstrasse 5, on Sunday, September 14, between 12 noon and 3pm.  We’re celebrating our historical building by holding our annual American Citizen Information Day on the Day of Open Historical Sites (Tag des offenen Denkmals).  As usual, representatives from the Consulate and services such as Social Security, the IRS, US Citizenship and Immigration Service, Voter Registration and the Ausländeramt will be on hand to answer questions and provide information.

Consulate staff will grill hamburgers and hotdogs for sale along with other American treats to raise funds for community projects.  As part of our celebration of the 50th anniversary of our building, designed by the architect Sep Ruf, we are pleased to have Irene Meissner, curator of the Sep Ruf exhibition at the Pinakothek der Moderne, joining us to speak about our building and the architect at 1pm and at 2pm.  We will also have an exhibit covering fifty years of Bavarian-American relations and a video of our new Embassy celebrations in Berlin.  We hope you will join us!

For further details please visit the Consulate website, http:/munich.usconsulate.gov/.  Please pass this invitation on to other American citizens, and don’t forget to bring your U.S. passport since it will be necessary to get in.

For more information about historical buildings in Munich participating in the Tag des offenen Denkmals, see the official website, http://www.tag-des-offenen-denkmals.de/laender/by/kreisfrei/7244/.

Plan a family day in Munich around your visit to the Consulate!

British Airways is offering some great round trip prices out of Munich and Stuttgart to 23 destinations worldwide. The offer is good through September 2, 2008, and travel needs to take place between September 1, 2008 and March 31, 2009. See below for some more information and some sample prices. Seats are limited, so book ASAP to take advantage of the prices. Click here to book through Travelzoo.de.

MÜNCHEN/STUTTGART — 22. August 2008 — Mit 23 weltweiten Top-Destinationen, besten Verfügbarkeiten und hoch attraktiven Inklusivpreisen ab nur 403 € pro Person für Hin- und Rückflug ab München und Stuttgart sorgt British Airways kurz vor dem Wochenende für ein absolutes Flug-Highlight.

Dieses Special ist ab sofort bis spätestens 2. September buchbar. Doch nur wer sich schnell entscheidet, bekommt die besten Verfügbarkeiten auf allen Strecken.

Hier eine Auswahl der insgesamt 23 Ziel-Metropolen:

USA:
* New York … 403 €
* Boston … 414 €
* Miami … 499 €
* Los Angeles/San Francisco … 546 €

Weltweit:
* Delhi … 570 €
* Hong Kong/Schanghai … 604€
* Kapstadt/Johannesburg … 659 €
* Tokio … 679 €
* Rio de Janeiro … 786 €

Für alle Strecken und Ihre Buchung klicken Sie bitte hier: http://de.travelzoo.com/Newsflash.asp?453541

Reisezeitraum: 1. September 2008 bis 31. März 2009

*Änderungen vorbehalten. Angebot gültig je nach Verfügbarkeit. Alle Preise für Hin- & Rückflug pro Person inklusive Steuern & Entgelte.

That’s what I’ve been repeating to myself over the last week. All I can say for myself is, I’ve been busy.

We spent the long weekend visiting the inlaws near Wittlich. On the way there we stopped at Idar-Oberstein, gemstone and jewelry capital of Germany, which I plan to blog about later. While at the inlaws, we spent a couple hours at the Wittlicher Säubrennerkirmes (Wittlich Pig Roasting Festival). There were so many Americans there, it had to be at least 50% American, mostly folks from the many nearby military bases. Anyways, this has given me an idea for yet another future post on How to dress like an American (i.e., stick out like a sore thumb) vs. How to be mistaken for a German.

We spent some time in Wehlen sorting through some classic books (Goethe, Schiller, you know, all those light-hearted, fun German authors) and picking up an old pendulum wall clock we’ve inherited from Rainer’s godmother, then we headed over to Bernkastel-Kues to do some wine shopping.

On the way home, we stopped for lunch in Vellberg. It is a really cute, small village just off the Romantic Road. There were very few tourists and the food at the Gasthaus was good, so I can heartily recommend it to fans of half-timbered houses who hate the crowds that flood Rothenburg ob der Tauber.

After Vellberg, we stopped for coffee and sightseeing in Dinkelsbühl. Dinkelsbühl is actually on the Romatic Road, so there were quite a few more tourists, but it wasn’t bad. The signs there are all in English and Japanese, as well as German, for those who haven’t learned the language yet. The town is lovely with a nice old city wall surrounding. Definitely worth a stop.

We got back late Sunday, and early Monday I was out on the Autobahn again heading to the Munich airport to fetch my mom. It’s been non-stop since she arrived, we’ve explored Regensburg and I think we’re going to check out some of the small, cute villages around here tomorrow. She’s only here for a week, so there’s a lot to cram in!

I have not been in the mood to work on the blog at all this week. Sorry bout that, but I guess every blogger goes through that occasionally.  Not much to report, but here goes:

• I think Oliver is getting close to saying his first word.  He says, “Mamam mamamam,” a lot. 
• We were in Munich again on Saturday for Hezamarie’s housewarming party. 
• On Sunday, we spent the afternoon in Pellenhofen. 
• The expat dinner was a success, but I think I need to factor in a 20% no show rate (especially on beautiful days that incorporate time changes).  Still, it was more people than I bothered to count.  We took up four big tables at the restaurant and there were quite a few new faces. 
• Tammy and Matthias had dinner at my mom’s restaurant. 
• I started using Twitter and I think I love it (you can follow my Twitters here or at the top of the right sidebar on the blog). 
• Tomorrow is another BabyTreff

…and I think that’s it.  So, because I didn’t get around to making a video, I present you with the German country western group Boss Hoss doing a cover of Nelly’s “Hot in Herre.”  Unfortunately, I can’t embed the video, so you will have to click on the link and get redirected to the ProSieben site.  I think it’s worth it though, I thoroughly enjoyed their version.  What do you think of it?

Last week we had a blast in Munich.  I thought we had good restaurants in Regensburg, but the ones in Munich blow them away.  We had really great sushi at Tokami on Theresienstrasse.  We enjoyed one of the best Arabic meals I’ve ever had with Schokolade Mädchen and her man, G, at the Lebanese restaurant Cedar Lounge on Georgenstrasse.  We met up with Hezamarie and Jul and their hubbies, along with several of Hezamarie’s friends at Max Emanuel.  One of Rainer’s colleagues said this was the worst food in Schwabing, which had us a little scared, but it was totally good.  If it’s the worst place, well then dang!  And finally, after 6 years of searching, I found decent Mexican food in Germany!  It’s a Germany-wide chain called Sausalitos, so there just may be one in your area.  I had the combo plate.  The chicken enchiladas were just okay, but good compared to what one normally gets in Germany.  What really stood out to me were the chicken wings (nice and spicy) and the chili con carne taco.  The salsa was blech, but I don’t like most salsa in Mexican restaurants in the US, so I won’t mark them down for that.  (One place in Herndon, VA that has great salsa - and great mexican food - is Tortilla Factory on Eldon Street… hmm, maybe I should do a restaurant guide for northern Virginia…)

After 5 days wandering Munich, my conclusion?  I loved it.  I always used to say that I’d love to live at the edge of a big city, so that you get the green, but can still do all the big city stuff pretty easily.  After living out here in the country, I was wondering if I still felt that way, and I certainly do.  I would love to live in the very north of Schwabing, or another similar neighborhood.  The only thing is, over and over, it seemed like Müncheners don’t go out all that often.  We heard from person after person that they usually eat in.  So maybe with the high rents, living in Munich wouldn’t be that awesome, because you’d always be taunted by all the really good food that you couldn’t afford to indulge in all the time!

Anyways, here’s some photos of Munich:

Go to my FlickR page for more Munich photos.

And does this one belong in a catalog or what?

Tomorrow we’re off to spend the long holiday weekend with the in laws and since my future post function doesn’t work (you probably noticed all the posts from while I was away in Munich got published only upon my return), I won’t bother making up posts for the next few days,  So, see you on Tuesday and have a great Easter!

Sounds like the perfect place to shop!

(This lovely store is located in the Schwabing neighborhood of Munich)