We finished an almost yearlong experiment this past week – not at the lab, but at home. You see, last year a friend of our had inherited Rumtopf from an elderly aunt and wanted to know if we could try it. Now, I had never heard of a Rumtopf before, but my Germanic curiosity was…
In general, I wasn't really thrilled with a lot of the photos I took this year, and thought that I'd have a hard time coming up with some I really liked. After perusing though I did find several that I was really fond of this year. Branches Branches. I took this in Sonoma last January. …
So, the media and political hand-wringing over whether the government should “bail out” or “loan” the US auto industry using tens of billions of dollars to keep the Big Three from possibly folding got me thinking. It got me thinking about a train ride. Earlier this year, the Beloved and I were in Germany and…
During my recent trip to Germany, I found myself missing a few guys that I don’t think of that often – George, Abe, Alex and Andy*. That’s right, good old US Legal Tender. I don’t think of them that much here, because I am mostly a credit-card guy. Like those incredibly annoying Visa commercials, I…
I think I’d expected Berlin to be “now” and “hip” and “Euro” (whatever that means), and it was…but I think my lasting impression will be that of the echoes of the past that still resonate all over that town – specifically from The Second World War and The Cold War. Its fascinating, because at sometimes…
When the Beloved and I returned to Berlin, we also walked around so that she could see the sights, too. Our trip was a little different than the one that I had taken the week before – our hotel that we stayed in on our return was in what had been East Berlin. So one…
On a rainy day back in Berlin, we went to the Pergamon Museum in Berlin. I learned something right as I walked in – that German archeologists had been just as busy raiding the middle east for treasures as their British and French counterparts at the end of the 19th century and early 20th century. …
Ok – so maybe The Beloved didn’t get to twirl around in a dirndl on a mountain meadow (something she really wants to do, actually), but one day we did rent a car and head south out of Munich towards the Alps. Tegernsee Tegernsee_2 We had a pretty and clear day and stopped first…
Two of our days in Munich, we took trips on the public transportation system (which of course, put most US public transportations to shame) to a couple of beautiful palaces perhaps associated with conspicuous excess. Schloss Nymphenburg Nymphenberg_entrance Swans_Nymphenberg Began in the 17th century, Nymphenburg was a getaway for the royal family of Bavaria…
The Beloved arrived in Berlin right after my meeting ended and the following day, we caught the train down to Munich. Traincastle Of course the first stop in the train station was to get a hot leberkase sandwich. It didn't disappoint. Leberkase Munich is an interesting contrast to Berlin. The heart of Bavaria and more…
Stevil 