Lindy, do you remember when we looked for random Wisconsin sweatshirts in Ireland? Guess we just had the wrong European country. :)
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Friday, January 28, 2011
Living like a baller...
(also note the amount of wine glasses on the table)

Franck Ribery (left), Luca Toni (right)
(I believe both photos are from Bild)
So, needless to say, this was a totally baller place. Sadly, we did not see Mr. Ribery nor Mr. Toni (who is even more sadly no longer with FC Bayern). However, I did eat the BEST PIZZA OF MY LIFE. I am not even kidding. It's in the picture above--just a plain thin crust, cheese pizza with very lightly seasoned crushed tomatoes as sauce, but with white truffles shaved over the top. I've never really understood what the big deal was about truffles until now, but OMG. The flavor of the truffles somehow mixed perfectly with the mozzarella, so you couldn't even really tell where the deliciousness was coming from, but you also didn't really care, because it was that good. In "Eat, Pray, Love," there's a part in which Elizabeth Gilbert says she's having a relationship with a pizza she's eating in Naples. When I read it at first, I was like, ha ha, that's cute. Now I understand. You can see me with my soulmate in the above photo.
In addition to the truffle pizza, my friend Christina got a ridiculously good smoked salmon and balsamic dressing pizza, and there was so much other good food I can't even describe it all. (Case in point: when we were having problems deciding on appetizers to share as a group, Peter promptly ordered every appetizer on the menu.) There was also aperitifs and LOTS of wine and digestifs after dinner. The female servers started dancing on tables. There were hot reggaeton beats and flashing lights. It was a party, ballers or no ballers.
Seeing all of the German girls again was fabulous. (I'd hung out with Michaela since I'd arrived, but hadn't seen Christina, Andrea, or Kathrin since Chapel Hill.) We made some plans for after their exams, like hiking in the Alps (which apparently have amazing food shacks hidden all up in there) and visiting Neuschwanstein. Plus, Christina and I decided we'd come back to H'ugo's to watch El Clasico in April, 'cause she's a Real Madrid fan (and as you all know, I'm a Barcelona girl). Truffle pizza, wine, and a grudge match? Yes, please!
FYI to Mike and any other visitors to Munich (Jenny? Thomas?): you're eating here. And you're having the truffle pizza. As Peter would say, "it's a MUST."
xoxo
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Monday, January 17, 2011
Cocktail palms, drag reindeer, and early intervention: a weekend in Munich
No, silly, no one did an early intervention on me!! Although maybe they should have. Anyway, for the work part of this weekend, I attended a two-day block seminar on early intervention, conducted by our own esteemed colleague Peter. It made for some long days, but I also learned some pretty interesting stuff, especially about German laws regarding prenatal interventions for fetuses/babies that show signs of having disabilities.
Nerd time over! Following the seminar, Amie and I decided to head out to Karlsplatz, where there is an outdoor skating rink for the holidays. We knew that they would be taking the rink down at the end of the weekend, so we wanted to make sure we got our skating in! Oddly enough, I got carded when we paid for our ice rink admission, because apparently you get a free glass of prosecco. Awesome! Another cool thing about the rink is that they have these little ski-bears to help people stay on their feet if they're new skaters. I didn't need a bear for skating purposes, but I *did* need to get my picture taken with the FC Bayern Munich bear!!
As we skated around, Amie and I noticed that the people at the rink were almost all men. All of a sudden the free prosecco made sense:
It was HoliGay on ice!! We were so lucky that we just happened to skate that night, because otherwise there was no free prosecco (although since it's Munich, there was a two-level bar built on to the side of the ice rink), and we would never have made our new friends:
Yes, friends, that is a DRAG REINDEER. I think the other creature is a drag giraffe? We were never sure.
On Saturday, we spent the whole day at the block seminar, but then met up with my friend Michaela, one of the German students who visited UNC during the fall semester. We also got to meet Michaela's very nice boyfriend and three of her other friends. Michaela and her boyfriend had a lot of studying to do on Sunday, so we decided to go out for cocktails instead of going to a club. After seriously trying about five bars to find one at which all seven of us could sit down, we ended up at Drugstore, then moved on to Peaches. There I learned the following:
Fact #1: Everyone will order a pastel drink, even the men. They're all just cocktails, none of this "girly drink" nonsense.
Fact #2: If you order correctly, your pastel drink will come with one of these:
Little cocktail sparklies!!! I was so ridiculously excited by these that everyone gave me their sparklies, although I lost more than half of them on the subway home. Oops! Guess that just means more cocktails needed to replenish my collection! Anyway, apparently they're called "cocktail palms," and just about any cocktail bar in Munich will stick them in your drink.
Fact #3: David Hasselhoff music really *is* played in German bars (although there was a debate at our table whether or not Germans actually like him). This debate was not resolved.
Fact #4: Germans think Americans are really awesome bowlers. We're supposed to meet up with Michaela and her friends again to go bowling next weekend, so I feel like their world view will soon be shattered.
So. much. fun.
(And see, Mike, I did take my camera out of the box!)
Nerd time over! Following the seminar, Amie and I decided to head out to Karlsplatz, where there is an outdoor skating rink for the holidays. We knew that they would be taking the rink down at the end of the weekend, so we wanted to make sure we got our skating in! Oddly enough, I got carded when we paid for our ice rink admission, because apparently you get a free glass of prosecco. Awesome! Another cool thing about the rink is that they have these little ski-bears to help people stay on their feet if they're new skaters. I didn't need a bear for skating purposes, but I *did* need to get my picture taken with the FC Bayern Munich bear!!
As we skated around, Amie and I noticed that the people at the rink were almost all men. All of a sudden the free prosecco made sense:
It was HoliGay on ice!! We were so lucky that we just happened to skate that night, because otherwise there was no free prosecco (although since it's Munich, there was a two-level bar built on to the side of the ice rink), and we would never have made our new friends:
Yes, friends, that is a DRAG REINDEER. I think the other creature is a drag giraffe? We were never sure.
On Saturday, we spent the whole day at the block seminar, but then met up with my friend Michaela, one of the German students who visited UNC during the fall semester. We also got to meet Michaela's very nice boyfriend and three of her other friends. Michaela and her boyfriend had a lot of studying to do on Sunday, so we decided to go out for cocktails instead of going to a club. After seriously trying about five bars to find one at which all seven of us could sit down, we ended up at Drugstore, then moved on to Peaches. There I learned the following:
Fact #1: Everyone will order a pastel drink, even the men. They're all just cocktails, none of this "girly drink" nonsense.
Fact #2: If you order correctly, your pastel drink will come with one of these:
Little cocktail sparklies!!! I was so ridiculously excited by these that everyone gave me their sparklies, although I lost more than half of them on the subway home. Oops! Guess that just means more cocktails needed to replenish my collection! Anyway, apparently they're called "cocktail palms," and just about any cocktail bar in Munich will stick them in your drink.
Fact #3: David Hasselhoff music really *is* played in German bars (although there was a debate at our table whether or not Germans actually like him). This debate was not resolved.
Fact #4: Germans think Americans are really awesome bowlers. We're supposed to meet up with Michaela and her friends again to go bowling next weekend, so I feel like their world view will soon be shattered.
So. much. fun.
(And see, Mike, I did take my camera out of the box!)
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Until I figure out my camera, I give you water poetry
From the bottle of water I drank yesterday:
Blütenkinder unter sich.
Die Mango lud die Orangenblüten zum gemeinsamen Sitzstriek ein.
Worum es ging?
Natürlich um mehr Wasser für alle!
Thanks to our friend Google translate, here we go!!
Flower children among themselves.
The Mango invited the orange blossoms to a common sit-in.
What was it about?
Of course, more water for all!
**I promise I'll have something better for you soon. And it just might involve a German drag queen dressed as a reindeer.**
xoxo
k
Thursday, January 13, 2011
It's Complicated...
(photo courtesy of Amie)
This lovely painting looked down upon Peter, Judith, Amie, and I as we ate a wonderful dinner last night. As Judith said, "Wow! That painting is very complicated!"
For Mike: a free thing update. Today, we got a free round of after-dinner drinks at an Italian restaurant, a free chocolate profiterole at the same restaurant, and also a free X-acto knife and wallpaper smoother at a department store. Judith said she never gets so many presents as when we're with her! I'm glad my free thing mojo works in Europe, too!
Up for this weekend: hitting the town with (German) Michaela and her friends. She has promised to show me "the Munich nightlife". I can't wait!!
What I've Been Eating, for Mom
--Italian food. Peter and Judith love it, and there are lots of good Italian restaurants because Munich is only about an hour and change from the Italian border.
--yogurt. European yogurt is the BEST (but definitely not fat-free!).
--currywurst: a sausage (kind of like a kielbasa flavor) covered in ketchup and sprinkled with curry powder.
--kasespaetzle (there should be an umlaut on the a, but I can't figure out how to do it): like macaroni and cheese, but with spaetzle instead of noodles, and topped with roasted/fried onions. SO GOOD.
--krapfen: don't call them a doughnut (we're not sure why this is a big deal), but they are pretty much like jelly doughnuts, except a little bread-ier and with better jam inside (usually apricot).
--German Mexican food, which actually was not bad at all!
--roasted chestnuts from a street stand
--the ubiquitous German soft pretzels
--gluhwein (hot spiced red wine) and gingerbread
--a really good zucchini and mustard cream soup topped with smoked salmon
--some interesting salads
--apple strudel in vanilla sauce: Oh my God. This is one of the best things I have eaten in my whole life. I could have drunk the vanilla sauce with a straw.
I swear I am going to weigh about 400 lbs. when I get back. Amie and I are already wondering when we'll have to get new pants.
--yogurt. European yogurt is the BEST (but definitely not fat-free!).
--currywurst: a sausage (kind of like a kielbasa flavor) covered in ketchup and sprinkled with curry powder.
--kasespaetzle (there should be an umlaut on the a, but I can't figure out how to do it): like macaroni and cheese, but with spaetzle instead of noodles, and topped with roasted/fried onions. SO GOOD.
--krapfen: don't call them a doughnut (we're not sure why this is a big deal), but they are pretty much like jelly doughnuts, except a little bread-ier and with better jam inside (usually apricot).
--German Mexican food, which actually was not bad at all!
--roasted chestnuts from a street stand
--the ubiquitous German soft pretzels
--gluhwein (hot spiced red wine) and gingerbread
--a really good zucchini and mustard cream soup topped with smoked salmon
--some interesting salads
--apple strudel in vanilla sauce: Oh my God. This is one of the best things I have eaten in my whole life. I could have drunk the vanilla sauce with a straw.
I swear I am going to weigh about 400 lbs. when I get back. Amie and I are already wondering when we'll have to get new pants.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Apparently, there are no washcloths in Germany.
Just sayin'. Amie and I totally mystified Peter and Judith when we described what we wanted to buy.
On another topic, I had my first day of school, and it was awesome.
Besos!!
On another topic, I had my first day of school, and it was awesome.
Besos!!
Monday, January 10, 2011
Yay for the internet!!
So, after being accidentally disconnected from the world for several days, I have internet again! Yay!!
And what a crazy few days it has been. We've had to do lots of weird administrative stuff, like register with the city of Munich (apparently everyone has to do this, even German citizens who move from one city to another). We also learned that German bike lanes are on the sidewalk, and you should NEVER EVER stand in them, because you will almost be killed. In the U.S., bicycle riders are in danger from people in cars; in Munich, pedestrians are in danger from bicycle riders! Amie and I are wondering how long it will be before one of us gets hit by a bike. Anyone want to bet?
In other news, I found a generic version of Mini Dickmann (yum! and cheap!!). Mario Gomez has been in Qatar, so no sightings, but I've located several dumpsters in preparation. Judith (Peter's wife) has invited me to go to a sports bar and watch this weekend's Bayern Munich match with her. I am so excited!! She is *really* into it. And, perhaps most importantly, Amie and I introduced Peter to his first tequila shot ever. We ate at a German/Mexican restaurant (which was surprisingly good! WAY better than the Austrian/Mexican food I've had), and the owner of the restaurant sent over a free round of tequila shots for us! (Note to Mike: free thing alert!!) I took a moment to marvel how I was doing tequila shots in Germany with a man who has to be at least 70. It was awesome.
Oh! There are also surfers in Munich! There's a huge park called the Englischer Garten, which is in the middle of the city and even larger than Central Park. There's a little river that runs through it, and at a certain point, it goes over a bunch of rocks and makes waves. Surfers actually come out and surf the constant wave of the river! It's totally different than ocean surfing, but SO COOL to watch. Peter and Judith showed this to us on Saturday, and Amie and I thought it was so fun that we went back out on Sunday to watch the surfers again. Amie took a video, which maybe she will let me post. Apparently there was a documentary made about the Munich surfers a few years ago...got to check this out!
To Lindy: football news, please! I've been disconnected from the internet and could use a brief synopsis.
Also discovered an awesome marzipan-flavored liquor. Definitely going to bring a bottle of that back.
Hope you are all doing well! Miss you!!
xoxo
kate
And what a crazy few days it has been. We've had to do lots of weird administrative stuff, like register with the city of Munich (apparently everyone has to do this, even German citizens who move from one city to another). We also learned that German bike lanes are on the sidewalk, and you should NEVER EVER stand in them, because you will almost be killed. In the U.S., bicycle riders are in danger from people in cars; in Munich, pedestrians are in danger from bicycle riders! Amie and I are wondering how long it will be before one of us gets hit by a bike. Anyone want to bet?
In other news, I found a generic version of Mini Dickmann (yum! and cheap!!). Mario Gomez has been in Qatar, so no sightings, but I've located several dumpsters in preparation. Judith (Peter's wife) has invited me to go to a sports bar and watch this weekend's Bayern Munich match with her. I am so excited!! She is *really* into it. And, perhaps most importantly, Amie and I introduced Peter to his first tequila shot ever. We ate at a German/Mexican restaurant (which was surprisingly good! WAY better than the Austrian/Mexican food I've had), and the owner of the restaurant sent over a free round of tequila shots for us! (Note to Mike: free thing alert!!) I took a moment to marvel how I was doing tequila shots in Germany with a man who has to be at least 70. It was awesome.
Oh! There are also surfers in Munich! There's a huge park called the Englischer Garten, which is in the middle of the city and even larger than Central Park. There's a little river that runs through it, and at a certain point, it goes over a bunch of rocks and makes waves. Surfers actually come out and surf the constant wave of the river! It's totally different than ocean surfing, but SO COOL to watch. Peter and Judith showed this to us on Saturday, and Amie and I thought it was so fun that we went back out on Sunday to watch the surfers again. Amie took a video, which maybe she will let me post. Apparently there was a documentary made about the Munich surfers a few years ago...got to check this out!
To Lindy: football news, please! I've been disconnected from the internet and could use a brief synopsis.
Also discovered an awesome marzipan-flavored liquor. Definitely going to bring a bottle of that back.
Hope you are all doing well! Miss you!!
xoxo
kate
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Thoughts on Munich, part 1
- I love flying to Europe because I always sit next to the most interesting people. (When I flew to Austria, I sat next to a Norwegian man who told me that the Norwegian government ate the reindeer from the movie "Prancer".) Today I sat next to Christian, an Austrian gunsmith. Yes, the dude is a craftsman who makes guns. He said that he thought it was a stereotypical profession for a European. I was like, what??? He was fun, though. We had a long conversation about Native American reservations and policy because he'd just visited a reservation while in the U.S., and then we both laughed about the fact that there was something called "Humperdinck" on the plane's music selection. He offered me the piece of cheddar cheese from his snack plate because he knows Americans like it and he was worried that it would be difficult to find in Bavaria, and expressed his love of Nature Valley granola bars (also on the snack plate).
-I watched "The Town" on the plane, unfortunately 24 hours too late to be useful at trivia on Tuesday night. I also wanted to watch the Bundesliga program, but I fell asleep.
-Wine is still free on Lufthansa international flights! I was a good panda and only had one glass, but the lady ahead of me seriously drank like 7 glasses. I think she was a nervous flyer. Lufthansa also hands out warm hand towels a lot. Christian felt that the frequency of warm towels was ridiculous.
-We drove past the Bayern Munich stadium on the way from the airport!! It was very impressive. Franz (who asked to be called Peter, and hence will be referred to as such) suggested that I write a letter to the club explaining my limited stay in Germany to try and get tickets, as all the games are sold out for months. I think I'm going to try it.
-The bungalow is super cute, and fully equipped, including a fruit basket and post-it notes. So I'm not starving, despite the state holiday. And I have sheets and towels and toilet paper and even an iron! Plus we got complimentary messenger bags from Ludwig-Maximilians University.
-And, I already ate a krapfen!! We went to a bakery for pastry and coffee, and I picked out a krapfen. It was very delicious. The bakery also had some kind of cookie (?) that appeared to have a marzipan pig in a bathtub on it. I might have to try one of those next time.
-There are at least 4 bakeries within a 5 minute walk of the bungalow. This is so bad for my health.
-The city slogan of Munich is, "Munich loves you." I think I'm going to like it here.
Besooooooooos!
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