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Jul on 29 May 2008 |
4 comments
Gotta love superfluous English. Although at least the ‘outdoor’ on my new bike makes a little more sense than the ‘street racer’ written in big letters on my skis. (Or could it be that I’ve been using my skis in the completely wrong environment all these years?)
Not unlike skiing, I learned to ride a bike too late in life to be very good at it. But cycling seems to be such a fun and convenient way to get around in Munich that I figured I might as well give it a try – while investing as little money as possible in the actual bike in case I only end up using it once. Nice bikes supposedly get stolen quite regularly in Munich, so I’m probably better off with my no-name ‘outdoor’ bike, anyway. Now to figure out the rules of the bike path…
4 comments
Tags: expat life, Munich, Ridiculous English
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Jul on 28 May 2008 |
17 comments
OK, I know, this is one of those posts that will only be interesting to me and perhaps a couple other crazy vegetable garden enthusiasts. But…. I’m so proud of my pepper I can’t help but share. We’ve named it Felice (Italian for ‘happy’). Isn’t he handsome? 
At 5 centimeters high, he’s by far the largest veggie we’ve got going on, but all the other plants are coming along nicely. The zucchini plants are humongous, spreading leaves well beyond the boundaries of their respective pots. I’m worried we’ll wake up one day and find out they’ve devised a plan to conquer the world. They’re sporting several buds, but nothing blooming yet.
The tomato plants are all flowering, and we have several clusters of strawberries in progress. Everything I planted from seeds has sprouted, so well that I’m going to have to reluctantly thin some of them out so everyone has room to grow big and strong and delicious. I can’t wait to start eating out of the garden! Although, truth be told, I’ve become so attached to Felice that the thought of eating him is starting to feel a little… wrong. What, does that make me crazy? See, this wouldn’t be happening if I was allowed to have a cat.
17 comments
Tags: balcony garden
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Jul on 26 May 2008 |
6 commentsWe had a little party for the Eurovision finale again this year. At least half the guests came reluctantly… either not having heard of Eurovision at all, or wondering why in the world I’d want to throw a party for such a ridiculous event. But everyone had fun whether they liked it or not, even though Germany’s entry embarrassed themselves with a horrible performance which left them tied for last place.
It amuses me how popular the Eurovision Song Contest is among other expat bloggers, as well. Adam publishes his list of favorites yearly. Beth did some live blogging not only for the finale, but for the semi-finals, too. Hard core. Snooker’s heart was stolen by the pirates. Brian is not so convinced he loves Eurovision, but blogs about it all the same. There’s always some scandal or other involved, such as this year’s English-language entry for France (as noted by Mark).
Despite my feverish voting for Azerbaijan, the winner was Russia’ s Dima Bilan, with this performance featuring a Stradivarius violin and an Olympic skater. What’s not to love?
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eLEYzjXApM]
6 comments
Tags: Europe, Eurovision, music
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Jul on 23 May 2008 |
14 comments
As ubiquitous as they are in the US, chocolate chips are practically unheard-of in the rest of the world’s supermarkets. Sometimes the clever expat must improvise:
1. Unwrap a bunch of dark chocolate bars (extra bonus step – freeze them first)
2. put them in a ziplock bag and seal it
3. break up the chocolate in the manner of your choosing (drop the bag on the floor several times, take a wooden mallet to it, etc. etc. Be creative!)
This little tip isn’t new… in fact American expats have been making their own chocolate chips using this method for decades, if not centuries. » Read the full post
14 comments
Tags: Americana, cooking, Eurovision, expat life, food
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Jul on 22 May 2008 |
11 commentsAnyone have a guess at what today is? That’s right: Fronleichnam*! It just sounds fun, doesn’t it? You know you’ve plumbed the depths of obscurity when even the Italians haven’t heard of your Catholic excuse for a day off of work. Not that I’m complaining, mind you. I think all countries could benefit from the addition of more obscure holidays, especially when those holidays mean days off of work.
These holidays keep sneaking up on us when we least expect them. Time to enter all the German holidays into my Outlook calendar so we can start making the most of our time off.
*That’s Corpus Christi in English. I didn’t bother to read the whole Wikipedia article, but it sounds like yet another day dedicated to the Catholic obsession with dead bodies. Now get celebrating!
11 comments
Tags: German culture, holidays
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Jul on 21 May 2008 |
One comment
Scott was responsible for finding us places to sleep in Tuscany, and he did a fabulous job.
For two nights we stayed at Hotel Il Rondo’, a gorgeous bed and breakfast in Montepulciano. Rarely have I stayed in a room so beautifully done. The ceilings had large square wooden beams as is typical in Tuscany, and many of the furnishings were antiques. Plus since the building is quite new, the facilities are modern, and there was even wireless internet access (which allowed me to easily do some blogging from the road).
In Siena we spent one night at the Chiostro del Carmine. The reception desk faces a gorgeous, secluded, quiet courtyard where I enjoyed relaxing for a few minutes. Our room was inside the old palazzo up a comically large staircase. From our room we had a sweeping view of the countryside around Sienna.
Neither of the hotels was super-luxurious, but both were clean, safe, and well-appointed. What I liked best, though, was how both of them felt like uniquely Italian accommodations. Such charming sleeping arrangements add to the overall trip experience in a lovely way. Sure beats the Holiday Inn.
One comment
Tags: Europe, hotels, Italy, travel, Tuscany
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Jul on 17 May 2008 |
12 commentsMy husband and I have never been plant people. Given the frequency with which we travel (and move), plants just never seemed to be worth the effort. My attempts to grow things and keep them alive have been limited to basil plants and the odd oregano. That is, until now.
A couple weekends ago we headed to the local Praktiker to pick up some pots and dirt with the intention of growing an extended herb garden. Our new apartment has a small south-facing balcony which gets too much sun for me to ever want to sit on it, so we might as well put something else out there, we reasoned. Then we came across the little seedling plants on display. Tomatoes and peppers and zucchini, oh my! And suddenly the idea of growing my own vegetables sounded like the most awesome thing ever. We bought up a bunch of plants, a few pots, and some dirt, and headed home.
A little internet research revealed how foolish and naive we had been, expecting to fit all those plants into relatively few pots. Who knew tomatoes needed so much space per plant? Not willing to give up on our foolishly-purchased little seedlings so easily, it was back to the store for more pots and dirt. Then an afternoon of planting, and voila!, we had an adorable little balcony vegetable garden underway.
The plants are all growing well, and I couldn’t be prouder of them. See that zucchini plant flowering? I did that! And what’s this, some teeny tiny strawberries? That was me! OMG, is that the start of a green pepper? Growing? On my balcony? This is the coolest feeling ever. Life, I am a giver of life!
The thing is, now I’m kind of getting addicted. I need more. I came across a big display of seeds in the grocery store yesterday, and I started salivating as I gleefully picked out packets that could be planted in May. Arugula, radishes, carrots, peas, lettuce… I can grow these, too? It was all I could do to keep from jumping up and down and clapping in the store.
So today it was back to the home store for more pots. And a spade and a watering can. Oh yeah, we’re getting hard-core now. The cash going into this new little passion is starting to add up, too. But the way I figure it, zucchini flowers sell for up to a euro apiece at the farmers’ market; so if our three plants each produce, say, 70 flowers each, we’ll have easily made our money back. And we’ll be eating a whole lot of stuffed zucchini flowers this summer. Yum.
12 comments
Tags: food, summer
