Living in a foreign country means always being a little bit out of place and being able to find little amusements and challenges around every corner. Sometimes you feel most at home feeling out of place.
This song captures that dynamic for me, and the video makes me miss Berlin.
I translated the lyrics from the original German into English, trying to maintain the intentionally stilted grammar. » Read the full post
In my recent travels I have been looking for opportunities to go for runs in my FiveFingers “barefoot” shoes. During our trip to Innsbruck I found a great run along the River Inn that runs through the city and provides great views.
The course I followed included the 5-Brücken-Runde (5 Bridge Loop), a ~5km route. » Read the full post
As part of our trip to the Faroe Islands, we were treated to a one-day nature excursion run by CoastZone North Atlantic. When we got up that morning we had no idea what to expect. The first hint that it would be more than a simple hike came when one of our travel companions was told that her boots were inadequate and she was offered a pair to borrow.
Our head guide, Eyðun, had worked for several years as police officer in the Faroe Islands and looked the part. » Read the full post
Today’s post is a guest post from my husband, Scott. I don’t do lines or crowds, so I was happily sleeping in while all this was happening…
There are few things that will get me out of bed early on a weekend, but naturally the opening of the new Apple Store in Munich is one of them. The store is Apple’s first retail presence in Germany and only the fourth in continental Europe. The location is hard to beat, right around the corner from Marienplatz and within sight of that great tourist magnet, the Glockenspiel.
The opening was scheduled for 10AM and I arrived a little before nine. There were already 150 people in line, with the people in the front claiming to have arrived around six. Half of the people seemed to be documenting the event, including the local television station, official Apple photographers and a couple of people who were live-blogging. The guy in front of me in line was talking to two people in a studio someplace doing a live video broadcast of the event from his laptop. A couple of times they cut to him for his exciting report, “The staff just came running out of the door, circling the crowd. Can you see them?” I already felt a bit dorky standing at line at 9 on a Saturday, but suddenly I was wondering who would want to be watching me standing in line?
By the time the store opened there appeared to be over 500 people in line, but things proceeded in an orderly German fashion. Everyone that entered was greeted by cheering staff and commemorative T-shirts were given to the first 2500 entrants.
Inside the retail staff were quite busy answering people’s questions. I was surprised how many people were actually buying things, including new laptops. There are at least three stores within a five minute walk where you could have bought the same items last week. For those who wanted to buy something today, there was always an employee nearby with a wireless checkout device.
If you have been to an Apple store recently, this one looked about the same. It is a two-story layout, with a spiral glass staircase. The highlight was of course the Genius Bars upstairs, where you can bring in your Apple product for free help. The two bars looked capable of servicing 4-5 people each, but you may have to wait a while to get a reservation; the website said there were no more spots available for the next week.
apple store munich
