Guest post: back to school with the German Schultüte

A short time ago, children all over Bavaria headed back to school for the fall term. Some of them (specifically, the first graders) were carrying unwieldy cardboard cones that were almost as big as the children themselves. I asked my friend eNVie, who recently made a Schultüte (literally: “school cone”) herself, to explain what these things are all about. Parents in Germany, take note. Here’s what she has to say: » Read the full post

Tags: German culture, Germany, guest post

A spin around Cologne, with bloggers

Alaaf! This year’s WEBMU (Whiny Expat Blogger Meet-Up) took place in Cologne. Our hosts Resident Evil on Earth, Cheap as Chips, and Futile Diatribes did an excellent job of putting together a fun-filled agenda for all of us.  » Read the full post

Tags: beer, bloggers and the people who love them, Cologne, Germany, restaurants, travel

FiveFingers Run in Innsbruck

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

The only jack-o-lantern on the block

Last night we decided to be true to our American roots and got creative with a pumpkin. When I first moved to Europe in the 90s, Halloween-style pumpkins were nowhere to be found, but this year we were able to pick up one at our local farmers market for only €3 (it was even labeled as a “Halloween-Kürbis”). » Read the full post

Tags: Americana, holidays

Dom, dom dom dom… Köln!

We just returned from a weekend of cavorting with other expat bloggers in Cologne. More about WEBMU is coming up in a future post; right now I want to show you a ridiculous number of photos from our rooftop tour of the cathedral, one of the highlights of the weekend.

Cologne’s cathedral (Dom in German) is the city’s big recognizable landmark. It is Gothic and old, and definitely worth exploring from as many angles as possible.

The tour started with a walk along a narrow balcony that snaked its way around the interior of the church from about half-way up.  » Read the full post

Tags: bloggers and the people who love them, Cologne, Europe, Germany, travel

Interview: Creative Tourism with Elena

On our recent trip to Innsbruck I had the pleasure of meeting Elena Paschinger of Kreativ Reisen Österreich (Creative Tourism Austria). As an artist and avid traveler, i was excited to learn more about creative tourism. I thought several of my readers would, too, so I asked Elena to answer some questions for us. » Read the full post

Tags: Austria, creative tourism, interview, travel

Now is the time on Sprockets when we dance

I have a mountain of blog posts in the works that will be coming up soon now that we’re all recovered from Oktoberfest and our month of visitors. Life in Munich is back to normal, still with plenty going on (Auer Dult, for example) but fewer drunk people in lederhosen.

Last night was the Lange Nacht der Museen, when all kinds of museums and galleries offer special programming and stay open until 2am. This year’s event had two highlights for me, both distinctly German.

Highlight #1: The Potato Museum » Read the full post

Auf Wiedersehen, Oktoberfest!

Oktoberfest ended on Monday, and we made it all the way to the end (quite literally, as we were in the Armbrustschützenzelt finishing our last maß of beer as the staff started washing down the tables for the last time). » Read the full post

Tags: Bavaria, festivals, Germany, Munich, Oktoberfest

Oktoberfest: getting your weißbier on

You may have heard that you need to be sitting inside (or on the terrace of) a tent to be served beer at Oktoberfest. This is mostly true. Indeed, it is the only way you’ll be able to get your hands on a big old maß (liter) of special Oktoberfest brew. But if you don’t mind drinking weißbier (wheat beer) in small vessels (only half liter), head for one of the many outdoor stands that serve it up. You’ll need to drink your weißbier in the general vicinity of where you bought it, but these little areas are often quite pleasant places to hang out. I tend to prefer them to the hot, loud, sweaty insides of a tent, especially on a beautiful sunny day. » Read the full post

Tags: Bavaria, beer, festivals, Germany, Munich, Oktoberfest

Oktoberfest: breakfast of champions

We (along with most everyone else in Munich) are hosting a lot of house guests these days. Seems like as good a time as any to add to my breakfast-making repertoire. Plus, I like to make up recipes. Our most recent guests (the delightful Redenii) inspired this experiment with their love of German pretzels. We had a few left over one day, and I was trying to figure out what to do with them before they went stale. At the same time, I was thinking about the next day’s breakfast, which was possibly going to be french toast. You can probably figure out where this is going.  » Read the full post

Tags: cooking, food, Germany, recipe