Going on in Munich: July 2010

As usual, my travel schedule will be calming down with the heat of summer, so I’m on the lookout for local fun here in Munich. After a very rainy June, the entire city is excited to sit outside under the chestnut trees and drink beer, but there are actually other fun ways to entertain oneself in the city of beer gardens, too.

Munich Filmfest (until July 3). The Filmfest started last week but you can still catch the end of it – movies are playing through Saturday. There are several international categories, and you can find plenty of films in English or subtitled in English. If you’re lucky you’ll catch a director’s talk, too.

Soccer Watching (until July 11). The World Cup is being viewed pretty much everywhere in Munich. Most biergartens and restaurants offer screens large and small. There’s a big screen set up for the German games at Bordeauxplatz, and at Wittelsbacherplatz you can find Siemens Soccer City.

Open Artist Studios (July 10-11). During Kunst im Karrèe dozens of artists open their Schwabing studios to the public. My feet ached after two days of pounding the pavement last year, but it was worth it. I recommend checking out the artists in advance (online or get a catalog) so you can target the ones who look most interesting to you.

Christopher Street Day (July 17-18). It’s almost time for the annual invasion of Marienplatz by racing drag queens. More gay pride fun than you can shake a big, throbbing stick at.

Tollwood (July 1-25). Hippie shopping, international food, and lots of concerts. This year’s highlights include the Pet Shop Boys, Norah Jones, Crosby, Stills & Nash, and, uh, Michael Bolton.

What will you be doing this July?

Tags: cheap things to do in Munich, German culture, Germany, Munich, news, soccer, summer

Drag queens, Jesus freaks, and lots and lots of artists

It’s been just another wonderful summer weekend in Munich. I’m really happy to be spending some time at home these days.

The first super fabulous event that occupied my weekend was Kunst im Karrée. For two days over 70 artist studios were open for visitors in and around the neighborhood of Schwabing. It was an excellent opportunity not only to see great work and talk to some very interesting artists, but also to peek inside some beautiful, beautiful private studios and apartments in one of Munich’s most sought-after neighborhoods. The artists were definitely more friendly and talkative the first day than the second, understandably so when you think about how long their days lasted.

The second event of the weekend was the Christopher Street Day celebration that took over central Munich, delighting locals and confusing tourists. Today we caught the tail end of the high heel competition, featuring local drag queens at their fiercest.

Oh yeah, and apparently there is some sort of gigantic conference of Jehovah’s Witnesses going on in Munich. There were scores of them all over the city. I wonder how they liked the drag queens.

Tags: art, Munich, summer

Cheap summer fun in Zurich

This weekend we grabbed our perpetually-packed suitcases and headed to Zurich to visit friends. The weather was what most people call “gorgeous”, and we made the most of it by spending time in and around the lake (and on the roof deck).

Lake Zurich is the part of Zurich I miss most, especially during the summer. The view is unbeatable (Zurich’s charming skyline in one direction, snow-capped Alps in the other), and the water is so clean and clear it begs you to get in and swim around. The lake is surrounded by badis, areas where one can swim, sun, drink crappy beer, etc. for around a CHF 6 entrance fee. But if that’s too steep for you (and you can live without a changing room), you can also just jump into the lake for free in many areas.

And if you’re looking for more free fun in this ridiculously expensive city, this summer you can wander around admiring its latest city art display: painted plant pots. In the same spirit that brought cows to Chicago* and Mr. Potato Heads to Providence, Zurich has decided that this year, giant pots were the way to go. At first I didn’t like them very much, but they grew on me over the course of the weekend. I think the penguin one was my favorite.**

And now, after five back-to-back trips, I think I’ll stay home for awhile. I’ve been missing Munich.

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* Actually Zurich did the cows before Chicago did. Zurich also did teddy bears a few years back.
** Notice how all the penguins are wearing suits, except for one with a mohawk and a t-shirt that says “Lech mich”.

Tags: summer, swimming, Switzerland, travel, Zurich

Scavengers in the Biergarten

In case you were wondering what summer in Munich is like, it’s simple: all biergarten all the time.

These photos are from the biergarten at Seehaus, in the middle of the English Garden. This beer garden distinguishes itself from the millions of others in that 1) it’s on a lake and 2) it has a wider selection of food than most other beer gardens. Not that this matters to those who bring their own food along, something you are allowed to do in all of Munich’s beer gardens as long as you purchase beverages there. Just make sure to sit in the self-serve beer garden area, rather in the fancier restaurant area that most beer gardens have (usually denoted by tablecloths, silverware, or other fancy stuff on the tables).

Biergartens are great for people-watching, from the drunken bachelor parties collecting tags from panties to the older Germans with their pimped-out picnic tables (complete with fancy table cloths, cutting boards, and centerpieces). The bums walking around scavenging for leftover food and beer make you think Munich might not be such a bad place to be homeless (but just in the summer). As the crowds thin out at night, the ducks come to compete with the bums for the leftover pretzels.

Beer gardens tend open around 11 am and close much earlier than their attached restaurants, usually between 9 and 11 pm.

Tags: beer, Germany, Munich, summer

Bell pepper season

I don’t know what’s being harvested in the rest of the world, but on my balcony here in Munich, bell pepper season is in full swing. Given that they live in pots, instead of out in the wild, each of our bell pepper plants had an important decision to make: size or quantity. Some plants, such as the one that produced the green peppers in the photo, went for size. Its peppers approached the dimensions of bell peppers one sees in the grocery store, but there were only three of them growing on the whole plant. Other plants, such as the one which grew these red peppers, shunned size and went for the numbers instead. A couple plants have as many as 12 peppers growing at once, but they are all midget-sized. No matter: all of them are tasty.

As of this weekend it has turned cold in Munich. While I am very excited about the arrival of autumn, I know that this means my balcony garden’s days are numbered. I suppose I could harvest the remaining green tomatoes (40 or so) now, before the plants die, and ripen them on the windowsill. The zucchini plants are still alive, but due to a stubborn white mildew seem to be done producing any zucchini. There are some carrots left to be picked, and several more peppers, but otherwise I guess the balcony meal ticket is about to come to an end. Now to figure out how to remove plants while salvaging the pots and soil. Anyone have any tips?

Related reading:

• In which we find a use for our balcony
• Garden update: Felice the Pepper
• Hailstorm in the veggie garden
• More balcony garden talk
• Are tomatoes supposed to have noses?

Tags: summer

In which we find a use for our balcony

My 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.

Tags: food, summer

Floating through the city

After two years of cancellation, Zurich’s annual Limmat River Swim was finally able to take place yesterday. The weather was gloriously sunny, making us oh-so-excited to jump in the cool water for a leisurely float through the city.

The event was extremely well organized (as we should have expected). We purchased our 27-franc tickets near the start and then went to the Frauenbad to get ready to go. We placed all of our clothes and other belongings into numbered plastic bags; these bags went onto a boat that beat us to the finish line, meaning our things were conveniently waiting for us on arrival. We were also given numbered wristbands (so we could retrieve the correct bags) and round floaty things to take with us on our swim.

There was an MC broadcasting over a loud speaker system, narrating exciting stuff such as ‘the next group is getting ready to go’ and interviewing participants about whether it was their first time ‘dabii’. When it was time for our group to start, we took our floaty things and jumped in. The river gently carried us in the right direction, and we were left to enjoy the effort-free ride.

Several spectators looked on from the river banks and bridges in places, but mostly it was a quiet, tranquil journey through the heart of the city. We floated peacefully past the Grossmunster, the Hauptbahnhof, and all of Zurich’s other landmarks. It was a lot of fun to see the city from a new angle (unfortunately we don’t own a waterproof camera, so no swimmer’s-eye-view pics).

At the end (which came all too soon), we collected our things and changed out of our bathing suits in the makeshift changing rooms (public buses with the windows covered over). Then we went to find out what free stuff was waiting for us – a souvenir glass, a bottle of Rivella, and a veggie burger (or sausage). And as if that wasn’t enough, we got to keep our floaty things, too.

All in all it was a really nice way to spend a sunny afternoon (and I’m not just saying that because there was free stuff). It’s definitely something I’d do again.

Tags: summer, swimming, Switzerland, Zurich

Zurich: upcoming events

Just in case you find yourself in Zurich in the month of August, I figured I’d share some upcoming events we’re looking forward to…

Street Parade – Time to break out the peacock-feather pasties, boys and girls! This coming Saturday, downtown Zurich will turn into one great big techno dance party, with floats, costumes, and music thumping louder than your heartbeat. The people-watching is divine. Some more photos from last year’s event to whet your appetite…

Limmat River Swim – this elusive event has been canceled due to inclement weather for the last two years. Given the way this summer has been going, it’s hard to count on it happening this year, either, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed. From what I hear it’s really more floating than swimming, and a whole lot of easy-going summer fun.

Lucerne Festival Street Music – not quite Zurich (but not very far away, either), Lucerne will be filled with free music every evening from Aug 21-26 as the “crème de la crème of the world’s buskers” perform. I wonder if there will be any mariachis?

Tags: summer, swimming, Switzerland, Zurich