My New Scarf

So, work has still been kicking my butt. Between work and moving, we haven't been doing much travel or photography. We have assembled quite a bit of IKEA furniture, but that's been the extent of the projects.

The one thing that does fit into the craziness is knitting. As I had bought twice as much yarn as needed for Herr J's scarf, I decided to make one for myself.

Finally, scarf #2 is complete! I've made some good progress while on the train to Frankfurt the past couple of weeks.

I loved the colors in this wool, but didn't want to be the silly couple with the matching scarves. So I made a thinner, ribbed scarf with fringe. I hadn't realized it would be so narrow with the ribbing, so I made it long enough to wrap around twice.

I'm looking forward to wearing it with jeans and tall brown suede boots!

(For those of you who knit, it's a simple pattern: repeat K2, P2 8 times, then K1.  On next row, K1, then repeat P2, K2 8 times)

The Bike Bell

Anyone who has spent time in a German city knows about the bike bells.

When Herr J first moved to Germany, he took his rugged hybrid bike to the store for a tune up. The store also checked that everything was up to code for city laws and made a few adjustments. Which was how he found his manly bike having a bell like all the little girls' bikes in the suburban US.

Here, the bells are a safety feature necessary for riding through city streets. Some cyclists use it a convenient warning to pedestrians walking in the bike path, and then there are some who seem to use their bells to get our their aggressions. But we've become accustomed to looking out when we hear a bike bell.

In Japan, one clever guy has taken it a step further and walks through the street ringing his bike bell.  The bike bell seems to work better than Pavlov's dinner bell.

We should try this here on a Saturday and see if it works enough to clear out some walking space in the central Munich shopping district!

IKEA Gingerbread House

There aren't many things you can't find at IKEA these days.  Let's be honest - most European city dwellers under the age of 40 can walk through their friends' apartments and name the products...Billy, PAX, Stolmen, Lack... all present and accounted for!

What I was surprised to find in December was an IKEA Gingerbread House kit

 

We posted last year on cool gingerbread houses - not only am I a huge admirer of such creative endeavors, but I've always wanted to make one. Sweets and architecture are both things I love!

Given our busy schedule, it was too ambitious to bake the whole thing. Buying a kit seemed the best plan. After all the IKEA stuff we've assembled in the past 2 months, I HAD to try this! 

I wasn't quite sure what I'd find inside. I was pleased to find the neatly designed packaging and the standard IKEA picture instruction booklet. 

However, I was surprised to find that this IKEA project did not come ready to assemble. It was missing some key components - the icing! Many kits come with tubes of icing, so I'd expected this one would also. (there was no other writing on the packaging to indicate what was included or not). It's like buying an Expedit that has no screws!

It did include a recipe for icing, but I really had no time before Christmas. So, back in the cupboard went the Pepparkaka Hus and with it my dreams of any Christmas decoration this year.

Fast forward to the new year...we're moving full steam ahead with lots of home improvement projects and very early spring cleaning. And I'm resolving to put some Christmas in my life this year, at random times in the year. Why not start now?

While making a cool gingerbread house is still on the project list for someday soon, I went the fully lazy route and bought a couple tubes of icing and a set of cookie decorations.

First, the assembly:

Let me just say that a gingerbread house sitting in the living room smells intoxicatingly good. That sweet and spicy smell....so good...but I had to wait until I decorated it and had photographic evidence before testing its taste.

One little goal accomplished.

Update on Sunday, January 8, 2012 at 10:00 by Frau A

Today, the chimney is gone. And a couple of the chocolate candies on top.

It is as tasty as it smelled - IKEA makes good gingerbread...just like its meatballs and Swedish chocolate torte.

I had feared it would be another Lebkuchenherz type of thing - no matter how hungry or drunk at Oktoberfest you are, trust me, they do NOT taste good!

Dirk's Daily Reading

From the man who sings Hasselhoff hits to himself at the freethrow line, a dramatic reading of Oops, I Did it Again.

Johnny Cash...in German!

Since I'd missed most of the Christmas markets, I was determined to get a small dose of German Christmas wonderfulness while I still can. Sunday evening we made a quick run to the World's Largest Feuerzangebowle at Isartor. It's small, but the square is filled with stands selling crepes, wurst, and pommes, and of course feuerzangebowle.

Isartor Feuerzangebowle

What we enjoy about this one (besides the fact that they remain open through Jan 6!), is that they show the classic movie die Feuerzangebowle on the Isartor walls. The also usually pipe in older American music.

Which is exactly why we found ourselves wondering, that sounds like Johnny Cash, but is it really him singing in German?

Yep, it is.

I'm not sure whether or not if he had any special motivation since he spent 3 years near Landsberg with the military, but Johnny Cash apparently recorded a few songs in German.

His 1978 compilation album The Unissued Johnny Cash of previously unreleased recordings (made in 1958-62) includes 2 tracks in German: Wo Ist Zu Hause, Mama (Five Feet High and Rising) and Viel Zu Sp ät (I Got Stripes). Apparently he recorded these when his songs became popular in German. Pretty forward-thinking for the time!

He also later recorded a German version of I Walk the Line. As you can see from the lyrics below, it's quite a different song. But it still sounds good and is probably better than trying to directly translate a song that has a lot of sayings in it.

Wer kennt den Weg Am allerschonsten war es doch zu Haus Und doch zog's mich einst in die Welt hinaus Und in der Ferne suchte ich mein Glück Wer kennt den Weg, den Weg zuruck Sie schenkte mir die Liebe und ihr Herz Doch ich bracht' ihr nur Tranen, Leid und Schmerz Denn ich verliesie und damit mein Gluck Wer kennt den Weg, den Weg zuruck Wer kennt den Weg zuruck in jene Zeit Den Weg zuruck in die Vergangenheit Den Weg nach Hause und zum ersten Glück Wer kennt den Weg, den Weg zuruck

(Translated) Who knows the way The most beautiful thing was to be at home And I was drawn out into the world And in the distance I sought my luck Who knows the way, the way back She gave me love and her heart But I brought her only tears, sorrow and pain So I lost her and with her my luck Who knows the way, the way back Who knows the way back in those days The way back to the past The way home and to that first luck Who knows the way, the way back

(Original) I Walk the Line I keep a close watch on this heart of mine. I keep my eyes wide open all the time. I keep the ends out for the tie that binds. Because you're mine, I walk the line. I find it very, very easy to be true. I find myself alone when each day is through. Yes, I'll admit that I'm a fool for you. Because you're mine, I walk the line. As sure as night is dark and day is light. I keep you on my mind both day and night. And happiness I've known proves that it's right Because you're mine, I walk the line. You've got a way to keep me on your side. You give me cause for love that I can't hide. For you I know I'd even try to turn the tide. Because you're mine, I walk the line.

He also appeared on the popular German show Wetten dass...? in 1983. Though he performed two songs in English, he did speak a bit to the audience in German between songs. Sure, he stumbles through it, but I certainly can't criticize anyone's attempts to speak a foreign language! I'm impressed he made the effort.

Wer kennt den Weg   Am allerschonsten war es doch zu Haus Und doch zog's mich einst in die Welt hinaus Und in der Ferne suchte ich mein Glück Wer kennt den Weg, den Weg zuruck   Sie schenkte mir die Liebe und ihr Herz Doch ich bracht' ihr nur Tranen, Leid und Schmerz Denn ich verliesie und damit mein Gluck Wer kennt den Weg, den Weg zuruck   Wer kennt den Weg zuruck in jene Zeit Den Weg zuruck in die Vergangenheit Den Weg nach Hause und zum ersten Glück Wer kennt den Weg, den Weg zuruck

(Translated) Who knows the way The most beautiful thing was to be at home AndI was drawn out into the world And in the distance I sought my luck Who knows the way, the way back   She gave me love and her heart But I brought her only tears, sorrow and pain So I lost her and with her my luck Who knows the way, the way back Who knows the way back in those days The way back to the past The way home and to that first luck Who knows the way, the way back

(Original) I Walk the Line I keep a close watch on this heart of mine. I keep my eyes wide open all the time. I keep the ends out for the tie that binds. Because you're mine, I walk the line. I find it very, very easy to be true. I find myself alone when each day is through. Yes, I'll admit that I'm a fool for you. Because you're mine, I walk the line. As sure as night is dark and day is light. I keep you on my mind both day and night. And happiness I've known proves that it's right Because you're mine, I walk the line. You've got a way to keep me on your side. You give me cause for love that I can't hide. For you I know I'd even try to turn the tide. Because you're mine, I walk the line.

More signs of the Apocalypse

Twilight branded hair styling equipment.

Sorry, Twilight "Sparkle" hair styling equipment. Even scarier.

As seen at Best Buy

Hello, 2012!

These aren't really New Year's resolutions, but a few things we'd like to do this year.  We know we won't do them all, but we know we'll also find some cool things to that we haven't thought of yet!

Travel:

Since we'll be using all of our vacation to organize or attend our wedding and honeymoon, we'll be trying to take trips that we can do on weekends or days from Munich.

Suleyman MosqueEaster in Istanbul - For an annual trip with friends from business school, we plan to meet this year in Istanbul. Last year's trip to Japan had to be cancelled at the last minute, but we're expecting Istanbul to work out this time. I went many years ago but that was before having a good camera and knowing about HDR!

The Ice Church - This ice church in Mitterfirmiansreut (near the Polish border) looks interesting and like a great photo op. Now that we've been to our Igloo, it's only fitting we visit "God's Igloo," as it is called.

photo from http://www.eisriesenwelt.atEisriesenwelt Werfen - The largest ice cave in the world is conveniently located just south of Salzburg.  It opens again in May.

Slyrs & Lantenhammer Distillery - After tasting some of their whisky and liquers, we'd love to visit the distillery. It's only an hour train ride away and conveniently located within walking distance of a BOB station!

Bamberg - We almost visited last year, but it wasn't worth going when most of the sites were still closed for winter. We'd love to see its charming old town and taste some good Franconian beer!

Skiing! No need to explain. Though it would also be fun to try the waterskiing place in Ascheim. I haven't been in years and love it

SchoberhütteWe'd love to go back and do different routes on two of this year's hikes. We'd love to hike to the Schoberhütte at Fuschl (we hiked only to the Frauenkopf because we had afternoon plans). And I have a masochistic desire to hike UP the Höllentallerklamm to the Alpspix. We hiked down, and I don't think my muscles have ever hurt so long from a hike! I suspect the up will be more difficult, but result in less pain the next day.

Munich Sights & Events:

Above all, we'd like to spend more time taking advantage of all of the local museums. The Deutsches Museum would be great for cold, rainy days. And we're so close to the Münchener Stadtmuseum (City museum) and the Jewish Museum. And we've seen too few of the city's art museums!

Beer gardens & Euro 2012 - While we have 2 more years to wait for the World Cup, Germany takes the UEFA European Football Championship (Europameisterschaft) just as seriously.  It also coincides with beer garden weather...

If the city again offers free Bavarian folkdancing lessons leading up to the Kocherlball, I'd love to learn a little and go do the Kocherlball right this year. We'll have to arrive much earlier this year...

There's just so much to see here. We'll probably still go to the same festivals, but hope to try some of the smaller ones this year and take more advantage of what Munich has to offer.

Hobbies:

Finish the half-sewn dirndl that had to be put away when work got too busy - perhaps in time for a Starkbierfest outing! The top and bottom are both made, but have not been sewn together. Time to take the plunge! And of course finish my scarf. But that will take just one or two train trips to Frankfurt!

Photoshop - I received a great book on Photoshop for Christmas and I'd love to get better in using it. More importantly, to take the time to go through the thousands of pictures sitting in folders on my hard drive.

Kitchen experiments - I have dreams of trying to create some German fusion dishes. In fact, I might just try something this week. Stay tuned! Plus I'd love to make use of the cake decorating tips and the cute little Bavarian cookie cutters I bought last year.

Other:

Christmas in July - I say this every year, but I'd love to do a Christmas party in summer. If we can keep it alive, we'll decorate the tree (he's potted, not cut, but the last one didn't survive summer on my balcony).  Make some Christmas cookies and feuerzangebowle.... It's always too busy around the holidays to actually do any baking and decorating, but I'm tired of that stopping me. So, we'll just have Christmas again when there's plenty of time to enjoy!

Perhaps the biggest to-do this year for us will be the small matter of planning a wedding in the US. With a lot of legwork from my wonderful parents, Herr J and I were able to set the date, church, and reception over a few days of our Christmas trip and I found a wonderful dress. Now for all of the other details....

If anyone has other recommendations for fun and interesting things to do in the area, we'd love to hear them - or better, your plans for 2012!

Wishing you all a very happy New Year, or as we say here Einen guten Rutsch!