Valentine's Day - Part III: Tiki Drinks and Chocolate

After Saturday's Bavarian-Cuban fusion concert and Sunday's trip to the World Cup Women's Downhill Skiing event, Herr J wrapped up the Valentine's weekend with a delightful dinner at Davvero, the restaurant at the Charles Hotel.

We arrived early and had a drink in the bar. This guy was fun - he reminds me of the Brady Bunch episode where they go to Hawaii.

The dinner itself was wonderful - very light and delicate, but flavorful. We started with a seared scallop in a light beet sauce, followed by a sort of deconstructed ceviche with mango. The pasta course was black truffle-topped ravioli filled with quail, followed by a main of dover sole.

Given that everything was delicious and light, we were shocked by what followed for dessert. In addition to a sampler plate of little deserts, came this wonderful monstrosity. A very large flourless chocolate cake, topped with berries, chunks of white chocolate, a truffle, and a white chocolate heart. WOW! We did our best, but were not able to finish it all. But it was a wonderful end to a great meal. And I love their philosophy of serving a relatively light dinner, saving the power for dessert.  

In good German style, we topped off the meal with a glass of schnapps. We tried something new, a Hazelnut schnapps. It tasted good (though strong), but let me just say that the smell of is like crack for your sense of smell. This stuff smells amazing. intoxicating, actually. One one hand, it reminds me of the good smells of a sawmill - very woody. On the other, it's the smell of hazelnut, which is the smell of nutella and other good things. It's not so much that I want to drink it, but that I want to carry around a vial of it and just smell it. It's the Gansloser Haselnussgeist from the Swabian distillery Gansloser. I guess it's not so surprising, now that I learn one of their main focuses is on having the true aroma of the fruit (though through natural methods, not artificial). I'm interested in trying their other flavors!

For my part, I decided to make a homemade Valentine's card. I'll let Herr J discuss his gift another time and tell you the story behind it.

It was a wonderful weekend of unique activities. I'm wondering what unusual event he comes up with next year! 

Valentine's Weekend Part II - World Cup Skiing

We've been trying to make the most of living in Germany by trying new activities and sampling different aspects of the culture, not just the beer. 

After kicking off Valentine's weekend with a surprisingly fun Cuban - Bavarian fusion concert, Herr J took me down to Garmisch (Garmisch-Partenkirchen) on Sunday for the Women's Downhill event of the World Cup of Alpine Skiing. 

Despite a few previous ski trips with friends in Colorado (in which I stuck to the green slopes and more enjoyed the hot tub and après ski activities than the skiing), I only learned to ski last year. And I'm hooked. But, I'll never be a fast or aggressive skiier...I'm just happy to enjoy the skiing and the gorgeous views. 

But this was a great new experience - I think I'd even watch it on TV now! 

We decided to take an early train down to Garmisch, thinking we would beat the crowd on the train that arrived before the event. While we were there in time to get seats, we forgot that most of the Germans would go down a couple hours early - either to ensure being on time, or to enjoy the festivities before the event start. 

Unlike many events I've attended, this one was amazingly well-planned. They had shuttle buses ready at the train station to take people to the slopes. Let me be clear....they had many buses, enough to actually carry everyone there who had arrived on the train. Event planners in Germany do a great job with huge events, though I guess 200 years of Oktoberfest has taught them many lessons in logistics and crowds!

There were various entertainers and bands along the path to the venue, giving it a very festive atmosphere:

 Percussion Band Using Ski Equipment as Instruments    

 

  

The "bouncers" were a great idea! Very clever to distinguish security and make them fun. At the same time, being on stilts gave them a view above the crowd to see better (and be seen). 

We had some time before the event began, and started the morning with some coffee and baguette pizza, listening to the band. These guys were fascinating...I wish I'd brought the camera with video because it's so hard to describe. They had a pretty good bass player and a very large band. Though I just can't understand how (or why) they turned Sweet Home Alabama into a reggae song. They were fun - playing a range of 80s, Oktoberfest/après ski songs, American classics, and a lot of AC/DC. They weren't bad on AC/DC, but You Shook Me All Night Long just doesn't sound right at medium volume...it needs to be just on the border of too loud!

As with most events in Germany, there was a new model car on display, this time Audi's A1. It would be a great city car, and the interior was colorful and reminded me of a Mini Cooper.

The actual viewing area turned out to be a really great venue. Obviously you can't see the entire downhill course from the stands, so it's shown on big screens as the skiiers progress through the course. The great part about watching the screen is that we see their times and how they compare to the leader at each gate. Then we see them come down through the finish line. So, it's the best of both live and TV viewing!  

Lindsey Vonn (USA), 2nd place 

Stacey Cook (USA)  

Lara Gut (Switzerland)  

Tina Maze (Slovenia)    

Macarena Simari Birkner (Argentina)

(I loved Team Argentina's colorful, whimsical uniforms. They remind me a little of the crazy Japanese pop art style wallpaper on Windows 7!)

The announcers were great - they seamlessly switched between German, English, and French. And the music guy had a pretty odd sense of humor. They tried to match the music to the skiier, but sometimes had to just fall back on national stereotypes that weren't quite right. For Argentina's Macarena Simari-Birkner, obviously they played the Macarena (and asked the crowd to dance along!). For her sister Maria Belen Simari-Birkner, somehow they decided to play the Ketchup Song. I guess it was the next Spanish song that tried to gain the popularity of the Macarena, but it was a stretch! For Lindsey Vonn, they played the Mission Impossible Theme; for one of the Swiss competitors, they played a yodeling song about Heidi.  

Regina Mader (Austria)

Not surprisingly, the winner was an Austrian - Elisabeth Goergl. But we were thrilled to see American Lindsey Voss take the silver, ahead of Germany's favorite Maria Riesch. She had quite a large cheering section and seemed to know the course well (she looked so much more comfortable with it than anyone else).

If you've ever skiied in Austria, then you understand why we expect an Austrian to win. At least based on the 10 year olds who are whizzing down the mountain in perfect, effortless form. By the time they're in their 40s, they're bored with the skiing and are the ones you see skiing down a black backwards, or linking together endless chains of 360°s down the slope. Maybe it's nature, maybe it's nurture...but they're just good.

Unfortunately the Men's Downhill training session was cancelled due to poor conditions. However, we warmed up with Glühwein and then amused ourselves in the Milka pavilion. Milka (known as the chocolate with the purple cow) sponsors a team of European skiiers, including Germany's Maria Riesch. For this event, they had a pavilion with a giant inflatable purple cow, and games. There were 5 stations of winter inspired games. We first decided to play the snowball toss (throw foam balls through a target, with a speedometer showing how fast you threw) after Herr J commented that no one seemed to know how to throw a ball here. That's somewhat true, as European sports involve fancy footwork, not throwing. So, most European boys do not grow up knowing how to throw a baseball. However, by age 5 they blow away the typical American kid with their soccer ball tricks. So, I told him he needed to show how it was done. He was impressive, throwing one 85 km/h. (these are soft foam balls, not baseballs) directly through the target. Once I realized they were giving out chocolate to all participants, I decided I would gladly risk public humiliation if choclate was the reward. I got in 2 or 3, so I guess those high school softball days did have a benefit!

 Fresh melted Milka chocolate!!Of course, we played the other games to get chocolate as well....a video ski simulator, a timed word game matching up words to a yodel, and an old fashioned "video game" where you lead a probe through a winding path and try not to touch the sides.

Plus, it was another lovely day in the mountains! 

Our Valentine's Day Tradition

Bears & Friends Gelatine-free Heart Mix

Herr J started a tradition last year of taking me to an unusual event for Valentine's weekend. So far, he's two for two in successful, unusual events.

Last year we went to the GOP. No, not a conservative convention....the GOP Varieté in Munich. It's a German variety show and dinner theatre, full of acrobatic, comedy, and other talent acts. Luckily, the man next to us was pulled up onto stage - I'm not sure how I would have done that without being able to communicate well! The acrobats on the long strips of cloth were my favorite, along with a very unique juggling act by the very talented Abddi the Master Juggler.

This year, Herr J arranged a full Valentine's weekend of new and different activities, including a mystery concert on Saturday night. He wouldn't tell me what it was, and said it was impossible to guess because it was so odd. He was correct, but it also was good.

We kicked off Valentine's weekend with a Cuban-Bavarian Folk fusion band. Really. It's shocking, but the two styles can blend well. The Cuban percussion and rhythms add somethign to the Bavarian style, and some of the yodeling type sounds work well in a Cuban style.  Their sax/clarinet player was really somethign special - he played both soprano and what we think was a bass saxaphone. Though I did have some moments of painful Kenny G flashbacks during a couple of his solos. Maybe it was the recent Superbowl commercial, maybe he was just that good. Though I wanted Cuban music, not muzak!

This band seems to have a pretty wide following here, as they sold out a suburban community center with over 500 seats (by our rough count). Die Cuba Boarischen ("Boarisch" is slang for Bavarian) travels to Cuba for a few weeks per year, exchanging culture and music, and gaining inspiration. They have a pretty extensive tour around Germany, too.

Here's one of their songs, blending two Cuban and Bavarian songs about the train, switching between styles and languages:

On Sunday we took a short train trip into the mountains for a completely different experience, followed up on Monday (actually Valentine's Day) with a fabulous dinner. More about those tomorrow!

More Krapfen

With 3 more weeks until Fasching (Germany's version of Carnival or Mardi Gras), Krapfen Season is still in full swing.

Krapfen are more than just jelly donuts. Most are not fried and greasy - instead they are soft fluffy pillows of lightly sweetened dough, with subtly flavored fillings.  Usually the custard filled ones are filled with a custard that is more of a super light mousse. Those filled with something stronger (jam, chocolate, nutella, etc) have a small amount of filling. Just the perfect amount to give you the taste but not overpower the delicacy of the dough. A good krapfen is really special!

We were lucky to find a krapfen version of Herr J's favorite German dessert, bienenstich, at a Rischart bakery! It's their new flavor for 2011 and we wholeheartedly approve!

So tasty...a creamy light custard in the middle, topped with a light glaze and toasted almond slivers...

This

quickly became this!

Herr J also brought home some more festive krapfen from San Francisco Coffee Company (seriously, these little guys are everywhere from New Years to Lent!).  Really great dough part, with a small bit of nougat inside. Gorgeous and tasty, but really sweet...these would be best to share.

Gummi Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day!

Red Roses from Bears & Friends - these are really tasty! Flavored cherry, strawberry, raspberry, and black currant.

Weißbier Round 1 - Naturtrüb

We had tried normal weißbier, dunkel weißbier, and even Kristallweißbier, but the Naturtrüb and Hefetrüb weißbiers were something we'd never heard of before. Another mystery to investigate in the Beer Tournament... 

What we learned was that, in most cases, the Naturtrüb or Hefetrüb names just denote normal weißbiers, translating to mean "unfiltered" or "naturally cloudy". With the exception of the Kristallklar weißbiers, most are unfiltered. "Naturtrüb" is a term you also often encounter when buying cider or natural apple juice. While clear used to denote clean and safe drinking, in the past years, it has come to be seen as fake and overprocessed. Here, natural is seen as better and people can be suspicious of perfectly clear juices. Bio is better, or so I keep hearing....

So, after learning what these beers were, we continued on with the tastings. First up were Paulaner's and Andechs' Weißbiers. Paulaner offers a dark, a filtered (Kristallklar), this unfiltered Hefe-Weißbier Naturtrüb, as well as a Light and an Alcohol-free version. Andechs offers this Weissbier Hefetrüb and a Weissbier Dunkel.

This first competition was very close to a tie - both tasted extremely similar, with only a single taste note distinguishing them. And with that, Andechs advanced to the 2nd round for having a slightly more pleasing taste. Paulaner again came through with a good beer, though.

Next up were Franziskaner's Weissbier Naturtrüb and Hacker-Pschorr's Sternweisse. Franziskaner offers the same 5 weißbier types as Paulaner, with Naturtrüb being their main (and world-renowned) weißbier. Hacker-Pschorr, on the other hand, offers a Dunkel Weisse, a Hefe Weisse, a Lite, and this Sternweisse ("White Star") weißbier. The Sternweisse was popular in the 1920s and offers a slightly less carbonate and lighter tasting unfiltered weißbier. It also has a slightly darker amber color. However, it's a bit boring. It's really drinkable, but not interesting. The scent is promising, with smells of cloves and bananas and other great weißbier scents - but the actual taste is much lighter. As Franziskaner was a much more interesting and tasteful beer, it advanced to compete in the 2nd round against the Andechs.

In the Andechs vs Franziskaner contest, the victory went to Andechs. Though we've always known Andechs to have great beers, we had expected Franziskaner would win. Again, we were wrong.. The Andechs was slightly lighter and a little sweeter, serving as a perfect example of how a weißbier should taste!

Milestones in Language Learning

There are certain milestones in learning a language, those moments when you feel “wow, I can communicate!” They’re particularly sweet, buried amongst all the other failures and inabilities to express yourself.

People say you have truly learned when you dream in the language. But before that we have:

• When you successfully argue with the telephone/utility companies
• When you can give directions to someone who asks you on the street
• Making small talk with strangers
• When you can help someone who asks for help

Normally, I have trouble understanding random questions from strangers  - I need context to understand, so something out of the blue can be difficult. Today, a sweet little old lady asked me in the grocery store to help her read the expiration date on a loaf of bread. She had forgotten her reading glasses. I read the date, which was yesterday’s date (odd in a German store!), and we both said that was too old. Then I looked for another loaf that was good for another week. It usually feels good to be able to help someone. It felt GREAT to finally be able to do it in German.