Women's World Cup - Sweden vs. Australia

Frau A and I had already seen a game of the Women's World Cup (group stage).  But when friends from Dallas came to visit, we got tickets for the next weekend too.  Again in Augsburg, again Sweden, but this time against Australia.

It was easy to reach the stadium on trams that ran every few minutes from the city center -- and clearly marked!

It was another hot, sunny day with blue skies (our seats were in the shade, otherwise we might have roasted).

A lot of German fans supported Sweden, but the awesome Australian fans definitely made themselves known!  (They're all smiles with the headgear and blow-up kangaroo.)

We also noticed a lot of girls' soccer teams that came in a group.  Great to see the sport building a large base.

With these teams, we suspected the game would be physical, and it was.  At least three yellow cards were handed out, and every ball was strongly contested. 

Sweden built a quick 2-0 lead, but Frau A caught the incredible Aussie score in a series of fast photographs.
It was a precision shot at distance (both the goal and the photos, actually).  Fantastic stuff!

In the last photo above, the black splotch is the person in front of us standing to cheer.

However, after that, the Swedish keeper constantly went airborne to protect the net.  She had to, because Australia had nine corner kicks vs. Sweden's three.

The Australian goalie made a tight save here, to the disappointment of the Swedish attacker.

The Australian defense made an error passing back to the goalie and Sweden capitalized.  3-1.

After this mistake, Australia never really threatened anything, and the Swedes won handily.  This is their victory dance that became popular as the went undefeated in the group stage.

We really lucked out -- two beautiful days with two fun games.  But we had tickets to one more...

Dirndl Progress

After many, many hours of marking, pinning, and cutting, I'm finally making some progress on the dirndl project.

 

Let's just say that this will be a giant learning experience, as the instructions are full of a long list of things I've never done:

• make something with a lining
• use interfacing
• use a pattern without seam allowances included
• princess seams
• pleats

So, to start off, I decided to be cautious and do something else I've never done before - make a test version!

As usual, the first challenge was figuring out what size to use: (For those of you non-sewers, the pattern comes drawn for several sizes and you cut it out to your size). This part is never fun, as your pattern size usually is a size or two (or three) above the size you wear from a store. Similar to how couture and some designers haven't changed their sizing over the years will have you in a larger size than the other designers who have increased the sizing over the years.

The test version worked out ok, though it did show me this would be much harder than I thought!

And then the not so fun part began....I traced and cut and traced and traced and...  For the 6 pattern pieces, I had to mark and cut each one 6 different times! And I ended up doing an extra 2 sets because I'd cut out the lining backwards.  So, the bright purple cotton lining is now a blue silky patterned fabric. A much better choice, but frustrating to have to do it all over again.

As you see from the top picture, I had to draw 1.5mm seam allowances around everything before cutting it out.

Here we have the outside of the dirndl cut. The skirt parts are cut out too, but I've put those away for now. I think the bodice will be 80% of the work! 

After all that cutting, I decided to cheat a little on the lining. Since all of the markings would be on the interfacing (the black material, which irons onto the lining fabric).  I just ironed them on to the lining and then cut around it. I couldn't bear the the process of measuring and drawing the seam allowances again!!

  

I took advantage of having cut out the lining backward and used those pieces as another test. After my first not-so-good attempt, I researched how to sew curves and princess seams. (excellent hint from ThreadsMagazine: cutting notches in the convex one and ironing out the concave one to make it bigger is a HUGE help).

Not bad for a beginner! (though apparently I need a tailor's ham to properly iron out the curve...yet another thing I knew nothing about)

And everything is laid out to start the sewing (lining, interfacing side up)

The funny part is that the actual sewing part takes very little time. It's all the measuring, marking, pinning, and cutting that takes all the time. Oh, and the reading the pattern a thousand times to try to understand what it is saying. I swear, it's tougher to decipher than most legal documents!

So here's the first measurable progress, the bodice lining.

I definitely like this lining better than the first fabric!

Hopefully I'll get some free time to work on the outside this week.

Blogging Yin & Yang - spam comments

Frau A and I are seeing some consistent traffic on Schnitzelbahn now, and that's rewarding for an income-free hobby.  We also enjoy learning through the blogging experinece, with its tools (like Squarespace, our host) and site meters (like Google Analytics).

Of course everything comes with its downsides, and we're seeing one such example more frequently nowadays:  spam comments!

Check out the comments added to Schnitzelbahn on August 9:

I'm not sure if these were added manually, or automated like email spam can be.  I wonder how the person (or computer algorithm) chose those specific Schnitzelbahn pages to spam?  And do you ever wonder why spam is so nonsensical?

Well, who wouldn't want to buy "replica Jessica Simpson Boots" from a watch store???

So I just had to check out the spam link.  It does, in fact, bring you to a web site that appears legitimate.  But when you look closely, things seem a little...off.  At a professional UK site, you have certain expectations about the language, tone of voice, consistency, etc.

First, I noticed the top banner on the page:

"WristWatch" is spelled with a second capical "W" -- strike one.  The price (at a UK site) is in US dollars -- strike two.  And A Rolex for $88? -- strike three.  Maybe theey know the guy that used to sell them down my street in New York City...

Also, you do not sell Rolex watches because they are "World-Recognized".  Rolex buyers are attracted to the prestige, quality and craftsmanship, and elegance.  Strike four?

Even better were the "buyer" comments (not "customer" comments!):

 

I love that "Dawn" is a guy (Dawn is usually a girl's name, but not always) and that "Cynthia" does not look Finnish at all!

Finally, I went to their "About Us" page at the spammed link:

Classic spam.  The first thing they say is how "reliable" they are (but at least admit that they sell replica watches).  More funny is that customer satisfaction "means the world to us" and is also their "chief objetive".  It continues with subtle (unintended) humor through the description.  It would be "pretty wise" of me to choose them!

I guess this spam is the extra cost of blogging, but it's worth it.  We'll just continue to delete them as they come.

Munich Restaurants - Milagros (Mexican)

Within the foreigner community in Munich, people are always discussing new things to see and do.  "Have you eaten at [restaurant X]" is one of the most popular topics.  Therefore we decided to blog some Munich restaurants for both locals and visitors alike.

In this case, the first one is the easiest, because we can say it up front:  Milagros is the best Mexican restaurant in Germany.  Together Frau A and I have sampled places in Hamburg, Berlin, Düsseldorf, Bonn, and Munich, and there's no contest.  (Granted, Germany doesn't do Mexican very well as a rule, but Milagros would make it in Manhattan.)

Milagros opened its doors 10 months ago -- October 2010.  It sits in the city center, not far from the Viktualien Markt and Oktoberfest Museum.  Great location.  The owner, Scott Myers, is a Mexican-American who married a German woman and moved back with her.  It's certainly no Taco Bell -- his mentor David Sterling is head of the Los Dos cooking school in Mérida (Yucatán)!

We ordered the "Fiesta Mexicana" platter for two, which includes steak arrachera (marinated & grilled), cochinita pibil (slow roasted pork in homemade tortilla), barbacoa de pollo (marinated/grilled chicken), and carnitas (braised pork in homemade tortilla) with condiments of guacamole, refried beans, and salsa.  It's a great way to try different items, and they taste as good as they look:

To drink we had a top-shelf margarita (no salt when the tequila is this good) that uses fresh juice (no mix):

Above, you'll notice on the chair the familiar Yucatan striped pattern textile -- the decor is pure Mexican.  Below, notice the hanging lamps on the right, textile patterns in the upper left (on the ceiling), and the Virgin Mary in the bottom left.  (With Mary, it fits perfectly in Bavaria.)

It is important to clarify that the food and decor are not "tex-mex".  Most Germans (and Europeans in general) would not differentiate, but it's important here because the dishes are so authentically Mexican.

To finish, we shared a chocolate flan -- not sticky sweet at all, but a rich cocoa instead, with some fresh fruit:

Milagros claims that key or special ingredients are sourced from Mexico (e.g., chiles, Mexican oregano), but where possible local (Bavarian) produce is used.  Also, they use the traditional cooking methods:  tortillas pressed by hand, wood oven and grills using mesquite from America, and real banana leaves for slow-roasting the pork.  It's serious food, and should be a perfect match for the organic, quality-focused Munich diner.

And people are noticing.  The "Restaurant Kritik" wrote a very positive article (with interviews of the owner and mentor), reviews on Tripadvisor are good (it's already in the top 100), and Google reviews are excellent too.  Since it opened we're probably been 4-5 times already, it's that good.  (And Frau A lived in Dallas, so is a tough critic.)

Locals should try the best Mexican we've had on the continent so far, and visitors can take a break from a steady diet of Bavarian food with fantastic authentic Mexican.  Higly recommended.

And Bavarian Whisky Liqueur

Last week we sampled some Slyrs, the Bavarian single malt whisky.  As we were quite pleased with it, we decided to try their whisky liqueur.

The website describes it as a diluted whisky (30% vs the usual 43%) with the addition of honey and vanilla notes.  All things that sound good, but we've had whisky and we've had schnapps...and we really had no idea how this would taste.

Luckily most of the stores here sell single serve bottles of liquor, so we grabbed a small one to try. Better than being stuck with a full bottle of something we don't like...

My first impressions were its light color and an aroma that reminded me of the wonderfully intoxicating smell of vanilla extract.

Off to a good start.

While it does have vanilla notes to the taste, the vanilla is much more strong in the aroma than in the actual taste. It was a really subtle and well-blended drink. Very smooth and sweet, but not too much so. In fact, all of the tastes (sweet honey, whisky, vanilla, and caramel) mixed perfectly so that none dominated.

Of course my initial thought was "Wow, this is great. It's like a girlie whisky!" When I later looked it up on the Slyrs' website, I was amused to discover that whoever does their marketing is very in tune to customers' thoughts.  They mention that when they tested the liqueur in the destillery, it was not only women visitors who enjoyed it. And also that they sell in miniature 50 mL sizes "for the skeptics."

Well, we are skeptics no longer, and bought a normal sized bottle yesterday.

I'm thinking this would be great for eggnog and also a really good gift to bring someone from Germany. While it's not the strong smoky whisky taste that some love, it will definitely please those who love a smooth whisky. It's very subtle and really good.

Munich Zoo - Sea Lions and the rest

Unfortunately, this is the final photoblog from our June day at the Munich Zoo.  After the baby elephant, lions & polar bears, and various birds, we'll finish with sea lions and other creatures we caught on camera.  (But surely we'll go back to the zoo this Autumn.)

While they were swimming and playing, California sea lions were some of the most difficult animals to photograph because they move so fast, and often underwater!  So we pointed our lenses at those sea lions "kissing" on the edge of the pool:

At the far side of the pen was a mom and baby.  She was usually shielding him/her from sight, and we had to be quick to capture this shot:

Further down the zoo path was the house with tortoises.  I think these are from the Seychelles (definitely not Galapagos)... I need to remember to take a photo of the information plaque as well as the animals next time!

Surprisingly they were quite active, because it was lunch time: 

The baboons were not so active.  The young ones played, but many like this guy just sat around munching on something.  Wonder what it's thinking?

I looked through the entire list of Munich Zoo animals and think this next one is an Indian Gaur -- the largest species of wild cattle.  Its horns are less curvy, but other Google images indicate that this is the closest match to the zoo's list of residents.  (Yes, I really have to take better notes next time.)

In the next photo, a Vicuna (native to the Andes) and an ostrich are standing together.  It's always funny what animals the zoos can/will put in the same pen.  The ostrich comes from Africa and and Vicuna from South America! 

Small creek-size branches of the Isar River run through the zoo.  This next photo was just outside the zoo while crossing a bridge.  The fish in the water is bigger than the duck (and swam right under)!

We almost didn't get this last one, but he emerged for a moment at dusk, just as we were about to leave.  The giant anteater hugged the fence on the far side of the pen, and hustled away to hidden places.  We figured it was time to go home as well. 

Google Analytics Part 2 - Where in the World?

In the first post on Google Analytics for Schnitzelbahn we looked at data and charts about pages per visit (and Bounce Rate), duration per visit, plus technical information about visitors' computers.

But it's much more fun to see the locations from which people are visiting us!

Coming from the Dashboard you can go to a world map showing visits by country.  You can change the view (boxed in the lower left) to sub-continent/region or even just continent.  (The "dimension" list on the bottom right lets you filter the map.  For example, you could show only visits of people using Macintish computers, or those who stayed longer than 5 minutes.).  92 countries - fascinating!

The map has a little bit of interaction to it -- if you hold the mouse over a country, it flashes the visitor count (within the timeframe you have selected).  I pasted a few over the graphic.  Nothing from Greenland in this view, but a couple from Ecuador & Pakistan, plus solo visitors from Uganda and Mongolia.  Thanks!  (or, better yet, "weebale" and "bayarlalaa")

A pie chart format gives a better indication of what nationalities are reading Schnitzelbahn.  Germany is #1 and together with the U.S. accounts for over 3/4ths of the visits.  Not surprising.  I found Brazil (#6) and India (#10) interesting though.  (Note:  the good-sized gray area is "unknown" location - some users block this info.)

It gets more fascinating when you dig deeper and look at Pages per Visit and Average Time on Site for the countries' visits.  Think there might be a cultural difference between U.S./U.K. and the European Continent?  Check out the Average Time on Site.  Perhaps it has also to due with native English viewers vs. those with English as a secondary language (reading a bit slower, like us reading German).  But some of that gap has to be due to faster/slower lifestyles, right?  Further down the list, it appears that our friends in Turkey, the Philippines, and Denmark actually hang out and read the posts - thanks!  (2+ minutes per visit)

Further down the list (not seen above) are some intersting findings.  The dozens of Hong Kong visitors have looked at over 4 pages per visit on average.  (Most of the 92 countries measure 1.5 or less)  Dozens more readers from Iceland, Algeria, and Syria read more than 2 pages per visit.  Plus, we've had a grand total of 1 visitor from Panama but he/she looked at 16 different posts!

Going back to the global map, let's change to a city view.  Europe and the U.S. are very crowded, but this perspective points to some interesting cities in South America (Santiago-Chile, Pelotas-Brazil), the Middle East (Beirut-Lebanon, Tel Aviv-Israel), Eastern Europe (Tbilisi-Georgia, Kiev-Ukraine), and Asia (Shibuya-Japan, Cebu-Philippines).  I've been only to Tel Aviv, but would love to visit all of them and post some photos "on site"!

If we "click" on the U.S., it can also show a gradient map by state...

... but in Europe it goes right to the city view.  Here is Germany (I overlayed some of the major cities, if it wasn't obvious):

Once again, we can drive down to a list of cities ordered by number of visits (either globally, or within a specific country).  This is the global view below.   Munich sits #1, with German cities taking the top 4 spots (cool!).  A couple of cities appeared surprising at first, but after investigation showed that they are the U.S. locations, not the originals!

It's just enjoyable to see random visitors from all over the world.  Beer and lederhosen lovers are everywhere!  Thanks for stopping by...

We have one more post coming on Google Analytics, that will look at how you (the viewers) got here, and what you looked at.