Google Analytics Part 1 - Visits and Visitors

The first post on Schnitzelbahn was published about 10 months ago, and after 280 blog entries (so far) we've been keen to learn more about the visitors and traffic here (and about the tools that "real" webmasters use to give them such info).

In other words:  enough about us, let's talk about YOU.

We use Squarespace, which provides the blogging software and site hosting.  Squarespace does collect some traffic information, but we wanted to check out tools that major sites would use.  Specifically, this post is about Google Analytics.  Please note:  Schnitzelbahn has no advertisements and does not generate any revenue -- this is just a hobby... an exercise in learning for us.  We're not spying on you!

Here is our home page for Google Analytics, showing the dashboard for Schnitzelbahn - some figures are scrubbed, but the gist is there.  The top section is a line chart showing number of visits by day.  You can change this to cover any time period you want (boxed in the upper right).  Underneath are sections that allow deep dives into the data.

In the screen capture above I've outlined a few areas that we'll "click on" to see details.  The first area is called "Site Usage" and has a few key statistics:  Pages per Visit, Average Time on Site, Bounce Rate, and % New Visits.

Here is what Pages per Visit looks like (below).  Obviously, you want visitors to look at more than one page when they stop by - it means your content is interesting to them.  One quarter of our readers view 2-4 pages per visit - not too bad?  (we have no reference)

Next is Duration of Visit.  Again, it's common sense that the longer the better.  You can't see it here, but most of the 0-10 second visits are the result of a detailed Google search -- I guess that the surfers here were looking for something specific and determined quickly that we didn't have the info he/she was looking for (e.g., product specifications, specific tourist info, etc.).  Overall, 13% of visitors stay 2 minutes or longer. 

Things get more interesting when you look at duration of visit by day -- and map this to the specific content.  You can see which posts kept people reading... obviously lots of people stuck around to view the Eurovision videos on May 10!  (It's a little tricky because of the time difference for readers -- late surfers in the U.S. might view content "the next day" here in Germany... but overall you get the picture.)

Bounce Rate was new to me - it's just the percentage of people that view one page and then leave (see the pageviews table above).  Again, viewing this data by day shows you what content got the viewer to read additional pages.  If we're honest, though, we also have to admit that day-of-the-week has a lot to do with surfing behavior.  See how low the Bounce Rate is on Sunday and Monday?  (Sunday - just feel like relaxed surfing & reading.... Monday - will do anything as a diversion from work!)

Let's go back to the Dashboard and "click" on Visitors Overview, to get pretty specific data on the computer(s) you're using to read Schnitzelbahn.  For example, Google Analytics will show the distribution of browers used.  Firefox beats IE by a whisker.

If we "click" on Firefox, it will even show us a distribution of the Firefox versions used!  (There are similar charts for versions of Flash player.)

We also can see operating systems of the viewers' computers (love the 1.5% Linux!)...

... and even the screen resolution of your monitors.

The most surprising, to me, was that Google Analytics "knows" what Internet/network service provider was used to connect.  I love that fact that visitors from Siemens have such long Average Time on Site -- glad to give you a distraction guys!  The folks using Sonic are in and out in a flash (less than 13 seconds) and don't stick around (91% Bounce Rate).  Wonder why?

No, we can't steal your credit card info, and haven't planted hidden video cameras in your house.  It was just interesting for us to get a glimpse of a tool and some data/charts that "real" web sites night use.  (Google Analytics is free.)

You can see how information about the user's computer (OS, browser, screen resolution, etc.) would be helpful in making decisions about how to design a site.  We keep things pretty simple so it's not as valuable to us, but there's probably a lot more that goes on in commercial Web site planning than most people realize.

In the second part coming next week we'll look at where you, the viewers, are located throughout the world.

51 Days til Oktoberfest!!!

We have our trachten ready and the Oktoberfest beers are now in stores.

We learned late last year that Hofbrau Oktoberfestbier was our favorite, when it made it the furthest of any Oktoberfestbier in the Schnitzelbahn Beer Tournament. I say "late" because we realized it after the stores had sold all of their stocks.  This year, we'll be sure to stock up on the good stuff!

Munich Day Trip - Augsburg

Thanks to FIFA holding some of the Women's World Cup matches so near to Munich, we recently made a couple of day trips over to Augsburg.

The first thing to know is that going to Augsburg from central Munich takes almost exactly as long as going to the airport. And up to 5 people can travel there (including public transportation within Munich and Augsburg) for €29 on Deutsche Bahn's Bayern Ticket. 

If you're planning to travel within a region in Germany, these regional tickets are a great, cheap way to get around and good any day of the week. They have them for most regions, though we're familiar with the one for Bavaria. They are not so good for long-distances, however, as they are not valid on the higher speed ICE trains. But to go to Garmisch or Augsburg from Munich (or Lübeck from Hamburg), it's a deal that can't be beat. More info is available on these Länder Tickets (here in English) on DB website. There's a similar Schönes Wochenende Ticket ("Happy Weekend Ticket") that is €39 for up to 5 people on a Saturday or Sunday. It's valid on any local trains (not the ICE) and even includes some lines to Poland.

So, it's quite an easy and inexpensive day trip.

We didn't have time to explore much beyond the Alstadt (Old City Center), but we liked what we saw and we found a wonderful cake shop!

Augsburg is the third oldest city in Germany, founded in 15 BC as a Roman garrison camp under the orders of Emporer Augustus (from whose name the city's is derived).  As it sits at the confluence of two rivers and has access to a passage through the Alps, it retained its significance through the ages for both trade and military reasons.   The wealth brought by the banking and trade in turn attracted artists and musicians, making it a major center in the 15th and 16th centuries.  Today, Augsburg is a bit in the shadow of Munich, but is a regional center for hi-tech industries (naturally, since it costs much less but is very close to large customers in Munich) and for education.

It's a perfect size for a day's walking tour and displays a wide variety of architectural styles.  This brightly painted building was one of my favorites.

The Perlach Tower (a 10th century watchtower) and the Rathaus (17th century).  As with many German cities, there's a nice square in front of the town hall and often many festivals and public events.

We also noticed that many buildings in Augsburg employed painted textures and ornaments, whereas often Munich uses actual sculptures.  There were some really impressive examples of 3D painting, but I found the facade of the Maximilian Museum to be one of the most pleasing.  

For food, we highly recommend stopping at least for cake and coffee at the Kaffeehaus Dichtl on Maximilianstraße.  I'm a little ashamed to say we ate there 3 times on our two visits to Augsburg....but their cakes really are great. So were the ice cream sundaes.  The food menu looked good, though we ended up having the Sunday brunch buffet. I definitely would recommend it - it's a wide variety of items and includes something for everyone. Unfortunately we were too excited about eating our cake to remember to take a photo...

Herr J got a video of one of the street musicians playing the German World Cup song. (it's originally called "'54, '74, '90, 2006" but they update it each year, replacing 2006 with 2010 last year, and even with 2011 for the women's team this year. you can watch the music video...it's catchy)

And finally we took a quick walk through the farmers' market before heading to the stadium.

 

A couple of fun facts about Augsburg: It was occuped by Sweden for a couple of years during the Thirty Years War and has more official holidays than any other German city. (It has its own holiday Hohes Friedensfest, plus all the Bavarian and federal holidays).

I don't know enough about Augsburg to know the story behind this guy. He looks like one of those city mascots that are painted by various sponsors, but we didn't see any other rhinos on the street.  

 

"Globetrotter" Outdoor Sports Megastore

Frau A and I had noticed that a new outdoor-sports store had opened recently in Munich near the Isartor -- within walking distance from Marienplatz and also at an S-bahn station, so a very convienent location.  Last Saturday we checked it out.

The company is called Globetrotter, and they're based in Hamburg.  Their Munich megastore is 6,500 square meters across four floors, sells over 25,000 items from 700 manufacturers, has 100 employees, plus holds offices for the German Alpine Society, a travel agent (that specializes in outdoor / adventure trips), and a travel doctor (probably for pre-trip vaccinations and medicine).

And that's just the start.

The first thing that strikes you when entering the store?  Look down and you'll see water.  It's a 100-square meter kayak and canoe test basin!  If you look closely, you'll see water jets -- these can produce "countercurrents" so you can practice your stroke.  Not sure if they'll let you perform eskimo rolls, though.

We headed to the basement level to take a closer look.  One guy (on the right, below) was sitting in a kayak but didn't use the basin -- too bad!  Racks of canoes and inflatable boats are in the background, and you get a peek of camping equipment on the higher floors (e.g., mosquito net).

As usual in Germany, the equipment is high quality and expensive -- the 2-person kayak on the right (above) costs 1600 euro!  Below, this kid was happy just to sit in the kayak, but mom didn't take him onto the water.

On the other side of the basement level are hiking and climbing shoes.  They're presented on a wall 60 meters long!  The wall is filled with different types of rocks creating a cool, wavy pattern.

We walked into the shoe section, and noticed they have a small test area for your shoes!  (This reminded us of the baby stroller test track we saw in a home furnishings store.)  The contraption has small racks of different rock types, all at incline, so you can get a feel for shoes a bit better than just walking around.  Here is Frau A testing out her Hunter wellies (they've been invaluable with all this rain lately!).

As it turns out, this store has a lot of different testing areas -- shoes were just the beginning.  A few floors above is the "rain chamber" -- a rain and wind test room for apparel!  You can don waterproof boots, pants, jacket and hat, then enter a plexiglass-enclosed area with two buttons on the floor.  Hit them with your feet, and down comes rain and, from the front, a fan generates wind.  You'll know pretty quickly if the equipment keeps you warm and dry.

We were able to get a movie of this in action!  This lady doesn't hit the button hard enough at first, but then gets it right and a quite a shock.

In addition to the rain & wind test chamber, Globetrotter has an "altitude cold chamber".  This simulates conditions at about 3900m.  The air has less oxygen and the temperature is -10 degrees celsius!

One half of the test chamber is just a room with fur-covered ice blocks to sit on -- to check out if apparel is warm enough when you're at rest in ice and snow.  This boy is getting cold already -- hands in the pockets. 

This is a close-up photo of an ice block and the fan that blows cold air.  Most people did not spend a lot of time in here:

In another half of the chamber (pictured below) is a room with training equipment (e.g., treadmill and stairmaster).  The idea is to test apparel/equipment in a climate more like the real thing.  Jackets feel much different when you're huffing and puffing your way up a steep mountain trail:

On the top floor is a climbing area for children.

This tiny guy is getting assistance from dad, with additional safety padding under the feet.

Older children run up and try climbing on their own.

Of course, fun is not just for the kids.  The store also had a slackline set up.  I caught this guy as he lost his balance at the end.  Behind him are the yellow boxes of slacklines for sale --we've seen a number of people using these in the English Garden...

Frau A decided to try the slackline too.  After a few learning attempts, she got the hang of it.  (You can see the childrens' climbing area in the background -- not sure how many can actually hang from the "rocks" on the ceiling.)

There were loads of great products and equipment there, but the most humorous brought together the German outdoor and beer cultures -- the mini-keg backpack.  This army-green frame lets you hike with enough of your favorite brew for the whole group!

What a cool store.  It also offers seminars and training courses too, but it's tough to attend those with a job (many are during the day).  The gear selection and "test chambers" are really something -- I think a few Christmas gifts may come from this place...

Summer "Sledding" in Austria!

We have previously posted about great sledding in the Alps - in Tirol, we hiked up to a hut and sledded back down.  Too bad you can't do that in the summer, huh?

Well, it turns out that you can!  Rodeln means sledding, and there are a number of sommerrodelbahns (summer sledding tracks) in Germany and Austria.  (Some places in the U.S. have them too.)

We recently had friends visit us from Dallas, and took them hiking near Salzburg.  After the morning hike and lunch, we left Fuschl am See and drove back west to Bad Dürrnberg, right on the border with Germany.

We were interested the "Keltenblitz" (which translates to "Celtic Lightening").  At 2.2km (1.3 miles) it's the longest summer sledding track in Salzburgerland and one of the longest in all Austria.  The total descent is over 500m (1640 ft) and you can reach speeds of up to 40km/h (25 mph)!

We drove to the talstation (literally, the "valley station" - at the foot of the mountain) and took the ski lift to the top.  You can hike up, but we had already done our hiking for the day.

The view from the lift was nice...

...and looking back, our friends seemed to be enjoying it too:

 

There are two general types of sommerrodelbahn.  The first -- more traditional and more common -- is a lot like a summer luge.  You are seated on a wheeled cart and navigate what looks like a metal bobsled run, such as this:

 

The walls of the half-pipe get higher and sloped at the corners, to keep you on the track:

This is a video on YouTube of what this type of rodelbahn looks like (can't wait to visit somewhere and make one for myself...):

The "Keltenblitz" is a different, newer type of summer sled that is structured more like a roller coaster.  Some have two rails, but this was a monorail version.  From the ski lift you see the rail winding down the mountain:

 

If you look closely at some chairs on the lift, you'll see how they get the sleds back up to the top:

 

At the top of the lift there is a small restaurant plus a tiny "ski museum" that compresses the definition of museum to it's smallest possible concept.  We paused for a brief drink but then wanted to get rolling.  At first you see the sleds queued up (and a great view of the valley and distant peaks)...

 

...which leads to the starting gate (photo below).  After you climb up into a "sled" a young guy there makes sure that you have buckled your seat belt.  Yes, seat belt.  (You need it to make sure the curves don't throw you out.)

The stick/lever on the sled controls the break.  Pushing forward removes the break, while pulling back applies it.  Once you're buckled up and comfortable, you're ready to take off.

The guy at the gate (hunched over in the above photo) said that he goes down without braking at all.  Of course, there are signs all over the course that say BRAKE but he says you don't have to.  Admittedly, on my first run, I did brake.  You really pick up speed and some of the curves were sharp.

However, it was so cool that we got on the lift and sledded down again.  This time, I barely braked at all and took a video!!!  Here it is.

I was the first, so at the bottom I hopped out and took a photo of the others coming down.

 

And by the way, I asked the people at the bottom what the "weltrekord" (world record) is for the run.  They replied "well under 4 minutes".  My video is about 3:53, so not too bad!  There's a video on YouTube of a guy on this who "didn't brake" and he took 3:55, so I'm definitely in the neighborhood.

It ended up being almost a perfect day.  Hiking in the morning, sommerrodelbahn in the afternoon, and a leisurely drive home to Munich.  Frau A and I are itching to try more of these summer sledding contraptions!

LEGO at the Zoo

I love animals and I love creative LEGO works. The Bronx Zoo in New York has made the ultimate combination - with its Great Summer Zoofari: A LEGO® Wildlife Expedition.

Julie Larsen Maher ©WCSThe zoo has scattered LEGO sculptures of some of their animals throughout the grounds. For the kids, each one has a stamp that they can collect on their LEGO animal passport (kind of like the little checklist they give you on safari!)

Here's the tiger stalking through some grass.

You can see some of the other pictures at Geekosystem, including flamingoes, a bear, octopus, gorilla, frogs, and others.

In addition to the sculptures, the zoo also has days where you can work with the "LEGO Master Builders" to build sculptures with visitors,a nd little stations for kids to build small animal sculptures.

It's on through 30 September.

For those of us here in Germany, the site has a couple sets of instructions on the Zoo's site showing how to build frogs and fish:

Or we can visit the larger than life giraffe (and other things) at the LEGOLAND Discovery Center in Berlin (at Postdamer Platz). We didn't go inside, but did stop to pose with the giraffe. She's huge!! I'm deciding it's a she based on the lovely eyelashes...

 

Or, even better, LEGOLand Deutschland in Günzburg (90 minutes from Munich or Stuttgart). Wow, I had NO idea this existed! And they run shuttles from the train station, making it incredibly easy for a day trip. From MINILAND (a 1:20 scale model of major European cities) to recreations of scenes from StarWars to roller coasters and shopping....Herr J, when are we going???

Essential Football (Soccer) Training

While we're on the subject of sports, here's an old favorite commercial from the 2004 European Cup days. The "secret video" of an Italian national team training session (not real, of course).

Though Italy dives with more style, this could be almost any team these days!