"Oh, we're in Britain!"

We are on 10 days in the UK and Ireland for business and pleasure. I saw online that the British Open was going on and commented on it to my wife. She responded, "Yeah, I told you yesterday that Greg Norman was winning." Then about 10 seconds later she puts it together: "Oh, we're in Britain!" Classic. However, we are too far away to go spectate.

We did a lot yesterday. The bombed out cathedral ruins at Coventry, the home and resting place of Princess Diana (Althorp), a driving tour of Oxford, and Stonhenge. Stonehenge was really amazing. 5000 years old. And the weather made for great pictures. Blue sky with clouds, and an ominous black cloud rolled in as we were leaving. However no beer! If Stonehenge were in Germany, they would have beer carts and wurst set up everywhere.

Driving is going well. I really don't know how people did it without GPS! We did have two troubles yesterday. There was a new road near Althorp that Mandy (the sultry GPS voice) did not know about. Also, Mandy told me in Oxford to turn left at one point that was marked bus only. I could not figure out how to go right (right is difficult, especially at confusing intersections) so I went left. We got the best driving tour of Oxford, a crowded tourist location.

We did stop at the Swan in Birmingham Friday night. Good kids menu and lots of kid friendly stuff out back (playground, petting zoo, flat area and kid toys to ride) Bombadier hand drawn. Very very good.

Driving 110 on the highway-

So we have to go to London for a few days of business and a few days of pleasure. We got cheap tickets from Ryan Air, $0 (plus like $200 in taxes each leg total!). But Ryan Air flies out of odd places like Frankfurt Hahn and London Stanstead. Public transit does not service the remote airports well (leave at 3 AM for a 10 AM flight), so tack on some more money for a rental car. Finally after two months, I get to drive! And now I know what the symbol for "end all speed restrictions" is. We managed 110 MPH at one point (180 kph for non-USians). Not Ferrari speeds, but faster than I have ever driven.

Then we picked up a car in London. How hard could that be? Just drive on the left, no big deal. My buddy said Heathrow had troubles because they put tons of traffic circles near the airport and idiots like me had trouble navigating them when not used to driving left. Stanstead had four traffic circles before we got to the highway. Two were actual traffic ovals. One of the ovals was three lanes wide with traffic circles every 60 degrees. Cripes. I was so conservative I was only going 60 on the highway, which I thought was kph (like 45 MPH). Actually, they use miles in England, not kilometers. So much for EU standardization!

England was really boring so far. We drove for two hours and saw nothing but fields. No cities, not even much in the way of gas stations. It reminds me of the stretch between Augusta and Atlanta. Nothing. And it rained the whole time.

We found the place where we were staying in Birmingham, an old train station. We walked into what appeared to be a bar, thinking the bead and breakfast may be upstairs. We actually were in the Railway Guest House, across the street. I tried their Chestnut Hill, very smooth and tasty. For dinner, I tried a hand-pulled Old Speckled Hen. Both were outstanding.

We're loud, we're proud...

So we finaly made it to Munich! Just in time for the gay pride weekend. We stumbled out of the Hauptbahnhof just after noon (3.5 hours from Stuttgart) and saw the parade. Later, we ran into a couple of Platzes full of "festivities". Viel Spaß! Everyone loves Munich!

Munich was pretty awesome. Churches, buildings, museums, and the Hofbräuhaus. The Residenceplatz museum was pretty big and amazing, although almost everything was a reproduction from post WWII (some things were saved). A couple of liters of the dark at the Hofbräuhaus and we were ready to push on through Munich and the "friendly" crowds.

Not much happened last week. We did go to the Schloßgarden for a Thursday cookout. They had the most amazing kids play area, with a four story giant play structure and a 75 foot long zip line. In America, we have this thing called liability... Erdinger Kristal and Paulander Hefe Dunkel.

Lazy Sunday-

So this writing a blog entry every Sunday is starting to sink in...

Friday was the Fourth of July. We took a "bank holiday" to celebrate. The US military won't let US nationals on base here, so we were out of luck for organized activities so we carted food and beers over to Max-Eyth-See (a local lake) to grill out. When we got there, there were already a bunch of people out grilling and playing that traditional American pastime: soccer. While I patiently waited for a turn at the grill, I saw confirmation of another Germanic trait: a new group showed up and just took over the grill. They did not ask me if I was in line or ask the guy with food on the grill if they could share. They just started doing their thing. Anyway, the place was great. Man-made lake next to the Neckar river with Vinyards across the way. Some shade and room for frisbee and soccer. We invited toytown (english speaking german website) and one guy showed up with some crazy beer.

Thanks to a baby waking up at 1 AM and screaming for a few hours Friday, we once again did not make it to Munich on Saturday. Saturday was slow, with just a trip up the TV tower (Fernsehturm) and an afternoon in the park playing soccer near the biergarten (no beer!). Sunday was also lazy, with a trip to the Wilhelma (zoo) and potentially a trip out to see the Kung Fu Panda movie in English at the Corso in Vaihingen tonight. I saw Hancock last week (by myself) and it was ok. It is pretty depressing to go to a movie all alone, in my opinion, although beer with your popcorn helps. Becks Green Lemon.

Party like its my birthday-

Saturday was my birthday, the big 35. I got a great present from my wife: two nice Erdinger Wheat Beer glasses! It was a total surprise even though I had mentioned a couple of times I wanted some. Later that morning I bought myself a present: a case refill with nearly 20 new beers from the local Getränke Abholmarkt down the street. $20 for 20 new beers (14 Eurodollars).

We went to what is becoming our favorite Doner place for lunch and I had an Alpirsbacher Wheat. After a kindergarten open house, we toured Bad Canstatt, a suburb of Stuttgart with nice old city feel (small shops, close streets, cafes). Then we found the mall and I had a couple Schonbruck Wheats while the kids slept and Andi shopped. They really should serve beer in the food court at the malls in the USA.

That afternoon we hit the Biergarten. All total, 3 L of beer, quite a Bday! We played frisbee and soccer in the nice big park. I am surprised it took us so long to find the park (and biergarten). BTW, beer really is cheaper than coke over here. At the mall, 3.2 Eurodollars for .5 L beer while coke is 2.8 Eurodollar for .4 L (no ice).

This brings me to the silly metric system. I like English unit for volume. Drinking a gallon of beers is a decent accomplishment. Here, you have a liter. Nobody seems to use mils or centi-liters, it is 0.2 or 0.3 or 0.5 liters, decimals! More confusing. A shot is about an ounce, a glass of wine is about a cup, a glass of beer is about a pint, a quart is a good amount of whiskey (but usually we use a 750 ml fifth). English just feels better to me.

Today we went to Bad Wimpfen for Talmarkt, a festival that has run for 1043 years! Just like a big fair back home with rides. Instead of polish sausage, they sell wurst. Instead of country music, they have german polka bands. But they do sell a lot more beer here (compared to the SC sate fair). We finished that out early and went to Heilbronn, a nice little town with walking paths along the river. Finally, we came home to the big festival since Germany plays Spain for the Eurocup. We hit the biergarten for the fourth time this week (no beer, just WC today) and played inthe park. Then we pushed the stroller with two kids through a crowd of maybe 100,000 people gathered in the main city center to watch the game on big TVs. It was a bit crazy, with broken glass everywhere. You would think they would sell beer at festivals in paper cups or at least have lots of trashcans. The smartest thing I saw: they lined up port-a-toilets around the nice fountains in the square so drunks could not get to the fountains easily. So Germany is losing right now, maybe they can pull it off...

UPDATE: Germany loses an "exciting" 1-0 game. Waiting for the honking... Waiting... Waiting... Some fireworks in the distance... Waiting... There it is, just one car! Not much espania in the house?

Germany wins! Zzzzz-

So Germany beat Turkey last night in a very exciting game. I was asleep before half-time.

They honked until 1 AM. Good thing I was already asleep, that noise could have kept me up.

I think the combination of getting up at 4 AM and drinking 3 beers before and during the game lead to my early demise.

So apparently they played for nearly two hours and it was tied. Germany pulled ahead in the last minute and now they play on Sunday for the championship of the world! Or at least the first world.

Malteser Weiss, Ur Ekl (Skunky?), Sanwald Weiss.

Tuesday we found the Stuttgart biergarten down by the Hauptbahnhof. Very nice atmosphere, good food, big beers. I had my first mass (1 L) of very tasty wheat.

More soccer-

Sorry I have been slow to update. I have been busy at work (and travels). Lets recap the week WRT Eurocup 2008:

Thursday: Germany vs. Portugal. Oetinger Dunkel Hefeweizen, very very good. Germany wins, HONK! HONK! SING! HONK! YELL! HONK!

Friday: Turkey Vs. Croatia. Watched the riot polizei get ready for the game. Had a stinky tap beer at Doner Kebab. How hard is it to say "Ein Weiss Bier, bitte" yet I manage to screw it up. Turkey wins! HONK! HONK! HONK! HONK! SCREAM IN TURKISH! HONK HONK! HONK!

Saturday: Trip to Baden-Baden, saw 1800 year old Roman bath ruins. Cool! Erdinger Dunkel Weissbier with Doner. Yummy. Russia vs. Netherlands, Schoferhoffer Hefeweisen, very good. Russian wins. NO HONKING???!!??

Sunday: We go to see the Stuttgart half marathon. I manage a Maltesser hefeweissen while we wath the race (at 9 AM on a Sunday!). We go out to the Ritter Chocolate factory since their museum is open. Great lunch (Schonbrun Hefeweisen, very very good) and then we go to the "chocolate" museum. Turns out, it was actually a nice museum of modern art! We did not look like typical patrons with two kids and a stroller. She said "You know this is a museum of modern art?" and I responded "I do now!" Great stuff, some cool technical stuff (control related). They actually do have a chocolate store and chocolate museum, so we were in the right place. Sapin vs. Italy, Spain wins on penalty kicks after not scoring in 90 minutes of playing + over time. Exciting! Action Packed! "Half back passes to the center, back to wing, back to center! Center Holds it! Holds it! holds it!" No honking, everyone must be asleep. Krombacker Radler with dinner, very odd. Fruity (lemon?) and fizzy more than beer taste.

Mexican and Soccer -

We have tried a couple of Chinese places (good and cheapish) and a Indian place (very good and expensive). There are no Mexican places! The couple that are here have been reviewed really poorly and they look expensive. No San Jose, no Monterrey, nothing. Andi found taco shells and made some really good tacos, so we now have a way out. One of the best meals I have had here.

BTW, Subway seems to be really doing well here. I think the fresh bread and vegetables appeal to the Germans. I even found a Subway with an ice machine!

As I am sure you are aware, the Europeans are having a soccer tourney. Every time someone finishes a game, their supporters drive around town and honk their horns. Last night it was Italy. It does not matter if it is 11:00 at night, these crazies disturb the peace. Soccer drives me crazy. Two hours of watching some guy kick a ball to some other guy and maybe someone accidentally scores one point. It is more boring that the most boring pitchers duel in baseball.

Wenesday: Franziskaner Weissbier. Very good with Mexican.

Ludwigsburg Part 2-

So we finally got our free unlimited passes for Stuttgart public transit, only about 3 weeks late. We missed out on some free train time! So instead of waking up early Saturday and hopping a train to Munich, we got up and went back to Ludwigsburg. We only saw the main palace last time. This time we saw the little summer palace (Schloss Repose) near a nice lake. Then we walked a mile back to the hunting preserve. They liked to hunt, but they did not want to exert much so the king build a hunting lodge place (Schloss Favorite) within sight of his main palace. He stocked the woods with lots of deer and goats for easy hunting. Now the wild animals come up around you while you walk through the park.

We also found the Ludwigsburg mall. The department stores all have nice cafeterias, so I had a beer while my wife shopped and the kids slept in the stroller. Total walking distance today: ~ 7 km.

Found a nice little beer shack near the Favorite S-bahn station: Konig Ludwig Dunkel Weissbier. Very very good, maybe my favorite so far.
Kaufhof Cafe: Paulaner Dunkel Weissbier.

Freiburg

So I am collaborating with a German Public Lab in Freiburg. Freiburg is right in the black forest (Schwartzwald) and the city has a lot of history. It apparently was a walled city back in the day and there are still some old gate houses and walls in parts of the old city. We met up with some friends there and they introduced us to a few of their favorite Biergartens where we could get Bier von Flass (from the keg) and the kids could drink cokes in big beer mugs. We stopped downtown and watched some socder in the Eurocup and had beer and ice cream. Ganter Hefe Weissen.

Freiburg is at the base of a hill. It really looks similar to the US Appalachian mountains. One night we went to a Biergarten, walked up the hill to another Biergarten with a veiw of the city, then walked further up the mountain to an observation tower, then back to the Biergarten for another beer (reward for hiking up the hill). Erdinger Hefe Weissen and Erdinger Dunkel Weissen. We did not get the kids home until 10:00 PM and it was still light. We are at the 47th parallel and Northern Michigan is only at 45, so we get a lot of light in the summer.

Made it back to Stuttgart last night and had a Veltins Pilsner.

Unknown Beers-

So last week was a week of illness. After I was sick Sa-Su, my son was out Tu-We and my wife got it Fri-Sa. I am not an epidemiologist, but I see a trend. Hopefully it passes the daughter today...

Last week the students at the underwear factory had a grillfest. Meat on a grill and beer. Classic: The side item: one single bowl of salad for about 25 people. Pork, beef, wurst, chicken with bread. And beer. 2 of the RothHaus, ok but not cold enough.

Thursday: Dinkel Acker Pils. Ok.

Friday I managed to get out at night and catch the new Indiana Jones movie at the English movie theater in Vaihingen. I did not realize they had beer at the movie, so I had a coke. Lame!

Saturday was a rainy train day. While my wife recovered, we took an all-day pass an rode the trains around Stuttgart. We stopped at McDonalds and I had one of their beers. It was a lot better than the one I had at McDonalds 20 years ago when we came over with the band. But they poured in a paper cup! So I don't know what it was.

Sunday we made it to Heidelberg. We stopped at a cafe for lunch and I had my first German schnitzel with a dunkel weiss. Again, it came out in a nondescript glass so I have no idea what it was. Tasty and yummy.

Refrigeration cycles, Part 2-

The wife can't take being in Europe without good old American ice cubes, so we ordered an ice maker off Amazon.de. Crazy Europe. God made ice makers for a reason.

In the grocery stores, sometimes they have cheese, milk, and salami sitting out without refrigeration. Even when they have it refrigerated, you never know what part of the distribution chain let it sit on the loading dock in the sun for a few days. Last week I got some bad salami pizza (peperoni, sorta) that knocked me out for half a day. Then Friday night something got me and I was quite ill. I basically slept for 24 hours and missed taking the family on a trip to Munich. Sunday we managed to get out to the nearly new Mercedes Benz Museum, but I nearly did not make it home. I am still weak, but should be able to get into work tomorrow.

Apparently, in Germany they do not have over the counter drugs. The Apothecary appears to only do real drugs, so I assume you need a prescription. Note to all future world travelers: Before taking over a new country with your family, you may want to find out where the local doctor is located. We have a list of doctors in town, but I doubt they are open on weekends (since pretty much nothing is). We brought some drugs (enough ibuprofin to start a meth lab, if that is what makes meth) but we did not pack enough soap or deodorant to last until we come home. Exploring German brands may be exciting.

No beer Saturday or Sunday...

Update: No beer on Monday or Tuesday, feeling almost human on Wednesday. My students went on to Munich without me, except the train we were going on actually went to Nurnberg, so we will one day make it to Munich...

Refrigeration cycles-

So I am working in two different institutes here. One is located in an old underwear factory. The professor has the entire building with space and staff equivalent to our department of 20 faculty, 20 research staff, and 70 postdocs. His office is the biggest office I have ever seen. My office is probably the biggest office I will ever have with very very high ceilings. When on the tour of the chem labs I was awestruck by the giant windows looking out onto some old old church. My office also has big windows and looks onto this old church. However, the offices don't have AC and it gets warm here. My chairman will love this; I have complained about my limited office AC for years and now I have two more summers without any at all. Three weeks ago it was freezing and we were wearing coats. Now it is in the low 80s with more to come. Doh!

If you know about Europe, you know they don't put ice cubes in their drinks. Even at McDonalds when you get your $3 coke they only put maybe 5 ice cubes in. We are on the lookout for a compact ice machine that runs on 220V. What is it with Germans and lack of cooling? It is bad enough that you have to walk to public transit to get on a bus or train without AC. Then you walk to the fourth floor into your office without any AC and no ice cubes in your drink. At least the beer is usually cold.

But the coffee is amazing! One lab has a totally automated system that grinds and brews and disposes for every cup! They run about $1000 to $1500 here and appear pretty common.

I heard that Coors was the new exciting import in Germany. I have not seen it, but I have not been dragging the family out to a lot of bars. so far.

Thursday: Oxx lager .33 l. Closest thing to American beer I have seen. "Mild hops" so that means weak taste? Sorta like drinking a Bud.

Friday: Dinkel Acker CD-Pils. Good overall. Not too hoppy, tasty, went well with pizza.

I'm Batman!

So I brought my Palm Treo (PDA + Phone + camera) to Germany. I knew it would not work since Verizon does CDMA and not GSM like in Europe. But I need a PDA so I carry it, but I miss more appointments now that I only have maybe one a day...

I found a good deal for a little HD movie camera at Target before we left. 8 MP still and 720 P video on SD card, up to 4 hours. Decent video quality overall.

And I found a prepaid phone here for emergencies. A "Handy". Free incoming calls and Andi can call me for free on weekends. $0.50 per minute otherwise...

So I now have two cases on my utility belt. One case is pretty thick, since it holds the video camera and phone. Very nice! Next I need a battarang and a grappling hook.

We have noticed a lot of old German men wearing brown vests with lots of pockets and zippers. I have wanted one of these for years for camping purposes, but now I may get one for PDA + phone + camera + maps + diapers. Crazy old man!

Monday: Baisinger Spezial. Good, but a little hoppy. Not bitter.

Tuesday: Baisinger Keller Teufel Pils. Very hoppy, not pleasant. Andi said it was like crappy fraternity beer. Note the devil on the bottle. Tuefel=devil, Keller=Cellar. Also, Dinkel Acker Marzen. Good, but a bit hoppy.

Wednesday: Oettinger Hefeweissbier. Pretty good, but not my favorite weissbier. Also Scwaben Brau Das Schwarze. Very tasty and dark

Three hour tour-

So today is Sunday. I figure I should go get some work done, since Monday will be wasted at the foreigner office trying to get a residence permit and Kindergeld (free money handout for having kids and being a resident of Germany). I leave the apartment finally at 8:30 and catch a U-Bahn (city train, slower than the big S-Bahn) toward the University. I figure I will catch the buss up to the University. However, after half an hour on the bus, it stops at a mall (not the University). Apparently, on the weekends the busses don't follow their routes. Half an hour later on the buss I am back at the bus/Ubahn/Sbahn stop. I catch the S-Bahn to the University and finally make it to my office, over 2 hours later. This would have been maybe a 10 minute drive. I love public transit!

So even though it was just over 2 hours to get here, I still call it three. They buried Jesus on a Friday afternoon then opened the tomb on Sunday morning and call that three days. Really it was more like a day-and-a-half, tops. From the book of Ed: "The third hour, he managed to make it four miles to work using public transit." Both are miracles. After an hour on the bus: multiple beers tonight.

Yesterday we toured some old castle. 300 years old, 420 rooms, blah blah. Nice flowers. After the walking tour, we decided to try to get to Ikea. Two stops up the S-Bahn and take a bus. We get to the train station and cannot figure out how to catch the 5 train. It looks like it does not leave Ludwigsburg on the weekend. At least not from the track we were on. We catch a train marked "Stuttgart Hbh" that I think should take us toward the Stuttgart main train station (Hauptbahnhof). It does, but it was an express train, no stops. It probably was DB regional train and we were not supposed to be on it. This time, we read the schedules correctly, and half an hour late we are passing Ludwigsburg on the 5 train on the way out to Tamm and Ikea. We get to the station and the elevator is broken. I carry the stroller down the stairs and the bus rolls off as we approach the parking area. Thanks for waiting! No problem, there are four busses to Ikea. Not on Saturday! That bus we saw was it, and it only leaves every hour. So we hop the train back downtown and finally get home. Luckily, we find a cheap Doner place in Marienplatz with good kebab and Pizza and walking distance. Total transit time from Ludwigsburg to home via Stuttgart Hbh and Ludwigsburg and Tamm and Ludwigsburg and Stuttgart Hbh and Fuersee and Marienplatz and Doner kabab and Marienplatz: way over 2 hours.

Friday night we tried to get to a party by public transit. Train to Hbh then take a bus. How hard could that be? Well, they have two routes for the same bus leaving from the same place, each going a different direction with different stops but both arriving eventually arriving at the same destination. I would give each route a different designation to try and distinguish one route from the other, but not in Deutschland. We head off on the wrong bus (right number) going the wrong way. I get us off at the first stop and we walk down Konigstrasse back to the Hbh and get on the correct bus. This trip was not too bad, but we got to the party 45 minutes late. If you count the U-Bahn trip out to the Aldi and back before we left for the party, this was way over three hours.

Friday I had a Eis Marzen at the party (once we finally got there). My host said it was from a special brewery "owned by the region". I think the word he was looking for was communist, Marxist, socialist, or maybe cooperative. Good beer, not too bitter or hoppy, but not super tasty. I had a nice dunkel weiss for lunch at the castle (very good, better than plain old Heffe Weissen) and a Stuttgarter Marzen Saturday night. The Marzen was hoppy but not too bitter, very good. Sunday night I only had a Schwaban Brau Helle.

Bank Holiday: Wilhelma

Today was the second bank holiday for us in two weeks. We went out to the local zoo, the Wilhelma. We bought an annual pass for 80 Eurobucks (~$120). The really nice thing were the amazing greenhouses. It is not just a zoo, it is a botanical garden and park. The animals were good, and they had cages where you could see the animals. Very nice!

We bought a 2-zone multipass and spent the afternoon on the U-bahn and S-bahn and Bus. The bus stops across from our summer apartment, so it should be nice. But I need the exercise due to the beer. Amazingly, there are 2 trains that stop 3 blocks from our house. One goes to the zoo / main train station and the other goes to the university and the beer festival (stadium fair ground). Crazy.

We ate a late lunch at a chinese place so dinner was wine, gouda, pretzels, and beer. Stuttgarter Hofbrau Export Premium. About the same as the normal Stuttgarter Hoffbrau, but with a nice gold foil top. I guess that makes it taste better? I like the standard tallboy (.5 L).

Showers-

Our show is so small, I can't turn around or bend over. It is one quarter of a circle with about a 36 inch radius. I can stand along the hypotenuse (the sqrt(2 r^2) direction) and nearly extend my elbows, however my elbows touch the corners. It is hard to shower with your arms at your side. I have to squat to wash my legs or feet, I cannot bend over. If I do try to bend over, I usually hit the giant knob that takes up a lot of room and the water either turns off or turns super hot. At least they have high pressure and on-demand hot water so you never run out.

Tonight, Andi made some great pasta and I had a Stuttgarter Hofbrau. After dinner I had some gouda and a Altenmunster brauer bier, (urig vurzig?) This had a very neat bottle and it went pop like a cork when I opened the crazy cap thing. No label but intricate design on the glass. Very tasty, not too bitter, heavier that a wheat beer but tasty.

Quiz at Irish Pub?

Monday was spent getting my students settled in. They have dorm and desks and money now. Andi and I took them downtown for a quick tour and some dinner doner. Another Malteser Weiss for me. Tonight I was invited out to an Irish pub for quiz night... So I assume it will be Guinness or black and tans, my favorite! Today was actually my first real day of work, and we accomplished a lot. It is amazing what you can do without tons of email and people and meetings and more and more and more. Update: Guinness, Black-and-tank, Nukie Brown. No Boddingtons.

Down day-

Sunday is supposed to be family time in Germany. Andi said you can't vacuum or do laundry. And I was just about to do both! HA. We drove around for about 3 hours, just checking out Stuttgart in the rain. After all that driving, I was not up for much excitement, so I just had some pretzels and a Erdinger Weisbier in a .5 l tallboy. Still good.

Day Trip #1

We did our first day trip on Saturday. We have a great book with about 25 german road trips listed. Day trips in the car are great for the kids, they can sleep and they travel well. The problem is gas. It is still $9 / gallon here (1.5 E/L). Crazy. We saw revelers coming home at 7 AM still drinking and a guy getting a pee test at 8 AM by the side of the road. I hear the Germans have harsh DUI rules. Anyway, the high spots of our trip were Burg Trifels (a cool castle where they held Richard the Lionhearted prisoner) and Saarsburg (a neat little wine town on the Saar). Came home, put kids in bed, had a glass of wine and stinky cheese, and a Meister Pils. I think I am not a Pilsner fan, they are a little bitter. I can drink them, but they are not my favorite.

Google Map of day trip #1