Warsteiner-

We picked up keys for my students today. They arrive on Monday and now have a place to sleep. Friday afternoon we went downtown to Konnigstrasse and wandered the full length of it. We are total US tourists in shorts pushing a double stroller. It may get quite hot here, it was pretty warm yesterday. The main square is amazing with the old and new castles and a church almost 1,000 years old. Ate more Donner kebab, that stuff is good. I have not had falafel since I lived in Boston. After walking around pushing that stroller I had a classic Warsteiner, but I should have had three. Ok, a little bitter. I still like the wheat beers most. So far...

Mother Lode-

So we spent hours at the Burgerburo in next to the Rathaus, two German words that I thought I would never use. Thanks Herr G for teaching me this crazy stuff! It is amazing how much comes back, but it is also amazing how little I know. Some people know English very well, some not at all. Sitting in line at Ikea, I bust out the classic: "Sprechen Sie English" and I get "But of course." Sometimes simple things throw me, like numbers. I should know numbers coming and going, but sometimes I can't parse the language quickly enough to figure out how much I owe. American idiot.

We found some good Dooner Kebab today near the Rathaus. Andi usually hates lamb, but our donner pizza was pretty good. I could live on Falafel as well, and only $5 a sandwich! Cheap eats in Stuttgart. had a nice Malteser Weiss on tap (Stuttgarter Berwery I think). Very good and tasty. I love wheat beers, I can drink them like water. I can drink them more than water, I don't like water that much. We saw a nice market on the way in, but by the time we finished up with our paperwork in the early afternoon it was gone! Poof, all the flowers, fruit, and vegetables packed up and out.


We took the rest of the afternoon and found an Ikea. It was the first time for Andi and myself, so it was pretty neat. But they did not take credit cards! I hope our Deutsche Bank card gets here soon, the Germans have not discivered Visa universally yet, just their crazy debit card. We also found another giant Real store, this time near Stuttgart. This one was even bigger than the other one that we thought was a Walmart. The best part was the getrankemarkt. We picked up a empty case of 20 and filled it with random beers, each one costing from 1 to 1.5 Euros (like $1.50 to $2.40 each). We have to return the car Sunday, then we have to go for 6 weeks without one (except for occasional rentals I guess). Then we will be rocking the Peugeuot minivan! I filled up the Scoda yesterday ($75) and Chase shut down my visa (international fraud!). Crazy. I had heard that I should call them, but I never did. We will see if my transfer goes through tomorrow. Tried the Krombacher Pils tallboy tonight. A little bitter, but not bad.

Mexicans of Germany-

Wednesday we needed to work on our Krankenversicherungnachweis but instead we got a Bereiungsbescheinigung. I can't make this stuff up. The former is a health insurance certificate letter, the latter is a statutory proof of health insurance. Hopefully paying tons of the money in the US makes it ok for us here. The university dining hall was the best food we have had in a week and cheapish. We read there was a Walmart, so we went looking. Turns out it was a store named "Real" and we spent a couple of hours shopping. The coolest part was the moving ramp to carry your cart to the second floor; carts had magnetic wheels so your cart would not slip. I told a friend we were like the country folk coming in to town to the Walmart once every month or two, since we walked out with two carts full. She said we were more like Mexicans in her Walmart, wandering around and getting in the way and nobody can understand what you are saying. The Real had a Getrankmarkt with tons of beer and wine. Single beers were less than a $1 (1/3 the usual price) so I got a few. I started out with another Erdinger Weiss, still one of my favorites. They had a variety of mini-kegs and one was priced around $8. Their wine selection was good and reasonably priced.

Setting up in Germany-

So Andi scheduled us to pick up a rental car in Frankfurt, a Golf station wagon. After pushing our kids and bags about 2 miles through customs and the airport and the biggest parking garage in the world, we get to our Scoda, not a VW. We actually got everything in the car! Except for a single bag that got tied on top. We must have looked like fools driving to Stuttgart with a big green duffel on top of the car. We made it and got to our apartment meeting on time.

The apartment is not bad for 500 square feet. Small kitchen, decent bedroom, decent den, balcony. It definitely could have been worse. Andi was very organized, so we were quickly set up and running. We walked around in the afternoon looking for food, but Monday was a bank holiday! Nothing to be found. We eventually got to a small pizza place and made the mistake they always tell you about. Pepperoni means small spicy peppers in Deutschland! Oops. Ellie cried. Andi and I split an Erdinger Weiss and an Erdinger dunkel Weiss, both very good. That night we were all up at midnight, so we drove around town and found a Esso gas station open with some food. Classy!

Tuesday we tried to get internet set up. We drove to Ludwigsburg because the GPS said they had shopping. Ludwigsburg was a very nice little town, but the Vodaphone people were useless. And Deutshe Bank people were not much help either. Eventually we got to the University, met my secretarial contact, and had my orientation meeting. Tuesday afternoon we found a Vodaphone in Stuttgart with a very helpful English speaking man and we were ready to go! Cell phone and data plan with super fast speeds. Now life is getting settled. Wednesday will be spent working on our residence permit... Gutgarter Hofbrau tallboy from the gas station, very good. Correction: Stuttgarter Hofbrau. I cannot read the old fonts. Thanks Sarah!

Get set and go!

Tim managed to get us to CLT successfully. Carry-on, two kids, two car seats, double stroller, and NINE bags. No problem! We filled up Tim's sequoia. We get there nearly three hours early for a flight that ends up being an hour late. Why not have a beer? Carolina Brewing Company, Cottonwood Lowdown Brown, very nice. After the beer, they pulled the usual "we will board in 10 minutes" every ten minutes for 40 minutes. Kids started to melt down before we got on the plane. How bad could eight hours on a plane be?

It turns out, the answer is "pretty bad". Ellie fussed a bit on the plane and Drew had to get up and down over and over. They did not sleep much, so neither did we. Good thing we only have to do this flight three more times. Doh! We learned to take less on the plane and pull out the TV controls so the kids can watch (they were blocked by the car seats). I did manage a Heineken on the plane. They said beer and wine was five dollars or five euros, no free booze on international for US Air. In my stupor, I did the math wrong; I thought five euros was less than five dollars. Cheers to my $8 12 oz Heinie! Idiot...

Get ready...

College ceremony for grads Sat. AM, university graduation at 4:00. Time for beer! Got to have lunch with some of our great friends at Rockaway Athletic Club. We will miss you all! Bags are packed and ready to go. Shiner Bock draft, tasty.

Update: Saw Davis, Sudduth, and Butch at a graduation party. Congrats to all grads! Corona (ok) and New Castle Brown (yummy).

Off to Germany!

So we leave Sunday for Germany! 14 months in Europe will be exciting. Apparently, Germany is known for their beers so I may try a few... I will try to document what beers I drink while there.