Bodensee

Saturday was cold so we decided to drive down to Konstanz on the border between Germany and Switzerland. This city is on lake Constance, or what the Germans call Bodensee. Our annual pass to Legoland gets us into the Sea-Life aquariums, so we tried that out. Not as good as the Ripleys aquariums in Gatlinburg or Myrtle Beach, but pretty good. We tried to head over to Lindau, a neat old island city, but the GPS wanted us to take a ferry so we drove around the lake. We ended up accidently in Austria, so we got a 120 Euro fine for not having a driving sticker.

We walked around Lindau, which was an old old town on an island in the Bodensee. We saw a 1000 year old church, that was pretty neat. I liked the feel of this little place. We also went to Ravensburg, where they make Ravensburger puzzles before heading home.

BTW, the Bodensee is 3x larger than lake Murray. However, it is 1/100th the size of lake Michigan. Suck on that Europe!


Hacker Pschorr Oktoberfest Märzen - Ok, but a little bitter.
Zwiefalter Kloster Weizen hefetrüb - Very very tasty wheat, one of my favorites.
Flensburger Pilsener - Ok, but not real tasty.
Hilsenbeck's Brunnenbier natrtrüb (Gruibingen) - Not bad, but also not real tasty.
Brauhaus Tegrnsee Spezial - Very good.

Austria

Dear Austria,

My family went touring southern Germany on Saturday, September 20, 2008.

Our GPS system routed us around Lake Konstanz (Bodensee) when traveling to Lindau.

After emerging from a 14 km tunnel, we found ourselves directed to a parking area where we were informed that we owe 120 Euros to Austria for not having a pass.

Here are some items for your consideration:

1. The border was not well marked. Initially we thought we had traveled from Switzerland to Germany. We never saw a "Welcome to Austria" sign.

2. We were informed by the rude guard that the regulations are "posted at the border in English." If so, they are not prominently posted.

3. We were also informed that the 120 Euro allows us to drive for 2 days in Austria. We still would have to buy a 75 Euro annual pass. This is unacceptable.

The Swiss have a similar program for taxing cars, but they actually sell you a pass at the border rather than fine you. We have tried unsuccessfully to purchase an Austrian pass, but it is not clear who sells these or how one may purchase them. Automated machines at the border would probably help travelers comply with this rule.

At least the 120 Euro fine should be adequate to include a year pass for the offender.

We were planning on traveling to Austria for a week of sightseeing in the Spring. Now we are changing our plans to avoid your country. Instead we will stay home and watch the Sound of Music.

We will also inform our friends, family, and colleagues to tour all of Europe except Austria. People should not spend money in a country that treats visitors as criminals.

Italy, second half-

Wednesday of our Italy trip we drove to Florence. Along the way we stopped at a little town outside of Rome to see an outdoor sculpture garden. Apparently, this is where the guy that finished the Vatican practiced his sculpture art. A lot of crazy animals and monsters.

Thursday was Florence. This was probably the hardest day. Except for maybe Venice. We walked around a lot and saw a lot of art. The Uffizi museum, the Academia (home of David), plus various churches. One had a lot of tombs, one had a lot of frescoes. The worst part was Ellie falling on some steps and busting her lip. Even though we said not to, they called an ambulance. Just blood and a bump. Soon after, they went to sleep and we carried them forever. A very long day with little fun for the kids save the carousel ride at the end.

Friday we drove through Pisa on our way to Pavia for my conference. Not much in Pisa but that tower.

Pavia is a small little town with tiny streets and real cobblestones. The conference ran three days for about 12-14 hours a day. Andi did some shopping. The only beers I had were both Guinness. They must like the Irish here. We did tour a winery and distillery, home of grappa. That stuff is awful. They let the leftowver wine stalks and hsks rot in a pile then distill it to this awful stuff.

Tuesday we got up, went to Milan to see the Last Supper and drove through Zurich to get home. Busy week.

Wednesday, my group had an outing to wander around the local area. We hiked a good bit, enough to make me sore for a couple of days. We stopped for a brewery tour. This guy went on for about 2 hours in German that I could not follow. But ultimately, the beer was good. The Schwanen in Esslingen. I think they only brew for the restaurant, but the wheat beer was tasty.

Our big excitement came from finding a lady that would take us onto the base. We stocked up on American things finally. Pam. Pop-tarts. Maple syrup. Baked beans. Mac and cheese. Dr. Pepper. Cookie dough. Molasses. Popcorn. Cool-whip. Some of this you can get here but it may cost 5x as much. We also got a Taco Bell delivery, since the only Taco Bell for hours and hours is on base. Tasty!

Italy-

I had to go to Italy for a conference, so we added a few days on the front end to tour a bit.

Friday we left in the afternoon after work and drove through the Tirolean Alps to Venice. Stopped at a McDonalds in the Alps with the most beautiful view. The tour book said "By no means should you stay in xxx" Of course, xxx was where we had a room booked. No troubles actually.

Saturday was Venice. It was great, but no place for a stroller. Small streets, lots of canal crossings. We rode the water taxi around all of Venice. Amazing place. We also found a grocery store. Prices on the island were much better than in Germany! And I found a box of Merlot. Not your normal box of wine, this was a nice 1 L box. It is maybe 3x3x9 inches, so you can drink it. "Pass me the box of Merlot" Classy.

Sunday we drove to Rome. The highways were fine, but they are all toll. You would think 10 bucks a gallon would pay for roads? We stopped along the eastern shore of Italy to check the beaches a bit. Nice, but looked like Myrtle Beach in the 60s, low hotels along the way. Again, the tour book said to avoid xxx in rome, as it is "totally unwholesome". Fine area, just near the train station. I saw my first Budweiser in Europe, so I bought it ($4.50!) but the lady explained the complex parking system to me and save me about $50 in parking.

Monday we did really old Rome. Colosseum. Roman Forum ruins. Parthenon. Fountain Trete. Spanish Steps. Nap. Then do it reverse order in the dark. Of course, you can't get in at night, but it was easy to walk it around. We carried Ellie in the backpack most of the time and she was fine.

Tuesday we did the Catholic stuff. We did the Vatican Museum and St. Peter's. The Vatican museum was full of amazing old stuff and art, and St. Peter's is just impressive, full of big old stuff (giant statuary).

I would definitely suggest Rome as a must-see, but maybe without two little kids. They are troopers and have been terrific, but they slow us down a little.

Update: Birra Moretti and Peroni are both Italian and both are good. Normal Pilsner type beers, nothing bad about them.

Burnout-

We have been go-go-go since we got here in May. Moving in. Touring on the weekend. Touring around town after work. Going to Ireland and the UK. Moving in again. Going to legoland.

We finally ran out of gas on Friday and blamed it on being Vegan for a couple of weeks. Amazingly, I do feel a lot better after a few cheeseburgers.

So what should we do after a good sleep on Saturday? Go to the nearly local Sindsheim Tecknik Museum. Then Burg Steinsberg. Then Schloß Solitude.

The museum was huge and eclectic. Old American cars. WWII tanks. Trains. Fighter planes. Automated Organs. Commercial Planes. F1 cars. Old Mercedes, Marbach, and Rolls Royce. Ferraris. Chain saws. Sewing Machines.

One interesting point was the do-it-yourself rides. You put your money in, get in, push start. One was a car track for the little kids. One I did was a boat that hoists you precariously 30 feet in the air then lets you go, you hit a jump and hit the water. Very scary. Especially after I was locked in and Andi read the max weight (a good bit less than my min weight). I did not die. This time.

Burg Steinsberg was in sight of the museum. An old (1100s?) castle with a tower. Germans must not have as many lawyers as we do, since they seem to have no fear of liability. We climbed the tower, which was around 10 flights of stiars. But they weren't stairs, they were more like ladders. And they looked old. It was a workout to get the kids up and down, but we did it.

Finally, Schloß Solitude, in Stuttgart. This is only a few miles from our house. We caught the German tour, but the kids were starting to lose it. The gardens are all gone, but the Schloß is still nice.

Busy Sunday! Not a Lazy Sunday.

Das Weizen - Good wheat beer. A little more tasty than most.

Paulaner Octoberfest - I did not like it as much as my wheat beers, more like a Pils.

Döner Kebab

So we really fell of the vegan wagon, and I haven't felt better. We went to our favorite Döner Kebab place by the underwear factory and ate and ate. Yummy Dönerfleish! Tasty stuff.

Driving around Germany, we see a lot of streets (Straßen). One sign we keep seeing is Einbahnstraße. The wife turns to me and says, that Einbahn guy must be famous, they named all these streets after him. Come to find out, Einbahnstraße means one-way street. HA!

Stuttgarter Hofbrau Pils- Decent beer, nothing crazy. Ok with döner.

Lowenbräu Original- Funny taste (skunked?). Could be due to the salami and cheese?

Vegans can go eat a bit fat steak-

We were supposed to stay Vegan until Monday. Today, Andi and I woke up feeling under the weather, just run down. So we blamed it on the stupid vegan diet and went out for a burger. And a shake. Thankfully, we know where the local Burger King is.

All that great vegan food just does not compare to a double whopper with cheese.

And why for the love of God would someone put mayo on frech fries? Freaky.

I already feel better, and so does Andi. 18 days should be plenty of clensing.

Mönkshof Pils- normal beer, nothing exciting.

Hofbrau Original- Good, but nothing crazy. This is the stuff at the Hofbrauhaus in Munich. It tastes better there I think.

Sanwald Blue Weizen and Cola - Tastes mostly like cola, not beer.

Road Trip-

We went to see some friends in Amsterdam this weekend. It is only six hours away by car, but due to construction and family it was more like 9. The Netherlands seem really nice, but maybe we were just in a really nice city by the ocean. The kids ran around in the North See and they got to ride a horse. Very exciting!

Amsterdam had some really strong beer, 7.5%! Normal beer is usually 3 or 4%. Not bad. Alfa Edel Pils.

Luckily the Dutch like peanut butter. We were running low, and it costs a ton in Germany. We bought six big jars, at 1/4 the cost we see in Germany! Hopefully that will last to October.

We found out the Semi-annual flower carpet was happening in Brussels. This only lasts two or three days. We stopped by on the way home and it was amazing.

BTW, we did not stay vegan all weekend. A little cheese, a little butter, a Belgian Waffle (with egg), and some Belgian milk chocolate. Oh well.

We stopped at the Belgian Brewer's Museum. Pretty sad little museum after the Guinness museum. The beer was ok, but I had a screaming daughter to contend with.

Pics-

So we are going to stay with some friends this weekend. We got a message today that they are vegatarian and "No dead animals will be served in our house." Normally, I would be a little offended, thinking what kind of nutjob does not eat meat (in the friendly way of course). But this time, I could turn it around: "We are vegan, so no milk or animal products for us!" Make them feel dirty for once, instead of holier-than-thou...

I already have a list of BBQ places to hit when we get back to the states. Yummy cloven hoof animals. Mmmmmm.

So I have been slack putting pics up. Here you go.

Tonight: Wulle Vollbier Hell at the Veggie Voodoo place. Decent beer, nothing crazy other than the big pop when you opened it up.

Vegan beer?






Alpirsbacher Kloisterbrau Brewerey in Schwartzwald.






Grapefruit and beer?





Yummy English Beer in Birmingham.


Kingfisher draft in Indian restaurant in London.






Guinness brewery in Dublin.


Celebrating daughter's 2nd birthday at remote Irish Pub.

Unfiltered beer?

So I had one of my favorites last night, König Ludwig Weißbier. It was in our fridge sideways. Before I poured it, I noticed a sludge on the side of the bottle. We don't usually keep beer sideways after an explosion at the last place, even though it probably makes little difference (sideways vs upright).

I guess that sludge is the unfiltered yeast? It was a substantial amount, maybe an ounce in half a L.

Good stuff, but not as tasty as I remember. Last time we walked a few miles before we had a König. Actually, we walked a few miles on local trails last night as well, but it was not super hot this time. Who knows. Still good stuff.

Beer is Vegan-

So the wife and I have tried lots of diets. Atkins. Weight watchers. South Beach. Sugar Busters. Obviously nothing works.

So the latest is Veganism.

For those that are new to alternative lifestyles, Vegans are extreme vegetarians. No meat. No fish. No animal products.

This means no milk. No cheese. No yogurt. No eggs.

Some vegans are really out there crazy. No honey, I guess it exploits the bees. And no white sugar, it is filtered with a little animal bone (sometimes).

We are still eating sugar and honey, so we are not totally nuts.

Luckily, beer is vegan! I guess Vegans hate yeasties just like they hate those evil plants.

French Fries (Pommes Frittes) are ok. Oatmeal. Rice. Soy milk. And beer!

In the land of wurst and schnitzel, eating out vegan is not too bad. Most döner kebab places do falafel with pita. And we just found a 24 hour BK for O-rings.

BTW, we are only doing the true vegan thing for three weeks. One down, two to go!

Tonight, old standby: Paulaner Hefe-Weißbier Dunkel. Always tasty.

New apartment-

Things have been a little busy here the last week or so. We finally moved to our new apartment, which we have for the next twelve months. Twice as much room as the old place (three bedrooms!), on campus (5 minute commute, meet family for lunch), and cheaper too. It is amazing how much crap you can collect in just a couple of months. Good thing we have a new car, otherwise we would be schlepping stuff on the bus+subway forever.

This new apartment is in a building built on campus specifically for visiting professors, the Gastdozentenhaus (Guest Docent House). Apparently they spent a lot of money on the building, which won architectural awards. It looks like something from the 70s, but it was built in the mid-90s. Very nice overall, but there are a couple of issues.

First, the floor tile is troublesome. It has big holes, maybe 2-3 inches long and half an inch deep. It looks like they had cheep stone that fell apart in places. Apparently, they paid a ton of money for this stuff! You can't get the holes clean, no matter how much you try. It feels like living on dirt floor. So we bought some cheap carpets to put down all through the place.

Second, the appliances. We ended up getting a dishwasher and washing machine. Add to that the ice machine and toaster oven from the last place, and we have a few items to get rid of next year when we leave. I assume we can sell everything for something next summer.

They do have solid free internet, so streaming stuff from the states is fine. We got a wireless router so I can blog/work in bed while the spouse watches the olympics.

The place has sliding wooden window shades instead of the metal roll-down shutters we had at the last place. The windows tilt and open (to the floor) and thankfully they put gates up so the kids can't easily fall out.

They have a nice kid playground in the courtyard. Apparently, the (award winning) architects sued to not have the playground added. There are a ton of other little kids in this building, so the kids are making friends.

We got annual passes to Legoland, only an hour away. We have been twice. Plus we tood a drive in the Schwartzwald and stopped in Freudenstadt and Alpirsbach, home of Alpirsbacher Kloisterbrau. We were at the wrong time for a brewery tour (German only) so we toured the monestary instead.

Tonight: Weihenstephaner Hefe Weissbier, from the oldest brewery in the world. Very tasty. Somwhat more complex than most wheat beers.

Schneider Weisse, another solid wheat beer. Nothing surprising.

Brauhaus Urtyp, Wüzige Bier. I don't know what this Urtyp or Wüzige stuff is, but it is not good.

Schöfferhofer Grapefruit Hefewizen. Interesting and fruity. Radler is Lemonade + Beer, this is grapefruity delicious.

Flensbuger Pilsener. Not bad, interesting bottle.

Plus some various Paulaner and Erdingers I have had before.

New car-

We survived our "vacation" tour of Europe. Sunday we were supposed to fly into Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden and take public transit to Strasbourg, France. Ryan Air, the "on time" airline kept us in Dublin an extra two hours so we missed our bus. So much for the $30 spent on "priority" boarding passes so we could jump to the front of the line. Once we got back to Germany, we realized it was futile to take a bus to the train station, three trains to Strasbourg, and a shuttle from the airport to the hotel, taking nearly five hours and arriving around 9 PM assuming we hit every leg properly.

We rented a car and made it in 45 minutes, got in the room by 7 PM.

They gave us a Mercedes Benz B class. If they sold the Mercedes A class, B class, or mini van in the states, Mercedes would no longer be seen as a luxury car manufacturer. The A and B class are little hatchback commuters. Not bad, but not fancy either. We fit in it just fine, so no complaints.

We made it to Strasbourg and saw one of the tallest cathedrals in the world. On Monday, we managed to pick up our car! A brand-new Peugeot mini-mini van, the Peugeot Partner. It has lots of room, gets 50 MPG diesel (cheaper than gas here) and has lots of space in the back.

So we have completed our first extended vacation. It was really more of a tour. The kids were amazing, traveling pretty well on all stages of the trip and sleeping well in hotels. My wife did a great job organizing everything and pretty much nothing broke down and fell to pieces. We did have one issue.

We had been using a USB data stick to connect our laptops to Vodaphone in Germany. Before this trip, we switched over to the European unlimited plan. However, there is no unlimited plan. They cut us off at 3,000 Euros, about $5,000. The last we heard from them, they were going to cancel that charge... You would think they might text you every time you had a few hundred bucks in overage charges?

No beer since Guinness, but I should definitely be back on the horse tonight.

Guinness-

We made it to Dublin. Andi planned a surprise visit to the Guinness plant. The facility was very nice with a lot of great displays. You finish the tour at the top of the old plant with a very modern glass-walled bar looking out over Dublin. Too bad there is not much to look at, Dublin was a little plain. We saw the Dublin castle, but tours were sold out. Other than that, we did not find much here of interest.

Driving into Ireland we were on one of their new interstate type motorways, two lane each way with a nice shoulder. Surprisingly, the speed limit was the same as we had driving to the Cliffs of Moher, a twisty up-and-down road with barely enough room to overtake oncoming traffic with a hard rock wall on one side and a cliff to the ocean on another. 100 kph or a little over 60 MPH! Getting back to the Autobahn will be nice wrt speed limits at least. It has been great being in a country where the culture is similar to the US. It accentuates the differences in Germany. Ice. Air-conditioning. Talking to strangers. Beer in cans.

However, the old man vest with pockets was not a fashion item in the UK and Ireland.

Looking back at the last week, some of the highlights:

• Thomas land in Birmingham
  
• Coventry Cathedral ruins
  
• Stonehenge
  
• Westminster Abbey
  
• Cliffs of Moher
  
• Driving through remote mountains to Tully Cross
  
• Daughter's second birthday
  
• Guinness tour
  

Guinness was very good, but my wife likes Murphy s better. The best was in the tasting room where they pull straight from the plant.

Ireland-

We made it to Ireland. I am getting better at this driving on the wrong side of the road stuff. We drove out of Dublin north into some mountains. We had dinner in Londonkerry and stayed in Leterkiney. The second day was very long, driving down to the Cliffs of Moher then back up to a remote hotel in Tully Cross. The Cliffs of Moher were amazing to see. The area near Tully Cross was really inspiring, with mountains and lakes and sheep wandering around. Being at the 58th parallel, it was light until 10:30 so we had light on the way. My daughter had her second birthday, so we opened presents in the Cliffs of Moher parking lot and had her cake in a pub in Tully Cross. Guinness in a real Irish pub was quite a treat. Today we drove down to Cork to kiss the Blarney stone and tour the Blarney castle. I had a Murphey's at dinner since Cork is where they make it. Tomorrow is back to Dublin.

Guinness- Always good, but somehow better in Ireland.

Murpheys- Maybe even tastier than Guinness?

Beamish- Good too. I have not seen a stout in Germany.

London Town-

Made it to London and toured around some today. We saw Big Ben, the House of Parlaiment, the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey (did the tour, amazing), Hyde Park, Harrods, and the Eye of London. Hopefully we will get to see the Tower of London and Tower Bridge tomorrow. And I had to finish reading a thesis!

No beer! Not a drop. Too much walking around and pushing a stroller, maybe tomorrow.

"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.