LONG recap of the last 3 weeks in Germany

This is perhaps a too detailed account of what we've been up to since we left the states. If you're interested, please read! If you're not as interested, feel free to check out our pictures!

Wednesday, July 15

Arrived at Munich Airport. Took taxi to Doug’s office. Met by coworkers, had lunch, drove our car and Mascha’s car to our apartment. Moved our stuff in and got settled. Gianna terrible and crazy tired all day (only slept 2 hours on the flight and then in my arms at lunch) and slept 12 straight hours that night. Dinner at McDonald’s with NKOTB’s Step by Step on the radio: our first night in Germany was like the US circa 1993.

Thursday, July 16

Got more settled did some grocery shopping around our neighborhood. Gianna up at night from 11 to 2…awesome. Schnitzel sandwiches for lunch. Did some touring in the afternoon in central Munich. Gianna loves chasing pigeons. Gelato for dinner…maybe not nutritious, but delicious.

Friday, July 17

Doug to work in the morning. Gianna and I played and went to the grocery store. She was very good...beginning to return to normal I think. More lunch schnitzels. Did some more touring in the evening before a barbecue with Doug’s coworkers on a rooftop downtown. Good pretzels and beer, but we had to leave before dinner because Gianna was too tired (us too!) so pizza on our way home!

Saturday, July 18

Very rainy day and cool. Did major grocery shopping in the morning. In the afternoon went to the mall, which, no kidding, was like Christmas Eve in an American mall…totally nuts with people and dogs! Doug made pasta for dinner…now it feels like home. :) Tried to run the dishwasher…no luck!

Sunday, July 19

Beautiful day in Munich! Overcast, but pleasant in Salzburg where we spent the morning and early afternoon. Saw some Sound of Music sights, but missed a few too. Doug also missed seeing the cathedral as it closed right after I came out. Delicious lunch outside at a small restaurant: schnitzels, but mine was covered in a yummy mushroom sauce! We’ll have to go back sometime. It was a charming little city. Frozen pizza at home for dinner. Not bad actually. I hope you all recognize this picture from The Sound of Music.

Monday, July 20

Another beautiful day! Doug made calls in the morning (man coming to fix dishwasher soon, better internet in 2-3 weeks). I did yet some more shopping. You have to shop every day here! Went to the English Garden this afternoon. Gianna loved the ducks and the playground there. Marinated chicken breasts for dinner. Quite good. Oh and we successfully did laundry…after finding the user manual!

Tuesday, July 21

Hotter today. Took Gianna to the Munich zoo. She LOVED it! And we like it too because the animals were so easy to see. They seem much more willing to contain the animals here than in the US…which is nice for visitors! The orangutans were especially funny and the baby so cute. And much to our surprise, Gianna was excited about petting the goats. They were pretty cute, I must say...if stinky! Later we went to the department store and had a quick schnitzel sandwich dinner so that we could indulge in delicious gelato from the place down the street from us. They make gelato art! We had this great mango sculpture! Below is just a cute picture of her at the zoo and another of her with the goats.

Wednesday, July 22

Hot again today. Didn’t do much this morning. This afternoon went to an art museum. (Gianna does not appreciate fine art.) Then we played in the grass/playground by the museum. G mostly likes to people watch and run through the grass. She made friends with two young women…mostly because they had ice cream, I think! Gianna has also become a huge fan of playing with our map of Munich. I'm sure she thinks we're doing something special with it since we're looking at it all the time. Anyway, here she is, a girl after her father's heart...maybe one day her walls too will be covered with maps!

Thursday, July 23

Very hot today, 33 C. This morning, the dishwasher guy came. Hooray for clean dishes! Doug went and got me a cell phone. Hooray for staying connected! This afternoon we went to the botanical garden. We didn’t see much of it though because we found a playground in it. So we played. Gianna mostly liked sitting on different rocks. Although, upon leaving the rock area we noticed that mostly her legs had broken out in some kind of hives. We were scared to death that it was poison ivy or something, but it was already getting better by the time we go to the Apotheke to see if they had any idea what to give her. They gave us some kind of gel, but we haven’t used it yet since the reaction is almost gone. Crisis averted! Doug found grated parmesan cheese to have on our pasta…a major accomplishment!

Friday, July 24

This afternoon we took Gianna back to the park we went to yesterday…but didn’t let her play in the poison plants! We let her play around a fountain. You would have thought we brought her to Disney World. She danced and ran and jumped like there was no tomorrow.

Saturday, July 25

Today we went to Linderhof Castle and Oberammergau. It was nearly a disaster since it started raining right as we arrived at the castle and we were completely unprepared for the cold and rain. But, with the purchase of a large umbrella and a fleece for me, we were all set. The castle grounds are gorgeous and much loved by Gianna. The castle itself is small but ornate with an especially impressive bedroom. By the time we came out of the castle, the rains had stopped! Below are the fountains at Linderhof, the castle, and the castle gardens.

Oberammergau is a charming town. A little too “cute” for some tastes, but we enjoyed wandering around the shops and had a nice outdoor lunch of, you guessed it, schnitzel! Oberammergau doesn’t have much to boast besides the shops, but it has a beautiful church and is known for wood-carving. Which, by the looks of the shops, is VERY impressive!

Sunday, July 26

This afternoon we headed to the Olympic Park from the 1972 Munich Olympics. The structures are very interestingly (oddly) designed and the surrounding park is quite nice; though it lacked a playground that we promised Gianna we would find! We did climb the tower and got a great view of the city. Doug was able to get crushed pennies (thank goodness ;o) and we got some neat pictures of the view. We could even see where our house is. Below is the tower and then Gianna and Doug at the top.

Tuesday, July 28

We went to the 11 o'clock ringing of the Glockenspiel in the very center of Munich this morning. We got to overhear some of an English tour about it so the young British man leading it kept things quite amusing and interesting for us. The magic of the Glockenspiel is gone for him…he says it’s among the most overrated tourist attractions as not much happens and it lasts for 15 minutes. Nevertheless, it’s a must see if you visit Munich, I think.

Speaking of must-sees, we had lunch at Hofbrauhaus. Turkey ragout with spaetzle for me and a steak thing for Doug (which he’s still raving about). The beer was, of course, good (Doug says). But the highlight was the live music they play at lunch. Gianna was mesmerized, especially by the tuba. Whatever it takes to keep her entertained while we enjoy a meal! I don’t think we’d survive an evening visit to Hofbrauhaus; the lunch crowd is much smaller…and tamer I suspect!

In the afternoon we did some shopping at a department store downtown. There I learned that underwear is expensive and so are toothbrush holders. As a side note, Gianna has been HATING her baths since we’ve been here and she told me that she missed her toy rocket-submarine. And much to my surprise, they had this very toy at the department store. Who knew that any German kids new of Little Einsteins?! Anyway, little did we know that her bath problems could be alleviated by the 1 euro watering can rather than buying another rocket for 10!

Wednesday, July 29

Doug went to work in the afternoon and Gianna and I braved the seven flights downstairs because of a broken elevator to go to the Botanical Garden. It wasn't too bad, she did a couple flights on her butt. Unfortunately, the elevator was still broken when we got home so I had to carry her up 7 flights! Luckily a neighbor graciously carried the stroller up! But he had it easy...G weighs way more than that stroller! At the Garden, Gianna had a great time running around and wasn't even distracted by the nearly-naked photo shoot going on, I'm not joking, inside the fountain!

Saturday, August 1

Went to Nurnberg today. It is a lovely city and a beautiful day. We didn't do any of the historical Nazi sites; we just stayed in the downtown and looked at some churches and went in shops. We had a great lunch of "Nurnbergers" little breakfast-like sausages and potato salad. Doug loved it! Gianna danced like a lunatic to some saxophone and guitar street performers. I asked her what instruments she saw and she said, "Not a tuba." Clearly, if there's no tubas we're wasting her time! We also went to the toy museum there. The displays were not too exciting, but there is a playroom on the top floor and a playground outside. Here are some pics of the playground and this is where we will begin our expose of the dangerousness of German playgrounds :) We don't mind that they're unsafe; They actually look like lots more fun (for older kids anyway) than playgrounds in the US. We just think it's hilarious how playgrounds like the ones here would certainly be demolished in the US! Below is D and G by a statue (G was looking at another photographer), me eating Nurembergers, and scary playground toys (yes that boy is on stilts).

Sunday, August 2

We went to our second English mass today. It's quite an interesting mix of people. Most of the attendees are African and Asian or elderly German women. It's definitely nice to hear English once a week and the people there seem very kind and friendly. Afterward we went to lunch in the English Garden at the Chinese pavilion. It's a huge area, I think there are something like 6000 seats around the pavilion. Anyway, you can get food from a number of stands and then bring it to a table and listen to the music. Doug had fish on a stick (he said it was good) and Gianna enjoyed a giant pretzel (she really only ate part of it). It was a really nice way to spend the afternoon. Gianna loved the music but was much distressed that she could not get closer to her beloved tubas. There's also a (dangerous) playground right next to the food area. Although, this is actually one of the safer ones we've seen and Gianna was able to get up and down the slide on her own! Here are pictures of our food, a scary piece of playground equipment, and Gianna enjoying a giant beer with Daddy.