München & Munchin'

Hasenpfeffer

2017-01-06T17:01:00.000-08:00

From my mom:

"Recently my mom told me a dish Grandpa Herman prepared was Hasenpfeffer. I just started reading a book 97 Orchard An Edible history of Five Immigrant Families In One New York Tenement by Ziegelman. There's a chapter about a German family with some favorite recipes.... one was Hasenpfeffer. It also mentions a popular cookbook of the day. I don't recall ever eating rabbit with Grandma and Grandpa but I think Don & Ron may have eaten it."

We have friends that raise rabbits and they gave us one last month. So I figured I should try it! I followed the recipe, but cut it in half for just one rabbit instead of the original two. I can't say it was our favorite, but I would probably try it again with less vinegar (and apple cider vinegar instead of white, I think).

Recipe

2 rabbits

1 Tbsp salt

2 large onions, sliced

6 cloves

12 whole allspice

1/2 Tbsp whole peppers

Vinegar

1 Tbsp sugar

1 Tbsp butter

1 Tbsp flour

Cut rabbits into pieces. Add spices and sliced onion. Cover with vinegar. Cover container, let marinade in fridge for three days.

When ready to cook, empty the contents of the bowl into a large sauce pan. Add one cup water sugar. Boil until tender.

Melt butter and add flour, stir until browned. Remove rabbit, add broth to the roux and cook until thickened.

Serve rabbit with gravy and browned potatoes or potato dumplings.

Niko's first hike

2016-01-21T06:12:00.002-08:00

About a month before we moved, my dad and his friend Scott came to visit for a few days. They were doing a bit of traveling in Europe and flew into Munich. We were looking for things to do in Munich when some friends invited us to go hiking. It was Niko's first hike!

We chose an easy hike near Schliersee - up to Rohnberg. It was a very foggy day so we couldn't really see the lake, but it made for some beautiful scenery in the trees.

Cool spider webs

Still had a bit of fall color

Berlin

2016-01-02T14:00:00.001-08:00

David had been wanting to go to see Berlin, so when our friends Laura and Shawn (who also have a little baby) invited us to join we took them up on it. It was very last minute - we bought the tickets Saturday and left on Tuesday. We stayed four nights in an AirBnB in a great location and were surprised how much we liked Berlin.

Niko wanted to play with this interesting toy...

The first full day, we did an "alternative" walking tour of Berlin (alternativeberlin.com). Instead of seeing the Reichstag and other big sites, we learned about the local culture and graffiti. It was interesting to learn how the wall affected and still has an affect on the city.

Berlin is the capital but in stark contrast to the rest of the city. While Germany is known to be orderly, safe, and productive, Berlin is counter-cultural and full of artists and oddballs. There actually isn't much money in the city (the unemployment rate is about 11% compared to the 7% national average), and the city runs mostly on taxes from the west part of the country. (In fact we learned about this solidarity tax from our own pay stubs).

We brough strollers but int he end the babies were carried all three days.

On the tour, we saw a number of examples of Berlin graffiti. Our guide told us that Berlin really wants to crack down on graffiti but just don't have the resources to make a dent. They created a special force against graffiti - in consisted less then 10 police officers, and there are at least a thousand people out painting graffiti every night.

This was done by a group that uses rope to hang from the roof in order to paint!

This example was actually contracted and done in broad daylight

The animals were legal.

Another interesting spot he brought us to was a house build during the cold war. There was a spot of land that was supposed to be part of east Berlin but the wall was incorrect so it was actually in west Berlin. No one knew what to do and it became a dumping ground for various junk. Some Turkish guy wanted to make something useful out of it so he used the junk to build himself a house and lived there for a while. Some years later after the wall came down, the city wanted him to move out. There were protests (Berliners like to protest) and it was discovered that the land originally belonged to the church across the street. The church folks met and decided to let him keep the house, and he still lives there today.

After the tour we visited the East Side Gallery, a long stretch of the original wall which is now covered in - what else - graffiti.

The next day we saw some of the more typical sights.

The boys got in a bit of a fight...

Cool graffiti

Standing on the wall

An east side (Soviet) crossing signal

Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe

This guy was awesome

The Brandenburg Gate

The Reichstag

The New Synagogue. I didn't realize until the end that the
main hall was bombed out and never rebuilt.

On our last full day we visited the Berlin Wall Memorial. It had a really interesting museum in a tower from which you can look down on a bit of the wall that was left in the original setup. At least portions of it were more than just a wall, with a wide area where anyone trying to pass through would be shot on sight.

Allowing nature to take its course with several pieces of the wall

Placards marking an escape tunnel under the wall.

For lunch, we had the best burgers David and I have ever eaten at the Burger Joint. Also great milkshakes and sweet potato fries. I still think about it sometimes and tell David that we need to go back to Berlin and eat those burgers again.

We had all planned to do a Berlin Underworld tour of bunkers used during WWII. Unfortunately babies were not allowed, even in carriers, so David and Shawn went while Laura and I browsed shops. It didn't have quite as much of an "urban exploration" feel as David was hoping for, but they learned a lot (like, many U-bahn stations in Berlin were not deep enough to protect against air raids, so locals had to know which ones they could escape to).

Apparently a thing to do in Berlin is to have your photo taken in the Photoautomat. So we did it. All 6 of us. I still have it around here somewhere and should scan it... unfortunately that was the only picture of all of us that we got :(. We just never thought to get one I guess.

Writing about our trip four months later is making me miss Germany and our friends!

Eisbach

2015-09-24T06:26:00.001-07:00

On the last hot weekend day of the summer, we checked off a Munich bucket list item. We jumped in the Eisbach, the stream that runs through the Englischer Garten. We had planned a hike, but it was just too hot, especially with Niko.

It's definitely too cold out to jump in now! We really took the last chance we got.

Niko thought it was too cold to get in

Agnes & Bernhard at the Chinesischer Turm biergarten

Moldova Take 3

2015-09-01T10:58:00.004-07:00

The last two years David and I went to Moldova with our church to help at a summer camp for local children. David decided to go again this year, and I'm glad he did since it is the last opportunity, at least for a while. While there, he did a rendition of a Mr. Bean skit, and I can't resist sharing it :).

Soest

2015-08-30T02:23:00.000-07:00

When David decided he would go to Moldova again this year (we went together the last two years), I asked my mom to come out and spend the time with me and Niko.

She is very interested in genealogy and done a lot of research into our family. A couple of years ago she visited the area around Soest, Germany with my dad and wanted to share it with me as well. She found an airbnb in the area and we drove up from Munich. (Niko was not a happy camper in the car... which made for a very long drive).

We enjoyed relaxing out in the country and also visited some places relevant to our ancestors.

Our ancestors were married at the St. Patrokli Dom in Soest.

Soest city center

The lived in the village of Oestinghausen and their children were baptized at St. Stephanus church.

This baptismal font has been in the church for centuries,
and would have been used to baptized one of our ancestors.

My mom went in the church office and was able to see the original books
whose records she had earlier found in her research.

We also spent plenty of time just hanging out at the apartment we were staying in!

Niko rolled from back to front for the first time the night we arrived.

Soest is only an hour from Kat, so we spent one day driving up to visit her. We had some hope that her baby would come early and we could meet her, but we missed her birth by just two days!

Rather than make the very long drive back to Munich in one day, we stopped to visit the Wolfs in Worms, and stayed two nights in Heidelberg.

Travel recommendations:

The airbnb was wonderful!
The Akropolis grill in Lippetal probably had the best gyros I've ever eaten. Quite surprising considering it's in a small village that's sort of in the middle of nowhere!
Im Wilden Mann in Soest
Eiscafe Venezia had some of the best gelato my mom and I have eaten.

2015-08-18T07:47:00.001-07:00

We are both grieved and excited to announce that we are moving. It has been an amazing three years in Munich, but in November we will be moving back to the States - to the mountains of northern Georgia.

Our first visit to Munich, three years ago.

David has had a passion for electronic music production for a long time, and after a few "trial months" while we were both on Elternzeit (paid time off from work after having a baby), we've decided that he will pursue it as a career. Meanwhile, we've had a vision for some time of building a small house in the country, and I have dreamed of growing my own food.

And the fact is, the only way for David to pursue music full time and for us to live in Munich would be for me to go back to work full time. So instead, we decided to move somewhere with a lower cost of living that also fits the lifestyle we've envisioned.

My parents have a house in Clayton, GA where we will stay temporarily until we build our own, right next door.

We will leave behind friends, a great community, and a lot of wonderful memories behind us in Munich. And after three years, we really feel at home here, and will truly miss so many things. But we feel that it's the right thing and the right time, and are excited to see what God has in store for us next.

Schweinebraten

2015-07-27T05:45:00.000-07:00

Ingredients

Pork roast with a layer of skin and fat

Caraway seeds

Salt

Pepper

Paprika

1 bottle beer (preferably a dark German beer)

1 cup chicken broth or additional beer

1 onion

1 carrot

Butter

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 F/175 C.

Slice the pork skin in a diamond pattern, cutting into the fat but not into the meat. (You need a very sharp knife for this!) Season with salt, pepper, paprika, and caraway seeds. Dice the onion and carrot.

Heat butter in an oven-safe skillet over medium heat. Add the pork and brown on all sides. About half way through, add the vegetables and brown them gently.

Transfer the skillet, skin side up, to the oven. Add the liquid to the pan. Let cook until a thermometer registers 145 F/65 C in the middle of the meat (my rather small roast took about an hour and a half). Remove the pan, and turn up the oven to 400 F/200 C. Temporarily remove the meat and strain the liquid into a small pot. Return the meat to the oven for an additional 10 to 15 minutes, until the skin is brown and crispy. Meanwhile, simmer the liquid, using your preferred method to thicken it into gravy. (I mix about 1 tsp arrowroot powder with some cool liquid, adding it to the simmering liquid for just a minute at the end).

Remove the meat from the oven and let it rest for a few minutes before slicing. Serve with potatoes, blaukraut, and gravy.

Blaukraut

2015-07-16T04:48:00.000-07:00

Blaukraut is a common side among many Bavarian dishes. Typically it is made by braising shredded red cabbage with sugar, wine or vinegar, and spices. It is then served hot with pork or beef dishes. My version is instead raw and lacto-fermented; it could also be heated and served with meat but tastes great (and is the most nutritious) as a cold side. Even better when it's hot outside and there's no air conditioning!

Ingredients

1 large head red cabbage

1 large or 2 small apples

2 Tbsp sea salt

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp cloves

Instructions

Wash the cabbage and remove 2-3 leaves from the outside, set aside.

Cut the cabbage into chunks and remove the core. Shred the cabbage using a food processor with a thin slicing blade, place the chunks such that the slicing forms ribbons of cabbage rather than large slices. Place into a large bowl and sprinkle with the salt and spices. Stir and let it sit for several minutes, then pound the cabbage until it gets juicy (an empty wine bottle works well - hold the neck and use the bottom to pound it). It helps to stir the cabbage occasionally.

Chop the apple(s) into quarters and remove the core. Slice the chunks in the food processor and add to the cabbage. Stir and pound gently for another minute (you don't want to pulverize the apples, just get them incorporated and a bit soft).

Put the mixture into a one quart canning jar, pressing down as you go. (a gasket seal, like that shown in the photo, works best, but a normal lid is also fine). Press down as much as possible so that the cabbage is under the liquid. If necessary, pour in filtered water until there is about one inch of water above the cabbage. Then place the reserved leaves on top and press down. Place a weight on top - small jars filled with water work well.

Close the lid and leave at room temperature to ferment. Once or twice a day, open the jar to let out built up gas and press down the cabbage again, making sure it stays under the liquid. Depending on the temperature, fermenting will take about 5 to 10 days. Taste it after a few days and put it in the fridge when it has a nice tart flavor.

Schliersee

2015-07-10T02:52:00.002-07:00

We can't believe it was nearly three years before we first visited a lake in summer time. The water felt great and the views were gorgeous. And it only took us an hour to get there. Niko really seemed to enjoy it as well, he happily laid around in the shade all day. (He didn't really take to the water though).

The only downside was the trip home - the air conditioning on the train was broken and we were sweltering. Niko got pretty hot and flushed too - poor little guy.

The train down. Niko was fascinated with Laura's shirt.

Napping in the shade

Hanging out with our little boy

He didn't take to the water. Probably he didn't like the cold

A baby standing on a baby!

Kat's wedding

2015-07-10T00:12:00.002-07:00

After our stay in Hamburg we went on to Telgte for Kat's wedding.

The official wedding was at the city hall. David and I didn't follow that much of it, but thought it was funny that the term "Personalausweis" (personal identification) was used a number of times.

Then we had a party in Kat and Björn's back yard. It was a perfect day for it!

Kat's family

Every time a coin dropped, Kat and Björn had to kiss.

Hamburg

2015-07-01T06:56:00.002-07:00

Soon after moving to Germany we learned about a miniature train museum near Hamburg and have been wanting to see it. When we decided to travel to Telgte for Kat's wedding, we realized it would only be a two hour train ride to Hamburg. So we decided to stay two nights in Hamburg before going on to Telgte.

Trains are our favorite way to travel.

Yummy tapas and sangria

The miniature wonderland was definitely worth the trip.

An airport with plans taking off and landing

Switzerland - you can see the size compared to the real people on the other side

Cars that drive on the road and even stop at red lights

References:

Picasso - Spanish restaurant with great tapas and sangria

Miniature Wonderland

Spartan Sprint

2015-05-10T08:58:00.001-07:00

Less than four weeks after Niko was born, David ran the Spartan Sprint. It was similar to the Tough Mudder that David ran last year, with less distance but more difficult obstacles.

He knew it might be rough just after having a baby, but his company was sponsoring a team and he didn't want to miss the opportunity. He got about three hours of sleep the night before, but still made it through all the obstacles!

Super Dave!

A teammate made the following video:

Lantiq InsideFinal from marc asperas on VimeoVimeo.
.

Munich Botanical Garden

2015-05-10T08:46:00.001-07:00

My mom and I visited the botanical gardens when the tulips were in full bloom still. It was one of our last days before Grandma left - and we were sad to see her go!

hey everyone!

We were initially surprised to see this squirrel so close by. But we found out that the lady sitting next to me on the bench comes every day and feeds him almonds.

Nikolas Everett Smith

2015-04-03T05:52:00.002-07:00

Born at home on Monday, March 23rd (at less than 39 weeks). Niko for short. Weighed 6.7 pounds at birth.

I was woken up early Sunday morning by several contractions, and by noon they were coming about every 20-25 minutes. We went into a flurry of taking care of some items on our pre-birth todo list, and after dinner decided this was probably the real thing. I called my midwife to give her the heads up, and we tried to go to bed and rest.

At some point in the night when the contractions were every five minutes apart, the midwife came. But I was only about one centimeter, and she told us to go back to bed. Around 7 in the morning things seemed to be getting intense and we called her again. At this point things seemed pretty intense and I thought it wouldn't be much longer; I kept thinking this for the next seven hours and it did help to keep me going. Around 11 I started pushing, and our little boy was born at 1:02 PM.

The moment of his birth was incredible for both David and I. Since I was squatting and close to the ground, I saw this baby literally fall onto the floor in front of me. He was very red and slowly curled up a bit and started breathing. David announced that we had a little boy (we didn't know in advance) and I couldn't say much except "Oh my God it's a baby". The midwife handed him to me and shortly after the placenta came, and settled down on the couch.

However, Niko was clearly still having trouble breathing. He was getting enough oxygen but one of his lungs still had fluid in it. So a couple of hours after the birth we had to go to the hospital, and they found he had a minor infection and put him on antibiotics. He had to stay in the intensive care unit for one night and then was able to be with us while he finished treatment. We stayed four nights in total and were happy to bring home a healthy baby on Friday.

Although I don't have any other experience to compare it to, giving birth at home was a really incredible experience. It was great to have the constant support of three people (David, the midwife, and a student midwife). While some say they wouldn't want to associate birth with their home, I find joy in remembering. Even though it was intense and difficult and at times painful, it wasn't traumatic. And even though we ended up in the hospital, I'm glad that he started his life out at home. I felt free to do and be what I needed to, and David was an incredible support through the whole thing.

I think it would have been more stressful had we already been in the hospital; in our situation I knew that treatment was truly necessary, whereas in the hospital I think I would have been less sure that he really needed to be taken and they probably would have made the situation feel much more urgent. (That's certainly how it felt once we arrived, even though he was not in any immediate danger they gave us very little opportunity to understand and discuss what was wrong before taking him away and treating him).

While we were reminded of why we wanted to avoid the hospital in the first place, it was an overall positive experience. Seeing premies in the intensive care reminded me how lucky we are to have a healthy baby boy who got to come home with us after just four days.

Solar Eclipse

2015-03-20T12:28:00.000-07:00

On this first day of spring, we had a solar eclipse! And fortunately it mostly clear morning. The full eclipse was only be visible in some sparsely populated Scandinavian islands, but we got a pretty nice view.

David bought solar film and made two viewing windows, which was also handy for taking the above pictures.

David's friends in Munich

2015-02-07T08:48:00.005-08:00

David has three good friends from college that try to get together about once a year. This time, they came to Munich, right around the New Year after we got back from the US. They spent a few days around the city and just hanging out, and then two days skiing in Austria.

From St Peter's Church

Also while in Munich we went to HintQuest. Basically they lock you in a room and you have to figure out a code that will unlock the door. There are a number of puzzles to be solved (but first you have to find all the puzzle pieces) and teamwork is important in being able to put everything together.

Mike made some pretzels (Because, you know, we're in Bavaria)

Happy new year!

2015-01-01T02:35:00.002-08:00

I think this new year's eve was the best and most fun we've had.

Firstly, after spending a wonderful Christmas with family in Texas, we came home to snow!

The snow in our back yard was almost up to my knees

Since moving to Munich we've heard about the fireworks on New Year's Eve. There are no professional fireworks, but people around this city do their own. (In fact, the three days before new year's are the only time when one can legally purchase fireworks). And people go crazy, shooting them off in the streets of downtown. And yes, drunk partiers shooting off fireworks in crowds can be dangerous.

We went to the Olympiapark, to the top of a large hill where we could see down on the city, as well as the fireworks being fired from the hill. David's friend Jon, who arrived in Munich on new year's eve (more friends are arriving today) joined us, as well as a couple we know here.

The city of Munich

I leave you with this bit of funny German culture. Watching a comedy sketch called Dinner for One has been a tradition for many Germans since it was first aired in 1963. I couldn't tell you why that is the case, but we did watch it last night while waiting for midnight.

Bayerische Creme mit Sauerkirschen

2014-11-22T11:15:00.002-08:00

During our recent weekend in Mittenwald I had some Bayerische Creme (Bavarian Cream) that inspired me to try making it at home, since I hadn't tried any new German recipes in a while and it's pretty easy to make.

I topped mine with a sour cherry compote, but you could eat it plain, with some shaved chocolate, fresh fruit, or any other fruit compote.

For the creme:

300g / 1 1/4 c heavy whipping cream

3 egg yolks

40g / 1/4 c powdered sugar (To make powdered sugar, grind 3 Tbsp regular sugar in a spice grinder)

1 tsp gelatin

1 Tbsp kirschwasser

1 tsp vanilla extract (if you have some vanilla pods, can also scrape out and add some pulp)

For the sour cherry topping:

2 c sour cherries, frozen or fresh and pitted

2 T water

1/4 c sugar

1/2 tsp arrowroot powder

1 T kirschwasser

To prepare the topping, add the cherries, water, sugar, and kirschwasser to a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Let simmer until slightly thick and syrupy, about 15 minutes. Remove a bit of the liquid to a glass or measuring cup and let cool. Mix in the arrowroot powder. With the heat low, pour the arrowroot mixture back into the pan while stiring. Keep stirring for a minute or so over low heat, then remove from heat and let cool.

Beat the egg yolks and powdered sugar together with a whisk or hand beater until pale and frothy.

Heat the kirschwasser and vanilla. Sprinkle the gelatin on top, being careful not to let the liquid boil once you've added the gelatin. Stir until dissolved, then stir into the egg mixture.

Beat the cream in chilled bowl until stiff peaks form. Add one third of the cream to the egg mixture and stir well. Then fold in the remaining cream, and divide into four glasses.

If the cherry topping is at room temperature, top the four glasses and refrigerate. (If it's still pretty warm, put the creme in the fridge until it cools down). Once the topping has been added, chill the creme at least two hours before serving.

Weekend trip to Mittenwald

2014-10-31T10:44:00.000-07:00

It's been a stressful few months for David and I, and we wanted to get away for the weekend. Since we're low on vacation days (even 30 days can go quickly...), we wanted to go somewhere close enough that we could stay just one night and still have most of two days. We mostly just wanted to go somewhere peaceful in the mountains, so we choose Mittenwald.

We had amazing weather - warm and sunny even though it's been a cool and often rainy fall.

Strange "lumpy land" that we saw all around this area

David went a'rollin down the hill

Mittenwald is bordered on one side by some very high and rocky mountains, and on the other by what you can't really call more than "hills". So with my 16-week belly, we tool the shorter and easier hike. (Once we got there we realized the more difficult hike is actually very advanced and would require a full day).

Map of our hike

We stayed the night in Hotel Drachenburg, which had a very nice view over the town and mountains. We had a very nice dinner at the Hotel Gröbl-Alm (I had Sauerbraten made from cows they raise on their land, and some very tasty Bayerische Creme, which I was then inspired to make at home - recipe coming!).

Morning view from our hotel room

On Sunday we started out by walking around the town, but everything was closed and we got bored of that. So we took the bergbahn up to the high mountain (in the right photo above). We didn't really hike but just walked around a bit. We also walked a kilometer-long tunnel that cuts through the mountain and continues on another hiking path.

We didn't spend too long on the mountain because we wanted to get back and play mini golf at a place we had discovered the day before. Mini golf with a view!

Tough Mudder

2014-10-21T11:38:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago, David joined a team of men from our church for the Tough Mudder run/obstacle course. This is an American invention that made its way to Europe, where participants complete a series of muddy obstacles as a team, plus running between them.

When they were still clean...

Me and two other wives came as spectators. Unfortunately we only got to see a handful of the obstacles, but it was fun to be there and cheer them on.

Swimming through ice water. They had to go a couple of feet under a board to make it through.

Mud...

David did a flip into the muddy pond

Our entire team made it up this obstacle the first try

The wires occasionally send an electric shock...

They made it!

Two Years

2014-09-23T07:22:00.001-07:00

When we moved to Munich, we committed to ourselves (and family, friends, and unofficially to our companies) that we would stay at least two years. The intention was to not think about staying vs. not staying until after we'd been here two years.

Of course, that's not really how it worked. We thought about and talked about it a lot - and people asked us. And in all these conversations, we never really wanted to go back, at least not anytime soon. So, we decided to stay. We didn't set another period of time; we live here now, until we feel it's time to do something different.

We still love living in Munich. We enjoy the lifestyle - the trains, biking, the atmosphere of the city. We have also had a few opportunities to get out and travel - the biking trip with my parents was a real highlight for us.

When we first moved here I imagined us making German friends and becoming in some way part of the German community. That hasn't really happened, but I'm okay with it. We have a good community of mostly foreigners, but not all American, which still makes it unique.

The downside is that we haven't really had the opportunity to practice and improve our German language skills. We have found that in Munich, if you want to speak more than at restaurants and grocery stores (and aren't required to speak German at work), you really have to make an effort. But we have gotten back into classes and are trying to at least learn some, maybe in the future we'll have more need to use it.

This has been a very busy year, and just now as things are calming down they feel busy as we start planning for an addition to our family. I'm sure the next year will look quite a bit different from the last two!

Ich bin schwanger!

2014-09-20T10:48:00.000-07:00

And so begins the adventure of giving birth and becoming parents. This will all be happening in Germany, which I'm sure makes it different, but since it will be my first I don't have much to compare it to.

I am currently 12 weeks pregnant, and our baby is due April 4th. Now that I'm into my second trimester, it's really time to start doing research and making decisions. More on that in later posts.

Left: 4 weeks, so no belly yet. Right: 12 weeks.

Hiking+Klettersteig Ettaler Manndl

2014-09-13T07:07:00.001-07:00

I had been wanting to go hiking for several weeks. I wanted to get some fresh air, some exercise, and all before it gets cold. And David had been wanting to do another Klettersteig (fixed-rope climbing) route, after having done it in the spring. So despite the ominous forecast, I made plans and we invited some friends. As the weekend drew closer, the weather started looking better.

Distance: ~14km, Time: 7 hours (including a long break during rain)

We started in Ettal and hiked up to the Klettersteig route, which goes to the peak of Ettaler Manndl. From there we hiked down in a different direction towards Oberammergau. Along the way we stopped at a hütte for a beer and snacks - and just in time, because it started pouring rain after we arrived. Once the rain calmed down, we continued to Oberammergau and then looped back to Ettal. In Ettal we visited a wonderful dairy shop selling cheeses, cakes, and other products from the cows at the Ettal monastary.

Wild orchids

Up the Klettersteig

It started raining when we got to the top, so I was nervous about coming down. It was a bit slippery, but the rain stopped after five minutes and I got the hang of going down the mountain.

Ettaler Manndl from the other side Ettal Abbey

Biking to work

2014-07-13T01:45:00.000-07:00

Almost since we moved in, David has been biking to work on a daily basis. For him, its either a 15 minute bike ride or 30 to 40 minutes taking a train and a bus. I had taken the train to work every day until about a month ago, when I finally decided to try biking. My office recently moved from a spot with only outdoor parking options (in the middle of downtown) to a building with bike parking in the underground garage.

I really like my route. Most of it has trees or the Isar river on at least one side, and there's only a few sections where I have to drive on the road. The route is 6.5 km (4 mi) each way, and takes me about 35 minutes.

Biking through the park is a nice way to start the day

It's nice to pass the cars, not so nice to bike among them.

The Isar river