Friday, February 27, 2015

Starkbierfest at Augustiner Keller



It's that time of year again in Munich. Starkbierfest, the one that centers around the bier monks used to drink during Lent. Perhaps they still do...

I wanted to eat in the giant keg but they said no!
Last year we were at Löwenbräu Keller this year we tried Augustiner Keller. It was a smaller venue and we waited too long to look for tickets so we went on a Thursday night with our friends Andy and Julie. And we are glad we did.
Andy, Julie, Missy & Steve
Starkbierfest was held in the bier cellar. We had to walk down and down and down a windy staircase to the Keller (cellar) deep under the main restaurant. It was such a cool room with curved ceilings for storing the kegs. The food was good and the band was great. We spent our evening dancing on the benches and Julie and I even danced with the older German gentleman at the table next to ours. He was having a very good time.



We will definitely be back at Starkbierfest in 2016!

Sunday, February 15, 2015

#12


Nearly 22 years ago my lovely sister-in-laws and mother-in-law had a Christmas in July wedding shower for me. It was fabulous and we still use and love the decorations, ornaments and dishes we received.

My mom gave me a set of placemats, 12 in fact. One was cross-stitched with BELIEVE down the side based off a Mary Engelbreit design that I love and had stitched. The other 11 came ready to stitch with thread and a pattern but getting them finished was up to me.

Well I finally finished. Several years ago I finished #9 and then the last three just sat in the my cross-stitch box. Finally I got them back out and finished them over the last two years. I'm certainly not setting any records - I averaged one every two years! But I did at least finish!

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

BERLIN

Brandenburg Gate - Rachel, Stefanie, AJ, Missy & Steve
The kids have "ski week" in February. Since we aren't downhill skiers we decided to finally see Berlin. This trip we decided to make by train. Six hours via train versus the hassle of driving to, parking at and clearing security in the airport seemed like a good trade off. Plus we know if you book your ticket early enough a first class ticket is often about the same price as a second class ticket.  And first class via train is way more comfortable than flying! 

We did make one little mistake, we got off at the wrong train station in Berlin! We saw Berlin on the sign and didn't even think about if we were at the main train station. Luckily we know enough about the German train system that it was easy to figure out how to get to our hotel.

Deutscher Dom
We stayed in the Gendarmenmarkt. There is a beautiful square with two churches and a concert hall. The Berlinale Film Festival was also taking place so one night the kids watched a little of the red carpet festivities. We left before the famous people arrived, Stefanie was a little disappointed to find out Robert Pattinson was there later that night, she could have seen him!
Konzerthaus Berlin
Some people know that the kids aren't always enthusiastic about my site-seeing plans. Although over the last 2.5 years I have really worked to have reasonable expectations of what I will get to see and what they will enjoy seeing. When I hopped in front of them for this picture, they decided to show how they sometimes receive my plan for the day...

Rachel, Stefanie, AJ
Missy - It's going to be a great day!
Since it is winter time and we found ourselves with a particularly cold few days we did a city "hop on hop off" bus tour. But we just stayed on for the whole tour. It was actually a really comprehensive tour and we saw all the major sites. I still prefer walking or bike tours, but this is a good substitute when the weather is not cooperating.
Rachel, AJ, Steve

Stefanie
Afterwards we started our day of history. We began at the Topography of Terror. This museum is next to one of the last remaining stretches of the Berlin Wall and documents the rise and fall of the Nazi regime. It is very comprehensive and extremely interesting to read and examine the photos. There is lots of information to process and for anyone interested in WWII and the rise and fall of Germany it is fascinating.

Missy at the wall.

Steve's unique perspective of the wall. Hard to imagine being trapped on one side.
We also explored the Museum at Checkpoint Charlie. This museum highlights many of the escape attempts, both successful and unsucessful and the stories of families separated by the wall. It's definitely more of a touristy type of place but the kids did like seeing the cars with their secret hiding places and the hot air balloon that people used to escape East Germany. Some of the stories are captivating.

Checkpoint Charlie with fake American guards
Our last stop of the day was the Berlin Wall Memorial. This is not as close to everything else but easy to find via public transportation. On the way the kid's got sidetracked by a park, when I went to get them this is what I found. Perhaps they aren't in a such a hurry to grow up!

Rachel, AJ & Stefanie

The Berlin Wall Memorial is the only place in Berlin with a fully intact section of the wall. It's good for perspective to see what it looked like with two walls and the no man's land in between. You can go to the roof of the Document Center and look down and really see what it looked like to be on one side.  




The document center didn't have an overwhelming amount of information but interesting stories and an art section for people to create their own art about the wall. Rachel and AJ both created something while Stefanie was on the roof photographing with the Steve.

AJ's art
Rachel at work

Rachel's finished project
Our second full day in Berlin the kids picked how we spent our morning. AJ had spotted the Legoland Discovery Center by the Sony Center in Potsdamer Platz on our bus tour and the three of them wanted to go. So we did.
Stefanie, Rachel & AJ 

Not to big for the dragon ride
It's definitely geared to younger children but our kids still had fun and spent a lot of time building cars with Steve to race down the track. Stefanie's car went the furthest, you can decide which car looks the best! The Berlin Lego Miniland was cool and so was the Star Wars section.
Hard at work!
Rachel, Stefanie, AJ & Steve

Steve
AJ
Stefanie
Rachel
Time to race - Stefanie's car made it the farthest!
Afterwards we had lunch at Andy's Diner, an American style diner. We are always thrilled to find a good burger!

Next we spent time walking through the city seeing more of it up close. We walked through the Holocaust Memorial. It is a very engaging space. And as you look at it, it seems flat but as you watch people walk through you see them disappear into the blocks. I think it is an amazing.



Next we headed to the Brandenburg Gate. This is last of the 14 gates that originally surrounded Berlin. What we hadn't know that it was completely unused during the Cold War because the wall surrounded it. The street heading down from Brandenburg Gate is Unter den Linden. There are embassies and shopping and sites to see along the way.


Eventually you find yourself at Museum Insel where the major museums are all located. The Berlin Cathedral is also here. I had been looking forward to exploring the inside of the Cathedral but as we walked up we noticed a tv camera and several guards. Oh no.... Yep, closed. They were preparing it for a state funeral TWO days later. Apparently it will be televised if I would like to see the church that way. Not my favorite thing to hear...

Berlin Cathedral
The kids were tired so we sent the back to the hotel to chill. Then Steve and I  were going to go to the Pergammon Museum but we got there and found out the Pergammon Altar room is closed until 2020 for renovation. Awesome. Between that and the cathedral I was all done, no museum. Steve and I did a little shopping and stopped for a coffee and hot chocolate! 

We found a way to end this day on a high note though, a chocolate high in fact. Next to our hotel was the Fassbender and Rausch chocolate shop. We liked this place. A lot. Upstairs in a cafe and we all enjoyed a ridiculously rich cup of hot chocolate and a beautiful, decadent dessert.  Mmmmmmmmm.

Rachel
Stefanie 
The chocolate addict
Our last morning we spent at the Reichstag. You have to book entry online ahead of time and although the website says you just need ID a friend told me to have our passports. Since they asked for passports not ID, I'm glad I did. The Reichstag is cool and as you walk the circular ramp to the top of the dome the audio recording automatically starts and stops at appropriate places to tell you what you are seeing as you look out across the city. In 1999 the Parliament begin meeting here again. The first time in 66 years. The dome that lets people see into Parliament's proceedings also symbolizes the people watching the government. Never a bad thing.

The Reichstag 



Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Not only is AJ going to Bowling Green State University...


but he also was accepted into the HONORS PROGRAM! How incredibly awesome is that? We are so excited for AJ and so very, very proud of him! Or in AJ speak - #AJRocks #GoBGSU #Proudparents #HONORS