Christmas Homecoming

Well, tomorrow morning I am off to Colorado. I won't be able to post any blogs while I'm there, but I'll make sure to start up again when I return on Jan. 10th.

Have a very Merry Christmas!

A Canadian Moose Singing Spanish Christmas Songs in German?

Now that I have been to about 4 different Christmas Markets - Koln, Bonn, Siegburg and Bad Honnef, I feel that they are all pretty similar with regard to what they offer. Typically one can find Christmas ornaments, carved wooden handicrafts, felt hats and bags, pottery and blown glass, your typical craft fair items with a little Christmas flair. All of the markets also have dozens of stands which sell gingerbread cookies with messages written on them. I’ve seen people wearing these big cookies around their necks. I’m not sure why they wear them. Maybe they are trying to make sure everyone knows that there is someone who loves them enough to buy them a stale cookie for 5 Euro.

I think the Christmas market is mostly about the food and the drinking though, much like your typical State Fair which has rides for the kids and beer and lots of fried food for the adults. At the Christmas Market, the food generally includes your brotwurst of course but also reibekucken (fried potato pancakes), flammkuchen (flatbread pizza with ham and onions), waffles, and some strange sweet dumpling with hot berries which I haven’t been brave enough to try yet. I have tried to like the Gluhwein, but I haven’t yet warmed up to the idea of steaming hot slightly sweet red wine.

My favorite part of the Bonn Christmas Market is a big fake moose on one of the Gluhwein stands. He talks and sings Christmas songs. I love how he tells you he’s from Canada and then proceeds to sing Feliz Navidad in Deutsch.

The thing about old houses is . . .

They are old! So like our aging bodies lots of things start going wrong after about 30 - 40 years. I am starting to think our 110 year old building in Bonn might need a little more work other than its recent plastic surgery.

Last week I looked up from the dining room table and noticed a large water stain on the ceiling. There must be a leak in the roof which is causing the water damage. That same day I was searching for some misplaced contacts and discovered mold growing all over a wall in our sun room (or winter garden as they call it in Germany because there is no sun here).
To top it all off, this morning we awoke to freezing cold radiators. So we had to have breakfast in hats, scarves, gloves and winter coats. I felt a little like I was camping but without the warm campfire.

Thankfully our landlord is very responsive so he had someone here to survey the damage today. I almost feel sorry for him. I think he is regretting his foray into the real estate market. He must feel a bit like Tom Hanks in The Money Pit.

Sundays in Germany

In Germany Sunday is by law a day of rest. No retail or grocery stores are open on Sunday which obviously make Saturday shopping a nightmare. There are even rules about what you can even do in your own home on Sunday.

The quiet time law covers Monday through Saturday at 1:00pm to 3:00pm and then again between 10:00pm to 7:00am and all day Sunday. So during these times you are prohibited from doing things like playing loud music or tv, vacuuming or mowing your lawn. It has taken some time to get used to having essentially a free pass on errands and housework, but I've started to embrace lazy Sundays.

So far, we haven't needed to be too careful about our Sunday activities because we have no one else living in our building. However, next month our new downstairs neighbor will be moving in. Hopefully, he will be an early riser as I hate to give up my French aerobics show at 6:30 am.

Baby Pute

I decided to make a proper Thanksgiving meal for just Jim and me. Although my friend Erin sent me home with plenty of leftovers to satisfy his Thanksgiving cravings, I thought I should do a Thanksgiving trial run as I will most likely be hosting Thanksgiving next year. Considering that I had never made a turkey, gravy or stuffing, I thought that this might be an opportune time to try my hand at a traditional Thanksgiving meal.

Since it was just the two of us, I tried to find just a turkey breast. After visiting about 4 different grocery stores and not finding a turkey breast, I broke down and bought a whole turkey. I figured that I could eat turkey sandwiches for a week if we had a lot left over. I was able to find a small turkey which was only about 5 1/2 pounds. It was labeled as a "Baby Pute". I'm not sure if they were using the word baby as a diminutive and it was just a small turkey or it was actually a baby turkey.

After searching on the Internet about how to properly thaw and cook a turkey, I realized that we weren't having our little friend for dinner on Sunday as I had planned because the turkey wouldn't be thawed in time. I didn't realize that you have to thaw the turkey in the fridge. Since I don't cook meat very often, I was a little bit freaked out about the potential for bacteria.

I calculated that I would need a little over 2 hours to cook the turkey. I didn't have a roasting pan so simply put the turkey along with some veggies into a Pyrex pan. I hate dried out turkey so I put tin foil over the breast to prevent it from drying out. Unfortunately the tin foil doesn't really matter when you cook the crap out of the turkey.

My plan was to remove the tin foil after an hour and a half to let the skin get crispy. However, when I checked the temperature at an hour and a half, I realized the turkey was already done. My turkey looked awfully unappetizing with its pasty white and raw looking skin so I figured I'd take off the foil and cook it for a little longer to crisp up the skin. That didn't seem to work so I put the broiler on for a little bit. Finally I resigned myself to taking the turkey out and getting rid of the unappealing skin.

Now on to the gravy. I tried to boil up the giblets and make a nice turkey broth, but after an hour of boiling with some veggies and herbs it still had a funky smell to it. So I dumped that and used a gravy package. That didn't taste all that great so I added some red wine to it and herbs along with the turkey drippings. After adding a roux, it wasn't half bad but didn't particularly taste like turkey gravy.

I figured I had enough to worry about with the turkey and gravy so I kept the rest of the meal pretty simple - dressing and roasted root vegetables. The dressing was actually the star of the show. It turned out incredibly well. Jim said it was the best stuffing he's ever eaten. Although compared to the dry, chewy turkey, anything would probably taste good.

I didn't even attempt to make any sort of a pie or dessert. Since I'm not really a baker, that poses another challenge for the perfect Thanksgiving meal.

I am starting to think that the answer to Thanksgiving might be to start a new tradition - going out to eat. I think I'd be ok with a nice rack of lamb at a good French restaurant. Who needs turkey on Thanksgiving? The Pilgrims probably didn't even eat turkey.

Winter Wonderland

On Sunday, Jim and I went to Hohe Acht, the highest mountain in the Eifel National Park, for a hike. Jim recently biked through the area and thought it would be a great place for a hike.

In Bonn, the weather wasn’t particularly good, overcast and wet so I wasn’t too excited about hiking through the mud. However, as we drove into the Eifel, the rain turned to sleet and then finally snow. By the time we arrived at Hohe Acht the ground was covered in snow.

When we first arrived in Germany, my Nordic skiing obsessed husband asked everyone he knew about the winter and whether or not there was snow. The answer was always the same – it rains most of the winter and snows a few times but doesn’t collect on the ground.

So far our experience has been quite different. I’ve seen it snow in Bonn three times already and last Sunday, while it rained in Bonn, we enjoyed a winter wonderland only an hour away.

Medieval Christmas Market in Siegburg

On Saturday night Jim and I went to Siegburg to check out their Christmas market. We had been told that it was a Medieval Christmas Market so figured it would be something a little different than the markets we have already seen.

Siegburg is located between Cologne and Bonn about 15k away. We decided to take the train there as Jim hadn't yet experienced the public transportation system here in Bonn, and of course we both wanted to drink some gluhwein.

The market was torch-lit and had an authenticly medieval glow to it. I was glad that we went at night because I'm not sure it would have had the same feel during the day. The market was littered with small bonfires lined with people warming their outsides while drinking gluhwein to warm their insides.

When we arrived there were a group of entertainers in medieval garb with hand held torches singing a song. What they were singing about I had no clue, but it was entertaining nonetheless.

The food, drink and vendor stalls were all made to look like they were of rudimentary construction and the vendors were all dressed in period clothing. The items for sale were things you might have seen in a typical market in medieval times - baskets, spices, clothing, wooden toys and simple leather soleless shoes.

The food offered was slightly different than the typical fare of bratwurst, waffeln, and potato pancakes that you see at a lot of the other markets. We decided on what we thought would be an authentic snack - some seasoned grilled meat on a skewer. I have no idea what kind of meat it was, but the Germans love pork so that would be my first guess. We also decided to get some roasted chesnuts since neither Jim nor I have ever had chesnuts. After popping a whole chesnut in his mouth, Jim learned that you have to unshell the chesnut first.

Unfortunately the market started closing up pretty soon after we arrived so our visit was cut premeturely short.

Deutschland Doctor Visit

Last week I went to the doctor for the first time. The doctor was recommended by two of my friends. She's Canadian but has been here in Germany for about 15 years so she has a mixed practice of English and German speaking clients.

Waiting to see the doctor was an interesting experience. It was like musical waiting rooms. I first waited in the hallway for about 15 minutes. Then I was told to go into the Wartenzimmer (waiting room). I'm not sure why I didn't go straight to the waiting room but there must be some sort of system that just wasn't apparent to me. After about 20 minutes in the Wartenzimmer sitting in extremely uncomfortable chairs, I was told to wait in the hallway again. Then the doctor invited me into the Sprechenzimmer (speaking room) where I had a conversation with the doctor about my visit. Next it was downstairs to pee in a dixie cup and back into the hallway to wait again.

The only reason for the musical rooms that I can fathom is that if you are waiting for over an hour to see the doctor, maybe it won't feel as long if you are constantly moving from room to room.

After finally getting into the examination room, the doctor had me strip down. There are no gowns and the doctor doesn't leave the room while you strip which is definitely a departure from the American doctor visit experience. Since her office is in an old 3 story flat like mine with high ceilings, it was mighty chilly in the room. Thankfully, she let me put my coat on to keep my upper half warm while she tended to the lower half.

Turkey Day in Deutschland

My first Thanksgiving in Germany was a mix of the traditional Thanksgiving along with a few new things that might become tradition for me. The traditional part of course being that I ate way too much food and was really regreting my decision to try and look euro with my new skinny jeans tucked into my boots. Elastic waistband for me next year - dress sweats of course. Your last name has to be Hosler to get that one.

It was a little hard to get into the Thanksgiving groove. I wasn't around any family and there was no Macy's Day Parade coverage on German TV. I also spent the day shopping so it felt like just a regular day.

Jim was in Russia for Thanksgiving so luckily my only American friends here in Bonn invited me to their cross-cultural Thanksgiving dinner. The group was 1/2 American and 1/2 German so I was able to practice my German a little bit and share this truly American holiday of overindulgence with them.

We had our meal late because obviously no one had the day off. We had the usual turkey, mashed potatoes and stuffing, but my new favorite sweet potato dish with a twist was a sweet potato tart / pizza. We tried to convince the Germans that everyone has the traditional sweet potato pizza at their Thanksgiving, but I don't think they bought it. (Erin, if you are reading this, I need that recipe). We also had pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting instead of the traditional pumpkin pie. That was also a great new improvement on a Thanksgiving classic.

All in all it was a great first Thanksgiving in Germany. Next year I'll have to be the one who hosts Thanksgiving as our only American friends are moving back to the US next week. Sweet potato pizza and pumpkin cake are both going to be on the menu.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving wherever they may be!

Germany's Attempt at Fast Casual Dining

Jim and I recently visited Vapiano for the third and probably last time. Vapiano is fast casual dining with a German Twist. The twist being that you spend more time standing in line than at a table eating your dinner.

The first time I went to Vapiano, I thought that it had a lot of potential and would be a successful concept in the States. The food is very fresh and made right in front of you. They have pasta, salads, pizza and apps which all look delicious as you walk through the modern dining room. The tables even have potted herbs on them so if your pasta doesn't have enough basil, you can just pluck some off of a live plant. The food here reminds me a lot of a place called Sauce in the DTC area of Denver.

However, where Vapiano falls short is in the ordering process. Most fast casual restaurants have one counter where you order all of your food and drinks, pick them up at the end of the counter and then sit down to eat. Some even give you a number and then deliver your food to you like - Wahoo's Fish Tacos or Noodles & Company.

At Vapiano though, it is all about the lines. You have to stand in about 5 different lines to get your full meal. There is one line for drinks, then another for pasta and so on. They have 4 different food stations where the chefs will make your food right in front of you. I like to know my food is fresh, but the whole point of going out to eat is getting to sit down and relax. Here, I'm just on the other side of the counter watching someone make my food, and feeling guilty that I was apparently too lazy to boil water for some pasta.

Vapiano is a busy restaurant and after having been there a few times we knew we need to have a strategy. We decided Jim would secure a table while I got the food and drinks. Apparently, that wasn't a good enough strategy. After standing in the pick up line for the pizza instead of the order line, I decided I would cut my losses and forget about the pizza and salad and just order pasta for both of us. There were so many options on the pasta that by the time I reached the front of the line, I panicked and made some bad choices. I felt a little like Ralphie in The Christmas Story. I was ready to climb over the counter to tell the chef what I really wanted was an official Red Ryder Air Rifle or maybe gnocchi with a Gorgonzola sauce and toasted walnuts.

Linguistic Lessons

One of the great things about the German language is deciphering really long words. Germans tend to string a number of words together to form one long word rather than several words as we do in English. This can make the German language very intimidating at first. Just try to pronounce this word - RECHTSSCHUTZVERSICHERUNGSGESELLSCHAFTEN! In English this word means insurance companies which provide legal protection. Or how about this one? Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz – which is translated as a beef labeling regulation & delegation of supervision law.

The other interesting part about the language is how descriptive the words are. Hospital or Krankenhaus is literally translated as sick house. This can be very helpful when trying to figure out words with a limited vocabulary. In my German class yesterday, I learned the German word for gloves is handschuhe or hand shoe. I don’t know why but I found this so funny.

Christmas Tree, oh Christmas Tree

Well, I've got my Christmas tree up! Since we are coming to the states on Dec. 19th, I wanted to have a tree up for at least a little while. Also without that pesky Thanksgiving holiday in the way, I can start gearing up for Christmas a little earlier.

I also figured that I needed to get into the Christmas spirit to get ready for the Bonn Christmas Market (Weihnachtmarkt) which starts this Sunday. The downtown area is already getting set up with decorated wooden stalls, rides and an ice rick. I can't wait!

I decided to go for the potted, living tree this year instead of going the cut tree route for a number of reasons. I figured that if I can keep this little guy alive for a year, then I can use it again next year. (Not very likely considering that my plant graveyard on the deck seems to be growing.) I also didn't want to have to deal with figuring out what to do with a tree before we leave to come home. I couldn't keep it up - a dried out tree could be a fire hazard and since we have no smoke or fire alarms here I thought it would be risky. It also seems to be the German way to do it. I haven't seen any cut trees yet, just little live ones.

The tree is a bit skinny so I couldn't fit too many ornaments on him but all in all he isn't too bad. Unfortunately my tree topper is too heavy for the tree causing him to tip over and spill dirt everywhere, so he's topless for now.

Milk Mystery Solved

I've always wondered why the milk in Europe doesn't need to be refrigerated. The first time I shopped for milk in London, I must have walked around the store three times before finally discovering the milk was not in the dairy section where I thought it belonged but in an isle near the drinks. Of course the thought that the milk could have been sitting on a shelf for a month didn't seem quite right. I figured there had to be something different about this milk so I decided toast was a better plan for breakfast rather than cereal.

In Europe, shelf stable milk is the norm. Coming from the US it is hard to wrap your brain around the concept that milk doesn't need to be refrigerated. However, I've come to appreciate milk than can be stored in a cupboard rather than my small fridge. Plus the thought of lugging home gallons of milk while on foot isn't very appealing.

I decided to do a little research to find out what the difference is between the American milk and the Deutsche milch. It comes down to the temperature that the milk is heated during the pasteurization process. In UHT (ultra high temperature) pasteurization, the milk is heated to 282 degrees for 2 seconds. In HTST (high temperature / short time) pasteurization done in the US, the milk is heated to 161 degrees for at least 15 seconds. The UHT milk requires special packaging but then has a shelf life of up to 6 months.

Sorry to get Nancy Drew on you, but it was something I've often wondered about.

German Pretzel

I went to my first and probably last German Yoga class this week. I thought it might be a good way to meet some English speaking people as it is an English yoga class.

The class was Vinyasa yoga so the instructor started with some chanting and then it was a free for all. Everyone works at their own pace going through a series of poses. Now, if I am paying for a yoga class, I don't want to have to think about what pose is next or remember how many sun salutations I've done so far, that's just me. Plus, everyone doing their own thing is really quite distracting. I spent most of the class watching what everyone else was doing. Although then the "instructor" told me I wasn't focused enough.

Since the instructor wasn't bogged down by teaching the class, she was free to walk around the room and help put people into the correct position. She put my hands behind my back in a prayer position which I've never been able to do. Of course, then I couldn't really do the forward bending part because I thought my shoulders were going to come out of their sockets. In the next pose, she seemed to think it wasn't a big deal to wrap my arm around my body a few times and grab my sweaty foot. I must be missing that rubber arm gene.

I had two realizations during this class. 1). I think I like the idea of yoga more than I like actual yoga. It sounds peaceful and enlightened and people who do it always seem to have really good posture. 2). That torture device called the stretching machine that they used in the middle ages is a lot like yoga.

I have decided that I should spend my time in Germany eating pretzels rather than trying to be a pretzel.

The Beginning of Carnival

The Germans love Carnival or Karneval as they spell it here. Before moving to Germany I always thought of New Orleans or Brazil when I thought about Carnival. Germany was never a country that came to mind as a crazy party destination.

However, after being here for a few months I have come to learn that Germans wholeheartedly embrace such debauchery and Oktoberfest and Carnival are two prime examples. It seems that Germans are always looking for a reason to start drinking before noon.

The official launch date of Carnival is Nov. 11, but the week that people go crazy is in February. No one seemed to know why Nov. 11th was the start of Carnival so I did a little research.

Nov. 11th is Saint Martin's Day, which during the middle ages started a 40-day fast both preceded and followed by excessive eating and drinking. Additionally, the number 11 has historically been considered a number of sin. So at 11:11 on Nov. 11th, the Germans in Bonn kick off Carnival dressed up in costumes, drinking Kolsch (local beer) and singing traditional German Karneval songs.

On Tuesday, I met a few friends downtown to see what it was all about. I was surprised how many people were dressed up on a Tuesday morning at 10:30 am. A lot of the costumes didn’t make a lot of sense – like a cowboy riding an elephant. Apparently in Germany, you can just put a crazy hat and a boa and you are dressed up. You don’t necessarily need to actually be something; being poorly dressed is apparently enough of a costume.

I think the best part of the morning was seeing three little old ladies standing in a circle passing a bottle of wine around. That maybe and seeing Genghis Kahn.

Ghent, Belgium

On Sunday we decided to go to Ghent on the way home from Bruges. Jim raced bikes for a few summers and lived in Ghent, Belgium. Reliving his glory days, (if living in squalor and racing bikes in the rain can be considered glory days) Jim wanted to do a drive by of the ramshackle apartment he lived in for those two summers. Not surprisingly, Jim found the street where he lived with our GPS system, but didn’t recognize any of the apartments. Shocker!

Since we were already there, we decided to check out the center of town. Jim kept trying to manage my expectations so much so that I was expecting a very industrial, ugly city. I thought Ghent was really pretty charming. The downtown area has canals running through it with huge churches, a castle from the 1100s and a belfry.

We walked through downtown looking for a place for lunch before checking out some of the sights. After getting a few Croque Monsiurs, we visited St. Nicholas’ Church which is one of the oldest landmarks in Ghent.

We next visited the Gravensteen castle which was built in the 1100s. Unlike a lot of other castles we have seen, it is right in the middle of downtown surrounded by shops and restaurants. For the most part, the rooms were empty except for a few that showcased instruments of torture and weaponry. It was recently restored so before the late 80s had been used as a prison, a factory, a courthouse and finally had houses built in the area, using some the old stones. The tour was pretty easy to follow, but didn’t provide all that much information. Every other room seemed to be used for torture. I’m glad I didn’t live in back then.

It was funny to see the signs saying no food allowed or in this case no ice cream. I think in the US the no food or drink allowed signs are of a McDonalds happy meal - soda, fries and a burger.

I enjoyed my day in Ghent and would like to go back in the summer. It seemed to be pretty free from the swarms of tourists that we saw in Bruges.

Bruges

Jim and I went to Bruges on Friday. After seeing the movie “In Bruges” and reading what Rick Steve had to say about the city, I was excited to check out this medieval town which is sometimes called “The Venice of the North”.

I was able to get a room at the Camers B&B, a Rick Steve’s recommendation. Unfortunately our host wasn’t home when we arrived so we started to worry that we might be wandering the very quiet, cold streets trying to find a place to sleep. We called him and luckily our host was drinking at the bar next door so was able to pop over and let us in. He had somehow mixed up the dates and wasn’t expecting us until the next day.

We decided to head out for a beer after dropping our stuff off at the room. We found a great little bar and had two of the house brews on tap, deciding that we should start there before wading through the 50 page beer list. The Belgians really take their beer seriously. The beers were both great so we ordered a second round before calling it quits. The Belgian beer must have higher alcohol content because I was feeling it after just two beers.

The next day we walked to the main market square and climbed the Bell Tower. We were lucky that it was sunny so the view from the top was clear. However, it was really quite windy and cold so we didn’t spend too much time up there. The square was a lot like the Grand Place in Brussels with lots of outdoor café/ restaurants lining the square and the surrounding streets, providing their guests with great views and ambiance albeit not very good food.

After doing the amount of travel we have done in the last five months, I have learned one very important lesson. Don’t plan to see too much and view getting lost as an adventure. So we decided that our main objectives for the day were to go to the Groeninge Museum and the De Halve Brewery and find a good place for dinner.

We decided to get lunch on the way to the Groeninge Museum. We searched for the crowded vegetarian restaurant we had seen the night before, but when we finally found it they had a sign indicating they would be closed for the weekend. We were pretty hungry so went to the next place we saw. We ordered the obligatory – steak frites and mussels with frites for lunch. Frites are a big thing in Belgium. They even have a french fry museum!

Our next stop was the Groeninge Museum which houses the largest collection of Primitive Flemish art from the 1500s. The use of the word Primitive isn’t intended to be pejorative but rather to designate that they were completed before the Renaissance. Torture and religion seemed to be common themes in the paintings.

We next went in search of the De Halve Brewery, but of course it took us a while to get there. The narrow, winding streets can be so confusing. Along the way, we found a little antique market on one of the canals.

We also found the Minnewater which is a canalized lake surrounded by flowers and swans. In Dutch, Minnewater means the lake of love. Apparently a lot of people come to take their wedding pictures here, but we didn’t see any wedding parties at this time of year. We did however see a Japanese tourist taunting a swan with her sucker. I’m not sure what she was hoping to accomplish. She obviously doesn’t know much about swans because she was surprised when it attacked her. That was entertaining.

When we finally found the brewery, we were able to get one of the last tours of the day. Surprisingly, neither one of us had ever been to a brewery before. It was a really interesting but slightly stinky tour. We learned that hops only grow on a certain latitude which is why England, Ireland, Belgium and Portland are such havens for beer producers. Our guide also told us that they used to only serve beer in the hospitals. At that time, the doctors didn’t know anything about sterilization but they knew that water made people sick and beer didn’t.

The brewery was definitely not a good place to work back in the day. They used kids to clean the fermentation tanks because the entry was so small. There wasn’t much oxygen in the tank so they had the kids whistle while they cleaned. When the child began whistling out of key, they knew he or she was in trouble and needed to be taken out.

Like all brewery tours, we finished ours with a beer while we made some calls to make a restaurant reservation for dinner. We were able to get in at Tom’s Diner. It was a restaurant recommended by our host at the B&B as well as Rick Steve.

The dinner we had at Tom’s Diner was easily the best meal we’ve had since we’ve been here. I was a little worried that it was called a Diner in the first place, but Rick described it as more of a bistro. It was also a little worrisome that when we arrived, the door was locked. We were early for our reservation but it was 6:30 so I figured it would be open. We walked around for another 15 minutes before going back and luckily it was open. Our server was great. She steered us to a bottle of wine which was 10 euro cheaper because it was a better wine in her opinion. She was also happy to help us translate the menu. We shared the beef Carpaccio to start. For our mains we chose the specials of the day. I ordered the grilled sole with shrimp and scallops in a mustard seed sauce with mashed potatoes. Jim got the rabbit with a cranberry sauce, fried little potato things and bacon. After such a great meal, we had to indulge in some dessert and got the chocolat au moliere (I’m sure I didn’t spell that correctly).

It will be pretty easy to bribe me to come back. Another dinner at Tom’s Diner is all it will take. 3 ½ hours isn’t too far to drive for dinner is it?

Bruges and Butta, Baby!

I have a new found appreciation for butter since I've been in Germany. I think I've got about 5 different butters in my tiny little fridge. I've got some German butter, truffle butter, French butter, etc. (I'm not sure why the French butter is so much better than the German stuff but trust me it is.)

Now back in Denver, I was on the butter backlash bandwagon. I was an anti-butterite. Butter was bad, and I was having no part of it. So my new love affair with this oh so creamy, salty but sweet at the same time, condiment is a surprise to me.

The German bakeries are part of this love triangle, and I truly believe the guilty party. Because the bread here is so good, it deserves the real thing. I'm really just doing it for the bread.

Today we are off to Bruges, Belgium. Jim is doing a lot of traveling this month for work – Athens, Oslo and Moscow so it will be our only weekend to get outta dodge.

From the research I’ve done so far, it looks like the dining scene will be pretty good. I’ll make sure to come back with some good recommendations and a full report on what we ate. I'm sure whatever it is, it will have lotsa butta.

Bike racing on steroids

So for our first Saturday in Bonn in a long time, what do we do? We drive up to Dortmund, of course. Saturday night, Jim and I went up to Dortmund to watch Colby (Jim’s friend) compete in a 6 day track bike race.

I’ve never been to a track bike race so it was interesting to see what it was all about. The track is on a 45% angle at the corners. From what I was able to gather, this is a team sport with two people on a team. The riders go at full speed – 75k an hour and trade off every couple of laps. Because the track bikes have no breaks and only one gear, the riders grab the hand of their teammate and sling them into the group of racers to get them up to speed when they switch places. Surprisingly, there weren’t any crashes while we were watching. I was getting dizzy just watching them zip around the track.

According to Colby, the significance of 6 days of racing comes from years ago when the race actually was a 6 day nonstop race. Apparently when racers started dying, they scaled back the races to 6 hours or so.
Track bike racing is like a bike race on steroids. I haven’t ever been to a monster truck rally, but I got the feeling that it might be a lot like a track bike race. You have your cheesy motivating 80s music - like the soundtrack to Top Gun along with lots of flashing lights. There was even a band in the middle of the track with lots of VIPs hanging out.

There were a lot of other venues set up in the same arena in conjunction with the bike race. They had different rooms with a laser light show, disco, live music and rooms of food and drink vendors all as part of this 6 day race. My guess is there isn’t a whole lot going on in Dortmund so this becomes a major event.

Colby and his teammate were the only Americans in the race. I don’t think track bike racing is as popular in the US as it is here. Here, the star German rider (Erik Zabel) is treated like a rock star.

One of the events was a Derney race. I’m not sure who came up with this one, but I’m guessing there were some head injuries involved. A Derney bike is a motorized pacing bike. The rider puts his wheel up to a metal bar on the pacing bike so that he eliminates drag and can go even faster. The best part about this race is watching the two guys who won take their victory lap. I don’t think the gray haired, slightly chubby guy who drove the Derney motorbike is much of a cyclist so it was pretty comical watching him take a lap on a regular bicycle.

Christmas Markets

CHRISTKINDLMARKT

On Friday night, I went to my first Christmas market. (Yes, on Halloween I was getting in gear for Christmas.) Halloween is not widely celebrated here in Germany. They have a few costumes in stores, but I only saw a few people dressed up while we were out on Friday.

Since the next big holiday is Christmas, the stores start hawking their Christmas wares in mid October. For anyone who might not know – I am a huge fan of Christmas. You might say, I’m a little Christmas crazy. So the fact that the Christmas season has already started is great for me but not so great for Jim.

The Christmas market we went to was in Bad Honnef, about 20 minutes south of Bonn on the other side of the Rhine. They have their Christmas Market this early so that the other, larger Christmas markets don't overshadow them.

The Christmas Market in Bad Honnef had plenty of food stalls selling sausages, potato pancakes, flammkuchen, bread dumplings in a creamy mushroom sauce, roasted nuts, and waffles. However, I think the market is less about the food and more about the Glühwein which is warm, spiced red wine. I’ve already determined that the Glühwein is only good though if it is (1) cold outside and (2) made from decent wine. If it wasn’t very good wine at the start, heating it definitely doesn’t make it better.

The market had lots of stalls selling ornaments, jewelry, hats & scarves and even specialty cleaners for radiator heaters (very random). There were also a number of fire pits with hay bale seats surrounding them so we could warm up our hands and feet.

The tradition of Christmas Markets started in the late middle ages in Germany and Austria. Almost every town in Germany will have a Christmas Market between now and Christmas. In the smaller towns the Christmas Market might only last a week, but the one in Bonn starts in late Nov. and lasts until the day before Christmas. I’ve heard that the one in Bonn takes over a few different plazas and even has an ice rink. I can’t wait.

I think I will dig out my Christmas decorations today! Sorry, Jim.

Heidelburg, Frankfurt, Brussels, Colmar, Trier, Beilstein, Paris - Whew, I'm tired!

Sunday, September 21st

The next morning we left Munich to head to Heidelburg. We definitely didn't have enough time to see everything in Munich but it will have to wait until next year at Oktoberfest.

Once in Heidelburg, Beth and I walked around trying to find a good place to eat. As is typical for me, we couldn’t find a restaurant that we liked but ended up so famished that we resigned ourselves to eating at the Heidelburg equivalent to TGIFridays. We had some mediocre pizzas and went for a glass of wine elsewhere.

Outside of the disappointing restaurant scene, Heidelburg was a pleasant surprise. Jim hadn’t liked it when he was there for work, and according to Mr. Rick “Back Door” Steves, it was a lowlight of the region. I, however, thought the old town had some very pretty baroque architecture. I liked the red tiled roofs of the old town and beautiful villas on the other side of the river (Neckar).

Monday, September 21st

The next morning, we hiked up to the castle which was beautiful but very noisy with the ongoing restoration. In the castle was a huge wine barrel called the Grosses Fass which held 836,000 gallons! I wouldn't mind having one of those in my house.

We wandered around the grounds behind the castle looking for the Schlosshof which according to the Lonely Planet was supposed to produce an audible gasp from tourists. Since we hadn’t yet gasped, we figured we hadn’t seen it. We finally figured out what the Lonely Planet was talking about and it was indeed quite nice but not what we expected. Why is it when something is built up, you are always disappointed with reality, but when your expectations are low, you are pleasantly surprised?

Around lunchtime we took the train to Frankfurt. Beth’s flight was early the next morning so we decided to spend the night there. I can't say I would otherwise ever plan a trip to Frankfurt. It is really just a big city without much charm.

We decided to take the metro to the hotel which was quite confusing. After about 45 aggravating minutes, we were on our way to the Courtyard Marriot. Beth was able to get a free hotel room with her points.

After going against the concierge’s recommendation that we check out the food court, we found a great seafood restaurant downtown with heat lamps so that we were able to sit outside. It was one of the best meals that I’ve had in Germany and a great way to end Beth’s trip.

Brussels – Tuesday, Sept. 22nd – Friday, Sept. 25th

I took the train with Beth to the airport and then headed home to Bonn. I literally unpacked and repacked and Jim and I were off to Brussels for a CLE (continuing legal education).

The first night there, Jim and I went to the Grand Place and then

the main touristy restaurant area nearby for mussels. Although it wasn’t what I had pictured, the mussels ended up being the best we had in Brussels.

The CLE conference was at the Hilton which was in the swankiest area of Brussels. We were surrounded by high end shops and even saw some red carpet events at a few while we were there. After staying at relatively cheap bed and breakfasts over the last few months, I was feeling like a high roller at the Hilton.

We had a great view of the city from our room. I tried taking a picture of our view at night, but forgot about the reflection so only managed to take some nudie shots of myself rather than the sunset over Brussels.

The next three days I spent wandering around Brussels seeing the sights and of course looking for restaurants. I liked Brussels even though a certain Mr. Rick Steves didn’t consider it important enough to include in his Europe Travel guide.

After spending a few days in Brussels, I am looking forward to a trip to Bruges which I have heard is even more charming than Brussels.

Colmar – Oct. 3 – 5th

Friday was a German holiday so Jim had the day off. Even though we were a little travel weary, we decided to celebrate our 1st anniversary in Colmar. Colmar is a cute little town in the Alsace region of France. The area of Alsace has been part of France and Germany at various times in history so it looks like a little German town with its half timbered houses but sounds like France. There is a definite blend of cultures here which is noticeable from the cuisine. The tart flambée and quiche lorraine is all French, but there is also a fair amount of sauerkraut and sausages.

Our first night in Colmar, we went to Les Maison des Tetes for our anniversary dinner. It was a restaurant recommended by Gourmet Magazine. We had a great dinner of foie gras, escargot, fish and great wine -thanks to Orica! Jim's going away present was dinner in any European city.

The next day, we wandered around Colmar hoping the weather would turn around so that we could go out for a bikeride. We went to the Unter Linden museum which is one of the most popular small museums in Europe. We walked through the Petite Venice and then stopped for some tarte flambée for lunch.

Tarte flambee is like a little pizza with a very thin crust topped with lots of cheese and bacon. I’ve decided it might be one of my favorite foods. Luckily, I’ve just discovered it here in a few German grocery stores.

After lunch the sun came out so we set out for a ride in the foothills of the Vogues Mountains. It turned out to be a beautiful fall day with crisp air and sunshine.

For dinner, we decided to check out a nearby small town – Eguisheim. We wandered around looking for a restaurant and found out that we had just missed a wine festival that ended that day. I’d love to go back next summer to check out some of the wine festivals and do some touring of vineyards.

Colmar and the surrounding small towns are part of the Alsace Wine Route which weaves its way just west of Strasbourg south down to Thann. There are over 100 small medieval villages along the wine route and each one has a number of different vineyards surrounding the town. The grapes in the area are almost all used for white wine with the exception of Pinot Noir.

On our last day in Colmar, we were already planning another trip.

Sylvia’s Visit – Oct. 6th – 28th

Jim’s mother arrived in Germany the next day. The only thing we had planned for her trip was a long weekend in Paris.

Her first week here was low key. We did a lot of walking around town, and she helped me get organized as my closets, futon, shoe rack and kitchen island finally arrived.

The first weekend we did a day trip to Trier which is a town on the Mosel River right on the border of Luxemburg. Trier is the oldest city in Germany. It was founded around 16 B.C. by the Romans. We walked around the town taking in the sights. The Porta Nigra is a Roman city gate from the 2nd century. The Trier cathedral is the oldest Christian church in Germany. It houses the Holy Robe of Christ, the sandal of St. Andrew and a nail from the Crucifixion. We also walked through the Gardens of the Electors Palace which was beautiful.

Before driving back to Bonn, we stopped for lunch at a Rick Steve’s recommended restaurant – Zum Domstein. It was supposed to have Roman dishes in the basement dining room but they seemed to be your standard German fare to me, but I have no idea what kind of food the Romans. I guess I was expecting a more Italian flair.

Jim did a fair amount of traveling for work while Sylvia was here so we took that time to do some little day trips near Bonn.

We took the train up to Cologne one day to see the Cathedral and the Chocolate Museum.

Another day we took the U-Bahn to Konigswinter and hiked up to Burg Drachenfels and the Schloss Drachenburg. The hike was the best part of the trip. Although it was a cloudy day, the very steep hike up through the forest was beautiful with lots of fall color.

One of the most surprising discoveries during Sylvia’s visit was Bruhl. Bruhl is located between Cologne and Bonn and has one of the most beautiful castles I have seen yet. Schloss Augustusburg was incredibly ornate with frescoes, countless marble columns and beautiful gardens. We unfortunately didn’t have time to visit the hunting lodge before they closed, but I know I will be back again with our next visitors.

Somehow I read the train map incorrectly so we got on the wrong train going to Bruhl. Bruhl is only 10 minutes away, but I managed to make it an hour and a half journey. We ended up back in Cologne before I realized that I might have made an error. Even though Sylvia’s sense of direction is comically bad, she can read a train map better than I can.

Our next weekend, we decided to go back to the Mosel Valley and spent the night at a tiny little town called Beilstein. Jim biked down while Sylvia and I drove, stopping at the Birkenstock outlet on the way down.

We stayed at Hotel Haus Lipman. The owner of the hotel was incredibly accommodating which is notable because customer service in Germany is a very different thing than customer service in the US. The hotel was supposed to be a medieval mansion. We needed a three person bedroom so ended up in a different building. However, the heating system might have been medieval in our room because it didn't work. Now I know why they shut the hotel down from Nov. to April. BRRR!

While Sylvia and I waited for Jim to get to Beilstein (he got a little lost on the way down), we visited the Beilstein castle. The castle itself isn’t much to look at but the views of the Mosel are what drive people to hike up the steep climb.

The next day, we stopped at Burg Eltz on the way back to Bonn. Burg Eltz is nestled in the forest along a stream so has a very fairytale feel to it. Jim and Sylvia took a tour of the castle which I have already done so I hiked around the grounds. It was another beautiful fall day. I have decided that fall is definitely the best season in Germany.

The following week Jim was headed to Russia so Sylvia and I used the car to drive to Aachen. Aachen is another great day trip from Bonn. The cathedral is the main attraction in Aachen. It is very different from most that we have seen in Europe. It has a main area which is an octagon rather than the typical cross formation of so many gothic cathedrals and has a mosaic ceiling.

Paris - Oct. 24-27

The last weekend of Sylvia’s trip we went to Paris. We stayed with some family friends of theirs, just outside of Paris. Our first day in Paris was spent at the D’Orsay Museum which houses the largest collection of Impressionists. We only were able to cover the top floor before the mueseum started to get really crowded. We decided that after a few hours we were museum’ed out.

We met up with Jim for lunch and tried to find the great steak tartar place we had been to the last time we were in Paris. After an hour of searching, we finally found it or rather Sylvia found it. Unfortunately it was closed so we ended up at a brassiere and had Croque Monsieur sammies because we were all so hungry.

In the afternoon, we visited Notre Dame which was really crowded. We actually had to stand in line to get in. I’m not sure what I was expecting but I was disappointed by the cathedral. I think I like the cathedral in Cologne better than Notre Dame.

On Sunday, Sylvia and I went to Versailles while Jim biked with some friends. For anyone going to Versailles, I would recommend getting tickets ahead of time. We had to stand out in the cold for about an hour and a half to get tickets. Sylvia of course made friends with a Korean couple on their honeymoon behind us. I came back from getting us hot chocolate and she already knew their life story.

Jim and I had been to Versailles the last time we were in Paris but we didn’t go inside. The interior of Versailles is amazing. We saw the kid’s apartments first which wasn’t that impressive but the audio guide gives a lot more information than they do in the main rooms of the palace mainly because they are less crowded. There was a Jeff Koons exhibit in the main place rooms which seemed out of place. I think I just don’t really “get” modern art. I’m not so sure what a statue of Michael Jackson and his monkey – Bubbles has to do with French elite class extravagance. Oh wait, maybe I’m on to something there.

After the weekend was over, I decided that I really like visiting the smaller towns better than large cities. I know I have to experience some of the world's greatest cities, but I'd like to spend more time in the nooks and crannies of Europe.

Oktoberfest - Beer, Beer and More Beer

Friday, September 19th

We woke up at 5am to get an early start for our drive to Munich. It took us about 6 hours or so with traffic to get there.

We met up with Michael, a former coworker of Jim’s. Jim went to a lunch meeting with outside counsel while Beth and I ate a pasta lunch at the law firm. I didn’t get the feeling that they work as many hours as lawyers in the US. I think the foosball table in the office was a hint.

Beth and I walked around the Viktualienmarkt which was a high end farmers market. I was very tempted to buy some fresh truffles. I’m glad the market in Bonn isn’t as nice or we would be penniless. In the middle of the market is a huge maypole.

We wandered into St. Peter’s Church and paid the 1.50 to climb the tower. Thankfully nobody in the group of white hairs in front of us had a heart attack. At the top, we were rewarded with a great view of the city. Climbing a tower as soon as you get to a city really helps you get a sense of where things are, and helps when you are trying to navigate on the ground level later.

After the big climb, we felt justified in rewarding ourselves with a beer and basked in the sun. That was probably the warmest 30 minutes of the entire trip.

We met up with Michael who gave us a walking tour around Munich. We walked by the Neues Rathaus (new town hall) which houses the Glockenspiel. At noon and 5pm the figurines on the carillon of the Glockenspiel circle around on two separate levels.

Next we went into the Theatinerkirke St. Kajetan. It was very different from the dark gothic churches I’ve seen recently. This was a large Baroque church with a completely white interior making the church feel light and airy. The ceiling with light pastel colored frescoes along with the white interior gave it a decidedly Italian feel.

After the church, we headed to the Englischer Garten which is Munich’s main park. It is larger than both Central Park in New York and Hyde Park in London.

It is a lush park with fast moving rivers and lazy lakes. There is even an area of the park where people sunbathe in the nude. Considering that it was only in the 50s and cloudy, we didn’t see anyone trying to tan their fanny.

For being a population that loves order and rules, the Germans do love getting naked. Michael said that in the summer, people at lunchtime for a dip. They simply take off their work clothes and get in the water. It sounds like an interesting way to really get to know your co-workers.

There is an area of the Isar River in the southern end of the park which has a permanent wave. There were about 20 guys in full body wetsuits taking turns surfing on the wave. I can’t imagine how cold they must have been. I was wearing two sweaters, a wool coat and a scarf and was still cold.

We stopped in the park next to the Kleinhessloher Lake for beer and fresh pretzels hot out of the oven before heading back to the car.

We dropped off our stuff and met Michael later that night at an Italian restaurant he picked out. The owner was a crazy Italian guy who obviously loved women. He kissed our hands and made Beth twirl around before he would seat us. Later we saw him giving roses to women by attaching it to a measuring stick and holding it over their heads from across the room feigning shyness.

Michael ordered the pasta special of the day for four people which unfortunately had meat in both of them. Beth was a trooper and ate some of the pasta without pieces of meat. Germany is not a culinary hot spot for vegetarians. Germans love their meat!

Saturday, September 20th

Today was the first day of Oktoberfest so throughout the morning there was a parade which wound around the city and ended up at the fairgrounds. There were floats with lots of smiling, beer drinking Germans bedecked in their finest traditional clothes – Dirndls and Lederhosen.

Jim was able to get us all tickets to the Schotthamel tent through work. That tent housed all the local dignitaries so the mayor gives a speech and everyone in the tent counts down the tapping of the keg. Unfortunately, we missed that as we were separated by the parade we had seen earlier and the tent with no way across. However, after my first liter of beer it was forgotten.

At Oktoberfest, everyone dresses up in traditional clothes. Michael told us this the night before but I really didn’t believe him. I actually felt a little out of place and wished I had gotten a dirndl the day before. Dirndls dresses are flattering for just about every woman – full skirts, tight waist and your boobs pushed up and out. I don’t think I’ve seen that much boob in a while.

Jim’s office gave everyone 4 tickets – 3 for beer, a liter each and 1 for food. They had lots of pretzels and bread on the table to help you soak up the beer in your stomach. We had a bunch of ½ roasted chickens which were delicious. They also served sausages and some bread dumplings in a creamy mushroom sauce which was also really good.

Before we even got to Oktoberfest, I was concerned about the lines for the bathrooms and rightly so. After my first liter of beer I thought I should investigate. I am so thankful that I did. The line for the bathroom wasn’t so much a line as it was a heaving, bosomy mass of about 100 women trying to get through a tiny doorway to the bathroom. I realized that this is how cattle must feel. There were some security guards trying to “herd” us into the bathroom, but they realized it was hopeless and stood aside, hoping their presence would prevent any violence. Needless to say, I spent a lot of the day standing in line with my legs crossed wishing I had some Depends packed in my purse.

The men near our table were very taken with Beth. One old guy from a small Bavarian town wanted to marry her off to his son. He was wearing Lederhosen which looked about 30 years old. I found out later that they were passed down from his father.

Michael translated some of what the old guy said. Apparently his hat had edelweiss in it which his friends harvest from the tops of mountains. He said that a lot of his friends had died that way so the edelweiss was very special. He was going to give some to Beth but I think her lack of interest in his sons prevented him from parting with his edelweiss.

After about 4 liters of beer each, Beth, Jim and I headed back to the hotel for a little nap. Michael had tickets to another tent for the evening so he planned to meet back up with us at 10:30 to go to a club.

The Oktoberfest grounds were quite a different scene than they had been during the day. Now you saw lots of staggering, a few fights were breaking out and a few guys we saw had somehow managed to lose their clothes.

We met up with Michael and a group of his friends to go to the club – Nektar. The club was a very odd experience. It looks like your typical modern club, but everyone was dressed in lederhosen and dirndl, and they served currywurst in the entry way. (Currywurst is a sausage in a ketchup curry sauce.) I guess they figured that most of these people had been drinking all day and needed some sustenance before continuing into the early morning hours.

After about 2 hours, Jim and I were ready to leave so we left Beth in Michael’s very capable hands and headed back to the hotel. Walking back through the fairgrounds, I didn’t envy the guys cleaning the mess of over 100,000 drunkards.

Amsterdam - Beth's Visit

We returned to our house in Bonn and had brand spanking new floors and a huge mess to clean up before Beth arrived the next day. After frantically cleaning for 8 hours to make sure the house was presentable for our first guest, I got a frantic call from Beth. She had missed her connection in D.C. so would be coming a day late.

September 16th

I decided the best plan was to go straight to Amsterdam when she arrived the next day. The train from the Frankfurt airport stopped in Cologne so I planned to get on the same train so we could ride together. It worked out perfectly.

Once we were in Amsterdam, we set about the task of locating the B & B I had reserved. Thankfully, Klaus, our host gave us directions or we would have never found it. As it was, we got lost a few times.

The Eel house was an unassuming and unmarked 5 story house on a corner. The stairs were ridiculously steep and windy. Of course before our trip, I read a negative review of this B&B based on the dangerous stairs, but dismissed the author’s review and attributed it to whiny Americans. I underestimated the “death” stairs. We were, of course, on the 5th floor so we were all pretty out of breath by the time we reached our attic room. The space was small but had a lot of character and a great view.

We freshened up and went in search of dinner. Beth’s Frommer’s guide led us astray a number of times on the restaurant end. We looked for three different restaurants during the course of our stay and none of them existed. However, we were able to find some great places on our own.

That night we had dinner at De Belhamel. It was a little pricey, but we figured a splurge was in order as it was Beth’s birthday. We sat outside at the junction of two canals and had a great meal.

September 17th

The next day Klaus brought breakfast to our room which consisted of warm croissants, bread, cheese, meat and fruit. We had a relaxing, slow start to the day.

First on our agenda was the Anne Frank House. However, the line snaked around the building so we adjusted our plan and headed down to the Van Gogh museum winding our way along the Nine Streets (high end shopping) between two canals.

The last time I was in Amsterdam, I somehow neglected to visit the Van Gogh museum and the Anne Frank House. I’m not exactly sure what it was I did see, but it was about 10 years ago.

The Van Gogh museum was the highlight of the day. I learned a lot that I didn’t know about Van Gogh. He didn’t become an artist until he was 27. He worked in a gallery, was a preacher and then a school teacher before he started to paint. In the span of only 10 years, he painted over 800 works of art. The museum contains 200 of these paintings.

After the museum, we went to the old town center and did some shopping. Beth picked up 2 scarves which kept her warm for the rest of her trip. She only managed to lose one of them in Munich which is probably better than the majority of Oktoberfest revelers.

This was Beth’s first trip to Amsterdam so she wanted to walk by the red light district. This time it was just as depressing as the last time I was there. Everyone seemed to have different tactics. Some stood suggestively; others looked bored or showed off their rolls of fat. One women even stood there making funny faces at would be customers.

We decided to rest our aching feet near the national monument which was fittingly phallic for the sex capital of the Netherlands.

We walked by the Flower Market along the canal and went to the Anne Frank House. The line had completely died down so we were able to get in right away. I've read the Diary of Anne Frank a long time ago but seeing the house made me want to read it again.

For dinner we checked out a vegetarian restaurant that Klaus and Rick Steve’s suggested – De Bol. It was really very good. For those of you in Denver, it reminded me of the Watercourse restaurant but the food was better. We split a North African dish and a veggie cheese casserole.

After dinner we went to the Black Star café and had to peel ourselves away from watching a soccer game to get home. Who knew we liked soccer so much? I think we both decided we were rooting for whichever team had Renaldo.

Thursday, September 18th

The next day we decided to take one of the boat tours to take advantage of the sunshine and two hours we had to spare before getting on the train to Bonn. It was nice to see the town from the water and hear some of the boat driver’s commentary.

We learned that the reason houses are so tall and narrow is that people were taxed according to the width of their house so the built up rather than out. The city has over 100 canals and 500 bridges. A few years ago the city installed low barriers along the canal to prevent cars from driving into the canal. However, one car a week still ends up in the water.

After our tour, we had lunch at Koppel Café which was another winner. I would go back to Amsterdam for the food in a heartbeat.

Back in Bonn, we dropped our bags off at the house and headed downtown for a quick tour of Bonn. Beth was able to practice her German when I fainted. She got to ask someone – Sprechen Sie Englisch? The other German phrase Beth learned during her trip was Entschuldigung (excuse me/ sorry) which she used during the trip as a pick up line.

Greece Trip - Part Four

Friday, September 12th

We woke up, went for a quick swim and then headed back to the boat. Rebecca, Zarko, Jim and I decided we hadn’t seen enough of the island and so in true mutinous fashion, we left on our scooters to check out the Kastro (castle) near the main town, Hora.

There was no wind to speak of for our last day of sailing and for this I was glad. The day before we had dented the boom and ripped a line for the main sail on the boat so I was a bit worried about what else we would break if we had to sail another day.

We got to the Santorini islands around 3:00. One of the guys on the boat said that there were hot springs near a small island across from Santorini. Someone decided the best way to get to the supposed hot springs was to use the dingy which was badly in need of some air. After piling 5 people into the tiny dinghy, I was worried whether we’d all make it or if we’d need to throw someone overboard to save ourselves.

When we got to the hot springs, it was a bit disappointing. The springs weren’t very hot but rather lukewarm . The water had a dirty, cloudy, brown look due to a high metallic content. However, it didn’t seem to faze the German tourists nearby who were jumping from a tour boat like it was the Titanic. They couldn’t wait to get into the murky, brown, lukewarm water.

To get to the harbor we had to skirt the end on the island. We were able to witness an amazing sunset while Alek broke out the Bacardi and Cohibas.

Knowing how “painful” the previous dockings had been, I stealthily or maybe not so stealthily disappeared and took a little nap downstairs.

The port was pretty sparse. There was a restaurant, a store and a little beach with a stand and that was it. We had dinner at the port and went to bed for the last time on the boat.

Saturday, September 13th

The rest of the group was staying in Santorini that night so we split up. Jim and I had a flight to Athens later that day so we were anxious to explore Santorini before heading to the airport.

After having some difficulty finding a cab and considering a ride with the group just when we were excited to be on our own for a while, we were able to get a taxi not to Oia as we had hoped but to Fira where we could take another taxi or bus to Oia.

After checking out the bus schedule, we decided a scooter was the best option to see the island and still make our flight. Plus we were able to ditch our backpacks with the scooter guy. It was only 10 Euros for a scooter for the day.

We drove the longer way to Oia which was more scenic and had less traffic. After schlepping around the backpacks in the hot humid air (100 degrees with 100% humidity), the breeze on the scooter felt so good.

The town of Oia is built on the side of the island with steep cliffs down to the sea. The view from just about anywhere in town is beautiful. There are the classically Greek white adobe buildings perched along the cliffs and the very blue water in the background.
The town was a little more upscale than most of the islands we had been on so far but was pretty much the same type of stuff – clothing, jewelry and art.

We looked for lunch. Again Jim suggested eating at the same restaurant he had in the past, and I entertained that idea for about 5 minutes before I vetoed it and found a restaurant with the best breeze but mediocre food.

After lunch, we explored the town a bit more. You can actually rent a donkey to take you down to the sea if you are too lazy to do the walk yourself. We decided against going down to the water. It was far too hot to climb back up, and the prospect of dodging donkey poop wasn’t extremely tempting.

Two hours later, the clouds rolled in and obscured part of the town and water so we decided to head back to Fira. I was happy to get back on the scooter to cool off.

On the way back to Fira, we saw a sign for a winery and stopped to check it out. It was a peaceful little terrace in the middle of nowhere with only 2 other couples. We learned that in Greece, they grow the vines curled up on the ground to catch the dew so that they don’t require any irrigation.

We tried two whites, a red and 2 dessert wines. None of them were good enough to get a bottle but then again, Greece isn’t really known for its wine. It was a fun little stop nonetheless.

Across the way from the vineyard, was Paradise Beach. It was a rocky little beach with black sand so I wouldn’t have named it such, but we were hot and the water was wet so it felt like Paradise at that moment. We didn’t have swimsuits on, but you can always count on German tourists to be there and be naked so we followed suit or sans suit as it were.

Back in Fira, we wondered around the town, remorsefully turned in our scooter (I loved that little thing) and took a taxi to the airport. Our flight was delayed for about 30 minutes so we didn’t get to the hotel in Athens until 10:30.

The hotel was really, really nice- Athens Gate Hotel. The rooms had a great bathroom with a proper shower a view of the Temple of Olympian Zeus.

We had dinner at a large restaurant at the base of the Acropolis. It was a quiet spot with amazing views of the illuminated Acropolis. It was a wonderful end to the trip.