These past two weeks have been really crazy work-wise, but I did get to spend a beautiful weekend hiking in the Alps.
You can see all the pictures here.
November 16, 2005
November 2, 2005
Trip to France
Sorry, everyone. I was definitely really late posting this one. On my second weekend in Germany, I made the trip to southern France (how do you like that, Rhya…they can shove “The South of France”). Anyway, it was absolutely beautiful, even if it was overcast and rainy for the whole trip. As I’ve been trying to do the whole time, I ordered strictly off of the “Specials” part of the menu, and tried to get with the culture. My prognosis: they can keep the Rieslings (I’m not a white wine guy very much); I’ll take the escargot (snails); They can keep the goose liver pate; and I’ll take the Flammkuchen (kind of like a pizza).
The people were pretty nice, though I’d say the Germans are nicer on the whole. The little bed and breakfast was tucked in the hills, and I would definitely take Rhya there. I went with two “wine snobs” (but very nice ones), and I acted as the “finisher”, so I drank a lot of white wine. I’m done with it for a while 
(except for the bottle I brought home)
You can see the set of pictures here (I’ll try to add captions later).
October 18, 2005
Watching NFL at the Old Dubliner
I got a little taste of the ‘States on Sunday night. There is a small Irish pub on the Hauptstrasse that plays the CBS noon game at 7pm Heidelberg time. They use the Sky (UK) feed, and the presentation is abysmal, but at least we got to see some football.
It was the Bucs/Dolphins game, so it was very little football. Also, you wouldn’t believe it…they basically never show the scores of other games. Oh well, like I said, it was football.
And at least I didn’t have to watch Penn State lose to Michigan.
Trip to Munich
I had a great trip to Munich this weekend. In addition to the trip to Neuschwanstein, we also saw some other great sights:
- The Glockenspiel
- Peterskirche (Alter Petr)
- Hofbrauhaus
In addition to these (which we saw on Saturday and Sunday), a small group of us came down on Friday night (it makes the trip short when you can drive over 200km/h on the Autobahn), and went out. We found out about a great place called Augustiner Keller (a beer cellar), and ended up shutting that one down. It is leaps and bounds better than the Hofbrauhaus. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera that night. But, the other two guys didn’t, so I’ll upload their pictures when I get them.
For now, here is the set of Munich Pictures.
Neuschwanstein Castle
I went to Munich over the last weekend, and on Saturday we went to Neuschwanstein Castle. It is one of three castles built by King Ludwig II. He built it to pay tribute to his friend Richard Wagner (Think “Ride of the Valkeries”), so the entire inside is painted with murals from Wagner’s different operas.
The trip down there was a bit long. We left Munich at about 11:15am, with the understanding that it was supposed to take 1 1/2 hours. 3 hours later, we made it. Country roads.
It was a great time. You can see the set of pictures here. By the way, you may remember this castle as the model for the Disney castle.
October 10, 2005
Talking to my Baby from Germany
I’ve been reading to Lindy most nights that I’ve been home lately. However, since I’m now away in Germany, it makes it really hard (and cost prohibitive) to spend all that time on the phone.
So, I brought “Goodnight Moon” (no thanks Kim and Josh) with me to Heidelberg, and I used my PDA to record me reading it. I sent it to Rhya (with a recorded message for her as well), so she can play it for Lindy.
Not the most ideal, but it makes a hard situation a little easier.
Update: Happy now, Kim?
View of Castle from Haupstrasse
We took a trip to Heidelberg Castle (Schloss Heidelberg) on Sunday. I have published a picture set of some of the sights.
The flight over wasn’t too bad, but we got in at 5:15am Walldorf time. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to get into our rooms until around 10:30am, so we took a looong walk around Heidelberg. We walked on the Philosopher’s walk, which is absolutely awesome. However, it was too foggy to get good pictures. I’m sure I’ll go on it again. Basically, it is a walk on a hill overlooking all of Heidelberg.
I slept like a baby from 9pm till 5am, which makes me very lucky. Most everyone else had trouble, considering it is like sleeping from 2pm until 10pm, then getting up and going to work.
I ran this morning Heidelberg, and I’m glad I didn’t get lost. The fog here rivals San Diego’s May and June fog.
Anyway, everything is going well travel-wise. We’ll see how the testing goes (probably won’t report on here).
Update: Here is an interactive map of Heidelberg.
August 9, 2005
Kansas City Trip to the Hofers
We went to Kansas City this weekend to see the Hofers’ new house. It was really nice to get away from everything and spend a little time with family, even if it was a 13 hr. round trip.
When we made it in on Friday night, we got the tour of the new place, and we sat in the living room and talked until all the travelling caught up to us. We woke up early on Saturday to an excellent breakfast of waffles, eggs and bacon that Jo had made. Then, we got ready and jumped in the car. I used to consult at Sprint in Gardner, KS, so I was pretty familiar with the area that they moved to. So, they took me around to all of the little places that I remembered, and I got to be a bit nostalgic. We saw Harry’s new office (window and all), and met his pet turtle “Speedy”.
We ate lunch at Barley’s Brewhouse in Overland Park, and then we picked up some steaks and brews for a cookout later that night.
When we got home, we went to the community pool, which is not only extremely big (think olympic-sized lap lanes), but also pretty empty. We had a gigantic section all to ourselves. We played with the torpedo, shot each other with the water noodles, and soaked in the sun. Beautiful.
We came back and played a little soccer, played a little Uno, watched some Sims 2 character creation, drank some brew, and had a great time.
We woke up on Sunday, and Bennett and I watched “Foster’s home for imaginary friends.” It was a pretty good cartoon.
It was really nice to see the Hofers, and I’m sure I’m missing a bunch of stuff (like how nice the walking trail was). But, we had a great time, and can’t wait to head back to KC!
