Category Germany
Water lily
If April showers bring May flowers, the heat and sunshine of July bring water lilies. And oh, what a dazzling show they put on! I attribute this 100% to moving the pond from the spot next to the Japanese maple tree to where it now sits along the southern parapet. After going all last year […]
Oktoberfest!
This time with better outfit. Because after two trips last year looking like a walking tourist cliche around all the incredibly good-looking and well-dressed Bavarians, I vowed never again. So when found I’d be going again this year, I consulted with a local to get the right look. Yes, they’re real leather. No, there is […]
I’m in Cologne!
Last year I slept in a French chateau outside of Paris. This year I’m in a German schloss outside of Cologne. It was built in the early 1700s and is now a five-star hotel with a three-star Michelin restaurant (very swank, and no, I have not been able to get a table). The view out […]
Oktoberfest II
Of course the irony that of all people I would be the one to go to one of the world’s great drinking parties twice in two weeks is not lost on me. The tent was bigger this time, and the food not quite as good. But I enjoyed myself more not being the only person […]
Munich again!
I love how the airport pavilion looks like butterfly wings. That’s all for tonight, though. Straight to bed, then early meetings and another round of Oktoberfest tomorrow. 😜
Sunday in Berlin, in three parts
Part 1 Grit decided to go for a run, so I had exactly 90 minutes after breakfast to stroll leisurely from my hotel to the Gendarmenmarkt . . . . . . past the Humboldt University law school . . . . . . across a plaza bordered by some neoclassical buildings the color, and […]
I’m in Berlin!
Meetings in Munich next week are a great excuse for a weekend in Berlin. My early-morning flight out of London was massively delayed so I spent most of the day in the airport instead of Germany, but did get here in time for what mattered most: dinner with Grit, Nikolas, and Quynh-Nhu! The four of […]
Oktoberfest!
As a reward for not quitting our jobs after the nightmare of getting ready for the new European privacy law this spring, our boss promised to “do something fun.” Next thing we knew, a team “workshop” had been scheduled in our Munich office on the third day of Oktoberfest. By virtue of our working for […]
The food was better this time
While I remember very little of what I saw in Munich when I was here in 2003, I remember very clearly that I did not eat well. My bank account by that time was running nearly on fumes, and I remember sometimes surviving on bananas and Twix for days at a time. Fortunately this time, […]
Exploring Munich’s centre ville
The last time I visited Munich was nearly 15 years ago. It was the summer of 2003 and I had just finished school in France and was backpacking Europe before flying back to the US. I had no money and was still shooting film on my old Olympus camera. And while I remember the feel […]
A More Gentlemanlike Manner 