Whonich? Munich!

After many wonderful days with Jürgen and Steffi and one final electric bike ride, it was time for us to be on our way. We left Sülzfeld and paid Logan's cousin Joerg a visit in Crailsheim. After a barbeque on the porch and a few beers and some Southpark it was time to hit the town. Crailsheim wasn't popping too hard, but we had a good time arguing internet conspiracy theories with Joerg's zainy roommate Fabian.

We said goodbye and headed toward Munich, where we had plans to rendezvous with Derek and Trevor. We had decided to stay in the same hotel and shortly after we arrived there was a rapping on the door and there they stood. Derek and Trevor, wise and weary from their two month adventure touring the continent, regaled us with adventure stories over a proper Munich meal of Weiner Art schnitzel und spaetzle. And Bier.

The next morning we woke up early...ish and prepared ourselves for a day stuffed with fun. We went to the Hirschgarten, a park in the middle of Munich which is home to a herd of reindeer. We wandered semi-aimlessly and soon found ourselves at the castle. After lolligagging around the Nymphenburger schloss for a bit we had lunch and went back to the hotel. After a restorative nap and ice cream, we headed over to the Volksbad for a couple laps and a lot of sweat. No photos from there, but it was the most beautiful bathhouse we've ever seen. Here we encountered a little trouble due to our lack of knowledge concerning proper bathing etiquette but Logan was able to surprise the aggressor with his german skills and defuse the situation. All was well after their hurried apologizes when they realized we were not mere tourists!

After several sweat filled hours at the Volksbad, we headed to the Hofbräuhaus down the way. The Hofbräuhaus is essentially where you go to experience Oktoberfest if you do not have the luck to be in Munich during the real deal. Here you can enjoy the sight of beautiful woman gracefully carrying liters of delicious beer to your table, huge traditional bretzels and other traditional German cuisine such as whole pigs. A truly fake German experience.








Joerg, the working man.





Erin took this one. (I wish I could take credit. - L)



The team.



Thar!





Logan's new day job.





The Hirschgarten







Trevor's new ride





Nymphenburger Schloss



Mocha, our friend the lady bug





Hofbräuhaus for a taste of Oktoberfest!









As quickly as they came, they were gone into the thick German darkness.

"...you'll get the Weirdness..."

PARTYFEST '09 update: After several more grueling days of vacation Erin and Logan made it to Munich... but before we take you there, let us tell a tale of breakfast and no lunch, of bravery and courage in hard times, and of a German thoroughness.

Our day began as it always had: rolling out of bed around 10 for Jürgen's supreme breakfast (the whole family had been jogging or biking or walking with the dog + showered by the time we usually got up). Around 1 we left the the museum, ZKM, which is a sort of technology/ new media/ art museum. Some of it was cool, some of it gave Logan an epileptic seizure.

Later, we went for two walks and then Jürgen took us to a his weekly late night Scuba Club swim & sauna session, which was absolutely amazing. They had the pool to themselves and after the sauna everyone sat around in their birthday suits (minus Erin) and pow-wowed about the days news. After we sweat out all of our impurities, we went to a restaurant and ate and drank some tall German beers: A great way to end a long day.




Where the breakfast happens.



Maike's turtle



Erin prepares for warp speed







"I think I'm gonna be sick"



Onkle Jürgen: calm, collected, German.





A post-sauna stretch



"What time did you say dinner was?"

It's a cold soup

BENDERFEST '09 update: We are still in Sulzfeld, relaxing, soaking in the fresh air, eating Jürgen's famous amazing classik deutsche breakfast- brötchen, cheese, meat, marmalade, yogurt with kiwi und banana, und soft-boiled eggs (hard cooked for Erin). Yesterday we took the train to Karlsruhe to shop, Erin bought some european underwear for Logan, we stretched our legs and debated the pros and cons of mullets.

After a few hours of walking around in Karlsruhe, we decided to sit in a square for a late lunch. Germany is in a fit of Spargel (asparagus) fever right now [Fig. 2.1]. In every village there are signs advertising fresh Spargel, in every restaurant Spargel specials. So we decided to order two Heffeweissens, a bowl of Spargelcremesouppe and a salad with dressing on the side. The Germans tend to be pretty heavy handed with the dressing so what you often get is something more akin to coleslaw than as salad as we know it.

It took some minutes for the biers to appear and many more before we saw any food. But when it finally did come, Erin began with the salad and Logan with the soup. Logan tasted a few spoonfuls before offering it to Erin. "Hmmm.." he remarked slowly, each word fraught with a mix of confusion and disappointment "it's a cold soup." "And there isn't any dressing for my salad" Erin replied. "This waitress certainly is terrible."

Erin scooped up a bit of creme soup and thought for a moment, trying to place the flavor. The two exchange glances and Erin said quietly "I think this is salad dressing." And so it was, an enormous tourine of ranch dressing complete with a soup spoon for serving.

We should have stuck with Butterbrezeln! [Fig. 2.2]



[Fig. 2.1] Aspargus gets its own menu



[Fig. 2.2] Butter Brezeln= german breakfast, lunch & dinner.







[Fig. 2.3] Erin must eat a strawberry every ten minutes to stay alive, it's like Speed but with erin and strawberries.





[Fig. 2.4] Damn, I look good.



Ready...



Set...



Blastoff...

Well, that about sums it up.

We heard you like Bretzeln...

We are writing this blog together! Erin has ASDF und Logan has JKL:; It is harder than you might think. Team work!!

ADVENTURE SUMMER 09: Shortly after finals, Logan started turning into a cat (Artist's rendering [Fig. 1]). He'd eaten all of Catbird's vittles and was sprouting a tail so we knew it was time to leave.

We began our bogus journey in Houston, Texas and made our way across the ocean to Frankfurt to find a way to stop the dreadful transformation and spend a few days with Erin's Family [Fig. 2]. Soon they told us the ancient family cure for Werecat... the three B's: Bretzels, Butter und Bier... und Wein.

After Logan's miraculous recovery we continued to have a good time. We took the long train to Sulzfeld to stay with Onkel Jürgen for a few days. Check back in soon for updates. We're all blogged out now, enjoy!


Logan und Erin

p.s. If any words herein look like they are spelled wrong, just assume they are written in German.


[Fig. 1] Logan as Felis catus


[Fig. 2] Logan, Onkel Rudi und Erin business consultation


[Fig. 3] Onkel Rudi, expert on all things Deutsch


[Fig. 4] Tante Inga threatening Erin into eating more butter sauce


[Fig. 5] It was Benno's first birthday where he was declared the center of all things cute


[Fig. 6] Cute overload.


[Fig. 7]


[Fig. 8] Having just read the wall text Logan exclaimed "No! Don't start it with a Gerund!"


[Fig. 9] (artifacts from the Castle)


[Fig. 10]



[Fig. 11]



[Fig. 12] On the train to Sulzfeld. We took the long way.


[Fig. 13] Put on your boxing gloves... and your dancing shoes


[Fig. 14] Onkel Jürgen's new puppy, Aleah


[Fig. 15] A walk in the woods mit Maike.


[Fig. 16]


[Fig. 17]


[Fig. 18] Searching for the best Erdbeere


[Fig. 19] Complete and total happiness