A walk in the park

Spring is arriving here in Bonn, and I wanted to get up close and personal with it. How? Going to the Bonn Botanical Garden makes me happy. Flowers were blooming. The weather- a bit chilly, but that was fixed later in the day. We got to the garden just about the middle of the day, a few others braved the colder weather and were there too. While all the blumen weren't quite in bloom yet, quite a few things were just making their appearance. I enjoyed wandering around the gardens for a few hours, and we had a bit of a picnic. Unfortunately, it got cold fast, and so we went to a French bakery and had a quick hot chocolate and a strawberry tarte.

Sorry for the quick blog, but the photos were really what I wanted to share.

Phoenix trip!

A warm week in Phoenix, its what the doctor ordered, some fun in the sun. Time to visit with friends and family. Before starting a week at work, I had to conquer jet lag. For every hour of time change, the same number of days are required to adjust. I had exactly 2 days to do this is, not 9 that it should take. The weather was perfect for defrosting.

A friend picked me up from the airport, and crazily took me to The Yard in Central Phoenix to catch up with others. I hadn't even had a chance to set my stuff down in my apartment after 18 hours of travel. Bummer. It was nice to see old friends and get a bite to eat before my eyes completely went bleary and my last 5th wind left me.

Next day, lunch with a friend and then a fantastic game called Cards Against Humanity with some other friends. Yay to friends coming over and having fun AND keeping me awake during normal sleeping hours for me. Plus playing a game that would probably not go over well in Germany.

Fast forward to day 2, one of the things I miss most is brunch. So of course I organized brunch with friends at R&R in Scottsdale. Noisy, but again, really really nice to catch up with people and eat good food. I enjoyed Chambord French toast which was awesome and absolutely massive. After the party broke up it was lovely just hanging out and catching up, before heading home mid-afternoon to catch up with some episodes of ER and figuring out what to have for dinner.

Fabulous friends

Fabulous friends

Fabulous friends

Fabulous friends

My massive french toast

The week that followed was crazy busy. Whenever I'm back, I have a ton of things to do including working a regular 40 hour week. Call me crazy, but because I don't know the German language enough, I haven't tried getting my hair cut over there. That with every other thing that has to get checked or done while in the country has to fit around work. The following weekend- San Diego, family time, before flying back again.

Cook It!

So, a few weeks ago I got a 'meal' from CookIt! in Marktplatz. The company has a recipe, and all the ingredients needed to make x,y, or z options.

The instructions were in German, but my friend Google translate helped me out. It turned out really yummy!

Frischpasta mit vegetarischer Winter-Bolognese

Vorbereitung: Sellerie, falls nötig schälen, in feine Würfel schneiden und beiseite legen. Als nächstes die Champignons putzen, Zwiebeln und Knoblauch schälen und alles ebenfalls fein Würfeln und getrennt von der Sellerie beiseite legen.

Zubereitung:

Zunächst ca. 1L wasser (pro person) mit dem gesamten Meersalz zum kocHen bringen. Wundern Sie sich nicht uber den hohen Salzgehalt des Wasser. Unsere Frischpasta kommt ganz traditionell erstmals im Kochtopf mit Salz in Berührung und entfaltet hier ihr wundervolles Aroma.

Während das Wasser erhitzt wird, können beriets die Sellerie-würfel mit 1 EL olivenoil in einer heissen Pfanne scharf angebraten werden, bis sie etwas Farbe angenommen haben.  Nun das restliche Gemuse hinzugeben, die Hitze halbieren und mitschmoren lassen.

Sobald das wasser sprudelnd kocht, kann die pasta fur 3-4 minuten (ja nach gewünschter Bissfestigkeit) in den Topf gegeben und mit einer Gabel etwas aufgelockert werden.

Als nächstes die gesamte Bruhe, 1/2 TL zucker (pro portion) und die paprika (ohne wasser) mit in die Pfanne geben und unterheben. Kurz bevor die Pasta fertig ist noch 1 schöpfkelle Nudelwasser mit der Creme Fraiche und dem gesamten Tomatenketchup in die Pfanne geben und fur 1-2 Minuten köcheln lassen.

Nun nur noch die Pasta abgiessen, alles gemeinsam auf einem teller anrichten und, cooki wunscht einen guten appetit.

Preparation: If necessary , peel , cut into small cubes and set aside celery. Next, the mushrooms clean, peel the onions and garlic and put everything also finely diced and separated from the celery aside.

preparation:
First, about 1L water (per person) bring the whole sea salt to a boil. Do not be surprised about the high salt content of the water. Our fresh pasta is quite traditional for the first time in a cooking pot with salt in contact and unfolds here their wonderful flavor .

While the water is heated , the celery cubes with 1 tablespoon olivenoil can sometimes already be seared in a hot pan until they have accepted some color. Now add the rest of the vegetables, cut the heat and let braise .

Once the water boils bubbly, the pasta can be put in the pot and loosened up a bit with a fork for 3-4 minutes ( the desired chewiness yes ) .

Next, the whole broth, 1/2 tsp sugar ( per serving ) and paprika (without water ), consist in the pan and mix . Just before the pasta is done even one ladle pasta water to the creme fraiche and the entire tomato ketchup to the pan and simmer for 1-2 minutes.

Drain only the pasta , all together on a plate and serve

Neuschwanstein Castle

One of the purported castles that Cinderella's was based off of is Neuschwanstein. About a 2 hour train ride out of Munich in the middle of a small town, perched on top of a hill, is this fairy tell castle. You better have good walking legs for this one, just watch out for the horses taking lazy people up the hill. I highly recommend reserving tickets weeks beforehand. They let you in by groups of 10 or so, and give a guided tour of about 1.5 floors of the castle. No photos are allowed inside. Commissioned by Bavaria's Ludwig II, construction started in 1869, and never was completed. The castle itself was opened to the public immediately following Ludwig's death. Only the king's personal rooms, a throne room, and the basics like a kitchen were completed. A room for prayer was also completed with mosaic tile flooring and a balcony view of the entire valley and a lake beyond. The views out of the windows were amazing. If the castle was completed, it would have contained over 200 rooms, both for royalty and servants, unfortunately, Ludwig only lived there for something like 172 days. He was declared insane and he reportedly died the next day under suspicious circumstances. Whatever the case, he left a legacy of amazing architecture and a love of art. It was lovely to walk around the grounds. I also introduced by companions to the wonders of Kindereggs. They are not supposed to be sold in the US, but they are a egg shaped wafer coated with milk chocolate, and inside is a toy of some sort. Heaven forbid Americans only give them to age appropriate children, but no, they had to ban it entirely from the US. Boo on us. By the end of the day we took the long train ride back to Munich, toured the Oktoberfest grounds, and then went to Hofbrau Haus again. To say that I wouldn't miss ever eating a pretzel again after this trip would be an understatement. We virtually lived off of them the entire trip. Munich wasn't exactly vegetarian friendly.... Next day we were off to Berlin, where more fun abounded.

Munich day 2

Day 2 of our Munich trip, jet lag reigns, but its all about getting going and moving. This is an easy city to visit a local bakery for breakfast on the go. Our main plan of the day- go to the Residenz Palace Museum.

The Residenz Palace was heavily bombed during WWII, but most of the items were well hidden and relocated during the war and the palace was reconstructed. Some of the treasures were lost forever, but a good chunk made it through the war. One word to the wise, when it comes to visiting museums with me, there should be the expectation that you will catch up with me at the end. I read all the placards and enjoy the sights and art, but I somehow move through the museums at a rapid pace, so I'll be waiting at the end for you. Anyways, the Residenz Palace is the former palace of the Bavarian monarchs. I took a handheld device audio tour. One of the first sights when walking in is of the Grotto Courtyard. Overall, there are 10 courtyards within the palace. There was a sculpture of a slayed Medusa, icky reliquaries (seriously, people just need to leave the parts of people with their original owners already). Another section of the museum, the treasury, is dedicated to the royal jewels and other precious antiquities. One of the best pieces is Renaissance Saint George's statue, which is a bejeweled knight and horsemen over a slayed dragon. My personal favorite part was a long hallway, called the Baroque Ancestral Gallery, which had the family trees on the walls corresponding with the painted image of the relative next to it. One of the other areas we went to was the rebuilt Residenz Theatre, which was a rather small theater, but pretty neat inside.

Rebuilt church

A slayed Medusa

One of the large halls

Renaissance Saint George's statue

Theatre

After getting some lunch, we decided to climb the nearby St. Peter's Chuch tower. Upon paying the token entry fee, we climbed a requisite number of steps to the top, where we had a view of virtually the entire city. A bit windy, and caged in by fencing, but a beautiful sight. We then trekked through the city park and wandered around until dinner. Either this night or the last night on the trip, we went to Augustiner Grossgastatt's restaurant (one of the brew houses), were Bavarian goulash was consumed (yeah yeah yeah, goulash is traditional to Hungary, but the German's make it too). This variety had bell peppers in it.

My hefeweizen

Pepita soup for lunch... yum

I win

The day wouldn't be complete though without a visit to Hofbrau Haus and meeting up with friends of friends. Of course there were some interesting characters at our table as well. One of the oddest conversations of the trip by far. A guy and his wife. He was a former sales guy for a cell phone/pager company, and talked about his lifetime use of various drugs, and proceeded to give us unwanted advice about using x, y, z drugs. Crazy. But makes for an interesting story. Especially the one of his about if you are going to try shrooms, to be in a safe place, indoors is ok, but outdoors are better, but to beware of being out in the middle of nowhere.... .OOOOOOOOKKKKKKK random! Pass me another hefeweizen please.

Hofbrau Haus

Next up on our trip was Oktoberfest, a very fun day filled with some good times.... I recommend people go at some point... beyond that, I just have tips and tricks for them :)