Summer Vacation / Happy Anniversary

Hello all! I know I've been away for a while - I was on a little summer break : ) Now it's "Back to School." The Summer was very short and inconsistent here unfortunately - and also very early. We had lots of sunshine and hot and humid conditions in April. ...and that was basically it. There were some nice days sprinkled in between, also many thunderstorms, and then the cooler, rainer conditions came at the end of July, and have basically stayed. Oh well...maybe we'll have a wonderfully warm "golden October" like we did last year. In any event, I have enjoyed the Summer, managing to squeeze in some local trips as well as a trip to Portugal.

1) Bodensee /Lake of Constance This is a wonderful area to the southwest of Germany, bordering Austria and Switzerland. The in-laws have an apartment here and everytime we spend the weekend it is like a mini-vacation. The Lake with the sailboats, and the view to Switzerland on the other side is so relaxing and beautiful that I could stare for hours.

2) Duesseldorf, Germany Duesseldorf is a picturesque city on the Rhine that was first founded in 1288. In July, the city celebrated a huge festival that is larger than Oktoberfest. With my intrepid globetrotting friend Iyana, we took in the action. We didn't count on though, that there would be dozens of bachelor and bachelorette parties. The reason - many weddings were scheduled for the following weeked because it would be the 20th of 07, 2007 (European date order, you know) --> meaning 2007 2007. And you thought only 07.07.07 was the special date!

3) Portugal - Algarve Located in the south of Portugal, along the Atlantic, the Algarve region's red earth, rugged cliffs and Moorish history captivated us during our one week vacation there in August. With the warm temps and laid back lifestyle, it was a perfect way for us to end our summer. ...And begin our second year in Germany! Hard to believe that we landed here one year ago on September 2, 2006. We're looking forward to finding out what the second year brings - for sure, Oktoberfest! The festival starts up again in two weeks - and Munich will be welcoming the world to its doors. Servus! (Typical Bavarian greeting Happy Fall and Mach's Gut!

Happy Father's Day!

Are you saying, "wait a minute? It isn't June yet. We just had Mother's Day." That's true - but in Germany, today May 17 is Father's Day. It coincides with the Roman Catholic religious holiday of Ascension, because in the Middle Ages, on that day there was a procession to honor God, the Father. Luckily, I listen to the radio every morning before I go to work; otherwise I would have missed the import of the day entirely, and would have been a very bad daughter-in-law for not wishing my father-in-law Happy Father's Day. A lthough, the day seems to be mostly associated with men going out drinking and not really celebrating Fathers.

In any event, today is an official holiday in Germany - not because of fathers, but because of the Son - to commemorate Christ's Ascension into Heaven, or Christi Himmelfahrt, in German. I'm beginning to get used to all of these holidays. The only problem is, unlike in the U.S., the holidays aren't necessarily conveniently placed on the second Monday in September or last Monday in May so you have a guaranteed long weekend. Like our Independence Day, certain holidays are on a specific date: Labor Day is always May 1, or the Epiphany is always January 6, whether it falls on a Tuesday or a Thursday, or even on a Sunday -- then you're SOL because you get no holiday.

But it's actually kind of nice to have a holiday during the week to break up the routine or stress. And when the holiday falls on a Tuesday or Thursday, some people take the "bridge day" (Brückentag) off anyway to have a four-day weekend. (This time, I won't be one of them. Have to work. I know... you're all saying, "Awww, that's too bad")

Next up...Germany's version of Memorial Day (this year)....Pentecost.

Bis bald meine Lieben!

Queensday and May Day

Happy May Day! It is Labor Day in Germany (and in many other countries) today, May 1. It's a day to celebrate the working class and labor movement. Even in the U.S., some groups use May Day to commemorate the execution of the Haymarket martyrs who were arrested after the labor unrest of the Haymarket Riot of 1886 in Chicago. It's also associated with dancing around the "Maypole", which has its roots in German paganism - it was part of festivals celebrating the beginning of summer. In any event, since May 1 fell on a Tuesday, most people made it a four-day weekend, including myself. I took the opportunity to visit my friend Iyana in Amsterdam for "Queensday" weekend - when the Dutch celebrate their monarchy and pay homage to the Queen (every April 30). It felt like the whole city and I were dancing around Maypoles. The city becomes a sea of orange with wild and crazy tourists enjoying the carnival atmosphere. It's a beautiful city, with wonderful architecture, inspiring canals and a lot of bicycles. You are more in danger of being run over by the many, many bicycles whipping through street crossings, than by a car. And of course, you have to make sure you know the difference between a cafe and a coffee house. If you want coffee or tea or the like, don't go to a coffeehouse...unless you want a special kind of "refreshment." (hint: it has a special pungent smell and supposedly makes you laugh a lot : ) Queensday weekend sights w/Iyana & her friend Melvin from NY Drag Queen Olympics It's back to work tomorrow...until the next holidays, Ascension on May 17 and Pentecost Monday on May 28 (no such thing as separation of church and state here...)

Welcome

Welcome to the first installment of my new blog. I must thank my friend Christina for giving me the initial idea, and my sister, Sacha, for inspiring me to do so after I saw what a great blog she put together (check it out www.first-comes-baby.blogspot.com). And plus, Blogger makes it so easy! So from now on, instead of mass e-mails from me, you can check in from time to time on my blog and find out how Kai and I are doing in wonderful Deutschland, check out some pictures of our adventures, and get updates on how my writing career is going! Hope you enjoy it and viele liebe Grüsse aus Bavaria!

Goodbye NY and Hello Bavaria (Lufthansa Flight Attendants welcoming us!)

Oktoberfest highlights