say cheese

Did you know Amsterdam has a Cheese Museum?  We haven't made it there yet, but this may have convinced us.

Happy Friday (may it be as yummy as ours was)

bayreuth + a year

It's been a while since my last visit here, and while its been 10 months since my last post, honestly, not much has changed.  Lots of trips, a job (that keeps my crazy busy), some new opportunities and a a visit from a few friends is all that has changed.  I'm still in Germany, and we have about year left, so I've pledged to sit down and blog more so I don't forget anything.

For instance, we went to Bayreuth this weekend for my big 3-0 birthday.  It was a complete surprise, where I didn't know where we were going until we were about an hour into the drive there.  Do you have any idea how hard it is to pack without knowing where you're going?  It's impossible!

top: Trashy Diva, skirt: Trashy Diva, cardi: J.Crew Jackie Cardi (n/a, similar ), beer: Bayreuther Beirbrauerei

Top, cardi & skirt (see above), purse : Kate Spade Nicole Kent ( n/a, similar), sandals: Sseko

back from paradise

Exhausted and happy.  A full run down is to come, but here's my summery -

1. Corfu: total letdown
2. Santorini: a-freaking-mazing (minus the donkeys)
3. Mykonos: beaches from heaven
4. Izmir/Ephesus: a nice Turkish surprise
5. Venice: better the second time around, but still kind of overrated.

On a side note: we came home very, very early this morning to find a dead bird in our house (no I didn't get a picture, eww).  Figuring that all the windows were closed, who knows how this poor little fellow managed to get into the house.  Oh nature can be so weird.

away we go

We're taking a break from the insanity of moving to escape cold (it is July, right?), rainy Germany for a much needed jaunt around the warmer and sunnier *fingers crossed* Eastern Mediterranean.

source

here's hoping for rest, relaxation, some fun adventures and hopefully no sunburn!

Do you have any fun summer travel plans lined up?

on the agenda

So heres what we have for the month of July:

1. Host and throw BBQ for hub's company.  Yeah.
2. Move.  By ourselves.  I really hope this goes smoothly, b/c moving usually brings out "ugly, mean, irritated" Mrs. Bama.  Must remember to breathe, that I love our new house and my husband is here and can help. That is until one of us throws our backs out trying to haul the monstrosity that is our desk down three flights of stairs and up one.
3. Pack for our cruise while moving.  Yes, you heard that correctly.
4. Go on said cruise. Massive house move followed up by a Greek cruise.  This is either a GREAT idea or a terrible idea.  It could go either way.
5. Did I mention our new car that was paid for in April is being delivered while we're gone? They say anticipation is half the fun, but after Bruno's driver side window has broken for the second time in 6 months (at $500 a pop to fix) and we're borrowing a VERY generous friend's car so Mr. Bama can drive, that anticipation has definitely lost its luster.  Three months from placing your downpayment to actually obtaining the car is slightly irritating, but c'est la vie.

In 10 days I'll be sitting on a boat drinking some kind of alcoholic drink.  My only job til then: remaining sane and remembering that if all else fails, this is why God invented wine.

A Bathroom for Guidos

We have an interesting half bath in the new house.

This just makes me want to fistpump upon entering.  The best part: to the right of this picture you see a toilet.  Next to that toilet is a designated urinal.  Just took the classiness up a notch.

Back from the Dead

I've got a lot of  'splaining to do.  It's been a busy few months - getting back to Germany from the states, running around Bavaria with Misa (and her hubs) from Park & Belmont, and then playing webmaster filling in for a friend at her job while she vacationed.

Oh, and did I mention we're moving again?

The 40 minute drive is killing our budget and I can only imagine the damage it will do once Mr. Bama gets back (which will happen in a matter of weeks!!!).  That being the case, I sucked it up and started looking for a new home to move to that was less than 20 mins from his work.  After the terrible time we had trying to find a house this time last year, I was just dreading the whole process.  Every house I found either was against having pets, housing Americans or was already rented out. It seemed like it was to be a repeat from last year.

And then by total divine intervention, we stumbled upon this beauty:

This house doesn't look like much, but trust me, it's wonderful.  A bit smaller than where we're living now, but it has two huge things:

number one:

A HUGE yard.  The building on a left is the outdoor kitchen for
  outdoor entertaining.  Yup we have 2 kitchens

number two:

this kitchen is amazing and has everything.

Also not shown in the pictures: the laundry chute and the CENTRAL vacuum.  What WHAT!?  Yup you heard it right. We do NOT deserve this house, but it actually found us (a friend of a friend needed someone to rent it...) The style of the house is a little too "Italianate" for me, as I like things a bit more simple and streamlined, but beggars cannot be choosers in the German real estate game.  I feel like my life has been a bit Househunters International of late, but at least I can look forward to moving into this place come July.

Oh July, how crazy and insane of a month you will be.  Since we've already been moved by Mr. Bama's "company"once, we'll have to do the move ourselves.  Did I also mention how much I HATE moving? I may have mentioned it here and here. So not only will I be planning the company-wide Barbecue come the last weekend of June, but we'll also be doing a self-move that the first weekend of July, mere weeks after Mr. Bama is back from being away for a year.  Then a week or so later, we're packing up and going on a Eastern Mediterranean cruise, for relaxation.  We will most definitely need the relaxation by this point. Phew - I'm exhausted after just typing all of that! There's actually much more I haven't even touched on coming down the pipe, so stay tuned for one heck of a ride...

I'm back, but that's not the point of this post.

This is:

(photo court of agrarian by Williams-Sonoma, found here)

Williams-Sonoma recently launched their new DIY home horticulturist and farmer line.  It's official, getting your hands dirty and growing your own stuff is now chic. This agrarian line allows you to order a mushroom growing kit,  purchase canning supplies, even buy yourself a W-S approved chicken coop for your back yard (that is, unless you live in Virginia Beach, VA).  My mom's reply when she saw this in the most recent W-S catalogue was "What?  This is like depression-era tech"  No mom, it's recession-era tech, and it's very "in" right now.

Anyways,  the thing that really gets me excited about this new line are three words: DIY Kombucha Kit.

While in the states (more on that later) I drank a whole bottle of kombucha almost every day I was home.  I knew my precious time w/ my favorite fermented drink was numbered, so I made sure not one bottle went to waste.  I even emailed GT Dave's to inquire about overseas sales (No dice.)  I began to accept that the rest of my stay in germany would be yummy and healthy Kombucha free.

Now, this changes everything.

GOODNESS I hope they ship here...

a list of things

image via  

Bear and I are heading back to the States for a few months this weekend - after some recent events, I realized how much we needed to be back there to be with family and give my soul a much needed rest.  While driving to meet some friends the other day, I got really excited about some things that I had missed from home in the almost 9 months since moving to Germany. Namely:

• Kombucha
• stores open on Sunday
• a yard for Bear
• Television + movies in English
• being able to watch YouTube (darn you GEMA)
• lack of a 19% VAT tax
• not having to drive 40 mins to see friends
• going shopping 
• T.J.Maxx & Target
• free Wi-Fi!
• having a reliable car
• family
• being able to read labels in stores
• not having to check conversion rates (instantly followed by a feeling of depression)

But then I realized there's a lot I'm also going to miss

• not having to worry if your food has GMOs in it
• not having to worry if your meat has growth hormones and antibiotics in it
• alcohol not having a negative connotation 
• the autobahn and lack of a speed limit (my lead foot will miss this the most)
• the ice cream, coffee and baked goods
• taking Bear into restaurants / clothing stores / etc. and no one being afraid of him
• feeling enjoyment in the smallest things: i.e.: while I may not being able to read labels in stores, I am sure as heck able to sing along with Justin Timberlake or Lady Gaga playing on the speakers in perfect English.  Small victories.

I've been frustrated a lot with our situation of late, mainly because the distance (from friends here, from family in the states and from my husband 3,00 miles the other direction) has made life pretty boring.  We're ready to go home, and I can't wait. 

remember when...

I went on vacation?  I mentioned a little something about it here.  Well, here's a little recap over at the Trashy Diva blog.  Enjoy!

yup, the vacation indeed involves a camel

feel better 2012

There has kind of been a lull in posting recently, because well, not much has been going on of late.  Germany's been a bit dreary (think lots of grey and lots of damp-ness. And no, not in the form of snow.)  Christmas was a low-key event, where I mozy-ed downstairs at 10am, made my coffee, sat on the couch, opened  my one gift (this fantastic book), sat on the couch to read said gift, and then went and got ready for dinner at a friend's house that night.  New Year's was almost an exact carbon copy - where last year hubs and I traipsed around The Roosevelt Hotel and then watched the fireworks from Jackson Square, this year I took my life in my hands and drove to Würzburg for dinner and watching the fireworks from the bridge.  No, I didn't get any pictures, because:

• my old-school iPhone 3G is in no way up for the challenge of trying to take pictures of fireworks,
• I lost the battery charger to my real camera and have been too lazy to shell out $50 (!) for a new one.  
• the smoke and haze for the self fired-fireworks makes it nearly impossible to see anything.  Germans are given 24 hours to set off fireworks legally and wow they go crazy.   

My friend Charlie took the lone picture from the night:

2012 from the bridge in Wurzburg.  Thanks Charlie

So after ringing in the new year, I made the trek to Frankfurt to collect my dad for his visit to Germany. But of course, the gross and cold weather really hindered our plans to do much sightseeing.  So essentially, for my dad, Germany consisted of lots of Pilsner, a migraine, 30 degree temps with just rain, an afternoon of snow that didn't stick and lots of rumpsteak, potatoes and schnitzel.  Now, he's back in the US and I'm fighting a terrible cold with strong hot toddies, episodes of Portlandia (how have I never seen that show before!?) and hot soup.  Thank heavens me and the Bear are off to the US at the end of this month, so we need to hang in there until then.  Just like my cold, I hope 2012 gets better soon.

with merriment and cheer

and a Happy New Year too!

let it snow

On Tuesday we had our first real German snow of 2011. yes, it was less than 3 inches cumulative, but that's still something to this southern girl.

view from my bedroom

Das Bear on our little balcony playing in the snow for the
first time since last Christmas

Naturally, Bear and I decided to take a little stroll around our block...

The Bear has Landed

Today my second favorite boy finally joined me in Germany...

After an arduous 8 hour flight over the Atlantic, he met me after my hour and 1/2 drive with my friend Ana to Frankfurt.  Two hours (and 137 euro later) my baby boy was in my possession, cruising down the Autobahn towards home.  He was in wonderful condition, just a little dehydrated and hungry, but in great spirits.  I cannot say enough about Lufthansa and the manner in which they handle their animal cargo, even their Animal "lounge" is stellar and exceed EU standards (which are strict enough as is).  After a little downtime (and LOTS of sniffing) at the house, I didn't want him to full out sleep too early, so I hooked on his leash and we went for a walk along my normal running route in the vineyards outside of my village.

Nice little info signs about each grape dot the vineyards. 
Too bad I can't understand them (yet)

Dornfelder grapes - my fave German wine

Our little town from the vineyards

Bear says "I give my new home and its awesome 
vineyards (where I can run leash-less) a thumbs up!

So let the hund-friendly German adventures begin!

Sweet Salzburg

You all have been so patient with me as I start my  new volunteer job over here all while still getting settled into the new house.  So, without further ado, the Salzburg round up!

First stop was the Augustiner Brauhaus  (we really just went to the hotel to drop off our bags, then took a taxi to the monastery)

a wall of beer steins greets you upon entry

the front of the brewery

Just like the Kreutzberg monastery, this is a larger Austrian version that also brews beers.  Wonderful!

happiness is a cold beer with good friends!

Then we went off to explore the idyllic town streets

small and quaint, featuring such unique boutiques as Zara and H&M.

and we happened upon the "theater in the square" series where you could sit below the Festung Hohensalzburg and watch a theatre production while drinking a glass of wine.  

On our way back to the hotel, we realized as we were crossing the Salzach river, just how amazing the view was from where we were standing.  Since we're typical American tourists, we snapped a picture.

Next day we embarked for our awesome Sound of Music tour, which I highlighted here.  Cheesy? yes; absurdly fun? but of course!  Fun fact:  60-year old women who have waited their whole lives to take THIS tour will get very irritated with you if you do not sing along with Julie Andrews and co. on the bus tour.  I only this week finally got "Do Rae Me" from playing on constant repeat on my head. 

The mansion behind us may look familiar to you...

After the excursion de Von Trapp, we went and visited the Museum der Moderne, on the top of a mountain overlooking Salzburg.  There was a wonderful resturant attached to the museum where one of my cravings was finally satiated:  Kombucha!!  I failed to see it offered in Germany, but lo-and-behold, there it was sitting plain as day on a menu in a random restaurant in Austria.  I later found out that they mix it with everything and drink it from wine glasses - how very European.  Mission "Find the Darn Kombucha in Germany" has officially begun.   

view from Museum der Modern

The evening in Salzburg was wrapped up with a piano concert highlighting homeboy Mozart's sonatas.  The pianist was quite devoted to her craft, even coming back for 3 "mini-encore" performances.  I guess if you're going to perform Mozart, you best do it right.

encore, encore!

We wrapped up the evening sitting on the roof of a hotel next to the river, with a spectacular view of the city.    

I ordered a French 75, which I was incredibly excited -almost as much as the Kombucha earlier- to see on the menu (there was a sazerac listed on it as well).  The excitement was quickly dashed when after ordering it, I received a weird pink drink in a martini glass that tasted oddly similar to a cosmo.  I REALLY do regret not taking a picture because the Austrian version of a French 75 is definitely NOT the same as the kind served in it's home of NOLA.  I almost shudder to think of what may have been served if I had ordered a sazerac.  My libation situation went from thrilled due to the kombucha to deeply disappointed with the cosmo masquerading as a sacred NOLA cocktail.


In summary: Salzburg is gorgeous and very friendly, but also small.  It's romantic, but I feel like if you had more than two days in the city you'd find yourself a bit bored.  I'm still planning on bringing Mr. Bama to Salzburg once he gets back to Germany, but I don't think I'd visit it again without him -- now that's not the case for Vienna, which I hear is much different than Salzburg.

So, we bid adieu to the city of Salt (salz = salt) and began our trek to Budapest.

Hurricane Europa

Goodness it has been a while, and quite a whirlwind -- which explains my absence.  A week after moving into our new home, I flew back to the US for my best friend's wedding, which was an absolute blast.  When I returned on July 21, Mr. Bama had already left for his year of being gone for work. While I have missed him terribly, I haven't had too much time to dwell on his absence -- our household goods arrived a week after I got back to Germany, and a day later I finally had internet set up (after a week of dealing with German T-Mobile and being hung up on 9 out of the 10 times I called them).  The very next day one of my best friends from home flew into Germany with a friend from business school and we began a 10-day  breakneck-speed tour of Eastern Europe. So the next few blog posts, combined with my upcoming guest posts for Trashy Diva, will be a recap of our adventures in Salzburg, Budapest, Prague and Munich.  So stay tuned for some European goodness!

With my friend Laura on the Charles Bridge in Prague

Go Forth...

and have a happy Fourth of July

365 day project

Okay friends, so today's the day I reach out and ask you for help.

But first, a little backstory:

1. My wonderful Mr. Bama is gone for work for a year starting in a few weeks.
2. In case you haven't figured it out, I'm sort highly motivated / an overachiever.
3. Working as an employee on the German economy isn't an option, as in I don't have a work visa.
4. I have travelling access to all of fantastic Europe.

(source)

So now you, my fabulously creative readers come into play.  Starting July 30, I'll be up for a project.  You can get an idea from my previous posts what my interests are - cooking, design, travel, etc.  My goal is to expand your horizons and as well as mine, so be creative, but not extravagant.  What do YOU want to read about me exploring?  You read about blogs where people tell you want they want you to hear, in this case I'm asking you what do you want to read about?  Here are some very small  rules:

• it cannot include me risking my life... that includes heights, i.e. me standing next to them or jumping off of them.  no no no
• it cannot cost more than $15 a day.
• it cannot include me doing anything illegal.

And that's about it.  I'm excited to hear about what you would me to take on this next year, especially for those readers who usually read, but don't ever feel like commenting! Be creative!

Sacred Beer Atop a Holy Mountain

There's an interesting phenomenom in Germany - Monks.  Who brew beer.

The Kloster (monastery) Kreuzberg, atop the Kreuzberg mountain in the Rhon mountain range, has been brewing beer since 1731.  Even since we arrived in germany, everyone we met told us we had to travel to Kreuzberg to hike the mountain and have the beer.  So naturally, when we found out that there would be a bus trip to visit this wonderful location, we signed up and were excited to go!  While it was freezing cold (and yours truly did not dress appropriately) and drizzly, we still managed to have an absolute blast.

big mug, little mug

Mr. Bama's big mug

happiness is a full beer mug

thats 5L of holy beer

the 3 crosses at the top of the Kreuzberg
mountain.

view from the top.  Gorgeous

Happy Bamas