Running

I have to burn off some calories from all of the beer consumption...so I've been doing some running.

Tübingen is just north (20km) of the Swabian Alps so the area is very hilly.  This is quite a challenge for me, coming from Chicago. You can avoid the mountains, as long as you don't live on one, which, unfortunately, is not the case for us.  

I generally head down to the Neckar River and it's tributaries to run where it is flatter.

Those white objects are swans.

There is a sheep farm along one side of the Österberg where the sheep graze on the mountainside.

 A view of northern Tübingen from the Österberg:

 Residents find any available space to create gardens:

The Black Forest

Damian was on a retreat in the Black Forest last week for work. The retreat ended on Friday so I hopped on the train and met him there to spend the weekend hiking and searching for the Big Bad Wolf, Briar Rose, or Little Red Riding Hood. 

We stayed in a town called Altglashütten.

We took our first hike to Schluchsee, the largest lake in the Black Forest.

The next day we hiked up the Feldberg. 

The farthest mountains in the background of this picture are the Alps:

From the top of the Feldberg, we hiked through various terrain...

and then came upon the Feldsee, a hidden lake between the mountains that used to be a glacier.

After many hours of hiking, we stopped at a hütte (cottages that are setup in the forest with food for hikers and skiiers) and ate Black Forest cake. It was delicious, but very different than the American version. This one had amazingly fresh cherries and whipped cream flavored with a strong liquor.

We didn't find any Brother Grimm's characters, but we did come across this fascinating creature... ;)

Sunday, on our way back home, we stopped at the German Clock Museum.  We had to pay some tribute to the history of clock-making while in the Black Forest - the home to the cuckoo clock.

Rookie Mistakes

Rookie Mistake #1. Buying a whole loaf of broad.
There is a reason that most loaves are sold as "half" loaves - they get moldy very quickly! Everything is fresh so that most things don't last long (even when you put it in the fridge).
Note to self: buy nifty "half" loaves. This one has 10 slices and is delicious!

Rookie Mistake #2. Paying to use the toilet at the train station
I was running really late the other morning and I missed my train to work (Luckily, I had planned on taking an early train, so I ended up not being late for work, just a little rushed.) With some time to kill at the train station, I decided to visit the bathroom. I walked in and realized that it cost €0.50.  It is not uncommon to pay to use a public bathroom in Germany. I put my 50 cent euro coin in the machine and it got stuck. That really put me in a bind. My German vocabulary of numbers and greetings wouldn't help me to explain, "I paid, I swear, but the door won't open." A euro coin wasted. Once my train arrived, I remembered that there were bathrooms on the trains. The bathrooms on the train are free and very clean. Why didn't I think of that earlier?

#3. Purchasing individual train tickets
Trains are surprisingly very expensive here, but they get you to the most remote parts of Germany. To save money, always buy group tickets or multi-day tickets. While in Munich, Damian and I paid €14 total to ride the trains for 3 days and we could've had three other people with us for free.
I have bought many individual round-trip tickets to work each worth €15.40 - Yikes! Buying multi-packs cuts that cost in half.

#4. Assuming it wouldn't be so bad to find an apartment
We are still looking...
Damian heard on the news last week that the government was asking home owners to rent out their spare rooms to university students since there is such a problem with housing here.

I am useless in our searches too...I wish I knew German!



















#5. Going an entire month without a bike
I found a bike with a sign on it for €50 and a phone number. Damian called and met with the owner. He was able to negotiate it to €40. Now I have a bike and I rode it to the train station yesterday- AMAZING. My 30 minute walk is now a bike ride of less than 10 minutes!

Snacks?

This is a vending machine at Damian's office. I want to point out some interesting items that you can purchase. Look at the top row, second from the left - that small brown oval item is an egg! You can purchase a hard-boiled egg from the vending machine! On the top right you will find a pear and an apple. Don't think that it's all about health, on the bottom right you have three different types of wine from which to choose.

 

München

Even though our trip to München was futile in regards to getting the U.S. visa for my husband, we tried to make the most of it by exploring the city and all of its cultural offerings.

(FYI: My husband passed the interview process and was approved a visa, but due to the government shutdown, the embassy employees could not complete the visa request. He will therefore, unfortunately, not be attending my mother's wedding. :(! )

We happened to be in Munich a weekend in the middle of Oktoberfest so we decided to check it out.  Even though all of the tents were filled by 1pm, we miraculously got into the Paulaner brewery tent because a worker had let us in through the back door! I use the word "tent" because that is what it is translated to in English, however, these are not tents. They are massive, wood structures with elaborate detail, including balconies and artwork.

 Drinking my first stein outside the tent in the beer garden.

We found seats inside with some Germans, Canadians, Italians, and people from the U.S.

And then the singing and dancing began...

After several hours of dancing on tables, Damian was quite hungry:

The next day we hopped on a train to see the Neuschwanstein Castle.  Bad luck followed us here as we were supposed to see this view:

and all we saw was this:

The only things to cheer us up were delicious Bavarian pretzels and Glüwein (hot, mulled wine).

Fortunately, we live very close to the castle and will make another trip.

The following afternoon, we rented bikes to go around the city.

The Rathaus, watching the Glockenspiel

The Hofbräuhaus, just like the "tents" at Oktoberfest, but  maybe a little tamer...

We watched surfers on a canal in Munich.

and saw some other cool architecture and monuments.