• Childhood Memories,  Family Fun,  Travels

    On Crazy Kings and Reenactments

    While in Germany we spent an entire day (the day after going to the Zugspitze) taking in three of the dreamy castles of King Ludwig II. We started in Füssen, at Schloss Hohenschwangau, which was originally the home of Ludwig II’s parents, and then became his when they died. I didn’t get a really great picture of the entire castle, probably because I wasn’t flying over it in a helicopter, but you’ll get the idea. I took a few pictures outside on the grounds, because unfortunately you can’t take pictures inside any of the castles, with a couple of exceptions (I’ll get to one in a minute). We only had…

  • Family Fun,  Travels

    The East-West German Pepsi Challenge of 2010

    After the seriousness of yesterday’s post, I thought it would be a good idea to post something a little, err, lighter today. One of the things on the schedule during our Germany visit was something Kat set up as a surprise for us: the Pepsi Challenge 2010. I think she remembered seeing how much fun we had with our Kit Kat Taste Test of 2006 and thought we’d enjoy doing a challenge in which we had to identify the East German cola. (She was right: we had a blast!) She told us that she “imported them” from East Germany, meaning she went to the store near her parents’ house on…

  • Review

    CheerFULL, ResourceFULL, and ThankFULL at Hallmark’s Christmas in August Event, NYC 2010

    One of the highlights of my time in New York City was the Hallmark “Christmas in August” event. I was thrilled to no end a few months back when I received an e-mail asking if I’d like to come, because my mom worked for Hallmark for years (my sister worked in her stores during high school, and I filled in over the holiday season when my older son was a baby). I know firsthand the quality of their products, and the creativity that lives within the company. I can tell you that, from the day I first received that e-mail until after the event was over, the fine men and…

  • Jew Stuff,  Travels

    So These Four Jews Go To Germany…

    While on our wonderful family vacation in Germany, we had three Jewish experiences (two were planned; one was not) which I thought deserved mention in their own post. We first visited the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site, which is completely different from saying that we visited Dachau. When the four of us were leaving Kat and Holger’s house to make the visit there, they made sure to tell us that though the area is known for this horrible piece of the Holocaust, the town of Dachau is a lovely place and we should make sure to visit the Altstadt there, since we’d be in the area. (Check out the website…

  • Family Fun,  Too Funny To Ignore,  Travels

    Do You Like Cars? Germany’s Got ‘Em!

    The car we rented in Germany happened to be a BMW. It was very, very expensive: not because it was a BMW but because the insurance we had to carry on it for the week was outrageously priced, but mandatory. (On that topic, I think when we go back someday, we will only rent a car for the days we intend to drive to the Alps. The public transportation system in Munich ROCKS and it’s way cheaper than a car rental!) It would have been a luxury for us to rent a BMW in the States; over there, they were a dime a dozen. (Hello, Bayerische Motoren Werke/BAVARIAN Motor Works?…

  • Family Fun,  My Kid Has Mad Skillz,  Travels

    Personality Plus

    The younger boy cracks me up. Usually. During the last couple of many months, he has been acting the part of a very normal teenager: spending lots of time in his room and not so much with us, attached to one of many technology items (sometimes more than one at at time) we have in the house. We’ve had to make major efforts to have actual discussions that delve deeper than: “How was your day?” “Good.” …and it’s not always easy to find that time, what with four of us running in different directions most of the time. When we can pin him down, though–like at the dinner table, for…

  • Family Fun,  Travels

    Shop Til You Stop!

    Naturally, part of any vacation is finding cool places to shop and buy souvenirs. We were actually pretty controlled on the spending while in Europe, probably buying waaaay less than the average tourist. But browsing was still fun. We bought lots of postcards to send to Julesie (she collects them) and for the older boy to send to his girlfriend. In downtown Munich, we found this totally cool store called Kare. If money was no object and my luggage weight didn’t matter, I could’ve spent hours (and hundreds of Euros) in there. I loved it! I’ll let the pictures tell the story of how fun this place is. This picture…

  • Family Fun,  Too Funny To Ignore,  Travels

    Ein Prosit, Ein Prosit, Der Gemütlichkeit

    Before I begin my post, I want to send greetings to Kat’s father, who has been following my Germany posts with the help of Google Translate. Hallo Kat’s Vati/Vater/Papa! I hope to meet you on my next visit! When I say “Beverages in Germany”, you think…beer. And you’d be right, but I’ll get to that in a minute. There were other beverages that were consumed and enjoyed very much on this trip to Bavaria, too. (Did I mention that I don’t drink beer?) One day while shopping in downtown Munich, we were pleased to happen upon the Coke Zero Street Team, because we were parched. Free Coke Zero for everyone!…

  • Music

    Chris Blake Has NOT Been To Germany.

    Chris Blake is a alternative pop/rock singer and songwriter, based in Los Angeles. He is a friend of The Music Mamas (dare I say “the adopted son”? Maybe brother. Whatev.), and his new EP just dropped. Before I tell you about all the fun and games associated with that, I wanted to share a conversation that Chris and I had when we sat down together the other day, over coffee and croissants*. I told Chris that I’m in the middle of a posting blitz about my trip to Germany, and thought it would be nice to put a little bit of German content in this post, you know, so it…

  • Confessions,  I've Got Mad Skillz,  Random Thoughts,  Tough Questions,  Travels

    Analyze This: The Doors and Windows Question

    One of the things I’ve learned over the past six weeks in regards to myself as a “photographer” (I have to put that in quotes; I’m not sure why.) is that I really, really enjoy taking photographs of doors and windows. Open or closed, it doesn’t matter. Plain or decorated, it doesn’t matter. What does that say about me as a person? I’m certain that there is some special meaning hidden somewhere; it probably tells something about my personality. Hey Holger, what are you doing there? An “expert” might say that I like to look for other ways of doing things. Or that I am the type of person who…