Austand

Ahhh . . . German traditions . . . we'd learned, added, and loved so many to our lives in our two years in Munich.  Our last month in Germany found us practicing one more:  our Austand.
When one arrives in Germany, you throw yourself a welcome party, an open-house, an einstand.
(We had a cute little one before William was born.  Did we take any pictures?  Blast! NO!)
When one departs Germany, you throw yourself a going away party, an austand.

The weather was questionable, as good as you get on a July afternoon in Bavaria, so instead of crowding the hordes of friends we'd made in the two years we lived in Europe into our "spacious" apartment, we decided to host it at our favorite neighborhood bier garten:  the Hofbraukeller.

We were touched to see the wide, randomly connected circle of friends we'd collected all arrive, drink, socialize, and wish us well on our way.
From our American neighbors to haus frau extraordinaires to BMW co-workers to sorority sisters to international toddler buds to guitar-playing Gymboree teachers to American business pals passing through town -- it was a fun and touching send-off.

I bedecked the tables in Bavarian white and blue, displayed gorgeous sunflowers in our Hofbrau steins, made Obazda from scratch, bought out two backereis that morning of all their brezn:  we were festive!  Aside from sprinting inside to escape random showers and returning outside to enjoy fresh air only to get rained on again (it was a true Bavarian farewell), a good time was had by all!


Boris, a German intern from PATYO now back in Germany) and his girlfriend chatting with Colleen and Gary, our upstairs neighbors

Three back to back tables of friends!

Maren catching up with Rob who is holding Tim

Armin and Sylvia?????

Susan and Carl (with baby Evie) talking with future ex-pat Michael

Perhaps it was our drndl and lederhosen.  Perhaps it was my spectacularly decorated tables.  Perhaps it was our hang-loose Australian Gymboree teacher jamming on his guitar.  Regardless, our party attracted a roaming newspaper reporter assigned to covering a fun, weekend piece out and about in Haidhausen.  The result?  Well, see for yourself below!

Click here for our 5 seconds of Haidhausen Fame!

Full Circle

From start to finish, thank you, Munich, for a no-regrets, adventure-filled, once-in-a-lifetime experience!

You are in our hearts, always!

                                       August 2009                                                July 2011

Goodbyes

In doing our final rounds of goodbyes, my friend Michele, who had returned home to Boston one month before us, warned me,  "Saying goodbye is hard enough, but I wasn't ready for how emotional it was to say goodbye to the people who cared for and loved Gus.  That's a whole different kind of goodbye."
Thank goodness for Michele's warning, for it was entirely true.


Here is William saying goodbye to Carrolla -- the kinderkrippe caregiver at my gym.  In our last 6 months, Will and I had worked into a beautiful routine of grabbing a brezn on the way to the gym for him to enjoy while getting to play while Mom got to work out.  It was great preparation for his impending launch into daycare once we got back to the states, plus a great jolt for mom to lose her final pregnancy pounds.  (Despite my daily capuccino habit I'd started on the way home from the gym!)  Carrolla had encouraged me not to come running every time I hear William cry.  She also, unbenownst to us, exposed William to the most German he ever got on a daily basis.  I credit her with much of his short-lived German vocabulary (erdbeere!) and to-this-day his beautiful ear for picking up new words: English, Spanish, or Mandarin.  I wonder if his photo is still on her wall . . . 

Another fond farewell was to our beloved Otis, Will's favorite teacher at Gymboree.  We followed Otis from class to class as we grew through the ages.  I enjoyed watching him grow as a teacher and loved to watch Will clamor to be near his contagious energy and positivity.  It was easier to say goodbye to Otis knowing he was launching back down under and returning home to Australia a few weeks after us.

Aufweidersehen, Frau Ostermayer.  

While I never met my goal of getting ourselves invited over for one of her fabulous smelling Bavarian meals, we will never forget the sweet old lady who lived beneath us.  She often hung out her living room window watching the world go by.  Always quick with a wave and happy hello to anyone who passed by.  We'd often see her sitting at a cafe table drinking a beer in the center of Haidhausen, giving her bad knees a rest and breaking up the long walk home from the grocery store.  Bless her for being so tolerant of the ever-increasing noise on her ceiling--all a result our super mobile toddler.  In one of my half-understood conversations with her, I politely apologized for any excess noise we added to her life.  (Don't even ask me how to say it now; I have no clue!)  She told me it didn't bother her at all.  She, in fact, loved it.  Anytime she heard commotion on her ceiling, she'd look at her husband and exclaim, "William ist im aktion!"  Bless her sweet, sweet heart.

GNO

One of my hardest goodbyes was to this group of lovely ladies.  We had survived the first two years of motherhood together, laughed at cultural differences in child rearing,  compared completely contradictory pediatrician advice until it made sense, and commiserated on raising beautiful children in a wonderful country that was not our homeland. 

Thank you Barbara, Rachel, Molly, Trina, Jillian, and Mirijam for teaching me about friendship, motherhood, balance, Prosecco, and an always-rejuvinating Girls' Night Out!  I miss you so!

Croatia?!?!

After months living in Europe and soliciting people's suggestions for vacation trips to bring into consideration with our own, one destination that kept getting repeated was Croatia.  Croatia??? Are you sure?  My only knowledge of the country was its involvement in the Bosnian war for the better part of my high school career.  Really?  As it turns out, Croatia is no longer a war-torn country, but a huge European vacation draw, quickly becoming a worldwide vacation destination as well.

After much research we decided to stay on the island of Hvar for our final "holiday" of our European lives.  We rented a 2-bedroom apartment in a little town of Milna that was known for its quiet surroundings, "sand" beaches, and fresh fish. 

Will, as always, was a super traveler because getting to Hvar Island from Munich involved a train, airplane, bus, and boat (in that order!).  Upon arrival we immediately hit the "beach".  As you can see it was mainly rocks -- typical for Croatia, but there was a 6 foot stretch of sand along the water, always occupied by kiddos. 

William loved the tide pools.

Add another body of water to this toddler's list:  the Adriatic Sea!

Being the early morning risers we've been forced to become, we had fun hanging out in the morning watching the fisherman arrive with the day's catch.  We couldn't get over Croatia's crystal clear  water. 

There was a larger market in Hvar town than our snack shack in Milna, so every once in awhile we'd take a taxi into town to shop, explore, or eat at another restaurant.

The harbor of Hvar town was filled with picturesque white-washed buildings, humble little sailing boats, and easily the largest yachts we'd ever seen.  Some of these yahcts were even bigger than Jeff's or my childhood home -- complete with their own matching-wardrobed staff.  Wow.  That's the life.

Europeans have parks everywhere.  Here is one we found while strolling around.  I just love this picture!

Another discovery while strolling around?  This resort hotel that cost 300 Euros a night, but allowed anyone to pay 10 Euros a day to use the pool.  After 3 days wincing while walking over rocks at our Milna beach, we were sold.  We showed up when the pool opened, paid, and stayed all day!  It was an embarrassingly easy highlight of our trip.  

It only reinforced a traveling philosophy Jeff and I share about vacations:  It's all about the pool.  :)

Aside from the fun children's pool, we spent over an hour taking turns riding the waterslide with William.

Every time he came splashing in the water, he was pulling himself up the side, saying only one word, "AGAIN!" while either Jeff or I scrambled to catch up to him as he was already halfway up the stairs to the top of the slide to start all over again!

A slide AND water?  What's not to love?

En route back to Munich (after the ferry back to mainland, but before our bus to the airport) we had a fun time roaming the narrow streets of Split.  It sure had some pretty, unique architecture.

While our week in Croatia was just what we needed . . . a lazy, fun week before our storm of moving day to-do lists . . . we were underwhelmed overall by the country and the people.  We found Greece and its Grecians more friendly and affordable than Croatia touted itself to be.  Don't get us wrong, we loved our time in Croatia, experiencing a country we never thought we'd visit.  We completely understand why Europeans travel there, but wouldn't really recommend it to the band of Americans we hear are starting to trek here for vacations as well.

We were tan.  We were rested.  We were ready to face Munich and our inevitable goodbyes.
(Sniff, sniff)

Tegernsee -- one last time!

With very weekends left before our move we jumped upon the (somewhat) acceptable weather forecast and our friends' open weekend to hit the autobahn for where else but Tegernsee!!

We hiked our usual trail, but continued on up to the chapel on the mountain top before returning for our beer.

Conny, Tim, Alex and the Zabel 3 overlooking Tegernsee

What?
Dampfknödl for lunch? Yes, please!

Jeff and I have slowly realized the Germans love to eat dessert for lunch. So whenever the situation presents itself, we smile at each other and dive in.
Light fluffy white cake smothered in warm vanilla sauce? Yes, please!

On our descent back down the mountain we encountered a few other hikers . . .

Just to be safe, Conny and I let the boys go first!

Farewell, Tegernsee.
We'll miss your hiking beverages and beautiful view.

It's a guy thing

With all of our special friends we've made the two years we've been in Munich, it's fun to watch our little man really nestle in to a few personal faves of his own. Now, I completely understand William and his friends' tendency to parallel play whenever they are around each other. And trust me, they do seem to interact very little sometimes. However, the energy and giggles when a certain few young gentlemen friends of William's come over can't be denied.


Train fun with Vedant and Ishan

Stirring up some fun with Tim

Belly laughs with Gus

Father's Day

Tradition!
Another Father's Day means another peach pie for our favorite Dada.


My crust fell apart this year because I wasn't paying as close attention to its consistency with an extremely helpful toddler sous chef.
And honestly, I can't remember why I didn't take William's photo with it this year either. Perhaps I was still reeling from all the help I had received.

Poor Jeff's Father's Day festivities this year focused mainly on getting our apartment ready for the move. We were busy taking down lights and selling them on Munich's equivalent of Craig's List. William LOVED helping us with this too!
Maybe you'll golf next year, dear!

Lucerne

On our way in to town, we stopped for lunch once we hit the lake.


We tried to do a photo session before eating. Our mistake.

This is one of my favorite things about traveling with a toddler:
play happens anywhere.
In an old McDonald's or in the most gorgeous of lakeside gardens.

We spent the night in the town of Vitznau, but before we turned in for the night, we had fun wandering the lakefront.

Spontaneous fun is the best kind of fun.

Thank goodness for sleeping toddlers and balconies to continue enjoying the night.
Sleep tight, Switzerland!

Restful

Continuing north, we drove through the Alps and into Switzerland. Jeff loved driving the Alps, and I tried not to freak out every time he swerved the car while staring at the striking landscape.

All these gorgeous photos were taken during our rest stop on the way to Lucerne. We just kept laughing to each other at how picturesque our run-of-the-mill, side-of-the-road rest stop was. Jeff spent close to 30 minutes snapping pictures.

Our road trips up and down I-5 in California will not doubt feel even longer without scenery such as this to take in.
I've never seen anyone do a photo session in Coalinga, nor do we plan on doing one anytime soon.

Autos on a bench, courtesy of the Swiss Alps.