Glückliches Neues Jahr, Everybody!

Seems like everytime I look back on the year that was, I always ask for a do-over. Nope, not this year-- let's get this one over with, and move on to bigger and better things. Happy New Year everybody-- may 2009 bring you all of your resolutions fulfilled, good luck, good fortune and splendid health.

Small Selection

Much like coffee shops in Seattle, Nuremberg is able to pull off multiple bookstores that are all very close together-- and all of them are doing just fine. Within about 200 yards there are 4 bookstores on one of Nuremberg's main shopping streets, the Karolinenstrasse, each with its own vibe and specialty. The English-speaking expat community here is fairly small but vocal, so each of these stores has a section of varying size to cater to the Englisch (as it's written in German), mostly bestsellers and the like, but a couple skew towards the classics as well.

Jakob Buchhandlung, the true bookworm's hangout in the area reminds me of a very organized Shakespeare & Co., the notorious Paris bookstore. As much as I like going there (the walls are covered with fascinating old photos and maps of the area), Jakob's English section seems like an afterthought, located as it is off to the side of a busy corridor, and its shelf space covers perhaps 10 feet x 10 feet in size. While it does have an intriguing selection, it is also hopelessly tiny. Which brings us to this photo (click on photo for a larger view): This is a sliver of the store's "S" authors section. I defy anybody to find another bookstore in the world that has Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's children's classic The Little Prince next to Salinger's Catcher in the Rye , next to Charles Schultz' Snoopy 2 in 1 Collection.

Road Trip: Bamberg & Munich

After the exhaustion and anticipation regarding our apartment move-in (update: The kitchen countertop and cabinets won't be installed until January 13), we had to keep our cabin fever in check-- there was far too much going on here to go road tripping, and we still haven't checked out all Nuremberg has to offer. But with an enforced-- by German law-- vacation period for B and a lull in the construction visits, we decided to check out this here Germany place on a couple day trips.

First off was the city of Bamburg, a UNESCO World Heritage site, owing to its near-intact status (as opposed to destroyed in the war and rebuilt, or new construction posing as old construction). We went on something informally called "the castle road" for a little while which was a winding slow trip through the countryside... with no castles. Hmmm, somebody needs to have the Rick Steves' truth squad look into that-- mind you we weren't on the route all that long. Earliest references of Bamberg date to the 900's, and it's a very nice town indeed. While we went to the equally old and well-preserved city of Rothenberg back in August, I prefer Bamburg-- Rothenburg, for all of its positives tends to come across as an aggressive tourist trap-- think of Colonial Williamsburg with chain mail. No, Bamberg seems to strike the happy medium between working modern city while keeping its well-preserved heritage. We had a late start to the day, so we got there near dusk and marched straight up (up, and up) to its most prominent landmark, the 12th century Michaelsberg monastery on one of the seven hills that surrounds the city. It was in the low-30's when we attemped this, but the good workout was all worth it when we got these great pictures. By the time we got back down to the city proper, it was REALLY cold and dark, so a local dinner at the hipster restaurant frequented by the local university students, and we were on our way back home, but not before we got lost leaving-- yes Virginia, in-car GPS devices don't know when the bridge is out. A few wrong turns later we got straightened out and were back home in 45 minutes. We'll definitely be back.

The following day we went to Munich specifically to see the Deutsches Museum, the European equivalent of the Smithsonian. Hate to say it, but it is all sort of a blur right now. We got up early to catch the earliest train permissible, and it only took 1:46 station-to-station. The Museum was exactly 3 subway stops away (and the subway system connects with the train station), so all we had to do was go downstairs and hop the next U-Bahn, then walk 300 yards to get to the place. Quite impressive-- mix up Chicago's awesome Museum of Science & Industry with Seattle's (Boeing) Museum of Flight, add a pinch of NYC's Museum of Natural History and you're almost there. The place was a zoo however-- lots of folks seemed to have the same idea and took the whole family (bored teenagers too!) along. By 3:00 and after hours of walking through authentic-looking mineshafts, futzing around with Guttenberg printing presses, exploring a recreation of caveman-era dwellings, and enjoying close-ups of all manner of ancient sailing vessels, spacecraft and airplanes we were pooped, and finally took our leave at 4:00-- plenty of time to make our 5:06 train back. We then had the it-was-a-bright-idea-at-the-time to walk back to the train station in 28-degree weather. Now, maybe I'm just an ol' country boy from Nuremberg (population 500,000), but the Munich sidewalks and thoroughfares were utterly packed, probably the densest I've seen in a long time-- mind you, I've been to/lived in New York, DC, Los Angeles, Boston, etc., but this was... really starting to tick me off. We made it back in time alright, but the experience left a negative impression of an otherwise great world city-- I expect that it was a function of everybody being on vacation more than anything else. Finally, a word on European trains: they are some of the cheapest and efficient ways to get from one city to another, and often faster than going by car. We purchased a single "Bayern" (Bavaria) ticket for 28 Euros, and that is good for same-day round trips of up to 5 people (!) per ticket anywhere in Bavaria, plus all surface/local transport (bus, subway) when in the city-- a hell of a deal. Unfortunately, no pictures-- even though we had the "good" camera with us, it was too crowded wherever we went, and I believe we suffered a bit of sensory overload. Sorry everybody-- I have to go back to Munich in February for a work thing, so maybe I'll get a few pics at that time. And we'll also be back to take in the sights of the Munich rather than just one overcrowded destination as well.

Fröhliche Weihnachten, Y'all!

Wowsers, is this going out late-- it's 1:11am on the 26th here in Europe, but still around Christmas Dinner time on the East Coast, so we're not too late in expressing our sentiments. After the last great push to clean the place up and move all the furniture in (I swear, we are singlehandedly raising the GNP of Sweden with all of the IKEA furniture we bought) on Christmas Eve, we spent most of Christmas day preparing for a dinner with some similarly "stranded" friends who just left here less than an hour ago. Our one indulgence today was a quick walk to the Nuremberg Altstadt in the late morning to really see the city when it's near-empty. We ducked into St. Sebald's Church, a Romanesque-era structure whose construction began in the 1230's (pictured), paid our respects, and then went to... kind of embarrasing here-- Starbucks, which was mysteriously (miraculously?) open, one of only 2 shops in all of the city with the lights on and people inside. Back to the apartment, more cleaning (me) and cooking (B), and received our guests just past 6:00 local time. A nice, chill evening overall. Tomorrow we sleep in-- yay! Now that's a gift we can use. Merry Christmas everybody!

Cool Nationalism

Spotted in our local electronics/appliance store (around the corner from the Swarovski toaster, post below), a German flag-themed refrigerator (Kühlschrank in these parts). I think it would be kind of neat for the rec room or whatnot myself. This model comes to maybe my chin height, and is considered a "large" fridge in Europe. Now on sale for 1111.00 Euros, about $1560.

Festival Of The Last Minute

Have money to burn? Love toast? Are you, in fact, a complete moron? If you answered "yes" to all three of these questions, pard, do I have the gift for you: A toaster bejewelled with (no joke) actual Swarovski crystals on its frosted glass exterior. That's it, this thing just toasts bread. Price? What's the saying? If you have to ask, you probably can't afford it... but the tag comes to 189.95 Euros, or a shade over $265. Oh well, I imagine this is the exact sort of thing that will get marked down on 12/26.

Grocery Store Fun: Knowing Your Demographic

Germany has its quirks, like a complete and utter lack of 24-hour anything, and nearly everything closed on Sunday. So food shopping can take on a certain degree of urgency and importance. With Christmas a few days away (meaning stores close at 2:00 on Christmas Eve, and stay closed until 12/27), a few friends scheduled to come over on Christmas Day, and the cupboards already bare, we steeled ourselves for an onslaught at the local Martkauf store (which closes at 8:00 M-F).

We're cruising the booze aisles (our first attempt to stock up), and I see this bit of unintentional hilarity: a rough, cheap Vodka with the bonus of... a winter cap attached to the top of the bottle in packaging. Seeing as the only folks who would drink this rotgut are the same types who plan to pass out in the park overnight, I'd say that the marketing department knows their clientele, and knows they can and will use the hat.

The Next Porsche, 5 Months Early

So B and I were walking around our new neighborhood on the way to a nearby wine bar, she looks at this car covered up with tape and spangles, and asks me what the heck is that fugly thing? I did a double take, then a mild freakout-- I knew exactly what this was: a Porsche Panamera, an auto that won't be "officially" revealed until April 2009. Price tag is slated to be between $125,000- $175,000. We were standing in front of what is called a "test mule," a disguised streetworthy newer-than-new car that is usually driven by engineers as a test bed for suspension, transmission, engines, etc. This was one block over from our apartment, which is about 2 hours' drive from the Porsche factory in Stuttgart. Nervous that a Porsche engineer would come running out of a door at any second, I squeezed off a couple shots on the camera phone. Don't let the ugly disguise lull you: this is a big, ugly car (click on photo for close-up-- notice the fake window treatment, painted-on kidney grills on the hood near the windshield and tape over the taillights to make it look more "BMW-ish" at speed). The funny thing is that "professional" shots of the production (non-disguised) Panamera are readily available online-- not the least of which being Porsche's own website-- but to see one in the flesh, on the road was still pretty cool. Ghastly styling though.

Goggomobil!!

Taken about a month ago. I'm a car nut, but I must admit that I haven't heard much about about the manufacturer "Goggomobil." Wikipedia has a small entry, saying that this Bavarian company made small autos between 1955-1969 before being swallowed up by BMW. At any rate, this car was in absolute pristine condition-- but its shape and overall size made it look a bit like a clown car. From what I can tell, this is a mid-1960's model.

Clearing Out The Backlog-- Weisser Turm

As most of our friends and family are slowly going stir crazy in their snowed-in houses this weekend, here's a shot taken a couple weeks ago of "snowy" Nuremberg. We keep being told that it never snows here, but it's been coming down pretty regularly (albeit very lightly, then melting) since late November. Here is a shot taken from "my" Nurnberger stand (see below entry), looking out to the Weisser Turm. That means "White Tower," and it was indeed painted/plastered white for hundreds of years, and I believe will be yet again (it has been covered in scaffolding for most of the fall, undergoing upgrades and structural improvements). Unfortunately, I don't know much more about the tower's history itself, but it lies directly over one of the most used U-Bahn (Nuremberg subway) stops, so folks have to enter the tower to get to the escalators and elevators-- pretty cool. The small castle-like building in the front (as always, click on the photo for a closeup) was one of the earliest entry gate towers in medieval Nuremberg, and it was kept, even though the city greatly expanded around it. The small temporary structure in front of the entry gate houses a couple guys dressed as shepherds, and some barnyard animals, including a camel, for the holidays. Not to be nitpicky, but this is a Two-hump camel, indigenous to the Gobi desert, and not the middle east. I'd have taken a shot of the camel, but every time I go near there one of those shepherd dudes rattles a can in my face, demanding money.

Clearing Out The Backlog-- Street Food Ed.

While we're still knee deep in moving-in issues, here's a photo of something known to all residents and visitors of Nuremberg: a sausage sandwich called, appropriately, a "Nurnburger." That's 3 plump sausages on a kaiser-type roll, and these are generally sold for 2 Euros ("3 for 2" as some say). This shot was taken at my favorite outdoor stand in the Altstadt, in the shadow of St. Jakob's Church and seconds before I slathered it with mustard and popped it in my mouth. I'm usually really mindful about what I eat but boy howdy, I can eat these puppies all day they're so darn good. I force myself to limit my consumption to one Nurnberger every 3 weeks.

So Much For German Timeliness And Efficiency

... and we're back.

Recounting our seemingly epic struggle to actually get into our apartment and getting on with our lives just isn't worth it-- there's not all that much entertainment value in it, and all the pent-up anger and frustration will seep out. Suffice it to say that we did not, in fact, move out of the hotel on the 9th or 10th of December, but on the 13th (that works out to 78 days in the hotel)-- and the apartment wasn't 100% ready then, and it still isn't now. But it's liveable, and that's what counts. We just got the internet hooked up today, and I've been working on getting all my ducks in a row, contacting language schools for another round of those fun times, and continuine to receive the daily trickle of workmen to finish off this task or that, and so on.

More entries about the move-in to come-- but it's good to be back online so we can get some news (the TV still hasn't been hooked up, and probably won't be for a couple more weeks). Now, what's all this about a shoe-throwing incident?

Service Interruption

Well, it was bound to happen-- we're finally moving in to our apartment. We were SUPPOSED to be in there on December 1 (come to think of it we were supposed to be in there on October 31, November 10, and November 15 as well), but we actually received the keys today. Now... if only they have the bathroom completed by the time we leave the hotel for good (Wednesday morning), all will be well.

Internet access will be a bit dicey in the meantime though-- while there is the possibility of near-immediate service, there is also the distinct chance that it will be weeks until we can get the proper service and hardware green-lit for the place. So for now, we will go silent-- but stay tuned, because our time in limbo has come to a close, and we can get on with the business of living our lives in our own place. Should be fun.

Feuerzangenbowle!

Here's a recipe of an awesome holiday drink B and I first sampled this week, now that the famous Nuremberg Christkindlesmarkt outdoor Christmas Market is in full swing. While most folks drink the sickly sweet hot mulled wine known as Gluhwein, we've been enjoying the "other" national holiday drink, Feuerzangenbowle (pronounced "foy-er-zan-gan-bowl-uh")-- aka Flaming tongs punch, and it's frankly better-- it adds the kick of alcohol (rum) to the wine, isn't as sweet, and is generally made with higher quality ingredients. And for the cool bit: you light this sucka on fire-- for a while.

Most recipes are variations on the same thing with occasional differences like the quantities and types of spices. That being said, the below recipe is (for the most part) shamelessly lifted from Palm Beach Illustrated, with parts of other recipes tossed in, and as closely matched to observations of a specialist bartender who made the drink in front of us. From personal experience, the best Feuerzangenbowle's we've tasted actually used a lower-proof (90 proof), quality rum, and the wine was a mix of quality reds from Italy and Germany. The real trick is finding the "sugar hat" (see photo), as the caramelized sugar is key to enjoying the drink, but like the recipe says sugar cubes-- quite a few-- will do in a pinch. Prost!

Ingredients
3 bottles of red wine (2-3 liters total)
2 cinnamon sticks
1-2 oranges
1-2 lemons
5 cloves
1 German Zuckerhut/sugar cone*
1 bottle of high-proof rum


In a large pot or kettle mix together the red wine, and cinnamon sticks. Cut up the oranges and lemons (optional: make peel spirals), crush fruit to release the juice, and add to the punch along with the cloves. Warm to a steaming mixture. Do not boil!


Place a German sugar cone (Zuckerhut, sugar loaf)* on a metal rack/screen or clamped in metal tongs above the warm punch. (Substitute sugar cubes if you can’t get a Zuckerhut.) Slowly pour high-proof rum over the Zuckerhut or sugar cubes and let soak for a minute. Carefully light the Zuckerhut or sugar cubes and let the flaming sugar caramelize and drip into the punch mix. Add rum as needed to keep the flame going until the Zuckerhut process is done. Serve the punch hot in mugs or hot-tea glasses.


*Zuchkerhut: A German sugar cone or sugar loaf is made of compressed Raffinade (refined sugar) in a cone shape. (If you can’t get the real thing, substitute sugar cubes in the recipe above.)