Day 39: Doctor's Appointment.

The day started out early. I was up at 5:30am. I'm not sure why since I really didn't sleep all that well. The sinus pressure is down because I'm starting to expel some of the crud locked in the sinus cavity.

I kept thinking and wondering: What if the Artze (Doctor) doesn't understand a lot of English? How will communicate our needs? I had to figure out a way to communicate with him.

I had this bright idea to list all of the issues and then translate them into German using my online translator, just in case. It took me over an hour to do the translations. I also put all of the medications I had been taking and the ones Ted had been taking into plastic baggies so that he could see them.

It looks cold outside and Ted said it was cold outside yesterday. I'm sure it's not higher than the 40's! And it's overcast and cloudy. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if it rained again today. I'm really tired of the rainy weather.

I check my email from work to find a voice mail from my boss with work instructions. Hooray, something to do other than "putz around" and sleep.

Ted was first using the bathroom. I was still putzing around with getting my ducks in a row. Ted wanted me to look up the German translation for the US Z-pak which is the antibiotic that Ted wanted. I found that too. My little notebook is full of translations with the gist in English at the top so I'd know what to give the Doctor at the appropriate time.

It's my turn in the bathroom and the hot spray feels so good on my face and head I spend an extra few minutes breathing in the hot steam.

I decided not to medicate before going to the doctor so he could see what was going on with my sinuses.

Ted was just about done getting ready and reading his email. I realized what day it was and wished him a Happy Birthday. Being sick and in a foreign country, I didn't do anything special for him except to wish him a Happy Birthday and tell him that He has his pick of where he wants to go for dinner tonight.

It's just about time for us to leave and Ted asks me if I have the Doctor's address. I told him I had the card the Klinik gave me and the address is on there. We'll just plug it in and let the GPS lady direct us.

Ted was right, it is cold outside. It's more like the beginning of March and not the beginning of May outside. We both could use some sunshine. We both agree that we are going to stay close to home this weekend. It may be a perfect weekend for us to look at apartments, I don't know. But we will not be traveling.

We get in the car, and the "Julie" directs us to the doctor's office. I thought I understood when we were at the Klinik that the doctor said the doctor is in the same place as the Klinik. I guess I wasn't paying too much attention but that's exactly what she was saying. After stopping at the information booth, we find that the Klinik doctor was indeed right. The doctor's office is in the Klinik. It turns out, the Germans are incredibly efficient. During off hours (nights and weekends) the doctor's office turns into a Klinik. During the weekdays, it's a doctor's office. What an incredibly good use of facilities.

Not only is the building used efficiently but also the grounds. We arrive in the parking deck, take the elevator up to the roundabout and front of the building. And there's a park-like grassy area with flowers and benches. This is what's on top of the parking deck. I think it's an extraordinary good use of space, considering what's under the park!











We go in and the receptionist, speaks a little English. The doctor came in and walked by. We were completing the forms when he asked us if we were ready in German. The receptionist reminded him that we don't speak German. He smiled broadly and asked us if we were ready.

I had been wondering if we would have to do the usual 20 page medical history questionnaire that is standard whenever you visit a new doctor and I had been dreading how we would accomplish that. But we didn't do that. The receptionist motioned for us to follow the doctor. OK! No waiting, now there's a plus! (But I think we're his first patients of the day.)

He leads us to a consultation room that was bright and airy. His desk was extraordinarily neat. He motions us to sit down. I could tell that I was not wrong in translating our issues. He didn't speak much English. He spoke a few words here and there.

I pulled out my trusty little notebook and looked for Ted's stuff. I handed the doctor the little notebook. He tried to ask Ted some questions but it was difficult. We tried to let him know that the antibiotics prescribed to him by the Klinik were not strong enough to get rid of the "infektion" (infection). (Funny how many words are the same - but spelled differently.) We pumped our arms as if showing our biceps to get the point across. I then gave the doctor the name of the antibiotic that we wanted: a Z-pak. He looked at the page and said: "You know"...and he said the actual name Zithro-something. We said yes, we do. He then went to his desk took down a big book and started looking through it. He wrote the Rx and gave it to Ted. Now on to me.

I gave him my page that talked about my Sinus infection. I also showed him all of the over-the-counter medications I was taking along with my BP medication. I told him the mucous was "grun" (Green). He asked me if I wanted antibiotic or homeopathic medicine. I jumped at the change to experience the homeopathic medicine. I reasoned that the infection was already starting to break and that homeopathic medicine, in my case, was probably a better route than antibiotics. Once again, he went back to his desk and used not only the big red book that he used for Ted's Rx but also a little white book. He wrote out the meds and gave me the Rx. He told me that there were several things I needed to do. And that the course of medication would take about two weeks. OK. It can't be any worse than it is right now. I'll continue to take my Juice Plus+ while doing so since it is food.

I had a few more issues I wanted to ask him and went through them one by one. One was our medical records and whether or not he needed copies. He said no. I found this somewhat surprising but I didn't question it. It didn't look like they kept any kind of paper records, at least what I could tell.

The doctor said it was a smart thing to do, to have translated the issues in German. Well, I'm not taking any chances with our health. Who knows what they would have given us otherwise. My husband said I was smart. Thank you, honey!

Ted wanted to go to our village to get the Rx filled but I nixed that idea because our friend Birgit told us they don't speak English, for one and for another it's Market day on the street where the village Apoteka is and we would have a difficult time parking the car and getting the Rx.

I thought we had the Apoteka's (pharmacy) address in the GPS but it wasn't there. So we were gong to wing it. I think we can remember where it is. We did remember. Not far from the doctor's office at all. The problem is the parking. There is none. At first I didn't see it but there's underground parking. We go back and forth a few times before finally turning into the parking deck. It's a tight squeeze but Ted manages to put the car between pillars and this huge van. UGH!

We take the elevator up and we are at street level right outside the Apoteka. We go inside and I ask the lady if she speaks English. (It's a different lady from the last time we were here). She speaks rather good English. I give her the Rx and she quickly gets the z-pak for Ted. She tells us the other Rx would be ready this afternoon at 3:30. They are open until 6:30. OK. Ted just has to make sure he's home on time to go to the Apoteka to pick it up!

On the way home, I have Ted stop at Trieber to get a loaf of bread as we are all out. We also pick up some breakfast. We're both hungry. We get home and Ted takes the first of three Z-pak pills (we thought it would be a five-day dose, but it is not) It's a 3-day dose but it looks like the dose is larger than what he's had in the past: 500 mg.

We have our little breakfast and off to work he goes. The outing took its toll on me and I was fading fast. I decided to get some sleep. By this time it was around 10am. I still had work to do but since it is 2am West Coast time, I can get rested and then work. I sleep until 1pm.

I get up and do my company work for a few hours and patiently wait for Ted to come home. I'm not sure if he wants to go to dinner for his birthday or if I have to make something here. I'm hoping he decides to go to dinner because frankly, I'm not up to cooking.

He gets here at 6pm and calls me to come out to the car so we can go to the Apoteka to get my prescription. I hop into the car and off we go. There is very little parking there and we didn't want to take the time to park in the deck below the Apoteka. So because of the parking situation, I go into the Apoteka to get the prescription and Ted stays in the car.

When I go in, the lady that waited on us this morning (and who speaks English) was with another customer. So a young lady comes to me and I give her my receipt. She fetches the Rx and starts speaking in rapid German. I must have had a bewildered look on my face because the other lady said "In English". The young lady waiting on me was struggling for the translation so the other lady AND her customer were doing the translation.

Finally, I sort of heard the word "Italian" in something she said which caused me to believe that she speaks Italian. Hooray! We can communicate. I ask her if she speaks Italian and she says yes. So we converse in Italian and she gives me the dosage and how I'm to take this remedy. I also ask to purchase a thermometer, which by the way, has instructions in Italian. WHOPPEE! She asks me how does an American come to know the Italian language. I explained that all four of my grandparents were born in Italy and I heard the language growing up. She tells me her mother is Italian and her father is German so she knows both languages.

I leave with the prescription and Ted asks if we have to go home before going to dinner. I said no, we don't. We encounter quite a bit of traffic and since he knows where he's going we don't have "Julie" help us.

The place he chose is called Pier 51. The exterior looks like any other German restaurant with offices or homes on the floors above it but when you go inside, it totally reminds me of restaurants on Pier 39 in San Fransisco. How funny that we are 9,000 miles away from California and we find a little bit of California in Stuttgart.

After having a wonderful dinner, we go home. It took a lot out of me to go to the doctor's office, then to the Apoteka - twice, and then to dinner so I'm ready for bed.

Hopefully, tomorrow will be a better day.

Day 38: Good News!

A few things happened today which I'm very happy about even though the weather is still cold, dreary and rainy. Looking at the bright side: at least I'm sick when it's yucky outside! Now there's a plus, hmmm?

I thought our appointment with the Doctor was for next Tuesday. I didn't know how I was going to hold on for that long. But my husband, the miracle worker, managed to get us an appointment for tomorrow morning! HOORAY!

I got up at about 8:30 this morning. I have not been sleeping well at all for the past three days. I didn't do much of anything, just sitting at the chair reading and responding to emails.

I finally released some particularly nasty and I mean nasty "stuff" from my sinuses. I'd never seen that color come out of my body before! Afterwards, I actually felt a little better. I figured I got rid of something that was causing me a lot of pain so I thought I would try to stay up for as long as I could and if I had to go back to bed, I'd try it without the Advil or the Alka Seltzer Plus. By 11am I was fading fast, so it was off to bed!

I couldn't believe it. I actually slept without medication and there was no throbbing, painful headache that goes along with sinus troubles.

I think I was hallucinating too (or maybe it was just dreaming). At any rate, it was weird. I dreamt of my childhood home growing up and that my mother lived next door. She was coming over to see how I was. I was embarrassed that the dishes were not done and that the kitchen was messy. I wondered if she was going to say something about how small the place was. She sat on my bed (I was sleeping in Ted's bed because his bed is propped up) and I felt her hand touch mine. I heard my brother climbing the steps to come and see me too. It was weird. As hard as I tried to talk to my mom, I couldn't get the words out. And as hard as I tried to wake myself up to explain why my kitchen was a mess, I couldn't. I finally let it go and continued to sleep. I awoke around 1:30pm and quickly washed the dishes and cleaned the kitchen. Nothing like having your mother visit you in your dreams to get the chores done, huh?

And I'm hungry which is always a good sign. I will take my Juice Plus+ have a bit to eat and see how long I can stay without meds. The last time I took anything was 4:30am this morning...that's roughly nine hours wihtout Advil or Alka Seltzer Plus. But my head is starting to hurt again so I think I'm going to at least take the Advil and go back to bed.

I laid there for an hour or so and then got up. By this time it's almost time for Ted to come home and I need to get supper prepared. We have dinner and then we go to check email.

I got an email from our shippers. They are picking up the shipment in San Francisco and loading it on the ship that will depart May 5. It will be in Germany on June 4! Hooray! Now I have some hardfast dates to work with. Ted and I reasoned that if we could find something by June 1, then we can wing it for a few days. We can always stay here for a few days until the shipment arrives and we get the beds, table, sofa and lamps. We can stay here until June 22 so it's not an issue.

I can't wait until this sinus infection is gone! I really want to be setttled in by the middle of June! What a great brithday present for me, hmmm?

After watched a few episodes of NCIS, it's off to bed with us.

Until tomorrow and I'm not certain of the spelling and I think it's a dialect word, Tschuss! (bye bye) - (pronounced chooze)

Day 37: Another Sick Day.

It's been raining since last night which does nothing to help my sinuses. A hot shower seemed to help but it was short-lived. And while it is cloudy and rainy outside, the light coming into the skylight hurts. It's time to pull the shades down.

Ted has to get us an appointment with the doctor. I need an antibiotic to kick this sinus infection. I can't even see straight to type this blog. Today is Tuesday and I'm still working on Sunday's blog!

I usually download the photos the same day that I take them. This is a bit involved because I have to look at each photo, determine which ones I'll use for the blog (I take so many photos that I only want the best for the blog), crop them, if need be, and rename them. This takes time if there are more than a hundred photos. Then I will either start the blog that day and finish the next day or write the whole thing the next day.

With me being sick, I can't even sit here and compose much less organize my thoughts in some sort of cohesive manner!

It's time to go back to bed!

I'll be spending more time in bed today.

Day 36: Sick Day.

I'm SO sick today. I knew should not have gone to that Mondo Italia yesterday. I should have stayed home. I'm not 30 something anymore that I can blow it off when I'm feeling poorly.


It was cloudy and overcast all day which didn't matter for me because I alternated between taking medicine and resting. Sometimes I was cold and sometimes I was hot. When Ted got home, I was bundled under the covers.


I finally got up to fix him some dinner and then went directly back to bed. I didn't even do the dishes! Once in bed, I couldn't sleep but I was resting.

I finally got up and watched two episodes from NCIS with Ted before going back to bed. Hopefully, I'll feel better tomorrow.

Day 35: Mondo Italia!

I woke up this morning to a stinging sore throat and my head was pounding. I know it's my sinuses. I take some Tylenol along with my Juice Plus+ and I go back to bed. Ted was getting ready for church and decided to stay home and get some rest as well. With him being sick and now me, it's best we stay home and don't infect the other people at church.

We went back to sleep and slept until noon! That's a first for me!! My body obviously needed it. I really needed to get some Advil and some Alka Seltzer Plus because we are all out of both. Ted asks me if I'm well enough to go to the Commissary. It's a gorgeous day outside so against my better judgment we go. I had a list prepared and we were able to get everything on the list. I'm feeling OK but not 100% and Ted asks me if I wanted to go to the Mondo Italia festival after returning our purchases to the apartment.

I was feeling better so we went. It was out at Stuttgart airport which I thought was a funny place for it to be but there are a lot of odd things here in Germany, so I didn't question it. We get there and didn't see any type of festival going on anywhere.

We stopped a young couple who said, yes it was here, but they didn't know exactly where. How could you miss an Italian festival? We saw some people walking across a huge expanse of concrete so we decided to park the car and follow them.

We parked the car in the airport short term lot. We know it's going to cost us but we don't know where any other parking lot is! We were not planning on staying very long anyways because it was already 4pm and it's over at 6pm. We walk towards the tinkling sound (which I THOUGHT was coming from the sign on top of the tunnel. We stop at the ice cream vendor outside of the hotel and ask if she knows where it's being held. She told us to walk through the tunnel and go 100 meters and we would be there.

We walked into the tunnel and the tinkling sound kept getting louder. I realized that there was a man positioned on the opposite end of the tunnel hand-cranking a Calliope!! And I thought the music was coming from the sign. Just goes to show you how sound can be deceiving. He posed for a photo after I gave him a Euro.

To stem the monotony of what he was doing, he would jump around as he cranked the Calliope. He positioned himself perfectly. That tunnel made those Calliope sounds travel from one end of the square to the other side of the tunnel! We recognized some of the tunes. "The Boxer" by Simon and Garfunkel was one.





We get stopped by an older German couple who tells us we need a ticket. I ask him if he speaks English, and he says, "a little". He tells us to fill out the form and we could get one ticket for free. That's all they had. We go inside and we don't know where we're going or how to redeem this ticket. There are kiosks in the center of the building. Ted said it was late and he didn't want to mess around with finding out how to redeem the coupon so he buys two tickets. What a waste but I'm not going to argue with him.

At the information desk we ask where Mondo Italia is, and she said it was in Hall 4 and Hall 6. This is a convention center!! And I'm wondering just what kind of festival is inside.

So off we trek to Hall 4 and give the lady our tickets. She scans them and hands them back to us.
As we walk into Hall 4, we realize this is not the kind of festival that I was thinking we were attending. No matter, though...we are here and we paid for the tickets, so we might as well check out the various booths.

Upon arriving, we are greeted with more cars (I'm a bit tired of looking at cars). From Fiats to Lamborghini's, to Ferrari's to Maserati's to Alpha Romeos. I'm partial to the fiats because we bought one years ago when we went to Italy. It was cheaper than renting a car for 6 weeks! I'm not sure that's the case today.

I decided one photo of the cars was appropriate for today and I chose the sleek and stylish Maserati.



Most of the booths were now pretty much deserted because it was the end of the day. There were many, many travel booths for each state in Italy. I went to the one that my dad is from but I didn't get a chance to go to the one from my mom's town.

By this time, Ted was hungry, again. We decided to have a 1/4 slice of pizza and an Orangiata by San Benedetto (that's my husband's favorite brand of tea so he should like it). The pizza was good albeit a little cold, but what did you expect at the end of the day? Hot Pizza? It's not going to happen.

As we walked around, we saw booths for jewelry, leather handbags (they were beautiful but pricey), Venezia Glass and a life-size Gondola with a mural of Venice behind it. People were getting in and taking photos. If the man and little boy to the right of the gondola had not been in the photo, this would have looked like the real thing.



There was live music and singers singing in Italian, of course. There was a man demonstrating the fine art of pizza throwing. He was pretty good, actually. He threw that pizza at least six feet in the air. I could see it from across the room!

In addition, there was a huge display of Gladiator helmets, swords and uniforms. There were several men dressed in the uniforms of the day. Many of the children were taking photos with the gladiator helmets on. The man asked me if I would like to take a photo like that too. No way! I asked him about the helmets. They were all different and I wanted to know if there was meaning behind them. He told me they represented different classes of Roman Soldiers and that their jobs were delineated by their helmet. That makes sense. Without today's' sophisticated equipment, it was an easy way for commanders to see whether a soldier was in the wrong spot!

He also told me that they do re-enactments much like our Civil War re-enactments. The display was written first in Italian and then in German. Thankfully, I could read the Italian display. And the Italians are great on posing for photos. It reminds me of my sister-in-law's father, who always poses for a photo! Check it out!



There were wedding dress designers as well as dress designers along with men's clothiers. There was only one wedding dress that was gorgeous. It's hard to tell by the photo but there were lovely, raised Lilly-like flowers all over the dress.



Italian women have a custom of having a "going away" dress for leaving the reception after the wedding. At first I thought it was a bridesmaid's dress but then I saw the suitcase at her feet and realized what it was! That's a REALLY short mini skirt combined with a midi-skirt!



I couldn't resist taking a photo of this dress. I don't know how the person wearing this would be able to function. Those sleeves would be everywhere, hooked on door knobs, dragging through one's food, in some one's face. Not at all practical but fun to look at nonetheless!



This was my favorite outfit because it had a beautiful embroidered skirt and top. Although, I must say, that red tulle does nothing to show off the beauty of that outfit. It would have been far more effective if they had used black, silver or gold tulle. What is it with Italians and red?



And this must be what every Italian man is wearing this season. It sort of reminded me of the Nehru jackets from the 60s! I wonder if it will catch on in the states.



It's time to go to Hall 6 and I'm wondering what is there. As we walk in, there is stall after stall of cheeses, Prosciutto hams, baked goods, candies. Of course, Ted has to try the chocolate, just one though. It was fabulous, of course!

I stop by and browse the stall with tablecloths and bedspreads. Everything is beautiful (and picked over) but I'm not interested in buying anything.

We walk further and see they had set up a beauty shop in the middle of the hall with full hair washing capabilities. A woman was getting her hair washed and another was getting her hair styled. I told Ted, "I really need to get a hair cut soon." He said, "why don't you do it here?" Are you crazy? NO way am I having hundreds of people looking at me while I get my hair washed and cut. If I had great hair, maybe. But since I don't, forget it. Another woman was getting her face done.

More stalls with cheeses, gelatos and another bread bakery. That bakery had a loaf of bread hanging from the wall that was at least four feet long, one foot wide and six inches high. I can't even imagine how much that thing weighed! The only place that could possibly use a loaf of bread that big would be a very, very busy restaurant!

We decide to sit for a few minutes before leaving. There's a man opposite of us tearing down his booth. He's from Naples. I don't know what he was selling but he began to shout, much like they do in Italy when they are selling goods from a cart. Ted said, "he's a barker". Yes...that's exactly it! He's a barker. We watched for a few more minutes and then left.

By the time we got to the square, I was feeling poorly. Coming here was NOT a good idea and I'm going to pay for it. So we stopped every now and again to rest. Finally we got to the car. I felt dizzy. Going to Mondo Italia was not something I should have done and I probably will not do again.

By the time we got home, I was ready for bed but I still had to put away some of the stuff we bought at the store today. We only put away the perishables when we unloaded earlier. It took every ounce of strength I had to put them away.

It is time for Advil, Alka Seltzer Plus and bed.

Day 34: Munchen (Munich) Part 2

We program the navigator to go to the Marien Platz (Marien Square) where the Glockenspiel is located. I don't have a translation for the Glockenspiel so I'm depending on the photos to give you a better description of it.

As we get closer to our destination we look for a parking deck to park the car. By this time it's close to 3pm. The Glockenspiel schedule is at 11am, Noon and 5pm. It looks like we will make the 5pm schedule.

Ted parks the car on the 4th floor of the deck. I grab my sweater and my travel guide and off we go! We take the elevator down to the street making note of our surroundings (so we can find the deck when we get back). The deck is right across the street from the Mandarin Oriental hotel.

We start walking down the street and I'm trying to get my bearings based on the map in the book. As we pass by a jewelry store we look in the window. I admired one ring that would go beautifully with my wedding ring. I perused the next few windows and stop at the corner. I turn and Ted is MIA. Where in the world did he get to? I waited and looked around and didn't see him. He wasn't across the street drooling over the exotic sports cars parked in the street in front of the hotel and he wasn't behind me and I KNOW he didn't get ahead of me. Where in the world is he? I figured he would show up eventually so while I was waiting, I kept looking at the map and trying to find where I was in relation to the Marien Platz.

A nice German stopped and asked (in English) if I needed help. I proceeded to ask him where the Marien Platz was. He told me to walk to the traffic light at the bottom of one street (I could see it from where we were standing - it was about 900 meters away) and turn right. He said to go under the tunnel and I'd be there. I asked him how far it was to the Platz, he said about 500 meters from the light. I thanked him profusely! (But I actually think he wanted to speak English! ;)

Finally, Ted was there. It turns out he had gone into the jewelers to check on the price of that ring. Fool Man! I asked him how much and why he wasted that poor man's time. He said to me it was about 7800 Euros (over 10K). Not in THIS lifetime! He also said that if I will buy him that sports car parked in front of the hotel, he'll buy me that ring. Yeah, Right! Not exactly a fair trade! LOL!

We began to walk. We walked past the Police station and past Italian Pizzerias to the light. Across the street there is a place that sells "Lieder Hosen" (Lieder=suspenders, hosen=pants - in this case short pants). These are the kind you see in the movies that older men wear. There were also those beautiful peasant dresses that you see in the movies with the white blouses and trussed up waists. These were intricately embroidered not only with brightly colored threads but also with fine crystals and beads. I took photos of them but they did not come out because of the sun's reflection on the window.

As we enter into the tunnel there are hundreds of bicycles in the tunnel and street musicians setting up to play for money like they did in San Francisco. As we emerge from the tunnel, there are people everywhere. They are like ants! Apparently there is something going on further down the square. But let me describe to you what I'm seeing. There is a huge building to our right. It spans the whole right side of the square. I cannot even get a photo of all of it even if I stand on the opposite end of the square! So I'm giving you several photos of parts of the building. The architecture is phenomenal and the details are absolutely amazing. Half-way up the tower is the Glockenspiel.







Behind me is the old town hall (where the tunnel was - you can just barely see it above the guy's head). All of the people and I couldn't get good shots. And opposite the old town hall, is a street with more stores.





In the middle there is a fountain and there is a statue with a golden image of the Blessed Virgin. Across from the big building (which houses the Glockenspiel) are many separate buildings that have stores and/or restaurants on the first floor. I haven't seen Swatch or United Colors of Benetton for years! There's also a Sworski Crystal store.







We're a bit early. It's 3:00 and we have two hours to kill but Ted is very uncomfortable with this many people so we decide to have a late lunch/early dinner at the outdoor cafe across from the Glockenspiel. The menu is in German and English so that helps. Ted orders a beer and the local fare which is a Bratwurst and Fries. I ordered Wasser Stilles (prounounced Vas-ser Steel-less) and is bottled water - no carbonation. If you don't order it like this, they bring you mineral water and since I don't like mineral water, it's Wasser Stilles. I ordered a margherita pizza. The water was good but the pizza was not good at all. Ted loved the Bratwurst and the wonderful German mustard. He didn't like the beer so he ordered another one. The first one came in a large mug and the second one is called Weis Beer (pronounced Vice Beer) and translates to "White Beer". It came in a very tall glass - not a Pilsner but similar. He says the beer was THE best beer he had ever tasted and didn't want to drink the first beer, which was fine with me!

We decide to prolong our lunch as long as we can to keep out of the crowds and we do some people watching. My husband, who was feeling no pain and making me nervous, begins to talk about the two guys that were sitting cate corner from us. He not only thought they 'could be' terrorists, but he pointed to them as well. I wanted to smack him! I told him to be quiet. But I looked around and saw these guys with these interesting hats. I'm certain they were from one of the Nordic countries.



I wanted Ted to drag the last of the beer in his glass because it was only 4:15 by this time and we really didn't want to walk in the crowds. He said he couldn't drag out the last of the "good" beer and he would have to drink the "bad" beer. Whatever!

We finally got the bill and it was about 4:45. I needed to go to the restroom so Ted looked for one in the restaurant that we ate at. It was downstairs in the basement. Oh Great! So I walk through all of the people in the bar watching Soccer and go down the steps. The men's restroom is being cleaned by this older woman and the door to the ladies room is open with a girl waiting in line. I see nothing changes. There are lines in Germany for the restroom just like we have in the states.
After washing my hands - and there are no paper towels, the older lady says "Madame!" and hands me a paper towel. By this time there are four women waiting in line. On my way down the stairs I noticed there small tables that had a dish with coins in it. Apparently you have to pay to go to the bathroom so I put a Euro in it for the nice lady.

Ted was waiting outside and talking to his friend Wayne in California. He has to QUIT calling his buds. Our phone bill is going to be outrageous!! I look at the clock and see that we only have to wait another three minutes until the Glockenspiel starts. The Glockenspiel is world famous and is housed in the 278 ft tower opposite us. They are mechanical figures on a carillon or carousel. There are two animations. The first one depicts a tournament held in 1578 (it's on the top) and the second one depicts the Dance of the Coopers which commemorated the end of the Plague in 1517. Such History. It's simply amazing!

The clock strikes five. The unusual tinkling sounds coming from the tower perks up every one's ears and they wait expectantly for the Glockenspiel to start. People are poised to take pictures just like me. We take the following photos. First the top figures move and then the bottom. The sounds change from the top to the bottom. It was over in less than 15 minutes but held young and old alike, enthralled. Well, at least I was enthralled! Poor Ted had a different expectation of the Glockenspiel. He thought they would be life size (they were) and he thought they would be at ground level. Not so. I had no such illusions as to what it was. I just knew what I read in the travel book and it didn't say where in the tower it was.

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Now that we've seen the Glockenspiel, I do not want to do anything else because I'm afraid Ted has drunk just a little too much beer. Ted wants to take a bicycle cab back to the Parking Deck. OK, I'll go along with that. I don't want to be dragging his butt back to the deck anyways.

We hire this young kid and I actually felt sorry for him that he had to bike our big butts to the hotel. UGH! He drops us at the front of the hotel. We only have to walk half a block to the parking deck. We arrive at the deck and the deck is closed!! Uh oh...how in the HECK are we going to get our car. I walked down to the cafe at the end of the street and ask her about it. Luckily she speaks English and says that it can't be. That deck is open 24 hours.

By this time Ted needs the restroom. I go looking for the other entrance to the parking deck. The lady from the cafe walked down to me and said she would show me where to go. There was another door for parking deck that I didn't know about. So I waited for Ted and we paid for the parking and went upstairs to the car. I told him I was driving and he didn't object. Unusual for him at best. He wanted to know if I thought I was able to get the car out of the tight parking space. I simply rolled my eyes and squeezed into the car from the drivers side.

I was able to get the car out of the space and went out of the deck. I asked Ted to program the GPS for home but to wait until we get out of the deck because it won't work in the deck. We get out and the GPS isn't working. Great! I just kept driving. Ted doesn't know why it's not working. So I just kept driving in the streets of Munich. I didn't turn, just kept driving straight. Finally the GPS started to work but NOT until after I saw the sign for the Autobahn for Stuttgart. UGH!

So, today I drove not only in a HUGE city in Germany but also on the Autobahn. Ted was a little nervous how I would do on the Autobahn but truthfully, I didn't have a choice. There was NO way I was going to let him drive after having had almost two whole beers! No way.

I drove on the autobahn just fine (except for the one time a Porsche went zooming by me like I was standing still) and I was traveling about 120-140km per hour. After making sure I was OK driving on the Autobahn and actually being impressed that I was able to do so, he promptly fell asleep. All I could think was, for crying out loud, I drove in Italy years ago. Germany is actually easier than Italy!

Ted woke up off and on just to inform me how many more kilometers we had to go. Great. Thank you. Like I can't read the signs or hear the GPS lady when she speaks.

Finally, we are in Filderstadt and Ted wants desert. OK, so it's Gelato at Eis Cafe Venezia (our usual Gelato place). I go up Markt Strasse (Market Street) and see that some sort of a festival had taken place today. They were in the process of taking down the different vendor stalls. I park in Ted's favorite spot. Parallel park, no less. Ted was impressed that I got it in one try. Geez!

As we get out of the car, we run into my new friend Dustin whose wife works on base. He's pushing the baby stroller with a friend. He introduces us to his friend Van who also works on base and who also lives in Bonlanden. I proceed to introduce my husband to both men and ask them what was going on today. Apparently it's "May Pole" day! Go figure! I haven't seen anything like that since I was a little girl.

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After having our usual two scoop gelato cones, we go home. And am I ever ready to go home - it's been a really long day - fun but long!

It's time for bed. Until next time...Auf Wiedersehen!

Day 34: Munchen (Munich) Part 1

It's a beautiful day for a drive to Munich. We were going to go to the BMW Plant where they manufacture those awesome cars but it turns out that the plant tours are booked sometimes six months in advance. Since Ted had no time to call, we scrapped going to the plant until another time. We're just going to go to the BMW museum instead.

It's about a two hour drive from our home in Filderstadt traveling south on the autobahn. We leave the house around 8:30 after having a quick breakfast. I find the BMW Welt (pronounced Velt) on the GPS (the Germans call it the Navi - we've adopted that lingo). With the GPS programmed, we are off.

About a half hour before we get into Munchen (pronounced Mewn-chin...the "u" has those two funny dots on top of it and when the "u" has that, it has the "you" sound). Anyways, he spots a McDonald's sign and says "Bathroom and drink break". This particular McDonald's is really modern with bistro tables and the Cafe is separate from where you order burgers.

Ted wanted to try their breakfast wraps which was a darn sight more healthy than some of the other McDonald's fare. It had eggs, sausage, lettuce, tomato and horseradish sauce (apparently they put that stuff on everything!)

We decided to have hot chocolate. They served it in glasses on a dish and they even have pastries. Go figure. It was VERY European. The place where you stack the trays was like what the hospital uses when you get food. Very old school but very functional.

We happened to be there right when the "changing of the guard" happened (going from breakfast to lunch). They LITERALLY took down the breakfast signs (which were these HUGE plastic sheets that were under clear plastic above the registers. I wondered how they were going to get the lunch menu ready. Now I had my answer.

We left McDonald's and continued on our way. We came into Munich and the GPS lady (who I affectionately call "Julie" because she sounds like Julie Andrews) took us RIGHT to the BMW Museum, Welt and Plant. In case you're wondering what the Welt is. It's a huge building where those who have ordered a BMW from the factory pick up their cars. We land a plumb parking space beneath the Welt and we take the elevator up to the top floor. It is an outrageously beautiful building.



My husband tells me for 300 Euro more, the BMW people will bring the customer's brand new car up from the first floor on one of the round dais so you can drive it down and out of the building. I guess if you're buying a brand new Beamer, what's another 300 Euro, hmmm? Keep in mind the photo above was snapped from the third floor looking down on the second floor.

We look around to find out where the museum is, it turns out it is across the street. We have to walk over the road on a specially made walkway and go into the museum from there. The bowl shaped building is part of the museum. The other building, I believe are offices. Note the empty space on the office building. We could NOT tell how the top floors were attached to the lower floors. Of course, it has to be but from where we were standing we couldn't tell.



When we get to the other side (where the museum is located, we snap a few photos of the Welt building. The architecture is so incredibly unique. I can't get the entire building in one photo so I took two photos. I would need a panorama camera to get the entire building in.





While I'm not a huge fan of the motor aspect of the cars, I do like the history, the looks and the technology that has gone into making them. One of the elements of the technology is the study of air flow. The first room we came to had these silver balls hanging from clear wire (it sort of looks likes fishing wire). There was air flow in the room and the balls would move according to the air flow. It was very cool to watch but a photo doesn't do this exhibit justice.



Here are a few of the cars I found fascinating. I particularly love the old models. The models that you see are from 1930, 1934 and 1936 respectively. I particularly like the paint job on the 1934. I would drive that car! There weren't many (at least I didn't see them) from 1939 to 1950. I would imagine they curtailed the cars made for public consumption to work on war machines.











BMW stands for Bavarian Motor Works. The insignia stood for the fact that they originally designed airplanes. The insignia is a circle with the blue(the sky) and white (propellers). There also was VERY little about the fact that they produced airplanes. They pretty much glossed over the war years. I believe the German people are ashamed of their country's part in the annihilation of so many Jews. They recently had a day of remembrance for them. I would love to ask them about their feelings about the entire era but I wouldn't dream of offending them.

This model was one that never went into production. I love this little car. It is SO cute! I don't remember the year it was supposed to go into production but judging by the style, I believe it was the late 30's.



They also had not a chronology of cars but motorcycles (road and racing). The road cycles were stacked in a plate glass case that went from the bottom floor up to the top floor of the museum. This one reminded me of the one that Harrison Ford and Sean Connery used in one of the Indiana Jones movies. Can you guess which one?



This 1956 model was one of my husband's favorites.



If you thought the "Smart" car is one that's brand new. Think again because this tiny little car was built in 1955! It was called a Setta. Notice that there are no side doors, it opens from the front. And it is REALLY tiny!





Another favorite of mine is this Red job. I don't know the year but take a look at the driver's door. I would imagine the passenger door does the same. It slides down but doesn't open. My husband seems to think we never saw it in the US because of safety reasons. I don't know. I just like it!



Another of my husband's favorite cars is this Z8 model. He can drool all he wants, he will never be able to afford it! It's over 235k Euros which is about 300k dollars! I can't believe people would actually spend that money for a car. Nice or not, to me it's just not worth it! Of course, I can't afford it either.



These are the BMW 7 Series cars. These are their luxury sedans. I don't know the prices but look at the evolution from 1930s to 1999!





Remember that bowl-shaped building from the photos at the beginning of this blog? Well, there was a circular ramp (For those of you from Ytown, sort of like the ramp at the old Strouss' parking deck downtown and for those of you from Sacramento sort of like the ramp on the new parking deck at terminal A at the Sac airport). The difference is the center is open so you can see to the bottom floor. I didn't even count the floors because it made me dizzy but there were a LOT of them!

As we walk up the ramp on either side of the ramp are these big ball like structures (attached to the hand rails (it's the best way I can describe them - I didn't even think to take a photo of them). They depicted the history of vehicles including the plastics and other elements of the production throughout the years). As we reach the top, there's a HUGE escalator but it only goes ONE way - down, so we continue our trek up top. When we get there, there's a bevy of concept cars. Here's just one sample.


The very last exhibit had a video but no car on the dais. The video depicted the use of ultra light weight material that would allow a person to open the door and the material would bunch up (like skin) and there were no openings where the door hinges are. That's the best description I can give for what we saw. It is called the Gina. I would love to see the Gina (probably named for some one's daughter or wife) in production although I'm sure it's years away.

It's time to leave the museum and trek back over to the Welt building via the pedestrian overpass. As we walk towards the unusually shaped part of the building, we decide to check it out because it's a free part of the tour.

It's an entire building devoted to the Z4 sports car! Take a look at the architecture of this building, simply amazing.



This is the 2009 Z4 model.


I spend at least 30 minutes playing with the on board computer system which includes navigation, phone, contacts (probably downloaded from your phone), radio, DVD and CD's. It was SO cool to play with.

As we were leaving, there was a gentleman who worked at the museum who had been standing around (I thinking listening to us talk). We were looking for the exit (we were on the ground floor) and he agreed to take us to the exit. As we got on the elevator, we started talking with him. It turns out he had spent a year in New York and traveled the southwest for 6 weeks. He loved the US and was curious what we liked about Germany. As we had this long conversation, he finally admitted to speaking four languages, one of which was Italian! With a name like Damato, I would think so! Sadly, he no longer had any relatives in Italy. His grandfather had immigrated to Cairo no less. A very nice young man and a wonderful conversation.

On the way out, we realize the Olympic village is just around the corner. While we were not planning to go there this trip (we have to come back for another trip and this will most likely to be included). Here are just a few photos. Look at the Olympic arena, it is totally incredible architecture!







We then trek down to the parking area to go to the next stop. See Part 2!