Munich and Dachau

    Oh my heck, I'm so sorry it's been so long, but I have had so so so many doctor's appointments over the past month.   Some weeks I have had three appointments.   Super not my favorite, but we should be pretty well done with that.

     First off Munich is sooooo beautiful. ( Only Northwesterners will really get this next part.)  Imagine Seattle, now imagine really large open pedestrian walking areas, now instead of St. James Cathedral add a beautiful castle at the city center, now imagine an open air Pike Place place, and then take away all the bums.  And now you have Munich.  Even before you get to the city and depending on which way you travel you get to drive through the Swabian Alps.   They look nothing like the Swiss Alps, they are shorter and look more like big rocky giants fell asleep long enough for trees to sprout.

 This happens to be the "old" City Hall.   

And this is a close up of "The Glockenspiel" It's a sort of cuckoo clock with life sized figures that rotate through, I think it takes 12 minutes for the full cycle, it's still really amazing to see even with the bird proof netting.

      There are several churches to visit, I was only able to get to the Frauenkirche (Church of the Women) It was a little bit like a free museum, there are monuments and tombs inside, and absolutely stunning paintings and icons inside.  Also in Munich is a replica Roman square, the Royal gardens and an Art Nouveau bath house, that is said to be like swimming nude in an art museum/gallery. I wasn't able to see any of that, because my time was so short in Munich.   Another thing is that Germans love and I mean LOVE Holidays and festivals, As soon as it gets warm you can usually find some sort of fest every weekend, and in Munich the Lederhosen and Dirndl are still worn to many events, it's pretty fantastic to see a whole group of old men come out of the beer house with Lederhosen on.

As you leave Munich you are very likely to pass one of the remaining city gates, complete with towers and stunning frescoes.

     The next portion of the trip was the Dachau Concentration camp memorial.   It's very important to remember that is a memorial to the people who lost their lives rather than the camp as it was.   I was expecting to have a much more difficult time with the camp, but it was much more peaceful than I could have ever expected.   I did choke up in the "SS" quarters, which is where a lot of the punishments were delivered.   The building itself keeps open doors and has several open windows, but there is a smell unlike anything I have ever experienced, it's not like decay or old book smell, it's almost a sour bitter smell through the whole building, and no where else in the camp.  Passing by the yard where prisoners were flogged and hung was overwhelming, but after leaving the building and seeing the rest of the camp I felt like such a good job was done to respect the dead here. It's not a beautiful memorial, it's very stark and cold but each faith has a chapel or synagogue on the grounds that is neatly kept. 

     Before I left I entered the room where the dead or soon to die were kept, I took off my shoes and socks stood barefoot in the room where so many people where cast aside, and instead of grief I was able to reflect on the thousands that lived...even if it was just to live long enough to know that they were free when the war had ended.   

The Worst...

First off if I offend anyone I am deeply sorry if your feelings are hurt, but this is an account of my own feelings and experiences.

 We started eating "Paleo" in January and it was great.  I didn't go into carb comas and I lost about a pound a week with somewhat moderate exercise.**  We plateaued in March, and it's probably, at least for me portion control. I would think, Well this is Paleo...I will consume all of it. And before you knew it there went two avocados and a half pound of bacon down the hatch.

     My husband bought a book called "Mastering the Life Plan.*"    The man on the cover is 74 years old and has the body of a Chippendale's dancer.  His hair is white and he is balding, you can see wrinkles in where wrinkles would be but the muscles underneath his skin are superb.  My husband was hooked.  It's definitely a book written for men, moreso men in their 40's and older but we figured might as well start now.

     My husband really grooved on it so I decided it would be less complicated in the kitchen if I just followed the eating plan as well.  So far so good on that front, I managed to pick back up on my losing a pound a week, but one thing the book suggests is to take a "before" picture that only you look at, to use as motivation.   I took mine yesterday.  It was horrible, I wanted to cry but I was so furious with self revulsion.

    And then I took my measurements.   Devastated.  Looking at the back of myself is revolting.  I can see all of the old stretchmarks and dimples.   Instead of being motivated, I'm just angry.   I'm angry that eating healthy feels like a punishment for being overweight.   I'm angry that this isn't just a goal, but an entire lifestyle change.  I'm angry that I hate going over to people's houses for dinner and agonizing about eating certain things.  But maybe that's the point, to be so disgusted with the "before" I never want to go back.

     I have lost 12 pounds since December, and I had to get a new smaller pair of jeans, but looking at that picture of myself was worse than giving up sugar and pasta combined.


* The book can be purchased herehttp://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Life-Plan-Essential-Achieving/dp/1451681704

** Moderate Exercise for me is 30 minutes of walking at 3.5 miles an hour at different inclines followed by some weightlifting or calisthenics and stretching.

Cochem...Late I Know.

     I am so sorry this is so late, but March was a busy month.   So for our anniversary my darling wonderful husband decided to take on the USO Cochem Castle and Dinner tour and I must say I was not disappointed.

     I know this isn't the best angle for the castle, but you are able to see the massive vineyard that surrounds the castle and provides the Riesling for dinners held at the castle.
     Our tour started inside the town of Cochem and we stopped at a mustard factory and tried 8 different "artisan" mustards, and then made our way to an Italian restaurant for lunch.   We had a bit of free time before the tour so we make sure that we make our way to the Catholic church in town, check the view of the Mosel river and find an Eis shop.

     After a bit of a hike we are treated to the beautiful grounds of Cochem, wrought iron dragon fences and coats of arms from various knights.   The tour starts and huge wooden doors open to let you into the courtyard.

     I didn't have enough time to take as many pictures as I wanted...but the details on this castle are breath-taking.   The wonderful thing about this castle is that is was completely renovated and restored in the 1800's, and while not authentically medieval it appealed to my sense of aesthetic.

     We are led down through the castle and we end up in a former chapel with pine table and benches.   We are seated and the Master of Ceremonies began to tell us about the knights of the castle and different customs as a boy carrying buckets of water and towels to each member of the tour group so we can wash our hands.
     We are first served bread and lard ( I know it sounds gross, but it's seasoned bacon grease...so bomb) followed by a nice hot broth.   While sipping our broth an honest-to-goodness minstrel plays for us.

     After many more stories, songs, and a pass around of a snuff box we get our feast.

     Now I'm no stranger to Ren. Faires...but this Turkey leg was so good, smoky and juicy and huge.   I know the meat is magical in this country, this leg ousted even the Bratwurst.   After dinner there is a Knight's Tournament between members of the tour group with a feat of strength, the ability to entertain the ladies, and of course a beer chug-a-thon, the winner was presented with a heraldry of his vast talents, the minstrel plays and we all dance and our wonderful evening comes to a close.   

   

  Both my husband and I really enjoyed this trip and hopefully we are lucky enough to take our folks when they come to visit.

Cuijk.

I'm pretty dang certain it's pronounced something similar to "cook"...but make a funny little "er" sound in the middle, sort of.  

The morning ( 4 a.m.) was beastly cold.   It snowed again the night before, and even though I barely slept, and I have a very difficult time sleeping on transportation...it was nice seeing the periwinkle and coral of the sunrise reflecting in all of the empty fields on the sides of the Autobahn.  I've been here for months now and I am still impressed by the amount of hawks I see.  I stopped counting somewhere around twenty.

The rest stops in Germany are phenomenal.  They have a convenience store, a cafeteria, a fast food restaurant and the NICEST public restrooms I've ever seen.   There is a catch though, there is a 70 euro cent toll to use the toilet but you are given a 50 euro cent coupon back to use on anything at the stop...you can collect them and stack them if you want too.

For your toll you get a magic robot that sanitizes the toilet seat at your request...it also does it automatically after you use it. The bathrooms are impeccably clean nice smelling, and they even thought of putting in a nice backsplash.  Good on you Deutschland.

The market itself is as big as four football fields and it has it's own food court and live entertainment.  It has everything you could possibly imagine.   Carved oak furniture, Tiffany lamps, Pre WWII dishes, crazy leggings, lingerie, licorice, flower bulbs, a truly impressive collection of stuff.   And I was lucky enough to find some treasures for me.

This was what caught my eye first, and I instantly thought of Twin Peaks, but it's a little too Victorian to fit in with either the Great Northern or my ideas of how to make our apartment cozy.   And they were asking 175 euro.

I did find this little guy for 35 euro, it pretty much made my week.  I went with church gals...who were looking for antiques or a good price on furniture to make-over...so I stuck out pretty bad, but what's new.

That's not even the best find.   I had passed by this stall a few time and it was filled with the coolest stuff. Top hats and straight razors, old medical stuff, opera glasses old war helmets and furs, and then there in the back of the shop on a rack with binoculars was a beautiful, perfect, brass and leather spyglass.  What kid hasn't wanted one of these to go on an adventure with, and now I have it, naturally to go on adventures with.

The Bluebird.

It's no secret that I am not a great photographer, so please forgive that.    This is my first watercolor in a long time, so forgive that too :)

     This is also my second animal painting, my first one was a unicorn behind Josh Groban on my bedroom wall, but that is beside the point.   All in all I like the was and the ghost-y effect of the branches, but the feathers got a little muddled and I am hesitant to do any more work on it because watercolor is super good at one strike you're out.  The more I look at it the more I notice it lacks depth, but I pretty much only had instruction in high school and not much practice at watercolor, but I think it will come in time.

     I also took all of my art of Facebook, which is silly because most people want to get their art out to the world.  I guess the older I am the more personal I'm becoming.   I can be a bit more personal about the art piece in a blog versus a little blip about on Facebook.  I don't do this for anyone else but me, and while I have done work for other people it has been for the most part free.  

     Our landlord dropped by last night and commented on it, he asked if it was a Kingfisher, I replied no that it was some sort of Bluejay, probably from the East Coast, and he replies in his accented English. " Wow. I hauf never seen one of deese birds."   Which got me thinking, that I could probably paint a picture of a Jackalope and convince him that we have them in the States in the Midwest somewhere.

     Lastly, I did this bluebird in part for, or inspired by my Dad...who I will always associate with Bluejays.

Creatures!

I'm not very good at caning just yet, but it's a part of polymer clay that I really enjoy, even if I'm sucky at it.   This is my turn out from the Donna Kato tutorial on Fire Mountain Gems.  I definitely should have chosen different colors and made the white bits smaller.  The smaller wing is from a separate cane, I tried it again with what I had left over, I rolled the one smaller slice into the pasta machine and shaped it a little more afterwards, I am much more satisfied with the smaller one. 

And this is my Mom's old crabby cat Roady.   I'll probably make it a magnet...or the creepiest cat lady necklace ever.

I'm in love with this one, I am not sure how I'm going to turn it into a pendant, but it's nautical and sparkly.   LOVE. I don't care how much I love Kung Fu and war history, glitter still beats them.  Always.

Finally I'm getting the hang of doing miniatures, I don't have the motor skills just yet to add detail to the smaller pieces with clay, so this little teeny guy is going to get a sweet paint job, and I even remembered to add a ring for using it as a pendant.

I had some leftover from the glitter nautilus, so I made a bunch of these leaves with head pins, and I'm going to try and make a necklace with most of the components being handmade, I think if I add enough glaze or translucent liquid sculpey, I'm  going to end up with a product that closely resembles dichroic glass (with out the price tag)

That's all for this week, I think I'm going to focus a bit more time into making jewelry...there is a Bazaar coming up and I want to try my luck.

That Guy Version 2.0

Somehow I lost my digital camera inside out apartment.   I had the memory card in a pocket, and somehow the camera has just vanished. So no Creature Features, or Shinies...just more about That Guy.

The good news is he has a roommate now so we aren't sought out nearly as much.

Here's the latest.
Since he has a new roommate he invited us up to meet him, he said the roommate would be home in 15 minutes so we should just come up.  20 minutes later we show up to the door which he answers shirtless...and continues to remain shirtless.

Now this is just my personal opinion...but I dislike it when people are shirtless.   There is no real reason to take off a shirt unless you're planning on swimming or sunbathing...if you're hot it makes more sense to leave your shirt on sweat a little more and then let the sweat cool you instead of exposing more skin to the heat and sun...And he knew people were coming over, and it's winter time in Germany.   His girlfriend calls and the roommate still hasn't shown up so while he is on the phone Phil and I decide to get out while we still could.

That Guy:  Hang on babe,  Hey man I'll catch you later.

Phil: Sure thing

That Guy:  Yeah Phil came up to hang out.

I'm not upset, but it does prove my theory that he views me as a non-entity unless my husband is not present

 I'm going out to drop off the compost and he is on the balcony.

That Guy: Hey you wanna come up for some rice?  Or get some lunch or something?

Elena: I don't eat rice anymore I'm okay...thanks though.

That Guy: WTF Why don't you eat rice?

Elena: Paleo...no grains, rice is a grain,

That Guy: Rice isn't a grain...it's rice, I'm on the Paleo diet too, I know what I'm talking about.

Elena: I have to go back inside the stove is on.

Now this part I don't want you to think that I'm some terrible judgmental hag, I prefer more of a Sherlock Holmes approach what can I learn about the new roommate based on what I see...and what I see is his car.

For most service members you know what base you are moving too 6-9 months or so in advance, excluding first base moves out of tech school, but we still had a few months to prepare, do research you know important stuff.  Part of that important stuff is an Anti Terrorism briefing, mostly giving tips on how to not be a target.  Don't wear clothes with English writing, don't put up your name outside your house...just try and blend in with the locals.   That Guy's roommate did not get the memo, because he drives a jeep.  This is no ordinary Jeep, first off it's pretty big, and if you do any research on Europe their roads are windy and narrow so a more compact car is a better choice.  It's also Germany...it gets really really cold here, more importantly while mild and beautiful it doesn't get above 85 like ever, not really Jeep weather.  He also has giant ...I mean GIANT Jurassic Park logos on either side of his Jeep along with windshield decal that reads "Take your top off"...and a little fixture around his headlights that turn his round Jeep headlights into what looks like glaring eyes.

 But he's probably a really nice guy.

I'm not saying he is a bad guy...but maybe subconsciously I don't hang out with people who decorate their car with more than one bumper sticker or rear-view mirror dangly.   When I was in high-school I had a friend who was dating a guy who had pimped out a Daewoo.   No lie, a Daewoo...he added a fin to the back( 'cause I'm sure he street raced in South Hill) and had it airbrushed.  Maybe it's because I've always bought cars purely as transportation, and any money I threw into them was for repairs.   I've just never seen a reason to make a fairly regular car a statement to other drivers and/or policemen.

The only thing that bothers me is he parks right in front of the building  (we're on the ground floor) so it looks like we have the Jeep.