What Is Carole Up To Now?

Carole is wandering the world. Having had a couple successful careers, as a software engineer then a technical marketer, it's time to take a sabbatical and plan for the next big thing. New philosphy: "Life is a banquet, and most poor suckers are starving to death."

Thursday, September 29, 2005

Madrid on the weekend, then Oktoberfest

It is very cool to be here. It is easy to be in a different country in a couple hours.

Finishing Madrid - The Prado
Sunday morning we all went to the Prado Museum. Like other big art museums in Europe, it has an embarrassment of riches. We spent 2 hours touring the second floor, with Goya, Velazquez and various Italian renaissance painters well represented. We took a sitting break and then trooped back up to the first floor to see the medieval works, several El Grecos, and the truly weird ‘Earthly Paradise’ by Hieronymus Bosch. I certainly don’t crave to have a strawberry for a head.

We limped out of the museum around 2. Got some lunch at a café on a Plaza. Strolled back to the hotel and rested for a bit. (While the hotel is on a quiet street, with no street noise at night, the walls apparently are transmitters. People talking, doors slamming, etc. late and early.) We went to a nearby restaurant for dinner and called it an early night. John & Amy caught a cab to the train station at 7 a.m. Monday.

Our flight out was mid-afternoon, so we walked out to see some more sights. Today was a bit cooler, with a brisk breeze. It still is warmer than Germany when we left. Headed in a direction we had not covered, and saw the fountain of Ciebele and Puerta Altaca which we hadn’t seen yet; and we walked through the newest ‘trendy’ neighborhood. The shops had great clothes and shoes, and the prices were much cheaper than in Munich. I’m holding off on buying clothes till the cold weather, though. As pretty as the clothes in Spain & Italy are, I think they won’t serve me too well in the German weather!

We had a great flight back. Part of the reason is that when Logan used the machine to check in, it spit out 2 standby tickets. Not what we paid for! We ended up getting bumped up to first class as a result. So we got room to stretch out, and a great meal on the 2-hour flight home. The weather is warmer here, too – mid-sixties and mostly sunny. We got back to the apartment around 7:30 p.m. and crashed.

Tuesday I spent doing laundry and cleaning up in preparation for Wednesday play day.

Wednesday morning was the Ladies International Association (LIA) meeting, at 10. I left the apt around 9:15 and got there just in time. I brought back a craft project that I took home last week to finish. (In November, the club has a fair and the proceeds benefit the Frauenhaus, a shelter for women.) The speaker was a marketing director for the newly re-opened Schrannenhalle in downtown Munich. “Schrannen’ means grain, specifically, the husk. In the mid-1800s, the central plaza was the Schrannenplatz, where people sold & bought grain. The king commissioned a covered building for this market, and in 1851 the architect started it. He used pre-fab iron supports, an innovation that enabled the building to be competed in about 2 years. And this was 30 years before Eiffel built his tower. The grain exchange moved in 20 years, and the market building was used for other things, fell into disuse, caught fire, and the remains were stored. They were rediscovered and the city decided to rebuild part of the market.

It took a few years of political wrangling, but it finally opened in mid-August. It contains tens of high-end, unique stores and several restaurants. The Champagne & Currywurst restaurant is currently doing the best business. The directors of the market had promised the vendors that they would pull in 9,000 people a week. It’s been 18,000 since they opened! They have actually cut back on the marketing because they haven’t needed it. They hope that after Oktoberfest is over the crowds will settle down a bit.

After the LIA meeting, I went through downtown and looked for a new apron from my dirndl outfit. Logan bought me a necklace in Stockholm and I wanted to wear it. I found no apron, but a remnant of lining fabric and ribbon that matched it. I zoomed home & with the iron and glue gun and a bit of hand sewing, turned it into a passable apron.

We had gotten tickets through friends to the Weisn for Weds night. Headed out a bit before 6, took the U-bahn and got to the tent by 6:30. It was getting a bit cold out, but very warm in the tent as people packed it. We spent the next 4 hours drinking, eating, standing on the benches singing along with the band and dancing in place. Very odd thing to be doing, but millions flock to Munich to do it every year.

This morning, we went back to the Landratsamt and got our residence permits. Whew, that’s done for a couple years. Now we have to figure out who to tell, that we moved from Unterhaching to Munich (Schwabing is a neighborhood within the city limits.) But that can wait for a bit!

I have been writing this sitting in the living room in front of the TV. We ordered the English cable package from the local provider, and just hooked it up Tuesday. (Were busy Weds, so this is the first I’m watching.) The selection is poor and so is the quality so I think we’ll have to find another solution. I’m thinking Bit Torrent.

Sunday, September 25, 2005

Madrid!

Madrid is such a beautiful city. I hope our pictures come out. It is warm & sunny here, especially compared to Munich.

We got in Friday afternoon, took the Metro to our hotel from the airport. We got unpacked, and then walked around the area for an hour. The buildings are magnificant. It is evident that Madrid was not bombed in the wars.

Brother John & his wife Amy got in around 6:30. We rolled out for dinner around 8:00, very early by this city´s standards. But had a great dinner and walked around seeing some of the fountains & plazas.

Saturday we just wandered. Saw the Puerta del Sol and Plaza Major, had a drink & olive break in a cafe in the Plaza, then went to Palacio Real. Again, it´s good to be King! Beautiful building with incredible ceiling murals and ornamentation everywhere. We ended the tour in the Armory. Lots of weapons and suits of armor and several model horses with knights astride. Fun to see. I bet in real life they clank a lot.

We had dinner with a couple who live here, Mack & Celia. Amy knows Mack´s mom, and she set up for us to meet. We ate in a Galacian restaurant, tiny hole-in-the-wall with excellent food. Served family style, food on platters brought to the table and we all just dug in. The white wine was excellent.

We´re only managing to stay up to midnight. Celia, a native Madrilina, says that office workers typically go out on Thursday nights until 6 a.m., or may just go into work right from the night out. No one expects much to get done on a Friday. But, she said they don´t then go out on Friday.

I´m in the hotel lobby, waiting on the rest of the party to assemble. Today we´re going to the Prado Museum, which is a block from our hotel. Don´t think we´ll see much else today.

Friday, September 16, 2005

Wies'n Eve

It’s the eve of Oktoberfest. I am almost ready. Have a dirndl, and a blouse. Not sure what shoes to wear – it will depend on the weather. I will, of course get pictures & post them.

It has been a busy week. I came down with a horrid cold over the weekend, it peaked on Tuesday. Over the weekend we got most of the remaining boxes unpacked. All that is left is the box of office supplies. And we need to get a filing cabinet, but will probably just make use of a small dresser in the room where the computer is set up. I’m tired of going to IKEA!

Monday night I went out to Marianplatz to meet people for coffee.

- interrupts – Whoo hoo! The DHL guy was just here, dropping of the first (of many) shipments from Amazon.co.uk! Love this!

Back to the story. Monday night was beautiful – mostly clear, warm. We sat out at a café on Marianplatz and the sky was gorgeous. I was with Gayle, Dawn & Peter. Gayle is looking to get a holistic therapy business going here; she’s from the UK. I met her a few weeks ago at one of the Toytown events. She met up with Dawn that day; Dawn is also from the UK. She is a playwright now here to be with her boyfriend. Peter works for a brewery, doing training. He & his wife came from Vancouver, and decided that they wanted to live here. He’s writing a book that touches on holistic healing. We had a great conversation. Peter has seen ‘What the bleep” and I have it on DVD, have promised to do a screening for Gayle & interested others soon.

Tuesday it rained, I felt awful. I pushed myself into a hot shower in the afternoon, bundled up and went onto the U-bahn. (It’s 40 steps out the front door.) Went one stop to Munchner Freiheit, and into the Apotheke in the station there. Got some sinus stuff. I hated to foist myself on the unsuspecting public, but was so congested I was having trouble breathing – even standing up. I knew I wanted to be able to sleep so I resorted to pills. I think what really worked best were these awesome vitamin C/Zink tablets; you drop them into a glass of water & they fizz. I consumed 3 or 4 of those during the day and had one in a glass of hot water just before bed.

Wednesday was the monthly IWC meeting. I met Gayle in the train station and took her to the meeting as my guest. The program was incredible – it was a couple, friends of the current IWC president, who had driven from London to Bombay for their 25th wedding anniversary. They went through Iraq & Afghanistan, in 1996 – 97. (Started in October and finished up in January.) Their pictures were amazing. Many of us, afterwards, said we liked seeing their travelogue but don’t sign us up for that trip. After lunch Gayle & I came back to the apartment and she gave me a Reiki treatment. It felt wonderful and I think it helped me get over the cold.

Thursday I worked in the office (apartment office, that is) and then met friends for dinner at El Patio, a Mexican restaurant near here. On Thursday, the U-bahn, bus and tram drivers were all on strike. The streets were jammed. And I have never seen so many people on bikes. Sept 15 is Mexican Independence Day, and the restaurant had a buffet and was doing a big celebration at midnight. Well, I didn’t see that but it was a great dinner and wonderful to be sitting outside chatting with new friends. It was quite an international group. Eva is Polish, she moved to California when she was 18. Met Glenn, who is now in Munich working for Infineon. They had been living in Dublin, California. Lizabeth is Mexican, was raised in the UK by her grandparents, went back to Mexico City for college, spent the last 7 years living in Norway and is now in Munich with her husband Roman. He’s German, works for BMW, spent a year in Mexico working for them. I guess a move from New York state to California would be exotic to some people, but I felt very bland in comparison to the multi-national people I meet here.

Today, I had another guest at the apartment, Phillip from Transnet Internet Services came by to configure the wireless router. We had been trying to get on the phone & do it, but he locked himself out of the firewall this morning, and just came by to get everything running. And it does.

Now, I’m going to go to the post office, then meet up with a couple of women to take over the monthly lunch “committee” for IWC. Tonight I will go to the Twisted Bavarian, a Tex-Mex place run by a wonderful human named Dory. She’s hosting a Katrina Benefit tonight. I’m hoping to get a nap in beforehand. Still not quite over this cold.

Logan is currently in Stockholm. My cold and the extremely high ticket prices prevented me from getting on a plane today to spend the weekend there. Instead I will finish getting the apartment in order, get groceries and on Sunday go see the Trachten parade. Trachten is the Bavarian costumes, and the parade is apparently quite something to see. I hope the weather is good, so I can take lots of pictures.

Wednesday, September 07, 2005

Back on line!

Oh, the connectivity! The phone came on Monday night late, and the DSL came on sometime mid-day today. I love being able to get online again, and at a much better speed than the dial-up.

So, in the past couple weeks I have been working to settle in. Going to the local shops, finding groceries, the vegetable market, the drugstore, etc. I have ridden my bike a few times in English Garden, great paths there and I can easily ride for an hour without retracing my steps.

Last Friday we were invited to join a group of people at a local Mexican place for dinner. These are women who I have met through the International Women’s Club. And they all live nearby now. It was great to get together with 4 other couples and meet their husbands. We had a great time sitting outside, eating and chatting.

Saturday Logan put together the last of the bigger stuff we bought from IKEA – Sunday is quiet day, so no pounding! There was a street fair on Leopold Strasse near us all weekend, so that evening we wandered down and had dinner there & took in the sights. It was like the Saratoga Street Festival, but a couple miles long. Lots of bands, several fire dancers, lots of art & food booths. I loved that we just walked to it.

Sunday we did some local touristing, and visited Schloss Linderhof. One of Ludwig II, King of Bavaria’s 3 castles, this one is south of Munich towards Austria. The day started a bit foggy, but had cleared as we got close. We stopped at a restaurant for lunch and sat outside, enjoying the sun and breeze and the Alps playing peek-a-boo in the fog. It was a short trip from there to the castle, through a lovely small Bavarian village and up into the hills a bit.

Linderhof is exquisite. I have not seen Neuschwanstein yet (the “Cinderella Castle”) but I’m sure my heart is given to Linderhof. It is beautiful, small (ish) and in a spectacular setting. The air was clear and verging on crisp, the grounds lush green from all the rain we’ve been having. I took at least 50 pictures. Will sort through & get the best up soon.

Time to go for now. I’ve made my favorite for dinner – reservations – and need to get ready to go!