5 things

In no particular order....

5 Things I won't be missing about Munich
- absolute inability of Germans to form and stand in any sort of line, anywhere
- everything being closed on Sunday
- having to pay cash for absolutely everything
- not being able to communicate with everyone
- the KVR

5 Things I'll miss about Munich
- everything being closed on Sunday
- the local bakery, grocery store, Saturday farmers' market
- cheap beer at a beer garden during perfect weather
- public transportation
- location, location, location

Sweet Tequila Blues

London was great - we had beautiful weather the whole time we were there, thankfully. I checked out the South Bank on Wednesday, stayed in Newbury on Thursday (sleeeeeper, especially after London the previous day - I think 80 percent of the population is over 80. There was a market in the central square, and one of the prime booths was from a wheelchair/walker company, not to mention the proliferation of optician shops along the high street), back to London on Friday for shopping exploration on Oxford street (though very little purchased - the dollar to pound exchange rate was absolutely killing us), and Saturday took Kyle for a quick overview of the city before we flew back to Munich that night. I'll post photos and more info once we get back -





STATESIDE! Yup, we fly back home this week. Looking forward to it. If I could figure out how to get audio to play, I would attach the song 'Sweet Tequila Blues' by Carrie Rodriquez and Chip Taylor.

Get me back to Austin
Oh damn I miss that town
I got them sweet tequila blues coming down

Land of the Vikings

Took a quick trip up to Oslo this past week – what a cold place! Though not nearly as much snow as they are used too, much like Munich. I imagine the area would be absolutely gorgeous during spring or summer, and would enjoy going back for some sort of Scandinavian cruise. I was a bit disappointed in the tourist information office – they suggested I visit the National Gallery instead of the Munch Museum, saying The Scream was available to view there. It turns out that three quarters of the National Gallery was closed for renovation, including the Munch room, which you would think the city’s own tourist office would know about… There was, however, an exhibit on Eero Saarinen, so that was good to see.


The best part of the city, though, was Frogner Park – an entire city park full of sculptures by Gustav Vigeland. In the first photo you can see a monolith in the distance. In the second photo you can see that monolith is actually a conglomeration of bodies reaching 50 feet tall, which supposedly took 3 carvers 14 years to make out of a single block of stone.
Finally, a photo of a random train station.
Only 1 week left!

The long way home

Another friend was able to visit us, at least for a short while. Kevin, a fellow Rice alumni, has been working for the past 6 months in Australia, and decided to take the long way home – through Hong Kong, Munich, London, Dublin, and finally back to Ohio. Unfortunately, Kyle ended up with some sort of flu thing (rotavirus?) the one whole day Kevin was here, so I’m afraid he didn’t get the usual tour. Though he has been to Munich before, so hopefully not too much harm done. We went up to the top of St. Peters for an overview (Kyle and I have decided this is an absolute must for all visitors to Munich – and at only 1.50 euro quite the deal – you just have to be sure to save it for a clear day). Afterwards off to the Olympic Park and the top of the teufelsberg there for a different view of the city. Kyle was still definitely out of commission, so we headed on over to the See Haus to drink some beer and catch up on what we knew of other alumni, before heading over to the Augustiner restaurant for some more beer (Maximator – ‘tis the season) and some food. Hopefully Kevin had a good time, despite only having one host ;)

Italian Sunshine

Just returned from a trip to Italy. Kyle had work in Milan, so we took the train down there (only 29 euros!). The previous times I had been to Milan I did not make it into the Duomo or to see the Last Supper – this time I fit in both. You have to reserve way ahead of time to see the Last Supper (especially now with Dan Brown’s books being so popular), but I joined on to a tour group that was going to see it anyways. The best part of Milan was the top of the Duomo – so picturesque, and you could see for miles. A lot of the carving up there is so detailed that you would only ever be able to really appreciate it by climbing up to the top.
After Milan we took a train to Venice. We had not been inside St. Mark’s previously (summer weather, so I forgot to wear something to cover my shoulders or knees), but made it in this time (though it was so warm I probably would have been comfortable in shorts). The entire interior of the church is covered in mosaics of all sorts, including many with a gold covering that glitter spectacularly. A very relaxing weekend before heading back via a night train (with our own couchette – such an efficient space!) to Munich. A little taste of spring weather before we head up north for other adventures.