The Domain (Austin) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Domain (Austin) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
So, while we were away, 'The Domain' opened up. Awful name, but Simon malls is trying to do this old fashioned 'Main Street' appeal to the place. I drove by today, when it was dead due to Easter. It seems pretty well laid out, and meant for parking your car and strolling - though most of the stores are well out of my price range. They also have apartments and condos in the area, so I can definitely see this area growing.

Back in Austin

Well, after a slight delay in Atlanta (we can't seem to make it back from Munich without being stuck somewhere) we made it back to Austin. It was great to see our folks and our dogs, and to be back in Austin with Tex-Mex and good margaritas so readily available! The first week back at work went pretty well (busy busy busy), but the house is still an absolute mess from our unpacking. I'm hoping this week we can get it under control. Still have yet to download the rest of the photos, but definitely will be doing that as well.
Glad to be back!

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!