Clueso "Mitnehm"

This guy reminds me of Duncan Sheik with a bit of Coldplay thrown in - kind of moody and brooding, just what I like. He's from Erfurt, Germany and has been in the Bundesvision Song Contest a couple of times [came in 2nd last time].

His CD "So Sehr Dabei" was #9 when I picked it up. It's a great summer chill-out CD. Looking forward to ripping this one a ton.

Beer, Flags, and the Rhine

The Rhine is certainly evocative, but it's meandering boats and laid-back attitude is great for clearing the head and body of jet lag...
...well, that at beer at 11:00 am. Yes, I should have been drinking wine, but damn, these pils were good!
As for the evocative part, nothing so unapologetic as a German flag snapping in the wind can stir the pride in this German-American kid.

Pension Lettie

I'm a firm believer in all things Rick Steves - following his guide book for this and other trips - but I always wondered if he really had any connection with the places he recommended. To my pleasant surprise, at Pension Lettie in Bacharach, she proudly displayed Rick's 2007 Christmas card. Cool!
As for the pension, it was fantastic. We'd stayed here 2 years ago and loved it. For just 45 Euro a night, we got this terrific room and breakfast.
Each morning we would have breakfast and chat with other Rick fans since the whole place was taken over by them (all 6 of Lettie's rooms). This is actually a good thing - to talk to others who are enthusiastic about travel and want to meet new people. We met most folks from the US, but a couple from Canada and from Germany too.

Now if I could bottle Lettie's energy, even with her A-G-E!

Train Travel

Train travel in Germany is everything you hear - efficient, on time, easy to use.
But I was taken by how much graffiti is on the trains and in general all over the country. For a people who are known for cleanliness [nothing cleaner than a German hospital], it really was jarring.
Efficient, no matter what time zone you're on.

José Ángel

I take a little break for a bit of Mr. Bearmex 2008 cleansing.

Need to pander to my whole audience...Works for me...

White Asparagus

Holy crap, this tasted good!

Dinner in Bacharach at the Hotel Kranenturm was delicious. We'd eaten here 2 years prior and found the food to be fresh, local, and prepared with great care.

We were lucky enough to be in Germany for White Asparagus season. (Who knew?) It's a season when the Germans go MAD over the veg and can't get enough. Whole festivals revolve around this. The perfectionists will tell you how to cook it, prepare it, and the DATES when to eat it.


The above was my meal of pork medallions, potatoes, and white asparagus [of course]. It's prepared simply with brown butter and bread crumbs [not sure what that green sprinkle was]. Just the way Mom makes it...

Oh and yes, there was liquor at the meal. I can't be 100% sure, but I think the white wine on the left was mine. I knew I was to drink lots of beer in the days to come but the Rhine was the place to have wine.

Ah hell. Any one of those glasses could have been mine. You know that!

Rüdesheim

Ah yes, the beauty of wine country surrounding the Rhine.

I had read so much before the trip advising to avoid Rüdesheim. It was too crowded, too many tourists, and just not worth the time - is what I read. But my memories as a kid touring here with my family made me want to come back to see it as an adult. And DAMN! It's beautiful. Yes, it's over-run with day-trippers like us, but the 3 hours the K-D boat line afforded us here was just right.
We road the Seilbahn to the top of the hill - how perfect.

We thought of buying lunch for a picnic to save on money. This would be a theme for our trip. Lunch would usually consist of a sandwich and some sort of pastry. Stupidly, I took a picture of the food IN the bag and not OUT.
And let's not forget the wine. We stopped in a wine shop and the woman had a huge bounty to chose from. When I asked for something chilled, she gave me this. Only when we reached the top of the hill did I realize, THE BOTTLE WAS OPENED AND SOME WINE HAD BEEN CONSUMED. Yep, they sold us an open bottle, for fuck sake. Delicious, none-the-less....

Allemann (translation: Every Man)

With every Fußball tournament in Germany, it seems there's another anthem. At the music store in Cologne, I think I spotted at least a dozen for sale. But after a few listens, I liked this one best. It's not the official Euro 2008 anthem, but it is sponsored by Snickers [really].

The video isn't the official video either, but a slide show of stills. I like it better than the original too....cause there's a topless lesbian kiss in this version of the video. Can you find it?

Durstig?

I know I'm skipping ahead, but I mentioned this in my "come on" email.

There we were, walking down the street in Munich and I spotted this ad - kind of a sandwich board on the sidewalk.

I'm pretty sure she's advertising more than just "all you can drink".

I know "Durstig" translates to "thirsty", but um...our prudish American sensibilities would never run an ad like that. Right?

Needless to say, we stopped in for soda.

First Dinner

Man cannot live on beer alone (or can he?), so here's the first meal in Germany - actually in Bacharach.
We were early for dinner on that day, about 4:30. Since the Germans are like other Europeans - they eat late - no one serves any dinners until AT LEAST 6 or 7:00 even in this tiny town. After checking a few places, these lovely women told me they would serve us dinner - on one condition - that we didn't order anything too different from each other...fair enough. The four of us ordered the same!
I'm disappointed I didn't take a snap of the main course, a schnitzel. But in my deliriously hungry state, I did manage to snap the first course of salad. Damn it was refreshing and delish. As always, click on the pic to enlarge.

Alcohol Makes You Free

Ok, that's not what it really says. But with my German skills that of a 1st grader, I was convinced this T-shirt was something equally naughty.

While on a boat on the Rhine this fella wearing his best leather chaps and his lady came on board (bikers are universal). I was sure he wasn't anti-alcohol since he was drinking a tall one. And since SO WAS I - duh - I asked him if I could take his picture.

Well, my aforementioned 1st grade German held out and he got a giggle while I took this snap.

Dear sweet cousin told me later it translates to "Alcohol is no Solution, but a Distillate!" Not nearly as funny as I thought it would have been, but there you have it. She also told me there was a typo in German on the T-shirt. In German it should have been spelled "Destillat".

Maybe that was part of the joke? Certainly leave it to a real German to point out a typo.

Ich & Ich

These guys currently have the #1 CD in Germany. And I couldn't get the hooks out of my brain. Yea, sure this particular song is VERY reminiscent of Gnarls Barkley, but who gives a rat's ass. They're grooving their German asses off...

The rest of the CD is a clever mix of ambient, pop, alternative, and soul songs. Give 'em a listen.

Christina Stürmer

Hey I'm back! I'm still on another time zone in my head, hence the delay in posting any info or pics from my holiday. Until I can wade through the 2000+ photos on the camera, I thought I would post some cool videos.

I came back with a fistful of nifty German CDs. Yep, I stood at the listening station in a Saturn Music and gave several artists a listen.

This gal really caught my attention and I bought her CD "Laut Los". I can't really place her voice, but think it might be a young Chrissie Hynde, but sweeter. I dunno, check it out for yourself. While in Germany, the CD was #31 on the charts. More later.