Our First Fruhlingsfest

Yesterday was the opening day of Munchener Fruhlingsfest (Munich Spring Festival), which lasts for two weeks and take place at Theresienwiese (Oktoberfest Fairgrounds). Pretty much think of Oktoberfest, and then shrink it.  The festival is sometimes called the “Kleine Schwester des Oktoberfestes,” which translates to Oktoberfest’s Little Sister. With only two big beer tents and one outdoor beer garden, I think the little sister nickname is perfect for this festival.

Brad and I decided to visit the festival on Saturday to see what it was like and actually ended up spending the entire day there.  After exiting the ubahn, you find yourself in the heart of the fairgrounds. On your left are carnival rides, games and food booths, but on your right are the famous Hippodrom-Festzelt Beer Tent and a spinning carousel with a built-in bar. Instead of hitting the bar, we decide to take a walk around the fairgrounds and then find a place to eat. The weather is amazing out and after a quick stroll, we decide to sit down in the outdoor beer garden and enjoy a weissbier before eating sausages mit semmel. We sit down and quickly realize that the waitresses were not the ones from Oktoberfest as they were carrying the beer on trays (rather than in their hands) and could barely figure out the change. We dubbed them waitresses in training and agreed that they would never cut it at the real Oktoberfest. After a couple masses of beer and a giant line at the food stand, we decided to check out the spinning carousel bar. It was nice to have a drink here, but it got super crowded and without a restroom, we quickly finished our drinks and went to the Hippodrom.

At the Carousel Bar enjoy sekt with mineral wasser and limonelle

Brad on the Carousel with a Weiss Bier

We wanted to check it out since we requested this tent for Oktoberfest and wanted to make sure that it was suitable for the KPMG partners visiting us. The tent was beautiful and nicely decorated. The menu was extensive and best of all, you were able to purchase a magnum of champagne. Plus, they had a bubble lounge on one side of the tent to enjoy a glass of bubbly, which of course I did. I loved this tent and thought to myself ‘hopefully we end up getting our table here for the real Oktoberfest’.  

Even the masses were pretty

After a few more drinks and a look around the tent, we decided to head home for a nap!

The Storage Room Incident

Monday we arrived back to Munich from our weekend in Chicago and I must say I was completely worthless. Usually, I will do the grocery shopping, unpacking and laundry all before sitting down but this time I barely unpacked Brad and I before falling fast asleep…it was probably because I got a total of sixteen hours of sleep while I was in Chicago, but oh well. However, all the stores were closed today and I did go shopping the day before we left to ensure that we would have food for dinner. I did feel awful as Brad was doing most of the house work and getting ready for work, so when I was half asleep I told him not to bring our suitcases down to the storage room as I would do it tomorrow.

Fast forward to Tuesday morning and after sleeping in until 11 AM (which I have never done), I decided it was time to get up and organize our lives. Therefore, around 11:15 AM I put on my ugg boots and a track jacket over my tank top and running shorts, grabbed our suitcases, keys to the flat and headed down to the storage room. After unlocking the door and placing our luggage safely in the corner, I go to leave and lock up. Now in order to lock it, I must first remove the key, close the door and then re-insert the key. As I go to remove the key, I realize that it is not coming out as easily as it usually does, but before I start freaking out, I try turning it in slowly in all directions, but after probably twenty-minutes I start getting really nervous that this is not going to come out. Now this would not be a big problem, if the key is stuck in the door I would not be able to get back in our flat. So after another twenty minutes of trying I decided to prop the main door open with one of boxes and go upstairs to the restaurant to see if they had tools to take the lock apart or could help me remove the key or a computer I could use to email Brad. Unfortunately, the answer to all three of my questions were no and as I walked back into our building I began to get a little worried. Of course, I didn’t have my phone with me, and even if I did, I have not yet managed to memorize Brads cell phone number. I was starting to freak out a little, but instead of having a meltdown, I knew I had to find something with Brad’s number on it. First I went to the mailbox, hoping something with his cell phone number would be in there, but unfortunately it was only junk mail. Then I headed downstairs to see if one of our deliveries had his number, but most of the splits had been removed and those that were there had my cell phone number. On the verge of tears, I try the key again for about five minutes, but still no luck. Then I look down at our blue bag’s luggage tag and a light bulb went off in my head. Thank goodness we recently updated our tags with Brad’s newest business cards and all I could think is we are back in business!

I race upstairs and ask the waiter if I could use the phone (he probably thinks I am crazy and wonders why I did not do this over an hour and half ago)…he dials Brad’s number for me, but all I get is a several rings and then his voicemail. I do hit redial in case Brad was not answering because of the number, but still nothing and I decide to leave a message. I give the phone back and then head back to the storage room. After waiting for twenty minutes or so, I try to call Brad again, but still nothing. This probably went on for at least three more times and I felt bad sitting in the restaurant, so I would go back to the basement everytime. I mean I was trying everything…I even went up to our flat to see if there was an extra key under the mat that we did not know about or secretly hoping that I did not close the door all the way (even if it meant we had been robbed). No such luck and headed downstairs once more. I then decided that this would be the last time I tried to phone Brad and if he did not answer then I would walk to Allianz and pray that the receptionist would recognize me and be able to find Brad. Luckily, it did not come to this as Brad finally answered his phone. YEAH!!!! After telling Brad the series of events that made up my day, I told him I would run to Allianz to get the key. But after telling him what I had on, he decided to get into a cab and come rescue me.

After a little more waiting, Brad showed up and I was finally saved!

Discover a new part of Munich

Brad had another free Saturday before the busy Q1 review, so we decided to check out a new area of Munich. We spend most of our time in an area called Schwabing, which is basically the Marina of San Francisco. So, we decided to just pick an area on the Munich map and check out the local scene.

We popped up out of the Ubahn at Max Weber Platz, and found an area called ‘Wiener Platz’ which had a few cool shops and biergartens. We kept wandering and stumbled upon a great Irish bar (Molly Malones). The bar seemed authentic, everyone in there had an irish accent and had a great selection of irish pub food as well as whiskey. We will certainly come back. We then had lunch at Mezzodi Vinotek, which is a nice wine bar with a good atmosphere. After lunch, we checked out the local scene near Ostbahnhof, where we found a couple great bars (Lisboa bar, Escobar) and enjoyed a few glasses of riesling at Wein Cantina. We were really happy to discover a new part of Munich together and will be bring all of our visitors to this neighborhood.

A Saturday around Munich (Viktualienmarkt and Soccer Bars)

Brad had the weekend off and the weather was gorgeous in Munich, so we decided to spend the day being tourists in our own city. I showed Brad The Viktualienmarkt (Munich's most popular open air market), where we stopped at a lovely little wine bar and then had lunch. The area is bustling on a Saturday, especially when it is nice and located only a few steps from Marienplatz. A walk across the "Victuals Market" can be a sensual revelation. Stalls not only offer the freshest fruits and vegetables in Munich, but traditional Bavarian Schweinshax'n and Speck, sea food, delicious cheeses from all over Europe, herbs, honey products, sushi and hand-made straw puppets are also for sale. Or if you are looking for something healthier, try one of the freshly squeezed juices, such as apple-carrot-ginger juice. For all those who appreciate culinary seduction of the senses, this is the perfect place to spend your lunch break, get inspired for new creations, and buy those rare and special spices that can't be found anywhere else in the region. I can not wait to take all of our visitors here!

After enjoying a delicious lunch -rotwurst mit semmel for Brad and a krabbensalat wrap for me, we were looking for a great place to watch the Bayern game and found a nice strip of bars just east of Munchner Freiheit. Anyone that says there are not sports bars in Munich just doesn’t know where to look, there must have been five or six all in a row. All and all it was a great Saturday and I enjoyed showing Brad new things and places in Munich.

Haben ein tolles Wochenende! die Gauntletts

Dirndl Shopping (Part 2)

After going to the gym and completing my German lesson, I decided to head down to Marienplatz and enjoy the warm weather (23° Celsius). After checking out the garden supply store (thinking of planting an herb garden this spring and looked for a grill stand) and visiting the Viktualienmarkt (our open food market, a foodies dream) I headed to Ludwig Beck to get some home supplies. They were out of what I was originally looking for, but then found myself in their Dirndl section. Ludwig Beck is a high-end department store in Munich and is most similar to Neiman Marcus (without a shoe section). They had some beautiful dresses and really cool accessories such as pins, charms and hats, which got me more excited about getting one. After going through the first rack, I found one that I absolutely love! But it is official that my high-end taste in clothing also translates into dirndl’s as the dress itself (you then have to purchase the shirt, under skirt, and accessories) costs 700 euros. Pretty much my entire “Halloween costume” would end up costing over 1000 euros and I think that is crazy. Maybe I can find a less expensive dress and get the super cute hat, pins and charms. I did go to a few other stores, but they only had the long ones and started to get nervous. However, at the final store I talked to the shop owner and she said they will get the short ones in after Easter…so I will wait until then. Looks like I have more drinhl shopping in my future!

Tschüss! Die Liebe der Gauntletts

A Weekend in Florence

We have just returned from Florence, where we met my parents for a long weekend and had a fabulous time! This is also a time for Brad and I to relax after the long busy season. We arrived in Florence on Thursday morning and headed straight to the hotel. We were staying at the Westin Excelsior which is in a great area of the city and right on the river. Once my parents arrived, we walked to the center of the city for lunch. We stumbled upon a small sandwich shop and then walked up to the Duomo. Brad and I climbed the stairs up to the top. It was a long walk, but it was certainly worth it once we got to the top. The views of Florence were spectacular. Later that evening, we had dinner at a great wine bar (Ristorante Gustavino). There was a small mishap at dinner, the waitress managed to spill a glass of wine all over Brad. They were more than gracious and helped to get the stains out and offered free food and wine. They were so charming that we all left perfectly happy.

Friday may have been our favorite day of the trip. We took a car outside the city and visited San Gimingano and Siena. Both are adorable towns with a lot of history and charm. The rolling hills of Tuscany reminded Brad and I of Napa Valley. The highlight of the day was a tasting at the Torciano winery. This was very different (in a good way) than any tasting we have ever experienced in California. The owner of the winery sat with us for the entire two hour tasting, talking us through each of the wines he was presenting. There must have been at least 10 glasses in front of all of us. They paired the wine with four delicious courses for lunch. The first course was a simple salad with cheese and nuts, the second was a Tuscan bread soup that was fantastic, then came the homemade Lasagna with truffle oil, and finally biscottis for dessert. We were so happy with the tasting that we had to purchase some wine. We can’t wait for it to arrive! Once we returned to the city we were all a bit tired and just had dinner in the hotel restaurant.

We started Saturday at the brunch at the hotel. I think Brad is in love with the selection of meats that they offer, he is always excited to head downstairs for brunch. We spent the day walking around Florence and found a wonderful place for lunch (fuori porta). After lunch, we walked up to the Piazza di Michelangiolo, which offered a great view of the city. We stopped for some gelato on our walk back to the hotel, it lives up to the reputation. For dinner, we went to Pandemonium, which was certainly a place we would visit again.

On Sunday, we toured both the Accademia and Uffizi Gallery which are “must sees” when you are in Florence. We spent about an hour in each, which seemed to be about the right amount of time to see the famous paintings and sculptures. In the evening, we found a fantastic wine bar near the hotel (Sei Divino). We couldn’t believe that we just found this bar on our last day in Florence. When we are back in Florence we are certainly going to return here. We got a great recommendation for dinner, L’Osteria di Giovanni, which was a perfect way to end our trip.