Setting up for the Christmas Market/Copying Mail Key

After class, I went to the American Bookstore in Marienplatz to pick up “The Gift” for book club and when I arrived in the square, they were setting up for the Christmas Market. I cannot believe it is already this time of year and that in just a few weeks we will have been living here for two months. Also, I am really looking forward to seeing all the markets around Munich as I guess there are over twenty in the city.

On my way, I had to stop and pick up our mail key which we dropped off to be copied this past Saturday. I had a feeling this was going to be a struggle since the guy did not provide us a ticket or take our name, but I went with it. So when I walked in, I noticed that it was a different worker and the first thing I said was “Hallo, sprechen Sie Englisch” and his response was “sprechen Sie Turkish?” My face must have been priceless as he then said “a little.” After about 10 minutes of just trying to communicate and locate our key, he found it and made our copies. However, he could only make one and said to come back tomorrow. Not sure why and I do not think I will be returning.

Off to study for my final exam, which is tomorrow and I really do not want to go as it is an interview, writing an email, listening and multiple choice. I am going to fail.

Toy town meet up, cookie making, homemade sauce and an American Breakfast!

Last night Brad and I tried another meet up together entitled “Under 30.” It was at a Canadian bar, which was nice and supposedly has extremely strong drinks. Brad and I decided to stay away from that and went with the usual wine and beer. Unfortunately, we did not meet anyone that we will think we want to hang out with, but that’s okay and we will definitely go again as you never know who will be there next time.

This morning I cleaned our bathroom and Brad made our first American breakfast. We had bacon, eggs, and pancakes (Brad had syrup/butter and I had nutella/strawberries). But while Brad was making our delicious breakfast, I was tackling the bathroom. In Munich, the water comes fresh from the Alps and is amongst the best tap water in all of Europe, which is great because a Brita Water Filter will not fit in our refrigerator. But it does contain a high level calcium or kalk, which can cause the bathroom fixtures and tile to become damaged if not cleaned often and properly. So I had to buy all these special cleaning supplies last week, which smell awful once they touch the steal fixtures and spend an hour anhalf on this project. Now I know why bathrooms in Europe are small.

After our delicious breakfast together, I decided to make cookies for the first time. I know I mentioned in a previous blog that I was unable to locate chocolate chips or the type of brown sugar we find in the states. But this past week, I did in fact come across what appears to be brown sugar and decided to just buy it. I opened up the package and sure enough it smells and feels just like the kind we have at home. Hurray! I never thought I would be so excited about finding brown sugar, but it is really rewarding when you find something that you thought was not here. Still no chocolate chips, but that is okay as I bought bricks of dark chocolate instead and chopped them up. Yummy! I decided to only make three cookies today (for Brad and I to try) and would save the rest of the dough for Thanksgiving. Plus I am not sure how the oven works and want to experiment with the temperatures. Also, another thing that is pretty fun is that I can only make five cookies at a time since our oven is small and only a round pie pan will work as a cookie sheet.

While the cookies were baking, Brad started to make his homemade Spaghetti sauce. I love when he makes a large pot of this as it is yummy to eat, but also it makes our whole apartment smell so scrumptious. The only thing that was hard to find was the right type of sausage and we probably spent at least 20 minutes just in the meat selection trying to figure it out. But once Brad started to make it, he was very pleased with what he bought and the sauce began to simmer. My cookies were done and it was time for us to taste them. They came out average and I am so glad I only baked three this time as I think I had the oven on too high as they we shaped like a dome and too hard around the edges. Oh well and at least I still have plenty of dough left for Thanksgiving.

Off to eat my husband’s amazing sauce, I love our Sundays!

vermisse euch alle. – die Gauntletts

Book Club

Last night was my first Alternative Book and I really enjoyed it. The women are all really wonderful and I am so glad I went. We are getting together in December and guess who is hosting…that’s right, it is me! I am so glad mom is coming to put the final touches on our flat. We are so excited for her to come and I cannot wait to show here around our new city.

vermisse euch alle. – die Gauntletts

First Ikea Trip

We are going to IKEA today!!! I never thought I would be so excited to go, but I am really looking forward to transforming this flat into a home. Last night, I made us a cucumber salad with sesame seed in a rice vinegar and for the entrée made one of my favorite dishes (Brad’s too) Tofu, Vegetable Stir Fry. I was also able to locate a few of our favorite American products and I believe I have everything to make chocolate chip cookies this Sunday. They maybe a little different than we are used to (must chop bars of chocolate for the chips), but hopefully they will be good enough to bring to Cheryl this weekend. More importantly, I was able to find Sriracha (a red, spicy sauce for asian food). After going to five different markets, I came home, put the groceries away and did a little organizing prior to starting dinner.

Brad came home and we ate our delicious dinner, made our Ikea list, set up our giant television (just fit in the entertainment unit) and packed up some of the pictures the owners left us. It is now 6:30 AM and I think I will make some coffee and wait for Brad to wake up.

vermisse euch alle. – die Gauntletts

Flat Screen

TV arrived today and it is awesome!!! Brad is really looking forward to setting it up tomorrow and I hope it fits in the entertainment unit the owners gave us. Not sure if I have mentioned this yet, but it is really difficult to find low-fat, light or skimmed anything in Munich. Trying one of Bethany Frankel’s recipes tonight (Shrimp Scampi) and I hope it is as good as it sounds. Also, I decided to make a little Caprese salad to go with it…I know, I am so domestic. Only one more day of class and then it is the weekend, YEAH!!!!!

vermisse euch alle. – die Gauntletts

U-bahn 2, Ashley 0

If the u-bahn and I were keeping score, today would have been huge for it. Before getting on the train, I had to purchase my monthly pass (which went just fine), but as I was walking to the train I saw mine pulling into the station and with the possible strike happening, I did not want to miss it. So I ran and was able to catch it just in time. However, I quickly realized that the train I so eagerly ran to catch was in fact not the correct one. Therefore, I had to get off the train at the next stop (Maillingerstr) and walk to the other side completely embarrassed. Then after class I went to do some shopping at Kardstadt (one of the department stores in Munich) as Brad needed an ironing board desperately. I knew I would have to carry it on the train with me, so I decided to go to the one off the central station (Hauptbahnhof) as I would not need to do any transferring with the ironing board. After getting everything I needed, I headed downstairs to the U-bahn, but must have made a wrong turn because all of a sudden I was in the Karlsplatz station instead of Hauptbahnhof. Instead of going back upstairs and trying to figure out where the other one was, I went with it. And after only having to transfer once, I finally made it home with all of my purchases. Note to self, the Karlsplatz and Hauptbahnhof station are extremely close to each other and one wrong turn out of the mall will put you at the opposite one. After going to three markets (Rossmann – Walgreens equivalent, BioMart – Munich’s wholefoods and Edeka – safeway) I came home and made dinner for myself.

Off to watch a movie on our laptop, I cannot wait until our new 42-inch (107 cm) flat screen comes on Thursday!

vermisse euch alle. – die Gauntletts

No School for Ashley

No school for Ashley today as it is a bank holiday in Munich and everything is closed (except of the bakeries). Brad and I ate our first meal in our new apartment last night at a Mexican restaurant located right outside our door and it was yummy (especially considering our distance from Mexico). It is actually a really neat place and we both were pleasantly surprise as from the outside it does not look like much.

Even though Allianz is closed today, Brad still went into work this morning and is hoping to only work until five, but we will see. Also, since everything is closed I decided to unpack all of our boxes and luggage so we can finally start feeling a little settled. I really love our new place and I promise once we are done decorating, I will post a video.

Finished unpacking all of our stuff, made my shopping list for tomorrow and now off to make spaghetti for Brad.

vermisse euch alle. – die Gauntletts