Hello from Minneapolis!

I told you all that BonnGiorno would be history when we arrived home to Minneapolis... alas, we're home, and I've still got a few more posts in me... 

We took the train from Bonn to Utrecht in Holland on Saturday morning, and arrived in the Dutch city around lunch time. Getting from the train station to our hotel was quite a challenge. Even though it was only a three block walk, Big Red and the rest of our suitcases totaled 5 pieces of luggage, including one suitcase who's left wheel had broken off in transit, making it basically an 18 pound hand bag. 

We managed to make it to the hotel all in one piece, no torn off limbs from the heavy weight, and settled into our room on the fifth floor. On our way out to explore the city, we noticed that the other rooms on our floor had signs on the doors, with the names of the guests, and a "Welcome to the Little Sins Christmas Party". Curious, we stopped at the front desk and asked for some more information, only to find out that half the hotel rooms were reserved for participants in a famous Dutch swingers convention. 

We left for the day a bit worried that we would not have a peaceful night's rest.  Utrecht was positively charming, with it's old canal,  Oudegracht, weaving through the city center.  On either side of the canal were beautiful shops, interesting bookshops and old cafes.  

Our night, and our room on the fifth floor were, in fact, very quiet.  However, when we left we learned that it was not so quiet on the other floors. The concierge told us he had been called up to the third floor several times to quiet down a room full of naked couples. Apparently these people were also running around naked through the halls of the hotel throughout the night. I guess the Dutch really are that liberated! 

After a long, but comfortable flight, we arrived home on Sunday evening, and were picked up at the airport by my mom, younger brother, and our two doggies. It was an emotional reunion. Gus seemed a bit confused at first, but he has since readjusted and looks pretty happy to see us again. Charly seemed to recognize us at once, and it feels like we never even left him. 

It feels great to be back home, although we're already missing several things and people from Deutschland. It's nice to know we'll be able to go back there some day, and say, we lived here. We spent four months here, in this German city, learning German, meeting new people, experiencing new things, and having an adventure all of our own. 

   

Goodbye Bonn

Tonight is our last night in Bonn. We've done the laundry, cleaned up the apartment,  and packed our bags. We're both still a bit under the weather, but I think we're going to be o.k. for the trip home. 

We're not doing anything too exciting here on our last evening... everything is still closed for the Christmas holiday, and we're pretty exhausted from all the travel preparations. We're excited to see everybody when we get home. Please feel free to give us a call or write us an email come Monday morning. 

It's been a wonderful three months, and we're so happy we had the chance to do this. We'll miss our new friends, the trains, German bread, dogs at restaurants, beer in small glasses, the daily farmers market outside our window, strong coffee, and our cozy apartment. 

Tschuss! 

A Day Early

Well, are Christmas just got a lot better... we're going home a day early! Daniel called United Airlines to check on our flight information, and they told him our flight from Amsterdam to Chicago had been changed to a flight stopping first in Washington D.C., then in Chicago, and then finally arriving in Minneapolis on Monday evening at 10 pm... 

Needless to say, we were both pretty peeved, and more than dreading our travel back home. The nice woman on the other end of the phone must have heard our sighs because five minutes later she had us on a direct flight from Amsterdam to Chicago leaving on Sunday morning instead of Monday! 

This means in only three days, we'll be home, in our own house, with our dogs, in our own bed, speaking English, trudging through the snow, hanging out with family and friends before the New Year! I can smell Gussie's coat, I can taste the cold winter air, I can hear Charly barking at the snowplow outside in the alley. Home, we just can't wait to be home, though it will be hard to leave the friends we've made here, and the warm, quiet, and cozy town we've grown so fond of. 

See you soon! 

A Christmas Story

Still sick. Still in Bonn. No Berlin. No Bruges. No Aachen. Just Bonn. 

Dan woke up today with some sort of ear ache, possibly a sore throat or cold festering before breaking loose. I'm still feeling quite crappy, and sleeping almost 15 hours a day. So we're taking it easy, trying to stay indoors, and drinking lots of tea. 

We went out only twice today. Once for a quick lunch at a Turkish restaurant down the block, and the second time in search of a good chinese restaurant (hey, it's christmas!)... unfortunately we were out of luck because every restaurant in the entire town was closed, except for the Doner (Turkish Gyros) shop near our house. So we went there, grabbed some doners to go, and headed back into our den. We then had our simple dinner, watched A Fish Called Wanda, and played a game of literati that I of course lost. 

And that's it. That's our Christmas story. 

Sick In Germany

Well, we haven't managed to get out of Bonn. Unfortunately I caught a bug, and I've been sick ever since Saturday morning. It started off with a pretty bad sore throat at 4 a.m., but after a lot of tea, lemons, and honey, it's become more of the common cold... 

So we're still here in Bonn. We've probably spent 8 out of the past 72 hours out of the house... that means we're basically going stir crazy. I've watched 5 bad movies from i-tunes, finished knitting Dan's hat, and started making my own. Dan's gotten some work done, cooked a fantastic Hanukkah dinner, and played hours and hours of beattle bomp online. We've listened to our entire collection of Hank Williams and Johnny Cash, and danced a bit too. We've also taken a lot of naps... at least three a day... 

How's that for our last week in Deutschland...

 

Saying Goodbyes

Everybody is slowly starting to leave Bonn... one by one people are heading out of the city, most of them to visit their families in near by, or far off, lands. So we've started our goodbyes already, and come Monday we'll be the only ones left here in Bonn. 

On Wednesday we went out with Natalia and Stefania one last time. After several half price pitchers of margaritas, and some pretty good Mexican food, we parted ways. Natalia flew to Argentina the morning after, and Stefania will be returning to Italy after the weekend. I will miss them both very much.

On Thursday evening we traveled back to Reinbach for a fabulous dinner with Whoopi, the Tismers, and their friends John, a talented book artist from Canada, and his wife Claudia.

We had such a fun evening, complete with a delicious Swiss baked potato bar, tasty wine from the Ahr Valley, and lots of Christmas cheer.  Ingrid is a wonderful cook, and I can't wait for her to send me all of her delicious recipes. She even sent us home with a plate full of her delightful Christmas cookies, which I must admit are all gone by now. 

We felt very much at home with the Tismers, as if we'd known them a long long time. The two evenings spent with them were some of our favorites in Germany, and Whoopi managed to give us the puppy love we so desperately miss. 

Yesterday we had our final dinner with Jeremy, Matthias, and Hilke. We've probably spent the most time with these three here in Germany, and we will definitely miss our weekly Friday dinners. We walked over to Jeremy's neck of the woods for a change, about a 40 minute walk from the city center, where we settled into a nice typical Irish pub and ate and drank until midnight. Jeremy is leaving today for Sicily, the bastard! I hope he enjoys the sun and ocean while we're soaking up the cold rain here in Bonn... 

I kid, I kid. It's possible we'll head over to Berlin on Monday, if we can get our acts together and buy reasonably priced tickets. I have recently acquired a bit of a sore throat, which I'd like to get rid of before we board the plane for home, so we'll see if I feel up for a bit of traveling this week, or if this cold is bad enough that we're forced to stay home. 

Happy holidays and safe travels to all of our dear friends and family!

How Many Americans Does It Take To Empty A Restaurant?

Last night we went out for dinner with Jeremy, and Doug who is visiting the guys from the Drexel University in Philadelphia. Doug used to be at the University of Minnesota, where he and Dan started working on several projects. They're now doing the whole long distance thing, which in this case, means Doug is visiting us in Bonn, on his way to a conference in another German city. 

The four of us had a really fun time at Macholds Brewery, complete with several beers, Schnitzel, and a lot of Christmas cheer. I can't say the same for our German counterparts, who we seemed to be driving away in droves. In Jeremy's own words, "I've never cleared out a room so fast." The place was packed when we arrived, but as the night went on it seemed we four were the only ones left in our section of the restaurant. 

Did we confirm the stereotype of the typical loud and obnoxious Americans last night? It's possible, but honestly, it was so nice to be in the company of our fellow Yankees, who understand our jokes, and even laugh at them once in a while. And I'd like to think we were loud, but not obnoxious, maybe just peculiar... 

Treffen!

I've been spending a lot of time with the girls from the Goethe Institute the past few weeks, and it's been so much fun. Natalia and I have been going swimming three times a week since we found a pool where we can actually lap around without crushing little grandmas and grandpas on our way. We basically hijack the center lane (real lane markers don't exist in these German pools) and so far we've been able to keep other people from crossing into our stretch of water. 

Yesterday Natalia invited us girls over for lunch at her house in Beul, a suburb of Bonn, but only a 20 minute walk from the City Center. We made a huge salad and two small pizzas, and had a wonderful afternoon eating and chatting. A true girly afternoon.

On Monday earlier this week Stefania had all of us and our partners over for an Italian dinner at her home in Bad Godesberg. We had a delicious appetizer of Sushi that Yoko hand-made and brought for our tasting, and then we went right into the main course... a vegetarian lasagna that Christian, Stefania's boyfriend, had made that morning. The lasagna was accompanied by authentic Italian meatballs, courtesy of Stefania, and a delicious Argentine Malbec that Natalia and Andreas had picked up on their way over. We finished up the meal with a cheese cake Daniel and I bought at the outdoor market near our house. 

  

We've only got a week left with all four of us in Bonn. Natalia will be going to Argentina for a month long visit with her family, Stefania will be returning to Florence, and I will be heading home to Minneapolis, back to real life, a job, the dogs, and snow. Yoko stays here in Bonn, though who knows, she and her husband may end up back in Japan sooner than expected. So we're all trying to make the most of our last week here together.

Verdi in Bonn

Dan and I had a great Saturday together this weekend. After checking emails and skyping, we walked over to the Japanese noodle house to warm up with a bowl of Udon soup and some tempura. After that we wandered (like a typical German couple) around the city center and ended up at the Visitor's Bureau, where we bought 14 Euro tickets (seats at the very back of the theater) for Verdi's Un Ballo In Maschera. 

We made a quick dinner of Gnoccis with cheese, and at 7:30 walked a block over to the Opera House on the banks of the Rhein. The theater was half empty when we took our seats, so right before the curtain call, most of us in the back scurried out way towards better seats in the front. 

Daniel and I moved up to what where probably 50 Euro seats and had a wonderful view of the entire stage, including the projected German subtitles, which we would not have been able to see from the back. I was surprised to find that my German was good enough to understand about half of what was going on. Thankfully we both read the opera's synopsis on wikipedia, which helped me understand the other half! We both really enjoyed the production and finished off the evening with another short walk around our neighborhood. 

German Thanksgiving

Who knew we'd have such an authentic Thanksgiving weekend right here in Germany, thousands of miles away from home... 

Of course we didn't have any football, or family, or political conversations about Barack Obama's first dog choice, but we did eat bird and stuffing three days in a row! Now that's something to be thankful for... 

On Thursday we had our gourmet Thanksgiving dinner cooked for us by Jeremy, and on Friday we had the leftovers from that meal. On Saturday evening all three of us were invited to a "German Thanksgiving" at Anika and Michael's house, where we had more of a traditional Thanksgiving with some German accents, complete with an eighteen pound turkey, brussel sprouts, red cabbage, and potato knodelen.  

The piece-de-resistence was a quark, hot cherry, and chocolate desert that left us beyond full.

Post Script: We're having a hard time uploading the photographs from the party. We'll try later to add the rest. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

After 10 days of traveling, Dan and I made it back to Bonn yesterday, just in time to celebrate Thanksgiving with our friends. The very talented Jeremy Marzuola whipped up the entire gourmet meal for us in about two hours flat.

And may I say that this was one of the absolute best Thanksgiving dinners we've ever had. Jeremy cooked up some magic in the kitchen, including goat cheese and pear crostinis to start, a delicious candied walnut and dried cranberry spinach salad, a duck roast with rosemary and thyme wine sauce (thick white beautiful asparagus on the side), sweet potato mash, down home sourthern stuffing with andouille sausage, and last but certainly not least, cornbread with the best apple butter I've ever tasted in my life.

Dan and I are thankful for our family and friends, the pups, and this amazing opportunity we're having to explore Europe.

Vienna Day 1

Yesterday when we arrived in Vienna the temps. were frigid, and for some reason Daniel couldn't get himself warmed up enough. We wandered around a bit, had a great lunch at an Italian restaurant, wandered a bit more, ducked into a Viennese pastry and coffee cafe to get out of the blasting cold for a bit, had a delicious Cremeschnitte, then returned to the streets, where we promptly decided to head back to the hotel so Daniel could take a nice hot bath and normalize his body temperature. Usually I'm the one that gets cold, but yesterday I could have kept going in the Minnesota-like weather, but Daniel just couldn't keep up. Must be the Minnesota blood in me. Remember all, he's from the East Coast, where it doesn't get nearly as cold. 

Today we woke up and headed out into the city early, as we wanted Daniel to get a bit of sightseeing in before his meeting with Adrian at 2 this afternoon. We had breakfast and coffee at a great little coffee shop called Mobel studio, near the Museums Quartier. The owners of the coffee shop own a furniture studio next door, and every piece of furniture in the cafe is for sale. The place was pretty cool with a funky ambience and good coffee, plus super modern furniture and a definite design scene. I think we'll be back there several times before we leave on Thursday. 

After breakfast we went straight to the Leopold Museum, where we spent the next couple of hours. The Leopold Collection is one of the most important collections of modern Austrain art in the world. The museum contains the largest Egon Schiele collection in the world, together with major works by Gustav Klimt, Oskar Kokoschka, Richard Gerstl, and Albin Egger-Lienz. The Egon Schiele exhibition was truly amazing, and we really enjoyed learning more about this artist and his work. We also enjoyed the several different works by Gustav Klimt, as well the museum's small but quite interesting furniture collection. 

At noon Daniel left to prepare for his meeting with Adrian, and I stayed on in the Museums Quartier. I went back to Mobel Studio for another cup of coffee and a bit of a rest, before further exploring some of the smaller streets in this part of town. I found several design shops, fashion studios, and art spaces in this area, and then ended up in a more commercial shopping district on Mariahilfer strasser. I was then able to find the Vienna Furniture Museum, which houses the largest furniture collection in the world including pieces by the Thonet Brothers, Jugenstil, Luigi Blau, and Franz West. Unfortunately I didn't know the museum is closed on Monday, so I wasn't able to get inside. Maybe I'll try again tomorrow. 

So instead I walked back to the Leopold Museum where I then spent the next two hours, this time with an audio guide in hand. I revisited the Schiele exhibit which I had enjoyed so much earlier in the morning, and this time I listened to a biography of the artist's life as well as commentaries of the different works. I also went back and checked out Klimt again, as well as Richard Gerstl.

After almost 5 hours on my feet, and having skipped lunch, I decided I'd better head back to the hotel. On my way I stopped at one of the many Christmas markets that are all over the city this month. Daniel and I checked one out yesterday but it was dark, and we'd already had dinner, so we didn't get a chance to taste any of the treats.  Today I  bought myself a piece of German/Austrian fried garlic bread and also some sweet cinnamon almonds. Afterwards I took the tram back to the hotel. 

Bratislava, Wilmington Delaware of Europe

Both Dan and I agree that Bratislava seems to the Wilmington, Delaware of Central Europe. We're kind of underwhelmed with Slovakia's capital city. It's a pretty strange place, a mixture of Soviet architecture and culture with people that are trying desperately to Westernize themselves. It's like the city is trying too hard and unsuccessfully to be something that it just isn't.

We got here yesterday afternoon, and the train station was chaos. We had planned on meeting our apartment leaser there, but we weren't able to find him, or the sign he told us he'd have with our names on it. After looking around for half an hour, we decided to try, without success, to find a telephone and try giving him a call. We even offered several locals to pay them for the use of their cellphone or even to help us understand how to use the pay phones, but they all just looked at us funny and said no.

So with no other real options, we walked out into the rainy evening and made our way towards the apartment, where we hoped our leaser would be waiting for us. On the road we were able to stop in a Sheraton Hotel and they luckily let us use a telephone. We got in touch with the lessor, and he came to pick us up immediately from the hotel. He said he'd waited for us but as we didn't show up he thought we'd cancelled. Our train had been late, and he obviously didn't feel like waiting around...

We arrived at the apartment in the center of the Old Town district of Bratislava cold, hungry, and completely exhausted. The apartment was beautiful and that seemed to cheer us up. A nice hot bath also did the trick. After washing up we went out for dinner at an Argentine Restaurant where we had one very good steak, and another very bad steak that we sent back and didn't have to pay for, because apparently it was bad meat.... yikes! Thankfully we only took two bites of it and nobody got sick.

Two glasses of Malbec later and practically on the floor from exhaustion, we headed back to the apartment to get some sleep. Unfortunately we hadn't realized that the place is situated directly across from a dance club, and we could hear the music and shouting until 4AM! I brought earplugs, and luckily slept through the night. Daniel unfortunately didn't have anything to block the noise and had a tougher time getting his beauty rest.

Today our first order of business was to buy some earplugs for Daniel, so we can both sleep tonight. Afterwards we had a coffee, looked for a bakery but didn't fine any (do they not have bakeries in Slovakia?), went to a cafe for an omelet instead, then hiked up a big hill to a giant castle that was closed for renovation. The view though from the top was pretty cool, and we could see the whole city, on one side of the Danube, a maze of giant Soviet housing projects, and on the other side, I don't know, something less imposing, a small city like landscape, the old town of Bratislava, and lots of churches. An amazing contrast.

I can't really say much more, other than that I think we're having fun despite Bratislava's disappointment, and we're both excited about our trip to Vienna tomorrow morning. We'll be there until Thursday, and I hope to have more fun stories to write home about!  

Budapest Day 2 and 3

We're in a McDonalds near the train station, waiting for our train to Bratislava. It's pretty cold and gray outside, although nothing compared to what the weather must be like in Minnesota. I've got to tell you, I don't miss the snow one bit. Not one bit. 

I must say we could have spent another couple of days in this city. There's so much to do, and the apartment we rented was so nice and comfortable. We felt very at home in our JanosApartment flat, which we rented off Craigslist from Janos and Jozsef. This is the second time we've rented off Craigslist and we've always had such positive experiences. Each time we've been welcomed with such hospitality and generosity. Janos and Jozsef gave us a list of there favorite restaurants and cafes, as well as must see sites. It's so nice when you feel safe and welcomed in an unknown land.

We were pretty tired yesterday after our non-stop first day in Budapest, and since we had seen a lot of the city already, we didn't do all that much. After a breakfast of chocolate croissants and coffee, we went out to visit a bit more of the city.

Daniel really liked Andrassy Street, so we went back there to have a look at all the embassies and beautiful old restored mansions. On our way we stopped in the St. Stephen's Cathedral, the most famous church in Hungary. It's named after Hungary's Patron Saint, St. Stephen, and they even have the mummified right hand of St. Stephen displayed in one of the rooms of the church. Yikes. 

We then kept walking towards the shopping district of the city, where I forced Daniel to buy some new shoes since the ones on his feet were bothering his heel. Better to spend money on some new shoes and enjoy the rest of our trip, than to save and have Daniel get plantar fasciatis or something like that. Neither of us were all that excited about buying a new pair of shoes in a foreign country where everything costs a little bit more than at home, but we found a pair that weren't to expensive, and thankfully we were able to continue on our way, without Dan complaining from pain in his heel. 

We had lunch at a fancy, but not so tasty restaurant on the shopping district, and then took the street car back home for a quick nap before our evening plans. After a brief but much needed rest, we went out again, this time to a coffee shop down the street from out apartment, where we checked email and wrote our first post from Hungary. That post actually took much longer than expected, as downloading and uploading the photos can be a pain in the butt on blogger. 

Afterwards we walked down to a main boulevard in our neighborhood for some very good pasta at an Italian restaurant, and then headed home for more sleep. 

Ok, we're off to Bratislava. Hope you are enjoying the posts. We miss all of you and can't wait to see you when we get home. 

Love, 

Deborah and Daniel

Budapest Day 1

We've been in Budapest now for two days. Unfortunately the internet in the apartment we rented is a bit spotty, so we haven't been able to post until now. We've also been quite busy, so we haven't had a whole lot of time to share. 

Yesterday was a completely full day of exploring Budapest. We woke up at around 9 and walked down the street to a cute little cafe where we had cappuccinos and delightful pastries that rival the ones I was eating in Paris. I may break out from all the butter we ingested yesterday but I don't care. The chocolate croissants were so good! 

After breakfast we walked over to the Parliament building but were denied access by the guard at the gate. Apparently you have to sign up a day in advance for guided tours, so we decided we'd move on down the Danube. 

We walked along the river to the most famous and beautiful bridge in the city called the Chain Bridge.

Here we crossed over to the Buda side of the city where we took a vernicular up the huge hill to the enormous castle that overlooks the city. 

Once on top we took in the amazing view and walked around the area for a bit. We stopped at a confectioner's cafe that is famous for creating the Linzer Tart, though we decided to just have a coffee. 

The castle hill is one of the only attractions on the Buda side of Budapest, so we crossed back over the Danube and made our way towards the famous Great Synagogue in Pest.  The Dohany Street Synagogue is the largest synagogue in Europe and is a beautiful example of Byzantine-inspired architecture. We were both eager to learn more about Hungarian jewish history, but first we had to find some food. With the chocolate croissant level at zero we were running on empty, and stopped at the first place we walked into, a cafeteria type restaurant across the street from the synagogue. 

After a healthy and comforting meal of chicken and mashed potatoes, we made our way out again and over to the synagogue for a tour of the building and grounds. Our tour of the synagogue was lead by a Hungarian Jew who's Catholic father hid 200 Jews (including her mother) in the Budapest ghetto during WWII.  She was quite proud that her father was honored this same day by the Hungarian government for his bravery and righteousness.  

The Synagogue was like no other temple we'd ever seen. First of all, it was enormous, only a bit smaller than the Emanuel Temple in New York. Back before WWII almost 1,000 people came to pray here every Shabbat. Second, the architecture of the building was truly stunning. Whereas most Synagogues we've seen are quite simple, this one was so ornate it could have been a Cathedral or Basilica. Apparently the Hungarian Jews who built the building 1854 tried to assimilate as much as possible while still retaining their Judaism, and the Synagogue was built to resemble a Hungarian Church. 

After visiting the Synagogue we made our way to the Szechenyi Baths via the famous Andrassy Avenue. By the time we reached the largest thermal baths in Europe we were exhausted, and ready to get our soak on. 

We tried out several different natural hot tubs, including one that had an artificial swirling vortex. It was so cool. The water would pull you in like a merry go round and swing you around endlessly until you wanted out. 

After a couple of hours in the hot tubs, we dried off and began our quest for dinner. A Hungarian classmate of Deborah's had given us some dining recommendations and we made our way towards the Oktogon square. 

We eyed a nice looking pizzeria, but next door several hundred Hungarians dressed in suites and dresses were congregating in front of a beautiful building.  We found out that the Dohnanyi Orchestra was about to perform, and a man offered to sell us his tickets.  On the spur of the moment we suppressed our food urges and exhaustion for a bit of Beethoven and Brahms.  The concert was amazing, and definitely a cultural experience for us. After each piece the audience would clap in rhythmic unity that was quite strange to us.

Well, after the concert we ran back to the pizzeria with hopes that it would still be open at 10:30 pm. Luckily we were welcomed in and each had a pizza and a beer for dinner. Afterwards, we boarded the tram back to our place and collapsed in bed. 

Travel!!!

People! We just bought tickets to Budapest! We leave on Tuesday and we're planning to spend 10 days around the area. We'll be stopping in Bratislava, and ending our trip with four days in Vienna, where Daniel has a mathematics colleague who wants to do some work with him for a couple of days.

Budapest

Bratislava

Vienna