This weekend, we drove to Metz (France) to visit our friends Laurent and Nanou. They live in a two-bedroom apartment with their three kids, cat, and French bulldog. The kids are 9, 3 and 18 months. Needless to say, add… Read More ›
Travelogues
Cannstatter Volksfest
Last night I met up with our police friend Eberhard and visited the second-largest beer festival in the world, the Cannstatter Volksfest. It’s a 35 hectare fair area set on the banks of the Neckar river, with about six tents… Read More ›
Englischer Garten
Just got back from my second overnight trip to Munich: spent the night with a former boss of mine. He’s working with Starbucks again as an operations coach, or consultant, to help the stores in the south improve. When I… Read More ›
An Empty Shelf
I was the only American among 24 tour-goers, when we went around and introduced ourselves at the memorial site. Our guide, a young woman from New Zealand, asked us to say our name and why we’ve come to Dachau. I… Read More ›
Dachau
As a show of moral conviction, I was seriously thinking about a visit to the concentration camp here, to balance out my weekend of beer and excess. 15 years ago, on my first trip to Munich, my girlfriend wanted to… Read More ›
Speak My Language
It has been a strange week. Tuesday, I went with Gilles to get a haircut in Erligheim. The plan was for him to leave me there, and then I would walk home, through the forest. He took great care describing… Read More ›
Eight More Weeks
I have eight more of sabbatical, six of which are in Europe. When I got up this morning I realized there’s two more days of Winzerfest too, which is too long for a wine festival. It is fascinating to observe,… Read More ›
Winzerfest, Day 1
We got through our first day of this four-day festival, and the only thing that woke me was the sound of the truck cleaning the streets, this morning. There was a reggae band down the street that started at midnight… Read More ›
Besigheimer Winzerfest 2009
Winzerfest starts tonight, at 7 p.m. It will go on for four nights, and segments will be televised on German TV. This is a wine festival that occurs every two years, just here in Besigheim. They’ve been primping up the… Read More ›
Fall Status Report
We made it back in one piece from France last night, and we’re enjoying doing nothing today. We have black-eyed peas with kale planned as a late lunch, and then fish with roasted potatoes, for dinner. It’s cool and cloudy… Read More ›