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 ›
Memoir
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 ›
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 ›
Road Fatigue
We’re in Aix en Provence, staying in a renovated, 16th century Bastide I found on the internet. We have another two days of driving to get back to Besigheim, and decided to dwell here in Aix en Provence for a… Read More ›
Le Relais des 3 Mas
For our second visit to Collioure, Dawn and I did not make hotel reservations in advance. All week, we’ve been without internet or phone. While that may sound relaxing it’s really not. We got into Collioure around 3:30, and I… Read More ›
Bill Pearse 