Bun in the Oven!

In case you missed it somehow because you read blogs but not Facebook or email (or maybe you don't know us, in which case, WELCOME!):

What we shared on Facebook.

We're due right around the end of December, so we're looking at a little Christmas baby!  Which was unintentional, by the way.  When I realized it, I was like, "ooohhhhh...."  I was focused on getting pregnant, not when the baby would be born!  Whatever happens, he/she is sure to be the best Christmas gift ever!

And, speaking of he/she, to answer the second question everyone asks, no, we are not finding out the sex.  There are so few good surprises in life, we want to be surprised.

We hope to keep updating this latest project on the blog, as well as some of our other ones!  Yes, I still need to finish Germany, and yes, we planted a garden that I would like to tell you about.  At 12 weeks, I hear that more energy for me is right around the corner...I hope.

For now, enjoy some outtakes from our "Bun in the Oven" photo shoot:

We tried looking like we were patiently (or not-so-patiently) waiting.

Our eager anticipation started to look a little like crazy.  I'm guessing this will be me closer to December?

And, of course, obligatory hand-heart belly shot:

With the bun, of course.

Pool Opening 2012

We used our pool for the first time this summer this past Memorial Day.  It reminded me that I never posted pictures from last summer's Fourth of July/Housewarming Bash!  Let me tell you, the pool-opening went much more smoothly this time around.  We had a custom-fit cover made for the winter months, whereas last year the previous owners had essentially thrown a tarp over the pool and had it weighed at the edges with logs.  The cover made all the difference.  Last year, the pool was filled with all sorts of dead critters, leaves and grime, but this year there was just a little crud and it took us (Kevin) only a weekend to clean instead of, oh, I don't know, a month.

Anyway, here are some photos from last year's inaugural party.

Artsy.

Rothenburg ob der Somethingoranother

It's really Rothenburg ob der Tauber, but it took us weeks of talking about our trip calling it variations of that before we remembered it consistently.  We had initially planned to do Nuremberg and Rothenburg in the same day, but when the Deutsches Museum was closed, we decided to split the two, instead.  It worked out, really, because Rothenburg was so charming and pleasant, and the weather so lovely, it was worth spending the day.  Although, I guess if we had saved Nuremburg for that day, too, it would have been been pleasant, as well.

Rothenburg ob der Tauber is interesting because it appears to be so quaint and old, but apparently much of it was rebuilt in the same medieval style after being destroyed in World War 2.  In my opinion, it was the most picturesque town we were in, but, while it wasn't overcrowded, it was definitely touristy.  Rothenburg is famous for it's Christmas shop and handmade wooden ornaments.  We perused THE Christmas shop (Kathe Wohlfahrt), and I spent A LOT of money, but felt a little hoodwinked when every other cutesy shop had the exact same stuff.  The ornaments and decorations are really made in Bavaria, but not exclusively for that store. 

We also had doner kebab for lunch.  It's kind of like a gyro or something similar, and is apparently very popular in Germany.  Who knew?

Since Rothenburg ob der Tauber is so picturesque, I'm just going to share a bunch of photos we took there.

This is just as you walk into the picturesque part of town.  When you first get off at the train station, it doesn't look very promising.  But once you walk through the city gate, here's what you see!

There is a medieval wall that goes around the city that you can walk most of the way around.  It's a little treacherous at some points, but the views are great. Into the city, that is.  At some points, if you look to the other side, you can see the tourist parking lot for the town, which takes away some of the charm, I think.

We happened upon an awesome playground...

With a spectacular view into the valley and the Tauber River.  If we had had more time, I would've loved to figure out how to hike down there and explore it.

A few more views of the town...

"Ausfahrt." Because Kevin and I are twelve.

The Christmas Market.

We also bought a cuckoo clock in Rothenburg ob der Tauber.  We thought it would be a good honeymoon souvenir.  Although, apparently the place to get a cuckoo clock is the Black Forest, which we skipped.  It seems like Bavaria is a good second, though.  I would post a picture of our cuckoo clock, but it is still safely packed in its box in our bedroom.  Maybe someday you (and we) will get to see it.  :-)

Oh, speaking of pork knuckles...

I found a picture of me with the pork knuckle on Kevin's iPhone!

THUNDER SLEET! (Germany, still, Part Whatever)

I know it can't possibly have been three months since I last posted, but apparently it was.  We've been working on some projects around here that I'd like to post about soon, but in the meantime, maybe I'll finish writing about Germany?

After our day exploring Munich, we had intended to visit the Deutsches Museum, but once we got there, it turned out the museum was closed for a special staff day that day.  It was a little frustrating, because we had just checked their website that morning.  So, we spontaneously decided to go to Nuremburg, instead.

When we arrived in Nuremburg, it was bright and sunny(ish).

After going to a cafe for a snack (flammkuchen!), we came out to a miserable rain.  Kevin had a few sites he wanted to see, which we attempted, but it was just so rainy and windy that we ducked for cover in a pub.  It was packed with other like-minded people, but we got squeezed in at the end of a table.  I wasn't particularly hungry (it had only been about an hour since the flammkuchen), but Kevin ordered Nurnburg sausages, and was in love. The sauerkraut that came with the sausages was particularly good - almost a little sweet.  I actually attempted to replicate this meal for Kevin's birthday in February.   They also had a basket of pretzels on the honor system - you ate what you want, and then told the server how many you had. 

We ventured back out.  By now it was dark, and the weather had let up a bit.  We decided to split up - Kevin was going to some scenic viewpoint, and I wanted to check out the Christmas Market.  After all, Nuremburg has the most famous Christmas Market in the world, and isn't that why we were there?  Not long after we split, the fine mist in the air exploded into a THUNDER SLEET.

I actually burst out laughing at first.  It initially seemed almost festive, and then it started thundering, and I was like, "What the heck?  Is this a THUNDER SNOW?  No...it's a THUNDER SLEET!" I actually continued perusing the markets, in surprisingly good spirits, but the wind picked up and flying ice persisted, so I gave up and found shelter in a regular shop.  Then, Kevin and I had a little trouble figuring out how to get back to the train station from where we were, getting soaked more thoroughly the whole time.  The worst part was definitely sitting on a train for the next two hours soaked completely through.  It was a relief to get back to the hotel, put on comfy (DRY) clothes, and head to the hospitality lounge!

The Pork Knuckle

During one of the first few days of our German trip, in Cologne, Kevin almost accidentally ordered a pork knuckle.  He actually asked for the German word meaning "pork knuckle", not realizing it was pork knuckle, but quickly changed his order once our server clarified what Kevin had asked for.  To us, "pork knuckle" just doesn't sound appetizing, especially given that so many people think that it is the same as "pickled pigs feet," which it isn't.  It would really be more accurate to call a pork knuckle a "pork knee" or "pork elbow." Nevertheless, it still retained that aura for us.   Even with that, though, I chastised Kevin for changing his order.  "Who knows?" I exclaimed, "It could be delicious!  We should be adventurous!"

What I actually meant was, "I'm curious about pork knuckle, but I am too chicken to order it myself. You should get it so I can see what I think."

"You're right," he replied. "Darnit, I should've stayed with the pork knuckle.  The next time I see it, I'm going to order it!"

This sentiment was reaffirmed when his alternate order, a plate of pasty sausages and limp french fries appeared in front of him.

"I'm in Germany and I'm eating hot dogs and french fries!" he lamented, shaking his head.

So, after our very long day in Munich (which truly didn't seem so long until I wrote that last entry), we ended up at the Wirtshaus zur Brez'n in the Schwabing neighborhood.  This was a little by accident.  After riding the ChristkindlTram, we had checked out Munich's medieval Christmas market, where the food smelled delicious, but we weren't quite ready to eat.  So, we continued on to the Schwabing Christmas market, but by the time we got there, we were cold, tired, and slightly damp, so we decided to find a place to sit down and warm up before hitting the market.  Given that the tour books had described Schwabing as a bustling college neighborhood, we assumed this would be easy, but we circled the blocks by the subway station for 10-15 minutes before finally finding this promising-looking pub.

Our intention was to go in and have one beer, which we did, and watched as it began to snow outside.  How festive!  As we got up to brave the Christmas market and find some dinner there, we caught a whiff of something delicious.  We only briefly considered whether we would prefer to eat market food in a wet snow or stay inside this cozy pub.  Since we had already settled our tab and given up our seats at the bar, we approached the hostess for a table.  The place was pretty bustling now, so where did she end up escorting us?  Right back to the bar.  We felt like jerks, having not ordered food from our original bartender, and here we were, back at the bar.  I tried to hide my face, worried that he would take it personally.  "It's not you!" I wanted to say.  "We just changed our minds!"

As I scanned the menu, I tried to figure out what the delicious thing I smelled had been.  I could only come to one conclusion: the pork knuckle.

So, I ordered it.

This is not my pork knuckle.  I borrowed this image from http://www.dimsumdolly.com

I have to confess.  When I hesitantly took the first bite of this creation, I believed in that moment that I was tasting the most delicious morsel to ever enter my mouth.  It was salty, flavorful, juicy, with just the right amount of crispy skin.  It was like heavenly bacon, but instead of just one little strip, it was the whole chunk of meat.  I gorged myself, carving around the bones, until I could eat no more.

This was a mistake.

Not only was I outrageously full that night, bloated and uncomfortable despite a long walk back to our hotel, but my stomach burned the entire following day.  What had made the pork knuckle so delectable, the salt and fat, had ravaged my stomach.  The only thing I wanted to eat that next day was fruits and vegetables - and good luck with that in Germany, especially in December.

So, my mouth remembers pork knuckle fondly.  My stomach - not so much.

Long Day in Munich is Long

When we checked into the Hilton Munich Park Hotel, overlooking the English Gardens, we were surprised by a swanky, newly-renovated room on the 14th floor, and this:

We still don't know if it was complimentary because Kevin is a Gold Member, or because he told them it was our honeymoon when he made the reservation, or if it was a gift from a mysterious benefactor.  We loved it.  After so much meat and starch, our digestive tracts appreciated some fresh fruit.

Also spectacular was the Hilton Honors Lounge.  No cans of soda and stale snack mix.  Instead, there were mini-sandwiches and appetizers or desserts, depending on the time of day, and free beer, wine, cocktails, and fancy coffee.  I actually accidentally ate dinner in the lounge one night.

We stayed the most days in Munich, but ended up feeling like we never really "got" the city.  Because of the dreary weather and multiple side trips, we never quite found the charm of the city, although we know it's one of the most popular in Germany.  I think we might also not have spent enough time finding the nooks that would've endeared it to us - we caught some touristy stuff, but truly spent more time using Munich as a jumping point for other destinations than exploring it fully.

Our first day, we made sure to catch the Glockenspiel, which was cool, but let's just say that I wouldn't try to set my watch by it.  It's quite a performance, though, and if you want to see it, be aware that it doesn't "perform" every hour, so check when it's scheduled, depending on the time of year.

The Rathaus.  In the center, framed in green, is the Glockenspiel.

 We then had coffee at the bustling Cafe Glockenspiel, where I drank a Cafe Glockenspiel, and it was delicious.  We wandered around the Christmas Markets around the Marienplatz (the main square in Munich), visited some historic churches, including Asamkirche, which was pretty fantastic inside:

You can see how fantastic I thought it was.

We also went by the Viktualienmarkt, a huge outdoor food market.  So many different foods to explore!  If it had only been a nicer day, we could have made a lovely picnic lunch.  As it was, we tucked ourselves in to the nearby cozy Cafe Rischart, where I had a deliciously unhealthy pretzel stuffed with cream cheese and chives.

There was no way we could forgo the Bier and Oktoberfest Museum - once we finally found it!  I found Munich to be a horrible city to navigate.  I know many old cities have winding, crooked streets that make no sense, but I think Munich was especially challenging because it is so big.  And the Bier and Oktoberfest Museum is tucked away in an alley with a tiny sign that I couldn't even see until we were right in front of it.  I didn't even want to follow Kevin up the alley it was on, because, to me, it clearly wasn't there.

The museum itself was pretty interesting - as much as we could get from the few English-translated signs.  The first part basically traces the development of the beer industry in Germany from each pub having it's own brew to more regional and national breweries.  As you might guess, the second part does the same for the famous Oktoberfest - how it started as an agricultural fair, got a few more fun attractions to honor the marriage of Prince Ludwig, and grew from there.  The museum is in a four or five level rowhouse (or whatever you call them in Germany) with stairwells seemingly in every corner.  Kevin and I got separated, and had such a hard time finding each other that he almost went back to the hotel - our agreement should either of us get so lost we couldn't find the other.

Then, we made our way to ride the ChristkindlTram , or Christmas Tram.

It's essentially just an old streetcar that's been decked out for the holidays, or, as our friend Darra put it, "It looks like Santa Claus vomited inside." We rode the ChristkindlTram on a very special day, though - December 6th - St. Nicholas Day!  Purely by accident, we rode the only day during the holiday season that St. Nicholas rode the Tram, as well.  We had a short chat with him, but I was so starstruck that I didn't ask him for a photo together.  So, here's a picture of St. Nicholas:

And here's a picture of us on the ChristkindlTram:

You'll just have to use your imagination to picture St. Nicholas there with us.  Did I mention there was gluhwein on the Tram?