The sunrise yesterday was immense and memorable. Exactly 18 years ago, yesterday, here in Munich, it was a mirror image on that fateful day, with a cool morning followed by a warm, sunny afternoon. Brilliant sun and sky. In 2011, I was on my way to work. On one stretch of Tagernseer-Landstrasse where my destination… Read More My September Eleventh Reflections
On Christmas Eve in 1705, a group of peasants, farmers and working men from all across Upper Bavaria, gathered in Sendling, a few kilometers southwest of Munich. They did not come to hear priests or other holy men speak about Jesus or Christmas or anything else religious. They came to overthrow the yoke of the… Read More A not very Merry Christmas
The Germans are fond of saying “April, April, der macht was er will.” April, April, he does what he wants. In Germany, April gets a bad rap for its weather. That is saying a lot in a country where cold drizzle falling from skies imbued with more than fifty shades of grey is as ubiquitous… Read More A bit about April (F, NF)
This is not a normal post for this blog, but it seemed appropriate for the day. A true story. Many years ago, when I was first cutting my teeth in the restaurant business as a server, I was scheduled to work a dreaded Valentine’s Day evening. All the ‘newbies’ got these shifts because all of… Read More A Valentine’s Day Ghost
Late in the 19th century, to combat Bismarck’s protectionist “Rye and Iron” tariffs, Great Britain forced all products sold in the UK to be labelled with their country of origin. The words “Made in Germany” were born. It was intended in the late 1800s and early 1900s to dissuade Brits from buying inferior products and… Read More German Mega-projects Play Like Greek Theater (NF/F)
If any family has tried to find an apartment in Munich to rent over the last decade, through traditional channels like ads or real estate agents, they most certainly have run up against one of the major problems facing this city. It is impossible to find an apartment. The suspects are the same. There is… Read More Munich Caught between Two Stools, Modern and Traditional (NF)
Laptops And Lederhosen 