Lag of the Jet
For those of you who have been early adopters (thank you!) of Life@the Schoolhouse, you may have been wondering what has happened. Why no new posts? I have been on holiday or as I like to refer to it as the Maria-Theresa Tour — an arc through the Austro-Hungarian Empire, beginning and ending in Germany.
As some of you may know, we will be celebrating “Christmas in Germany” this year at the 9 Mile Schoolhouse Christmas Market. So this trip was a working holiday. Even though we were welcomed with warm temperatures and late spring in full force, holiday ideas were secured. And in many cases, confirmed, as product design had already commenced after careful research several months before.
I had contemplated blogging from abroad, but thought better of it. Travel is a precious thing to me. I want to absorb every sight, smell, and sound while I can. Reflection comes later.
Only after the jet lag subsides and knotted time zones unwind can one truly discover the impact of what has been seen. So like a time delayed broadcast, my adventures in Mittel Europa are about to begin.
Touchdown Bavaria
I understand why travelers bemoan long-haul flights, but for me they have never lost their sense of wonderment. Our adventure began with an 11 hour flight to Munich. 39,000 feet below the earth spins. We skirt Baffin Bay, Greenland, Iceland the Arctic Circle; far-away places shrouded in glimmering ice. The prelude of a magical journey.
A bronze depiction of city of Munich
The fairytale began in Munich. This is a city, or as we heard many times referred to as “a village” - one certainly of ornate proportions. There were wide ceremonial boulevards on which triumphant leaders and their retinues could parade flanked by imposing, stern public buildings. But what I found more charming, was the village face of Munich. So with a map in hand, I set off to discover this Bavarian village.
Wide formal boulevards and well manicured trees
Narrow lanes veered off at random angles. Each a new avenue to explore. At every intersection, I had to check my location. This first day of exploration was spent completely losing my direction. When I thought I was traveling east, it had actually become south east, but actually more south than east. It must have happened after I focused my attention on some interesting architectural feature that needed to be photographed.
After this day of utter directional confusion a restorative libation was in order. Retracing my journey on that wrinkled map gave way to a cartographic logic I hadn’t seen before. Call it a light bulb moment, but whatever it was, by day two, Munich lay at my feet.
A bit of the Munich skyline
The weather cooperated and gave us blue skies and 80°. The chestnut trees were in full flower. Their spiky blooms of white and fuchsia added even more color to the scenes playing out in the dappled shade of branches below. I learned that chestnut trees and Biergartens (beer gardens) are inextricably linked.
In pre-refrigeration times, beer needed to be cooled. So casks/kegs were buried in the ground and trees planted for shade. Because of the horizontal growth of the chestnut trees’ root system, the trees didn’t “tap” the kegs below. Villagers would come with their steins to collect the beer to take home. On occasion, as I understand. They would drink a stein or two while there under the shade of the trees. An enterprising Biermeister saw this and added a few tables. Food was introduced and the tradition of the Biergarten was begun.
Enjoying a small Biergarten snack
A gathering storm at Nymphenburg Palace
Green and gold - lanterns at Nymphenburg Palace
Parks and gardens, whether beer or otherwise are a very important feature of Munich. And none as impressive as Englischer Garten, the English Garden. This leafy expanse of acreage is nestled at the eastern edge of the city. Its meadows are crisscrossed with well worn foot paths. On warm days, it teems with tourists gawking at the sun worshiping locals. Nude sunbathing is allowed. But what amazed me was the surfing. Yes! surfing in Munich. A swift flowing canal has become the “Bavarian Pipeline”. Surfers from all over the city come to test their agility against the wave.
Surfing a Bavarian wave
Friday, June 13th, 2008 at 7:32 amand is filed under travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.