Erin go Bräu!

Today was the Munich St. Patrick's Day parade which is billed as "one of the largest St. Patrick's Day parades in Europe." Dubious claim.
The best part was that our weather has improved greatly and it was 60 degrees and we had some sun. You can see that many people turned out and Guinness was nice enough to sponsor the event.

We had bag pipes and some small girls who were studying Irish step dancing but they also invited just about everyone else to march in the event.
The kids were questioning some of the marchers including:
- The Munich area Bolivian History group (full dress and dancing)
- The Munich are Australian rules football team (feel free to join them on Saturday mornings!)
and
- The England-German friendship association

Our German friends questioned everything except the celebration of beer.

New glasses

David got glasses. They look pretty good.

Kristallhuette

On one of the few days that Daph could ski, we had the kids go to ski school and Joachim, Daph and I went to the top of the peaks to a "hut" where people relax before/during/after skiing.
The best views of the region come from a lodge built on the peak with large sitting areas for sunbathing, coffee drinking (morning), and preening (apres-ski).
Here - Daphne is posing with Joachim in front of the mountains that extend south beyond Italy. Daphne not only maintains total safety with her helmet on for the slopes; but also on the huge deck of the lodge. Joachim shows that as a true Bavarian, he not only doesn't ski with a helmet; he could ski to safety even without his skis. He is the best skier I have ever seen.
It was 10.30 in the morning on the deck but Daphne wanted to show how sunbathing could work (take off your helmet for effect). We loved the glass walls. We couldn't capture the steep drop off to the certain death below the perch - you will have to come visit for yourself.

If you make the trip - they have table service with fur blankets for your comfort.

Local find in Austria

One of the best parts of traveling with some friends in Austria has been to explore the local area where we are skiing. Right next to our rented house was a building that said they produced schnapps. Here is Daphne and Katarina walking across the parking lot.
Joachim and I searched out the owner and he showed us his 'schnapps keller' where he explains how he learned to brew the schnapps over the past 50 years of his career (from his grandmother). He invited the two families to learn how he maintains his own farms and orchards to ensure there are no pesticides or chemicals in the berries before he uses them in the process.
Everything seemed out of the old country until we went into the 'keller' or basement to see where he actually distills the alcohol.
He would not sell anything until someone actually tasted the vintage - here he is pouring a taste to our friend Joachim.
He actually will not ship a single bottle unless he knows the people so he is constantly having people ask to come to his village. He said he is an international schnapps brewing champion (meisterschnappsbrewer) since 2002 and does not need additional problems.
Daphne asked if he knows how to properly fill a ocean container. The boys asked if they could go home to play Wii.

Tirol adventure

If you look just south of Germany, you will notice that there are many large mountains that have produced some of the most accomplished winter Olympians in history. We were lucky to join our good friends in renting a house to go skiing in Kaltenbach which is in the Zillertal valley of Austria. It is nice that it is so close (90 miles), and less than two hours away from our city apartment.

The valley has a huge vertical rise which produces steady skiing from October through May each year. We took a 15 minute gondola ride each day to reach the "snow" and then took lifts from there to the peaks which rose above 3000 meters.

We had to begin by getting gear which meant the usual interaction with nice locals as our group caused chaos in the store. David discussing how he was going to jump the tallest peak, Brian indicating that he was looking to get back to the house for dinner each evening, and Julia discussed how, on the whole - she would rather be in Philadelphia.
Here is Brian going up the first Gondola.
The views were outstanding! The mountains rose straight up and produced stunning panoramas.
The boys were sent to ski school with the German, Austrian, and Dutch kids while Julia tried to say how she would like to stay home and read/knit. She was unsuccessful. I made her attend "Dad's ski school" which was tough at first but improved as she realized there was no other option except to join Brian.
Classes included - pretending to have some fun, going slow in non-dangerous situations, taking long breaks during peak skiing hours to have an expensive Pepsi, and taking your father's picture during a sunny lunch. She got a B.
Our weather was great - sunny and bright with unlimited visibility and temperatures of 0 degrees C/ 32 degrees F. You can see that Julia had plenty of snow to turn in on the hill.
By the end of the week - it got good enough that she couldn't complain.
The only problem was that our best skier - Daphne - experienced chronic knee pain and swelling that only allowed her to ski on 2 of 6 possible days. This was like taking George to the park to play with squirels but keeping him on the leash while his friends feasted on unlimited small prey. BTW - George had a vacation at the kennel.

City slickers

The blog postings have slowed but we are still having a good time over here. Case and point was a recent Friday night outside of my office.
Munich is competing to win the 2018 Winter Olympics and Siemens decided to support the bid and the 2011 Skiing World Cup which is being held now south of Munich.
So Siemens built a ski hill/mountain in the middle of the city right in front of our HQ. Siemens Snow City as it was imagined is pictured.
Daphne and the kids came into the city (10 minutes by subway) to meet me after work to see the slope and then head out to dinner.
Siemens not only provided tubes and sleds - they also had expert skiers and snowboarders to give free lessons. All of the local kindergartens also came by for visits over the two week period. The hill featured a "magic carpet" to glide you up to the top and all of the equipment you could want (except for a helmet - this is Germany).
The kids loved it. I would say we got in about 15 runs before we pulled the plug. Brian's pants were soaked and dinner was a bit uncomfortable. Maybe it was his love of wiping out near the botton to the crowd's delight.
Julia was our speed queen. Everything was free and they maintained a big display area at the bottom to showcase Siemens products that support winter fun. (drives that power the lifts, components for making snow cannons, and of course - MRI's for knees that have been destroyed on the mountain.)
The area at the bottom also had some warm food, spiced wine, and - you guessed it - great Weissbier. Maybe that is what possessed Daphne to take a ride down the piste?

Sledding 2011

We ended January by heading south to go sledding. The forecast was for a crisp, sunny and cold day but we woke to a heavy, cloud covered day. Katharina and Joachim called and confirmed our adventure was on. After a 90 minute drive south into the mountains, we rented sleds and started up the mountain.
The walk up is about one hour and is quite steep.
The view is stunning. The sledding area is also a ski hill and the kids did not understand why we didn't take the lift up to the top. Brian complained 90% of the way. The trees were huge and the snow was heavy on their branches.
We told the kids to keep walking and stop complaining. I have to admit - it was pretty steep, very cold (20 degrees F), and not easy.

We were rewarded with a view from the summit that rose above the clouds.

You could see the other large peaks across Germany and Austria with the clouds covering anything at a lower level. (In fact it was snowing at the bottom.) The largest peak in Germany is in the attached picture. The air was so clear and felt great after the walk up the mountain.
We relaxed with lunch at the Gasthaus at the summit. A nice Germany beer and a warm bowl of soup. Finally - we prepared for the 20 minute sled ride down the mountain. Part innocent childhood fun, part life threatening danger - everyone seemed to enjoy it.

We had so much fun, we let the kids ride back up the ski lift for a second run down the mountain.

There are absolutely no pretenses about having a way to stop these things and the concept of steering is really just that - a concept.
As usual - David was out front, going fast, and taking chances. He's lucky his mother and the other Moms walked down and didn't see his actions.