We are in the middle of one of the truly great times of the year in Bavaria. Alexander Pope wrote in his poem titled “An Essay on Man”, “Hope springs eternal in the human breast”, and the same can be said for spring in Bavaria and Germany, the land often shrouded in grey. The reason… Read More Spargel (Asparagus) Means Spring in Bavaria, and so much more (NF)
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
On 14 June in Munich, Germany will host Scotland in the European Football Championship (U€FA €uro®). You know, the football championship where players play the game with their foots! For the Americans reading, I call our college football and NFL “American Football”, and what we call soccer there is football to me here, as I… Read More “Summer Footie”
Bavaria loves princesses, emperesses, and queens, especially Princess Therese Charlotte Luise Friederike Amalie von Sachsen-Hildburghausen, or simply Therese, who married Bavarian King Ludwig I in 1810 and became queen. Oktoberfest is the traditional celebration of that marriage. Bavarians adore Sisi. Elisabeth Amalie Eugenie, or Empress Sisi, was born in Munich and raised near Lake Starnberg… Read More Bavarian Queens
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
A story that came out recently about a woman who documented Deutsche Bahn’s (lack of) punctuality by knitting a color-coded scarf and selling it on eBay for charity reminded me of a story one of my students told me about the railway company. My student, who I will call Sepp and the woman who knitted… Read More Germans Surprised by Punctual Train (F)
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
Originally posted on Laptops And Lederhosen:
In the United States, July 4th is a day of celebration, and in many ways it reaffirms America’s belief in its destiny, especially ‘Manifest Destiny’. In Germany, if there is a day that is similar to America’s July 4th, it would be 9 November. It is the day that…
Laptops And Lederhosen 