Scott's Burfday Weekend

I shall dedicate this blog post to "meine bessere hälfte" (my love, husband, best pal and spiritual life partner :)  Since I thoughtfully neglected to post a long adoring wall comment on Facebook, this should suffice:  

Happy Birthday Scotty 

(pronounced in my finest Pittsburgh accent - Sk-hoo-tee) 

 I LOVE YOU!

Thursday Feb 21st - the actual day of birth - We went to dinner with Sera (from Memphis) and her German husband Toby, who is the 3rd Toby I have encountered (evidently it's a popular German name and J.I. resident Toby Strasenburgh hasn't been exaggerating about his Nazi roots)

We had dinner at a Korean joint called EAT DRINK MAN WOMAN

The website says the name is from a Confucius quote (not to be confused with the 1994 Ang Lee film)

The food was great especially the kimchi and spicy grilled octopus.

Photography must be forbidden because the waitress attacked me like bald Britney Spears and the paparazzi!

(see # 11 http://dailyfill.com/when-celebrities-attack-the-history-of-paparazzi-beat-downs-71380)

Birthday boy with his fav beer - Dinkel (aka dark beer)

After dinner, we walked back to our place for my semi homeade carrot cake (fresh carrots, coconut, and walnuts added to increase deliciousness)

Scoots blowing out candles while wishing for a new tiger tooth necklace

The next night we had a mission to explore our neighborhood- Stuttgart West 

Our first stop was Ackermans Pub which is known for it's extensive whiskey selection.

Euro Scoots pretends to like cigarettes to blend in with the locals 

Next stop dinner at Goldfish (Asian fusion)

Couple up front Mike & Julia- from Charleston, Couple back right -Mariel & Joe- newlyweds

After dinner, we met up with Scott's co workers who took us out way past my bedtime.

Fishlabour is a unique bar with giant cheap beers

 WC at Fishlabour

Yes the urinals have headrests!  German ingenuity at its finest

Next, we went to Troll Bar (a true hole)

It was grungy but charming; bartenders throw peanuts on the tables at midnight (brilliant)!

Flights of beer = samples  = Happy frau

Birthday weekend concluded Sunday with a wonderful ski trip to Montafon, Austria.

Happy Birthday again to my older and more mature husband 
I admire how you truly embrace every birthday, growing older and "wiser" every year!

Italian Dolomites

We decided to spend Valentines Weekend in the Dolomites since we heard amazing tales about the Italian alps.  The drive took longer than projected so we stayed busy practicing "Italian for beginners" mp3 downloads.  I mastered a few crucial phrases such as: "Buon giorno, Mi chiamo Megano'!"

We reserved an apartment in a teeny tiny alpine village called Sottoguda.  This town was randomly picked because we found a "smart deal" with great reviews on booking.com (my favorite site for hotel deals in Europe.)  Luckily, the room also turned out to be in a really special area of the Dolomites!

The Dolomite region of Italy was declared a World Natural Heritage site and we stayed near a deep canyon called the Serrai de Sottoguda.  Our apartment was just 300 meters (my brain now thinks in terms of meters not yards so hopefully the U.S. will get on board with the metric system by the time we move back) from this majestic ginormous gorge!  

The gorge is famous for ice climbing because there are over 20 huge frozen blue waterfalls!

Ice climbing is an "extreme" sport that looks intense.  In some ways it resembles normal climbing with ropes, carabiners... (which I tried once indoors in Ann Arbor (thanks to Mical's hippie boyfriend) and was sore for weeks) but ice climbers wear crampons (scary ice pick boots) and use ice axes!

Above: one guy on the ice waterfall and one guy on the ground is "bellaying" him (thank you Wikipedia)

Does this look fun to anyone?

Brrrrr

Most famous of all the waterfalls - known as the "Cathedral"

Photo taken with Scott's go go gadget arm since we didn't want to disturb the ice climbers

We walked up the gorge to get to the closest ski resort called Marmolada.  Marmolada is the highest mountain in the Dolomites.  This resort is part of the Dolomiti Superski which includes hundreds of slopes.

 Scott completed the Sellaronda ski tour which covered over 40 km of pistes (aka - ski runs)

After a long day on the slopes, we met up at a bar with an indoor fireplace and had some table wine (only $1.75 a glass, Buonissimo!)

(Whose hair is scarier - my slick grease locks or scoots sweaty fro?)

Later, we enjoyed a delicious dinner at the local pizzeria

Menu= tough decisions: Cured horse's meat topping (sorry Tash)? Or the American pizza topped with fries?

We opted for the caprese salad, antipasta, and a perfect anchovy spinach pizza 

Fresh mozzarella in Italy is totally different - Scott thinks it's the local mountain cows

Our last day was amazing since it snowed and the conditions were perfect!  We had a blast and met some local Italians who introduced us to Grappa.  These locals were in great spirits!  "Chin chin" we toasted as we discussed world politics and sang Diamonds in the sky.

We then headed back to the gorge and squeezed onto Scott's snowboard.  I was reminded of how exhilarating it is to go night sledding!

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I sat on the back and held on tight

Arrivederci!!

Delicious Creations & Fasching Celebrations

As I already mentioned, I am still learning how to accomplish my various "house frau" duties.

One task that's especially new to me is the act of matching and folding socks.

I find this chore completely ridiculous but Scoots has a very organized system so I make sure to follow his sock drawer protocol at all times.

The frau activity I truly enjoy most is cooking!  Every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday morning there is a wonderful market in the Church parking lot next to our apartment.  I can buy fresh bread, herbs, eggs, cheese, fish, and amazing produce from an assortment of local vendors (pics to come when my iphone is repaired)

I have been making a lot of Moroccan mint tea.  It's really easy: just combine fresh mint and loose leaf green tea in a French press and let soak in boiling water for 5 minutes

Refreshing and delicious!

The lady at one produce stand, we call her Mary, must think I am a charity case (perhaps it's my very non-euro early morning disheveled appearance: sneakers, pajama pants, and scraggly hair).  Mary always tosses extra fruit and vegetables in my bag, usually bruised and over ripe items, and shouts "gratis" so I know they are free.  Sometimes these donations look really nasty but I have found creative ways to use them thanks to my trusty Vitamix machine (the greatest blender/food processor ever invented).  I made fresh applesauce after cutting all the bruises off the apples and adding fresh ginger and orange juice.

This past week we celebrated the German version of Carnival or Mardi Gras. 

 Germans in the predominantly catholic regions, like Stuttgart, celebrate pre-Lenten festivities in grand style!  According to a local website, "the Fasching parades start on “Schmotziger Donnerstag” (Greasy Thursday). The Swabian word “schmotzig” means lard or grease and refers to the opulent food eaten during Fasching, such as “Fasnetsküchle” (Fasching doughnuts)."  Ira, my donut connoisseur father, would truly love this festival!

We got to wear masks and party at a local beer house with other expats and plenty of wild Germans

Before we went, Scott performed surgery on my mask so I would be able to breathe and stay hydrated.

Our friends Joe & Mariel joined us as a Vampiress and a Scottish redneck (Joe wore an authentic kilt)

There were many stellar costumes but the one below takes the cake!!! Perhaps my African soul mate?

He even had a yamaka on top of his furry hat!

My mask was both fashionable and functional thanks to this lovely engineer's drilling skills

Germans love dancing on tables and singing "Sweet Caroline"

Germans also love scarves

I was so excited when I saw this German doppelganger of Ernie (Leigh-Ann and Stacy's German buddy who owns a Riesling vineyard)

I hope his teeth are part of the costume but it's doubtful

Settling into Stuttgart, finally!

Vogelsangstrasse 33 is our new address and we are so excited to be unpacked!

Since I am not working, I have truly embraced my new role as house frau!

In the past, we had an amazing cleaning lady (oh how I miss you Dircy) but now it's impossible to justify paying someone when I have no job and no kids.  Thus, I am certain that I have cleaned more in the past week than I ever have in my entire life.  I would like to take a few moments to brag about my swifter (both wet and dry) skills.  Years of varsity field hockey accounts for my impressive reverse swifting techniques.  Swifting dusty wood floors while jamming out to Earth, Wind and Fire is truly enjoyable.

(super clean floor- space for future dining room table)

We have been decorating but I hope to keep our home as uncluttered as possible.
These books are very helpful:

Friend (s) now you can see the towel warming rack- they sell millions at Bauhaus (German Lowes)

(notice Scoot's collection of grooming products hanging on the door)

The steam room is incredible!

After sitting in it for 5 minutes, you feel just as detoxified and flexible as you do at the end of a 1.5 hour Bikram (hot yoga) class.  The steam room also makes a perfect meditation center since its quiet and cozy.

Candles and Buddhas

The shrank was delivered and it only took 2 beefy Germans 4 hours to put it together (my father in law, Skip, could have done it in 2)  

doors slide and all of our clothes fit

Scott's even got a work pants section - ohh lala

We were invited to Monday night trivia at the Irish pub downtown.  It was packed with all ages (16 legal drinking age in bars) and nationalities for a total of 24 teams.  Our team is a bunch of military guys who were really fun and welcoming.

Trivia was challenging since the lady asking the questions did not speak fluent English so sometimes the first step was just figuring out the question.  For example:  She announced into the microphone: "Question #10 How many ten tacos does an octopus have??"

Pondering teamates

Question #187 (there were many rounds) - "What was the fashion craze during the summer of 2005?"

The guys were sure the answer was Crocs but my new friend Mariel (from LA) protested.  The official answer was actually "boho gypsy skirts" (seriously???).  I had promised Mariel that Scott was a music aficionado and would be a great contributor for the music round but not surprisingly he excelled in the academic categories: "How much does a liter weigh?" (Answer= 1 kg).  My guesses were pathetic and my only correct answer was a reference to the sitcom Cheers.  Oh well, the draft cider at this bar was delicious.