Oktoberfest 2008

Today we ventured out to Oktoberfest. Me, Andy, and Lili were first-timers.

















To sum it up, Oktoberfest is an annual event celebrating Munchner culture and of course to drink lots and lots of beer. We saw loads of people (tourists and locals) dressed up in traditional garb. The fair grounds including the buildings (a.k.a. tents) are built from ground up every year starting in about August for this 2 week event. Each of the local breweries have their own dedicated 'tent', which are lined with tables and equipped with a live band. There are rides, games, and souvenir and food vendors on site...kinda like Playland.

(The Paulaner Tent)

We arrived at about 1:00 p.m. and there were loads of people for a Monday afternoon. The tents were already full and there was no way we would get a seat inside. Apparently people go at 9:00 a.m. right when the doors open to secure a spot. Otherwise, people can try to reserve a table a year in advance. Generally, once seated inside people don't leave until the evening.

(Example of a tent)

We spent the afternoon checking out the different tents and walking around gawking at drunk people. Apparently different tents house different crowds, for example HB is known for the rowdy English and Aussie crowd. The family eventually settled down for beer and chicken at a beer garden.

Here's Andy with his first and last beer. He downed 1 litre of 6.5% (higher alcohol content at Oktoberfest) beer in about 1 hour. He quickly turned bright red and went a bit loco after that! That's my boy!

Here's the after picture! Anyway, we didn't get the true Oktoberfest experience this time, but I think we need to do a group Oktoberfest trip! Who's in?

Andy and I are flying to Greece tomorrow afternoon. I doubt we'll have internet so no updates! See everyone in less than 2 weeks!

Back in Munich

So the family has made it back safe and sound. We finished off our trip with a full day in Verona, which I must say is a really nice city, much nicer than I expected. I think what made the difference was our guided walking tour, which I highly recommend. We learned all sorts of neat facts about Verona, the history of Romeo and Juliet, the Italian Mafia, and political issues that divide Northern and Southern Italy. I think both Andy and I had a better time in Verona than Florence!

Today we left Verona on Lili-time (as per usual) and drove to Innsbruck, Austria. There we walked around town and had a nice lunch on a sunny patio before heading back to Munich. It's funny to think we visited 3 countries in just one day!

All in all, I've quite enjoyed my 3rd time in Italy. Even seeing Florence, Siena, and Pisa again was nice after 6 years. However, I've had enough pasta and pizza to last me for several months. I think the best meals we've had here included large portions of meat...the Italians sure know how to do a steak!

That's it for now. We're spending the afternoon at Oktoberfest tomorrow and then doing some shopping on Tuesday. Andy and I fly to Santorini, Greece on Wednesday for a week. We're looking forward to it, but we'll miss Lili!

Last few days in Italy

We're finally staying somewhere with WiFi! Hooray! I miss having internet at the tips of our fingers!

Anyway, with so many days already gone it's hard to feel motivated to blog about what we did. For the sake of documentation in case you guys ever want to do this kind of trip in the future I'll do a whirlwind summary...

We left Munich for Italy on Sept 14th. Our mode of transport was a Peugot 7-seater van (rental). Thank god it's a diesel. We were able to get 900 km on one tank of gas! Gas by the way is much more expensive out here, about 1.40 Euro/L.

Our first stop was Tignale, Italy which is located on the west side of Lake Garda (Italy's largest lake). We stayed at Hotel Gallo (www.hotelgallo.com) which is a typical 3-star. This actually worked out to be pretty cheap with breakfast and dinner included. The important thing is that it was convienient since travelling with a 5-month old isn't easy! We were in Tignale for 3 nights and basically took day trips to the surrounding towns (Limone, Toscalano, etc.). The driving terrain here is pretty crazy...lots of turns, hills, narrow and unpaved roads. Good thing Tino and Andy are capable drivers, although we're probably returning the car with no brakes, clutch, or suspension.






















After Tignale we headed south towards Tuscany. We stayed at San Giorgio (www.san-giorgio.net) which in a nutshell is an old converted farmhouse 4 km outside of Siena. It's pretty much off the beaten track with the famous rolling hills of Tuscany its backyard. The way to and from San Giorgio is on a dirt road that really only fits one car at a time or one flock of sheep (which we enountered). Our place was a 2-bedroom apartment that cost 65 Euro/day (in total). We stayed at San Giorgio for 7 days and again took day trips in the country side (San Gimignano. Monteriggioni, Chianti region, Montipulciano, etc.) The family also spent one day at a local thermal bath. On our last full day in Tuscany Andy and I ended up doing a solo trip to Florence for the day to give Denise, Tino, and Lili a break. We didn't know where to park the car so Andy set the GPS for a parking gargage in the heart of Florence which was a bad idea, but of course we found that out the hard way. Our van barely fit on some roads and Andy got a bit freaked. It all worked out fine though. Florence was pretty much the same for me compared to 6 years ago, but there were loads of tourists! Andy was turned off by how busy it was, but I guess that's to be expected since we've just spent a week in the country.






















After leaving San Giorgio we headed northwest to Pisa for one night. Denise, Tino, and Andy had never seen the leaning tower so we decided to make a trip of it. I think everyone would agree that it was time well spent.


























So this brings us to today. We arrived in Verona this evening after shopping at a mall and outlet. We're at a bed and breakfast (www.bbinthesun.com) for 2 nights. Again the road that brought us here was crazy. I think we barely made it up. Cars just have to constantly backup until there's space to pass because 2 cars just won't fit!

So that's it! I'm really enjoying spending time with the family. Andy and I love Lili more and more each day even though she sometimes goes by the name of Satan. Her cries make Auntie Christine a bit loco at times, but the "awe" moments make up for it. I'll post up pics when we're back in Munich! Ciao!

We're here!

Andy and I have arrived safely in Germany albeit the long way. Our flight unfortunately was delayed about 7 hours and the airline gave us an option of flying to LA instead and then catching an immediate flight to Germany. This way we wouldn't miss our connecting flight to Munich. Besides this disaster Andy almost made us miss our connection anyway because he's not very good with military time, but in the end it all worked out.

So here we are and we got to meet Lili for the first time. She's super cute! I think I love her more than I did before...if that's possible! She gets a little crazy when she's tired or hungry, but who can blame her? I think Andy is quite smitten with her too.

Our first day here was pretty mellow. It's Sunday and all the shops are closed. We went on a long walk with the baby and then Andy and I spent a hour at the Deutches Museum. We leave for Italy tomorrow afternoon.

Disclaimer: This blog will contain a countless number of Lili pictures...be warned!


















Lili almost eating carrots.






















Lili not liking Auntie Christine.















Happy Lili!

Counting down the days...

Went slightly overboard shopping for Lili this weekend! I'm not exactly sure how to fit it all in our packs, but we'll find a way. She's going to be the most stylish baby in town!






I don't think she likes monkey very much! Poor monkey!

Just over one week to go and I get to see this cute bald thing in person!

Baby Lili

This is my little niece Lilian Sophia Schuldt. She was born two weeks early on April 25, 2008 at 4:04 p.m. She weighed 2770 g and was 49 cm long. I can't wait to spoil her!

Almost Home...

Andy and I are finally back in Munich and not a minute too soon if you ask me. Egypt was a great experience to do once in my life, but it's honestly not a place I'd have a burning desire to go to again. I would definitely recommend seeing the sites there though; the Pyramids, Valley of the Kings, and the Egyptian Museum top my list of things to see before you die! Anyway, I think I'm ready to come home, but not to work...hehe.

Like I said before, Egypt is dirty and hot. I wonder how it compares to other poorer Asian countries? We pretty much stayed in 3 star hotels the entire time, but by North American standards they were like a 2 or worse...kinda like a motel where you don't want to touch anything. In fact at the resort in Sharm as we were getting let into our room there was a gigantic cockroach on the bathroom door. It was no big deal to the bell man, but Andy made him hunt it down and kill it! Yuck!

Our Egypt itinerary went pretty smoothly, almost everything according to plan. We did Cairo and Aswan without a hitch. From Aswan to Luxor we did an overnight felucca trip along the Nile and then got picked up by a police convoy to go to Luxor. A felucca is a boat that Egyptians used to use to transport themselves and stuff on along the Nile in the olden days. These days it's just used to entertain the tourists. It's pretty much just a sail boat with no cabins. We had two Nubian crew members manning the ship and cooking our meals. At first the felucca was pretty neat. It's incredibly relaxing and we spent a lot of time just snoozing and talking. Things took a turn for the worst when Andy started to get a funny feeling all over. We all thought it would pass and he even took a dip with Tino in the Nile, which is very brave considering the books tell you not to...something about parasites swimming up the urethra (just kidding!). Andy didn't get any better as time went on (even with the Egyptian bud...go figure). He was definitely having an "Egyptian belly" aka traveller's diarrhea and he was feeling a bit feverish. He assured us he didn't need to be brought to the local doctor, so we went on with our boat ride. We knew poor Andy wasn't doing too good when he got off on the island where we docked for the night to use the toilet and he thought the donkeys were talking to him. He made it though and he didn't even lose any weight...double screwed! In the end we all thought it was heat stroke.

Luxor was literally like an oven! We hardly survived our first day there walking around looking at the sites. We were pretty happy to get out to Sharm and Dahab, which are resort and beach towns. I'm proud to say that I snorkled even with my fear of water! Thank god Andy was there or else I probably would have drowned! The experience was pretty cool. The coral and fishies just swim around you, although I could have sworn they were planning an attack on me in the beginning. Kill the weak one, right...hehe. Every one but me ended up getting a sun burn, but I look pretty much black now. Even Andy looks less atomic white now, except for the private bits...just ask him to show you...hehe...no nude tanning for him.

Yesterday we took a flight from Sharm back to Cairo and then Cairo to Munich at 3:30 am. We had loads of time to kill so we asked our driver to drop us off at the biggest mall in Cairo and boy was it BIG. If you read my last entry I said that most Egyptians are poor...well I take it back. The Egyptians I saw were poor. This mall was gigantic! Bigger than anything we have in Vancouver and it kinda reminds me of an Edmonton Mall minus the amusement park and water slides. Anyway, that teaches me not to make assumptions! I think there's quite a large gap between the classes though. There are definitely quite a large number of under privledged citizens in Egypt.

Well our time is coming to an end. I think Andy and I are just going to chill out here in Munich until Saturday when we fly back to Vancouver in the morning. I can't wait to see every one. I'm definitely a different person than I was when I first travelled. Before my trips used to be about "finding" myself or being enlightened some how, but not so much these days. Travelling really opens your eyes, but more importantly it makes you appreciate what you have, which unfortunately we all need reminders.

Here are some last comments and thoughts. See you guys back in Vancouver on Saturday!

- Metal detectors are every where, even some made out of wood?
- It's possible to smuggle guns in any Egypt airport. Just tell them it's your belt beeping.
- The Egyptian pounds are the dirtiest money I've ever touched. They smell like poo!
- We all road camels! Mine liked to eat garbage. Camel toes are cute.
- Every one here is almost always named Ahmed or Mohammed.
- There's police everwhere, but our guide said their guns are probably too old to work.
- Water pipes are fun! It's like blowing bubbles, but inhaling.
- My deodorant finally was destroyed. I ended up using Andy's Axe and noticed a lot more ladies checking me out...but Andy thinks they were lesbians...he's just jealous!

That's all folks! See you all soon.