Thoughts from Munich

VirtualBox and CentOS - a technical success story

2010-12-04T15:37:00.000+01:00

Most of my readers are probably firmly in the Microsoft Windows world when it comes to using a computer. What is Microsoft (MS) Windows (in any one of its many incarnations, whose most common and recent members are Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7)? It's the operating system (OS) of the computer - for most people computers aren't very usable without an operating system. The operating system sits on top of the hardware and provides the complete logic for everything you see when running a computer - it connects to and registers various hardware devices while booting, like graphics card, sound card, mouse and monitor, and provides functions like user management, a graphical user interface (GUI), process management, and much more. The operating system does not include things like web browsers, mail programs or office suite programs (yes, there are alternatives to MS Office, see OpenOffice).

There are many other operating systems, some with restricted niche usage (RISC OS), some belonging to museum shelves (Amiga OS), and others are often used in the worlds of servers and computer programming. In recent years the many flavors of Linux have played an important and ever-growing role in this group. As a programmer I have long preferred working with Linux, and my work PCs always had Linux (usually SuSE) as their primary operating system. In particular the command shells in Linux are powerful tools for the programmer, making it easy to perform a variety of programming tasks.

For those (like me) who like or need to work with more than one OS on a single computer, there are couple of possibilities. One possibility (which I had always used on my private PCs) is to install the second OS parallel to the first, and offer a choice at booting which OS should be started. The advantage of this method is that the technology is fairly old and well understood, and the OS being run has access to the full hardware resources of the computer. The disadvantages include the fact that switching OS requires a new boot, and that the necessary change to the MBR (Master Boot Record) of the computer can render certain functions inoperative - for example, while my laptop was configured to dual boot Windows 7 or SuSE 11.2 I couldn't use the suspend to disk function, nor could I perform a full system backup (which gave me the incentive to try the following alternative).

Another possibility is using a so-called Virtual Machine (VM). A virtual machine makes it possible to run another operating system "in a box" within another OS. The programs that make this possible are getting better all the time. There are commercial programs available such as VMWare and there are also free alternatives (at least for private users), such as VirtualBox.

I already knew that my new employer (starting January 3rd) uses CentOS Linux, a variety of Red Hat Linux. Since I have plenty of time this month before starting my new job, I decided to try out CentOS on my laptop, and to circumvent the problems I'd had with my dual boot system by using VirtualBox on a Windows host.

When using a virtualization program we talk about the host system and the guest system. The host system is the system which runs the virtualization program. The guest system is the OS running inside the virtualization program. The guest system then runs inside a window of the host OS, and you can switch between programs operating in both systems with a click.

Finally it's time for a picture. After installing VirtualBox (I have 3.2.12) and starting the programm, you'll see a screen similar to this (click on this image and the following images to see a larger version):

On the left side you see my virtual CentOS, which is running. To establish a new virtual OS you need an installation medium for that OS, such as a CD, DVD or downloaded ISO image. A virtual hard drive for the guest sytem is created on the host hard drive in the form of a .vdi file - this file is not normally readable by the host OS.

I got CentOS 5.5 up and running within a few hours, which I found quite acceptable considering I hadn't done this that way before. This includes wireless networking, which works in a completely transparent way - my wireless card, up and running under Windows, is seen as a normal (virtual) network interface in the guest OS which doesn't need any additional configuration, not even the wireless password.

It's now possible to run the guest system in seamless mode - that means that windows of programs running in the guest OS float like normal windows in the host OS. Here's an example:

Here you can see the open browser window (in Windows 7) where I'm writing this blog post. Overlaying that partially is a command shell window from CentOS. I can click back and forth between the two windows without any other switching overhead. You might notice at the bottom of the screen that the KDE task bar is visible above the Windows task bar - I can choose any running program from either OS.

The alternate to seamless mode has the complete guest OS running within a self-contained window:

Here CentOS is running in the window on the right side of the screen, and all programs running under the CentOS VM are contained within that window. This certainly helps avoid getting confused when switching between the operating systems!

So far I've noticed no unpleasant side effects. I allocated 40 GB of my ample hard drive to CentOS; at the moment I'm giving it only 512 MB of RAM from my 4 GB - if I notice problems when doing heavy compiling I might up that a bit. I made one of my Windows partitions visible to CentOS, so I can open documents and other files if needed from the guest system. Networking was absolutely easy.

In summary - I imagine this post might be a bit boring to some of my regular readers, but I was just so excited about this technical success story I had to share it with you. And maybe expand my readership in the process.

The Kindle - First Impressions

2010-10-26T12:55:00.000+02:00

Two Weeks of Kindling

I've now had my Kindle for nearly two weeks, and it's time to share some of my impressions with you.

After unpacking it I immediately charged it up and synched it with my Amazon account. Actually it was already synched - Amazon preconfigures them. I connected it pretty easily to my home WiFi network (I have a prodigiously long, difficult password). I downloaded some new books and some old books. In a short period of time my Kindle was playing host to:

Shakespeare's collected works
Trollope's collected works
Gulliver's Travels
Pride and Prejudice
Effective Java
What Technology Wants
...and a few samples of other books.

Thanks to Amazon's E-Ink technology the text is wonderfully easy to read, even in fairly dim light. This presbyopic reader is happy that the text size and spacing can be quickly changed, allowing me to adapt for reading with or without glasses.

The Kindle always remembers the farthest point I've read to in every book, and syncs this point with the mobile Kindle app on my Android phone and iPod touch (and back to the Kindle).

Another feature I didn't know about but really like - it comes with the New Oxford American Dictionary and the Oxford Dictionary of English installed, and if I move the cursor to the beginning of a word a small pop-up at the top or bottom of the page shows me the definition of the word.

Turning pages is pretty fast, depending on the text size - it seems to be faster if the font is larger (which is logical). With the font I normally use turning the page takes maybe a second at most. Page turning, which of course works in both directions, is done with the two buttons on either side of the device (you can see them in the photo above). One small quibble is that it's fairly easy to turn a page inadvertently, especially while carrying the device. You can always engage the screen lock, so that's not a major problem.

The Kindle 3 has an experimental Web browser, but frankly that's not very useful. Google Mail does load, but the rendering is slow. I'll stick to my Android phone and iPod touch for mobile browsing.

It's really wonderful reading on the Kindle in bed - I have an old volume of Shakespeare's collected works, but it's much too heavy to rest it on my chest. With the Kindle I can indulge myself in the Bard soooo easily!

In summary - I'm glad I indulged myself and bought it. I'll still be reading "normal" books for a long time to come, but I'll tend to buy new books purely electronically. Saves paper!

To Kindle or not?

2010-10-07T11:12:00.000+02:00

Yesterday I posted an innocent question on my Facebook Wall: "I'm starting to think seriously about getting a Kindle. Anyone want to convince me (or dissuade me)?" This post drew more feedback than any single status update I've ever made on FB. First off, to those who responded - thanks very much for the feedback, I really appreciate it!

The feedback could be grouped in three rough categories:

Buy one - they're great!
Buy an iPad!
Oh my god, another useless electronic toy - paper books are so nice!

(I'm simplifying here, and I don't want to disparage anyone's response!)

I can deal with group 2 (the iPad group) fairly easily. I'm not seriously considering getting an iPad right now for a variety of reasons:

It's too expensive
I already have an iPod Touch, buying an iPad would remove a large part of its justification for existence (though I couldn't imagine using an iPad as a music player while jogging).
It's too expensive

Note that I'm not even considering the merits of the iPad as an eBook reader compared to a Kindle (or other eBook readers). The iPad is just out for me. Sorry, rabid Apple fans!

Group 1 also includes those using other eBook devices, such as Sony's. I hadn't really seriously considered other devices since I'm such a devoted Amazon customer, but maybe I should.

I have a number of reasons for finally considering buying one of these things and leaving Group 3, where I was happily domiciled until now. First, let me say, I love paper (aka "real") books. I have many, many of them. There are always several stacked on my nightstand. I usually bring a couple with me on any vacation. Some of them have been my friends since my childhood. They are precious.

But the "many, many" aspect is a problem. I'm an apartment dweller, and will likely be one until my warranty expires. I hate throwing books away, even books I know I'll never read again. My dream has always been to have a room (a large room) with books on all four walls, ceiling to floor. This dream is not likely to be realized though. So I'm forced to prune my book collection at least once a year. It hurts.

The books I usually buy fall into a few general categories. A big category is "the classics". This is probably about a third of my current book population, and I never throw them away. Dickens, Hugo, Shakespeare, Austen, Trollope, Gaskell - these are books I read many times. I've already read Les Misérables three times (sorry to brag, just had to work that in, hélas!). Another big category is history. I never throw these away, either. I don't know if I think the Battle of Gettysburg might turn out differently the next time I read about it, or if Nixon might drop the Watergate cover up the next time. I could imagine reading these electronically, though. Another big category is contemporary politics and other current events books. I rarely read these things more than once, but since I read them when they're new, they're usually in the form of bulky, expensive hardcover books. I see a strong advantage in only buying them electronically.

I have some experience with reading books electronically already - I have the Kindle application on my Android phone and on my iPod. The Android app is quite handy - at the moment I'm reading Trollope's Barchester Towers on it. I always have my phone with me, so if I find myself in the subway for 10 minutes without anything to read I can join Septimus Harding and Dr. Grantly for a time. It drains the battery pretty fast though, and the screen is smallish.

Some of the interesting thoughts in this thread on my Facebook Wall (I hope no one minds that I quote them, but I won't use any names here):

"If you're on the beach and a wave washes across your paperback, you put it on a bench to dry and it's fine. If you misplace a paperback on a train in Central Eastern Europe it's not a big deal. If you want to carry on a running dialogue with your book, you underline, write in the margins and bend pages."

This is a pretty standard argument - I've never had a wave wash across my paperback, or misplaced a paperback on a train (or anywhere else). And I'm not a big underliner or page-bender. Even if I were, I understand I can do something like that with most eBooks.

"I think the concept is sound. But it might be better to go with whoever might ultimately have access to the best library. You'd want to be able to transfer content to future devices. Can a Kindle file be moved to an ipad or vice-versa?"

A good point. I think the Kindle uses a proprietary format, which might be a reason to consider other devices (if they're available in Germany). Of course, the Kindle's format might become the standard format...

"One of the things I am curious about is how the "digital rights management" stuff works with electronic books. For instance, if I buy a good old fashioned book, I can lend it to you. I know I can't copy it, but I can let someone else use it. Can you do that with an electronic book? By the way, I do not think I ever returned the copy of Jack Nicklaus's Golf my Way you lent me in 1976."

Gee, I'd forgotten about the Jack Nicklaus book (thought I think that was a joke)! An interesting point with DRM and eBooks. But it's not a real frequent use case for me.

"We've been having the same discussion in our house. I'm curious about what happens when you travel with a Kindle or iPad overseas - either stateside or in Europe. With the Kindle there may be extra charges on downloads if you're roaming, even using the wifi connection."

WiFi never carries roaming charges (as long as the WiFi itself is free). The 3G connection would of course incur extra charges, but I suspect it simply doesn't work in countries other than the one you bought the Kindle for. If I buy a Kindle for Germany, 3G usage is free in Germany but probably not in Italy. Means I have to download my books before I go on vacation.

"Some think e-books are crass. But there's reason to think they're more enlightened than heirloom leatherbounds. Better use of resources, especially space ... and unostentatious. Also more mentally-stimulating, if they increase the total amount of worthwhile reading."

They're unlikely to increase the amount of my reading, but I like the idea of using fewer resources (especially space). Heirloom leatherbouonds feel pretty cool, though (don't have any of those).

"We don't need a larger amount of worthwhile reading: we need more CAREFUL reading of ESSENTIAL stuff. Techne reigns. Read Heidegger. Read Nieztche on aphoristic reading. You're in Germany for gawd's sake. Just sayin'. (Think of Tommy Howells!)"

(Tommy Howells was a legendary Whitman English professor, for those not in the know). I agree with careful reading of essential stuff. But just as you can enjoy a well-cooked gourmet Italian meal and yet eat a bag of Cheetos, reading has its fast food as well, and I think it's completely justified. Haven't got around to reading Heidegger or Nietzsche yet, don't know if I will (I do need and want to get around to reading Thomas Mann though).

My conclusion: none yet, I'm going to explore the alternatives available Germany. Being able to download books over 3G is not really a killer feature for me, since WiFi is generally available. There's little German content available now on any platform. I'm not going to buy an iPad in the near future. I'll let you all know if I buy one!

The LKH - private insurance doesn't always work well

2010-10-05T13:55:00.000+02:00

No, this post is not about fundamental issues of health insurance, merely an observation on a significant inefficiency at my private German insurer. I thought I had posted some info about the German health system in the past, but I see that isn't the case - definitely something I need to do. But not now. I just want to spout briefly on some annual madness at my German insurer, the LKH (Landeskrankenhilfe).

The LKH actually provides me with excellent health coverage (at a fairly hefty price). On the rare occasions I've had to talk with a representative there they've been friendly and helpful. But they have an amazing systemic flaw. They offer a good deal to policy holders - if you only submit (i.e. mail in, it doesn't work online) bills at most twice a year, they give you a 5% rebate on your tariff for the next calendar year. Given current interest rates that's a decent yield, as long as you can finance your doctor visits and prescription drugs yourself for a six month period. I always try to adhere to this.

Here's the rub - the insurance rates are always set on a January-based calendar year for all insurees, and the cut for the rebate is always September 1st for all insurees. Guess what that means? If you submit your receipts at the beginning of September (as I just did), it takes them at least six weeks to process them, since they're obviously overloaded.

Dear LKH, here's my question to you - why can't you make the September cut more flexible, perhaps making the cut on everybody's birthday? I know, there are some issues with timing in regard to the rates for the following year, but surely that could be worked out and your employees would have a much more even workload - and your service would be better for customers.

Why don't I switch to another insurer? Well, that's a tale for another post...

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2010-07-05T10:39:00.000+02:00

No incisive political or cultural analysis this time, no typical Webber humor - just take a look over at the left side of the page. There's a new gadget there; if you enter your email address you'll be notified any time I publish something new (a few of my trusty readers already get a mail, because I added your address to a list by hand). I promise you won't be spammed (at least not by me), unless you consider my writings to be spam - but in that case you're probably not reading this. Go ahead, add yourself to the list, share this with your friends (and enemies).

The president of Germany

2010-07-03T15:47:00.001+02:00

On June 30th Germany elected a new federal president (Bundespräsident in German). The 10th federal president of Germany is now Christian Wulff, 51, until now the prime minister of Lower Saxony, a German state. Christian Wulff is a member of the CDU (Christlich Demokratische Union). The media outside Germany have scarcely been aware of this event, yet it was accompanied by a great deal of drama in Germany. What happened? What's the role of the German president? Is there any wider significance?

What does the German Federal President do?

The German Federal President (I'll refer to the office as Bundespräsident from here out for simplicity) has a largely ceremonial office. Like the Queen of England, the Bundespräsident is the offical head of state. Like the Queen of England, most of his activities (there has not yet been a female Bundespräsident, who according to the rules of German grammar would be the Bundespräsidentin) are ceremonial - greeting foreign heads of state, giving speeches, awarding prizes. The Bundespräsident also signs bills into law; this normally happens automatically, but there have been a few cases in the history of the Bundesrepublik where a Bundespräsident refused to sign a bill, most recently in October 2006. The Bundespräsident normally has a term of five years, and may be reelected. In terms of prominence the office probably the most important next to the Bundeskanzler and the coach of the German national soccer team.

How is the Bundespräsident elected?

This is where it gets complicated and interesting, though not as complicated and interesting as the American Electoral College. It's as if the Germans wanted to emulate that system with its complexity, but chickened out before it got quite so bad. Still, the Bundespräsident is not elected via popular vote. Instead a special electoral college, the Bundesversammlung (Federal Convocation) is convened. This body consists of all members of the Bundestag (Federal Parliament) and an equals number of members selected by the state parliaments. This year the total number was 1244. The Bundesversammlung meets in the Reichstag in Berlin to do the actual electing. In the first two rounds an absolute majority is required to elect the president, in the third round a simple majority suffices.

Each party represented in the Bundestag can nominate its own candidate; typically parties in a coalition government agree on a single candidate. This year the Berlin ruling black/yellow coalition (CDU and FDP) agreed on Mr. Wulff as their joint candidate; in opposition the SPD and Green party agreed on a single candidate (more on that later); the opposition Left party (Die Linke) also put forth their own candidate. Oh yes, the right-extreme NPD (also known as Neo-Nazis), with three members out of the 1244, nominated a candidate. Usually the parties nominate a prominent figure connected to their party; on occasion they select someone outside the realm of politics.

So what happened this year?

The first unusual event was the resignation of Horst Köhler, the incumbent. Köhler had been re-elected to a second term as scheduled in May 2009. On May 31st of this year he unexpectedly announced that he was resigning, effective immediately. To this day no one knows exactly why he quit. He said it was a reaction to criticism of some remarks he made about the Bundeswehr (the Germany army) serving in Afghanistan; he said this criticism was inappropriate and showed a lack of respect for the office of the Bundespräsident. There has been much speculation about his real reasons; so far that has remained speculation.

To replace Köhler a special Bundesversammlung was called for June 30th. The ruling coalition of CDU/CSU and FDP quickly nominated Christian Wulff, a generally well-liked politician who at one time had been treated as a possible future chancellor, but whose star seemed to have reached its zenith. Everyone thought he was a good choice, as well as a skillful chess move by Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel - by making him president, she effectively removed him as a possible rival (no one, as far as I know, has ever gone on to an important elective office after being Bundespräsident). It looked like the coalition would have 644 votes, in theory giving a Wulff a clear majority in the first round of voting.

But the opposition SPD and Greens were clever. As their candidate they nominated Joachim Gauck, a former DDR pastor who became well known through his support of civil rights in the last months of the DDR, leading prayer meetings and protests. After reunification he was chosen to run the office which had the difficult job of securing, ordering and analyzing the voluminous files of the DDR secret police, the Stasi. This became known as the "Gauck Behörde", the Gauck Office. He ran this office in a pragmatic way for ten years, until 2000. Since then he has been a frequent guest in political talk shows and on the lecture circuit. Gauck is well-respected as one who risked his personal freedom to protest against the DDR, and who handled his difficult job with the Stasi files extremely well. His political views are probably closer to the ruling coalition than to the SPD/Greens, but he is a respected intellectual with strong personal integrity - an ideal candidate.

There was a great deal of muttering in the coalition about the unseemly quick choice of Wulff as candidate, without much discussion. Many in the coalition are extremely disappointed in the government, which was elected ten months ago with a sizable majority but has accomplished little since then. There was speculation some coalition members might defect and vote for Gauck.

Another delicate aspect of the election is the Left Party (Die Linke). This party is composed of mostly East German former members of the SED (the ruling party of the DDR), and disaffected Social Democrats from the West, led by former SPD Chairman Oskar Lafontaine. This grouping has been growing in strength in recent years, and has formed coalitions in state governments with the SPD and Greens, but so far a coalition at federal level has been taboo. As mentioned above, they were running their own candidate for Bundespräsident, the sociologist and TV journalist Luc Jochimsen (a woman). If the Left delegates would vote for Gauck, and if enough coalition delegates defected, he might be elected. Still, it seemed pretty unlikely - it would be unprecedented for so many to vote for the opposition candidate. Yet Gauck had broad support from the public; according to polls, shortly before the election it was running about 42% for Gauck and 36% for Wulff, with most of the rest undecided. Of course, that was largely irrelevant - but politicians are known to look at polls, aren't they?

The election

The election started at noon. The first round: 600 for Wulff, 499 for Gauck, 126 for Jochimsen, 3 for Rennicke (the NPD candidate), 13 abstaining. Wulff was 23 short of the absolute majority. This was an enormous shock. It was thought that he might lack a few votes from the coalition, but no one expected so many defections that he wouldn't be elected in the first round. In comparison - when Köhler was elected for the first time, he was elected in the first ballot with one vote more than an absolute majority; it's thought that about ten members of the CDU/CSU/FDP coalition defected that time. But here Wulff should have had 644 votes, so the defections were massive.

The second round was in the late afternoon: 615 Wulff, 490 Gauck, 123 Jochimsen, 3 Rennicke, 7 abstentions. Still short of an absolute majority. Still, this result would suffice in the third round - but what would the Left delegates do, and how much did the coalition delegates want to punish their government? The delegates withdrew to their caucuses, their leaders urged them to unity. The Left Party withdrew Jochimsen from the third round of voting, but refused to recommend their delegates vote for Gauck. He is not a well-loved figure in the Left Party - they have had a number of members whose past Stasi activity has been revealed by the Gauck office.

The final round was in the evening, the results were announced around 9:30 pm: Wulff 625, Gauck 494, 121 abstentions. Wulff was the tenth German Bundespräsident.

The aftermath

It had been speculated that Merkel's government would collapse if Wulff were not elected; that it took three rounds was not quite as bad for the government, but nonetheless a very bad result. So far nothing dramatic has happened, but the recriminations between and among the coalition partners have begun.

And it looks unlikely that the SPD will form a federal coalition with the Left Party soon.

Vienna

2010-06-03T09:08:00.009+02:00

Introduction

Instead of a chronological account of our time in Vienna I'm going to organize this by themes, in the hope that it will be more interesting and more useful (should anyone happen to find this blog).

We landed at the Vienna airport Friday morning, and flew back out Monday evening, so we had nearly four full days to enjoy. I had only been here for a one-day business trip a year ago; Anja auditioned for some artists' agencies a number of years ago, but was only here for a day or two, and mostly concerned with singing, not with sightseeing. Our previous impressions were thus very limited.

Our hotel, the Hotel-Pension Shermin Apartments proved an excellent choice. The room was modern, clean and relatively spacious, and most important – extremely quiet. The personnel was friendly and helpful. It's located only a five-minute walk from the subway station Karlsplatz, and directly next to a tram stop.

Before our trip we ordered a Vienna Card for each of us online. This includes an unlimited 72-hour transit pass (which is not valid to/from the airport), and a number of coupons offering rebates on museums and shopping. My advice: if you're not a relentless museum junkie just by a transit pass separately. It's much cheaper, and many of the museums offer combination tickets with others that save just as much money. The public transit system is excellent – most of the subway lines operate in a five-minute rhythm throughout the day, there are many tram lines which also have a frequency between five and ten minutes.

We were fortunate with the weather – Friday was perfect, Saturday nearly so, there was just a brief downpour Sunday afternoon (but little sun thereafter). Monday was colder and showery.

The Viennese

There's a widespread prejudice that the Viennese are unfriendly and arrogant, most notably the waiters. We found this absolutely untrue. Everyone should spend an hour in the famous Cafe Landtmann near the Burgtheater.

These are the most famous waiters in Vienna. I suppose their manner could be misinterpreted as arrogant, but actually they put on a wonderful performance, with wry humor. When a lady put her damp umbrella on a wooden shelf, the waiter asked her with courtesy way to place it in an umbrella stand instead, showing her many potential resting places for her umbrella, but please, not the expensive woodwork!

Everywhere else we found only friendly, helpful people, whether in our hotel, in museums, in cafes, or in shops. Perhaps the tales about rude Viennese were started by German waiters to deflect from their own frequent lack of courtesy.

The Food

Vienna is a city with an international face. I've rarely seen a higher concentration of Japanese restaurants in Europe or North America. And of course there are plenty of Chinese, Greek, Hungarian, Italian and just about everything else restaurants. Oh yes- there are typically Viennese restaurants too.

A highlight for foodies is the Naschmarkt (literally Snack Market). This is Vienna's answer to Munich's Viktualienmarkt, or Seattle's Pike Place Market.

Stretching in two long, crowded rows along the Wienfluss, a small stream, it offers almost anything you could want to eat: cheese and salami from Italy, spices from the Middle East, produce from all over the world, meat and fish, falafel, hummus, marinated feta cheese. There are many small restaurants and cafes offering everything from Vietnamese food to traditional Viennese.

We had some of the best falafel I've ever tasted there. Our other dining experiences in Vienna included a wonderful Italian restaurant near our hotel (Ristorante da Gino e Maria) and several Viennese restaurants. We weren't overwhelmed by the latter – the cuisine is pretty similar to Bavarian. I highly recommend avoiding the big touristy restaurants in the inner city and looking for smaller places in the neighboring districts. One place we liked is called Ubl.

The Drink

The staple of Vienna is called a Melange – this is very close to cappuccino, but is apparently made with a milder coffee roast than cappuccino. We tended to punctuate our wanderings through the city every hour or two with a melange in a street cafe; we never found a bad melange (by contrast I've had tasteless cappuccino in Italy and elsewhere). Most places have it available in decaf as well. Of course regular coffee is available, and Viennese mocha is very good.

Wine is actually produced within the city limits of Vienna, and local wines are widely available. These tend to be fairly light white and red wines. The best place to try local wines is at one of the Heurigen, especially those in the wine-producing areas like Grinzing. See the separate section on Grinzing.

Beer is also prevalent, but there are not as many smaller breweries as in Germany. Confusingly, beer is served either in a Krügerl (a half liter) or a Seidl (a third of a liter).

Grinzing

We visited Grinzing Friday night with several goals: have dinner at a Heurigen, see the Beethoven museum in Heiligenstadt on the way, find Mahler's grave in the cemetery in Grinzing, and see the Mahler house in Grinzing.

There are at least two easy ways of getting to Grinzing from downtown – we chose to take the U4 subway to Heiligenstadt. Beethoven fans will know that Heiligenstadt is the former village he often spent his summers in; the place he wrote the famous “Heiligenstadt Testament” in the summer of 1802, when we was driven to despondency by his increasing deafness. The house he lives in is now a museum. From the description in our guide book this looked like a pleasant walk, followed by a short walk onward to Grinzing. When we left the subway station though we were dismayed by the surroundings; it was as if we had stepped out onto somewhere around N. 145th and Aurora Ave. in Seattle. We quickly decided not to try finding the Beethoven House on foot; instead we jumped on a bus headed to Grinzing.

I don't know I missed in the Beethoven museum, but taking the bus on to Grinzing was surely the right decision. The road to Grinzing was mostly through a modern suburb with little charm. Only when we approached the center of Grinzing (now within the Vienna city limits, but once a village) did the scenery improve. We got off the bus and tried to find the Grinzing cemetery – and Gustav Mahler. From the maps we had it looked as if it should be simple – but we walked in the heat for a good half hour, increasingly feeling our 4:30 AM rising that morning. We asked a gentleman passing by - “Just 100 meters straight ahead, then left.” We walked more than 100 meters and found no trace of a road or path to the left. Finally we gave up and decided to look for a place to have dinner, of course a Heuriger.

A Heuriger is a Viennese tradition, a rustic restaurant serving simple dishes and its own wine, often with live music. The name comes from “heurig”, referring to this year's wine. The Heurigen in Grinzing tend to be somewhat touristy, but Grinzing is perhaps the easiest “Heurigenort” to reach with public transit. As we approached one restaurant recommended to us, a bus load of tourists piled into the courtyard ahead of us. We decided to try something else. Nearby we found another place (there are many in Grinzing!) that was already pretty crowded, but we found a table outside. It was a delightful dining experience, mostly because of the atmosphere and the wine – the food and service were average at best. Obviously we didn't find Mahler's house either.

We took the tram (line 38) from Grinzing back to downtown, which was more pleasant than taking the bus back to Heiligenstadt. We were left to wonder what Heiligenstadt and the vicinity must have looked like 200 years ago when Beethoven was there.

Zentralfriedhof (Main Cemetery)

Vienna used to have many small cemeteries closer to town, but in the mid 19th century they were rapidly running out of room. Planning for the future, the city opened one central cemetery on the outskirts of town, hoping to cover all needs for the foreseeable future. The Zentralfriedhof is the second biggest by area in Europe (nearly 2.5 square km), and the largest by “population” , with close two 3 million registered burials. Most of the older cemeteries were closed to new burials. Originally heavily criticized as unattractive and too far from town, today the cemetery is reachable via tram and light rail, and has a wonderful mix of trees and open, meadow-like areas.

We took the light rail line to get there (the S7, the same line that goes to the airport); the station is on the far side away from the main entrance, yet close to an open gate. This area of the cemetery is the “Old Jewish Cemetery” - fascinating and profoundly sad. The grass grows long, in places head-high (I've been told that this is a Jewish tradition – does anyone know whether that is true?) Most of the graves here are from the epoch around World War I – there are many family graves, doctors, lawyers, teachers, shop owners, and many who were killed in action – dying for a country which killed most of their families 25 years later. I don't want to start a discussion here about the Nazi regime in Austria – I just found much to reflect on. Many of the headstones have been restored recently – since 1991 a society named Shalom has restored and repaired headstones and graves.

The Zentralfriedhof has a monumental church, and near the church several sections of Ehrengräber (Graves of Honor). Here can be found the graves of Beethoven and Schubert (moved from other, older cemeteries), Brahms, the complete Strauß family, Schönberg, other musicians, and many famous politicians (local and national), actors, writers and others. I was moved to find the grave of Leonie Rysanek, a famous opera singer with whom I once worked at Seattle Opera.

The only cemetery I've seen that compares with this is Père Lachaise in Paris – but there the famous graves are scattered everywhere, in Vienna they're compactly organized. I found it ironic that many Viennese local politicians are buried in such proximity to Beethoven, Nestroy and others – the former are probably mostly forgotten (quick – who was on the city council of Seattle in 1957?), the latter will never be forgotten.

Composers

Probably no city can claim so many composers of the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries. The list of graves above bears witness to this, and walking around town you see plaques everywhere proclaiming “Mozart lived here”, “Beethoven lived here”, or more likely, “Here stood a house where Mozart lived”. There are museums for Beethoven, Mozart, Schubert, Haydn, Strauss, Mahler, and probably other composers I'm not thinking of at the moment. For the first three there are at least two museums or memorials apiece. We visited the house Mozart lived in for the longest period in Vienna, during which he composed “The Marriage of Figaro” among other works. This was a charming museum, giving a good feeling for how he lived, with household items similar to things he might have owned. I found this much more interesting than the Mozart Birth House in Salzburg.

We also visited the Pasqualati House, where Beethoven lived at several different times (he moved very frequently). He composed his Fourth, Fifth and Seventh symphonies here, “Fidelio”, and other works. The museum is small (and you need to climb a narrow staircase to the 5th floor), but features a Broadwood piano similar to the one he owned, and a few miscellaneous objects he owned (a sugar box). Definitely worth a visit if you're a Beethoven fan, but not as impressive as the Beethoven House in Bonn.

The Inner City

If Johann Strauss went for a walk in the Innere Stadt, he’d probably recognize it, but Beethoven or Mozart would not. The inner city is a roughly circular area bounded by a ring of streets where in Mozart’s day the city walls stood. Most of the buildings seem to date from the late 18th to the late 20th century, with the exception of the many churches, most of which are even older. And of course the Habsburgs’ city palace, the Hofburg, which evolved over centuries.

The main shopping mile, which runs roughly in the form of a cross from near the State Opera (an impressive building!) with interruptions north to the Danube canal (not very blue), is larger than in any German city I’ve been in, and is completely interchangeable with any of them. You see the same stores here you see anywhere in Europe (or much of the world) – H&M, Douglas, Benetton, C&A and more. If you’re looking for “Old Vienna” it’s easy to be disappointed, but if you look hard, especially to the north and east of the Stefansdom, you can find some old narrow alleys. Confusingly, practically every street in Vienna is called “Gasse” (Alley), but most of them are streets in any sense of the word.

The inner city is dominated by St. Stephans (Stefansdom), a mighty cathedral. Unfortunately it tends to be overrun with tourists, making it difficult to wonder at the architecture inside and out in peace.

I was planning to write about Schönbrunn, the Prater and more, but this post has already reached epic proportions. So I'll break off here, and hopefully continue soon. Some pictures will be posted on my Facebook profile for my FB friends, and I'll post more to Flickr.

The Euro - a big mess

2010-05-20T14:53:00.002+02:00

Stunning my readers by emerging from long silence, it's time to finally make another topical post. My nose and sinuses are nicely recovering from recent surgery (as my Facebook friends know), work is a bit quieter, and there are no looming concerts. So I thought I'd take advantage of all that to comment on the current world financial crisis, which revolves around the Euro. Not that I'm particularly well qualified to comment on financial matters. I mean, I read the Economist every week, and I possess a modest number of Euros in my bank account. But I didn't study economics or political science, I'm not one of the famous German "5 Wise Men of Economics". I know, I should probably translate the name with "5 wise persons" - but unfortunately they've never had a female member. Anyway, you should take anything I say here cum grano salis, as they say.

So anyway, at issue here is the fact that the Greeks are in a bit of a pickle because as a nation they've been living way beyond their means for years. For quite a while after they joined the Euro (which they were only able to join by cooking their books) they lived high off the hog, their economy stimulated by the below average interest rates made possible by Euro membership. Essentially the thriftiness of the Germans carried over to the interest rates they paid.

But they failed to deal with the endemic inefficiencies and corruption in their economy. And as the world economy grew worse, their ability to compete grew worse. Germany reformed some of its labor laws in the past decade, cutting unit labor costs and raising productivity. Greece neglected to do this. The markets started to notice and the interest differential they had to pay for government bonds over the rate on German bonds grew. Two weeks ago they were downgraded to the level of junk bonds. Many in Europe decried this as evil speculators trying to destroy the Euro, but I see it as a rational reaction by investors.

The great fear is that if Greece is forced to default, or even leave the Euro, it could provoke a domino reaction in Portugal, Ireland, and possibly even Spain and Italy. All of these countries have problems with the government deficit (though in most cases not higher than the US federal government deficit); Portugal, Spain and Italy also have problems with an overly restrictive labor market and consequent high unemployment.

So the wealthier European countries, together with the IMF, are getting together to create a fund to be used to prevent any Euro member from having to default. € 750 million are being put aside for this purpose in the form of guarantees. If everything goes well the guarantees won't be needed. If things don't go well, it's going to be hugely expensive for German taxpayers, among others. Of course the German tabloid press is going to town with this, headlines blaring "We're the idiots paying for the Greeks' early retirement" . But they all miss one small important point - German (and French) banks are among the larger holders of Greek government bonds. If the Greeks default, it's really going to hurt the German and French economies (and quite a few others).

So on the whole I think Europe is doing the right thing by attempting to prevent a Euro meltdown. It will be necessary to attach tough conditions for economic reform. Frankly, I think labor market and tax collection reform are more important in the mid to long term than just fiscal restraint. Fiscal restraint alone could kill the economies.

Just my two Euro cents!

New sound files posted

2009-12-17T09:32:00.002+01:00

I can't believe I haven't posted anything here since early October. Well, I've been very busy at work, and preparing for the song recital on December 4th (which was very successful). I posted a couple of mp3's from that over at the usual place, - for now just the Beethoven sonata I played (Op. 90 in E minor), maybe later some of the songs, if Anja agrees to let me post them.

I will try to post a few things here in the near future, but no promises. I guess I do owe some sort of Christmas letter, though with my vacation reports over the past year, it will probably be shorter than the past couple of years.

A weekend in Belgium

2009-10-10T13:22:00.003+02:00

Last weekend Anja and I took a four-day vacation to Belgium. "Belgium?" you might say. "Such a small country - what can there possibly be to see and do there?" "Isn't that where Hercule Poirot was from?" Yes, Virginia, Belgium is a small place, and that's where the mythical detective was from. But there's an awful lot to do and see there. I was in Ghent briefly on a business trip in April, and I liked what I saw so much that we booked a holiday weekend shortly thereafter.

The flight from Munich to Ghent takes only slightly more than an hour; the plane is mostly full with business travelers. Ghent itself doesn't have an airport, it's a 50-minute train ride from the Brussels airport.

We stayed at the Hotel Flandria Centrum, a small, inexpensive but cozy hotel. Americans used to large rooms and modern facilities might not care for it, but we found the owners friendly, our room was quiet and clean, the breakfast was excellent, and there was free Wi-Fi. It's located in the old town, only minutes away from the Sint-Baaf Cathedral.

For those who love beer, Belgium is definitely a place to visit. Depending on whose list you see, Belgium is reputed to have at least 800 different kinds of beer, most of which are very hard to find outside of the country. That's fine - beer doesn't travel well, I'm a firm believer in drinking it where it was made. There are lighter beers in a Pilsener style, and heavier dark beers which start at around 6.5% alcohol and go up for there. Be careful!

The food is good too. Belgium is famous for its french fries (I believe they claim to have invented them); they eat fries with almost everything, and they're quite good. There are many meat and fish dishes, and numerous ethnic restaurants - Moroccan, Turkish, Thai, and more. Prices are somewhat higher than what we're used to in Germany.

Ghent is a wealthy city with a long history, and was fortunate to avoid serious damage in the wars of the twentieth century. We walked around the city for hours, enjoying the churches, cathedrals and houses of wealthy citizens from past centuries. There's also plenty of shopping, starting with hand made chocolates.

While there we also took a day trip to Bruges, which is only about 20 minutes from Ghent by train. The town is like a postcard. It's beautiful, but packed with tourists. Ghent is more of a real town, it also has a famous university.

I've posted quite a few photos to my profile on Facebook, and will probably upload some or all to Flickr. So in lieu of a detailed travelogue here (see Puglia), I'll just say: visit Belgium, you won't regret it!

foxNav is here!

2009-08-11T10:18:00.005+02:00

OK, this post is shameless advertising for Jentro's newest mobile application (Jentro is my employer, for those who didn't know). foxNav is a mobile navigation application which has just been uploaded to the Android Market for the UK and the BlackBerry App World (also for the UK and Ireland). I know most of my legions of readers are in the USA; sorry, a US version is not immediately in the cards, but could come in the future. Other European releases are planned for the near future, as is a version for Windows Mobile smartphones. You need to have one of the supported BlackBerry models (with GPS) or an Android phone (currently HTC Dream, HTC Magic, Samsung Galaxy or HTC Hero) to use it today.

So what does the application do? Here's the quote from our description in the BB App World:

foxNav turns your BlackBerry phone into an advanced GPS navigation system.

- Vehicle and Pedestrian navigation.

- Automatic up-to-date NAVTEQ map material included at no extra charge.

- Traffic avoidance and safety cam alerts included at no extra charge.

- Large Point of Interest database for local search (e.g. parking, petrol stations, restaurants).

- Clear speech announcements and spoken street names for minimal driver distraction.

- Support of 7 digit UK postcodes.

- Quick and slim download – requires just 2.5 MB on your phone.

- Intuitive menus and touch screen enabled use.

- Backed by Jentro, winner of numerous navigation, location based services and innovation awards

- More than 500,000 users trust Jentro’s navigation solutions

The fee, charged through BlackBerry App World covers unlimited navigation within Western Europe for 1 year.

How about some screenshots? Here's the main menu (in landscape mode):

And here navigating in map mode (BlackBerry, this looks cooler on Android phones):

Even if you can't use this solution yourself, help us spread the word (viral marketing). If you know someone in the UK who might be interested, tell them!

Puglia Day 13 - return to Munich

2009-07-18T17:01:00.004+02:00

After breakfast we had the unpleasant surprise of no electricity. The whole B & B was dark; judging by Alessandro's reaction this must be a common occurrence. He didn't offer us any assistance at all. We were just about finished packing, and there was enough light from outside to finish. But it seems that the water pump is electric; there was enough water in the pipes to flush the toilet once. We brushed our teeth and washed our hands with mineral water. To be sure, Alessandro (our host) offered to bring us a pot of water, but after waiting many minutes for this to materialize we improvised, using the light from the open door and the white screen of my navigation device. Summary of Il Gallo felice - a pretty but small room, beautiful garden, good breakfast, but the host was rather strangely withdrawn.

With loads of time to kill before our flight we stopped in Locorotondo near Martina Franca. Another hot day that soon had us wilting. After refreshing ourselves with a caffe granita, we meandered through the old town.

The town was small, but especially charming. A wedding was underway in the cathedral. We stepped in briefly, the spectacle was moving. Tasteful, restrained Baroque, full of light.

With hours to go before our flight, we decided to stop off at the Grotta di Castellana. This is a well-known cave, the largest in the area. Some German tourists told us early in the trip that it wasn't so special, so we really hadn't planned to go there. But the heat was wilting and the idea of escaping it for a while underground didn't sound bad. It was necessary to take a guided tour; there were two options, a one-hour tour and a three-hour tour. We didn't have the time for the three-hour tour. The one-hour tour (which was really only about 45 minutes) was spectacular - quite apart from the pleasant coolness in the caverns (about 61°), the caverns were of majestic beauty. Photography was not allowed, so to get an idea follow the link above or this site.

After this visit it was time to head to the Bari airport, where we needed to return our rental car by 6 PM. Everything went fine there, our flight was slightly late (practically every other flight from Bari was massively late), but on the whole nothing to complain about.

Puglia Day 12 (Egnazia)

2009-07-18T16:49:00.005+02:00

On our last full day here, I wanted to do something more outdoorsy, despite the threatened heat. One highlight we had missed was the archaeological excavation at Egnazia near Monopoli, a city with Bronze Age roots that ceased to exist in the Middle Ages after being sacked by a variety of enemies. The site consists of a museum, the necropolis with graves from the Bronze Age up till Roman times:

and the partially excavated Roman and early Christian era city.

Especially amusing was the sign in one corner of the park to the effect that snake repellent had been applied, but visitors should be careful nonetheless. We didn't see a snake, but dozens of lizards.

To recover from the heat we looked for a beach along the coast, a few hundred meters away. Here we relaxed for most of the afternoon before heading back to the Gallo to get cleaned up for a 'fancy' dinner at Ciacco, a restaurant highly praised in our travel guide. On my second snorkel of the day I saw a good-sized octopus, a beautiful animal about as big as a dinner plate.

Our dinner at Ciacco was marvelous; we dined on a rooftop terrace. We let ourselves be talked into a three course dinner, but with only half portions for the primo and secondo. As we should have expected by now, it was way too much. But all very good, typical local cuisine with local ingredients and a Puglian wine (Cappello del Prete). We ended up leaving half of our secondi, wondering how many pounds we gained on this vacation!

Puglia Day 11 (Ostuni)

2009-07-18T16:20:00.007+02:00

I started this day with a somewhat upset stomach; Anja was feeling just fine, although we ate exactly the same thing the night before. Perhaps one of my clams or mussels was past its sell-by date, or maybe it was the water in our B & B, which had a strange, oily smell. In any case we drank only bottled water for the remainder of our stay at the Gallo Felice.
After I decided I wasn't going to die, we drove to Ostuni, a town of about 32,000 quite close to Martina Franca. Like most of the towns here, it has a long an illustrious history. Today it is known as "The white city", the reason for which is apparent as one approaches from any direction (see the photo on my previous post).
We found a place to park for a modest fee in the newer part of town, and headed on foot to the old town. We found the old town quickly and without difficulty, arriving at the square near the town hall with a spectacular statue of the patron saint, San Oronzo:

After a cappuccino we got ready to reconnoiter the old town. The tourist office was near the main alley ascending through the citta vecchia; a visit there revealed some of the weaknesses in the tourist infrastructure unfortunately typical in the Mezzogiorno. An English couple was trying to find out where they could play golf; the gentlemen in the tourist office spoke absolutely no English (and obviously not German either). Fortunately I was able to help translate. I asked about one of the (for me) major attractions, an archaeological museum. I was told that it was closed for renovation. Later as we walked by the museum (located in an ex-church), I looked in vain for any sign that it was closed for an indefinite period of time.

The old town was charming, indeed very white; we walked about for an hour or so. Here is a sampling of some of my favorite pictures, without further commentary:

As lunch time approached, we looked for a place to eat. The town is really not ready for tourists in mid-June - most of the restaurants were closed, as were the only two public toilets we found. (OK, usually we rely on the cafes - order a cappuccino, use the bathroom.) After looking for at least a half hour, we found a small, unassuming trattoria just outside the old town and decided to take a chance (there weren't any other customers, which perhaps explains why the others were closed). We were rewarded with an excellent, inexpensive meal. The bathroom was also quite clean and functional, not at all a given in the Mezzogiorno. Unfortunately we didn't note the name, I think lt was 'Vecchia Ostuni'. In any case it's just below the massive statue of San Oronzo and to the right, in case anyone is visiting Ostuni soon.

After hanging around at the Gallo Felice for the rest of the afternoon (my stomach had recovered), we returned to Martina Franca for a very light dinner, just a snack, really. We settled down at a sidewalk cafe in the old town, ordered two beers and two focaccie and enjoyed an hour and a half of people watching (refilling the beers in the process). There were quite a few French tourists. An attractive couple with a little boy sat down next to us: when they left, Anja surprised them by wishing them 'Bonnes vacances'. We were amazed at how much traffic there was in Martina Franca at this hour, even at 8:30 as we headed back to our B & B. We were also beginning to understand the Italian system for driving by this time.
We dispatched the last of our bottle of local wine on the terrace, where we were rewarded by the appearance of several tiny geckos - trying to become big geckos.

Puglia Day 10

2009-07-18T15:42:00.007+02:00

Writing this in Munich, where it's been raining all day and the temperature is only 55° at 3:30 PM, really brings home how great this vacation was!

On Sunday, June 14th we took leave of Conca Marco; grandmother Palumbo, who runs the place with three of her sons, was very kind. We very much enjoyed the stay at the Villa Conca Marco; the only thing we'd complain about was the mattress, which was hard as granite. We slept OK, but every night had the feeling as we slept (and woke) that our backs were slowly cramping.

Off to Martina Franca!

The drive took about one and a half hours; my Tom-Tom didn't find the best route. Along the way we were rewarded with a spectacular view of Ostuni, which we would visit the following day.

Finding the B & B (Il Gallo felice) was a bit hard; it was located on a local road to the southwest of the town, and there wasn't a sign or anything. But find it we did, and the room was quite nice, if rather small. But our room was actually in a trullo, so it's no wonder it wasn't too spacious. Il Gallo felice (The Happy Rooster) is a small, family-run operation - as far as we could tell, mother and son. It's set among olive groves and gardens. The owners' aged, arthritic golden retriever, Rocco, seemed to take a liking to us.

After unpacking we made a brief jaunt into town to check things out. As expected, all the shops were closed. Martina Franca made a nice impression - the entrance to the old town is through a beautiful baroque gate:

On the other side of the gate is a square with the town hall on the right and a beautiful fountain in a small grove:

Later that evening we found a restaurant on one of the piazzas that was open shortly after 7. We were the only customers. The restaurant was located in a beautiful curved arcade:

There seemed to be a large number of dressed-up people in the streets of the old town; a poster near the basilica revealed that a special Mass was being held at 7 followed by some kind of procession. Shortly after 8 the procession started. There were men wearing liturgical costumes of a sort (looking more like nuns in our eyes), groups of Catholic Boy and Girl Scouts (as far as we could tell), altar boys carrying incense pots, nurses (nuns of course) wheeling people in wheel chairs, priests, singers, and more. Through the magic of modern technology the songs and prayers were transmitted along the route of the parade by wireless microphones and loudspeakers.
The parade only lasted about 15 minutes where we were sitting; afterwards we were finally able to view the interior of the basilica. Yet another stunning example of late Baroque. As we made our way back to our car, we discovered the parade was still going on - a wonderful festive atmosphere.

Puglia Day 9

2009-07-12T16:48:00.002+02:00

Today was pretty much a lazy day, as I indicated in the previous post we were starting to get worn out with sightseeing. We went to the beach in the morning, but there was a cool, stiff northeast wind and it was so choppy that we didn't even go into the water. The kitesurfers were having a great time, though, and we enjoyed watching them.

Around five we drove back to Otranto, where we were determined to have dinner in the pizzeria mentioned in a previous post (bet you thought I forgot). At 7 PM we were the first patrons, but it quickly filled up, mostly with Italians (always a good sign). We both ordered a green salad and a pizza. The pizzas were very cheap, around 5-6 €. We noticed that others were ordering a half pizza; the reason became clear when our pizzas came; they were enormous, but delicious. I stupidly insisted on finishing mine, which I paid for with a very full stomach that made it difficult to get to sleep later. By the way, searching diligently we found a bookstore in Otranto with a few English books.

Puglia Day 8

2009-07-12T16:23:00.007+02:00

OK, I'll keep this one relatively brief. At this point in the trip we were starting to get overwhelmed by the many delightful towns and villages in remote southeastern Italy. Today we drove to Gallipoli, a coastal town of about 20,000 to the west of Lecce. I have no idea if the name has anything to do with the Gallipoli peninsula in Turkey, site of an infamous campaign in World War I. I'll leave that as an exercise for the savvy reader (please report back if you learn anything).
Gallipoli is yet another BST (Beautiful Seaport Town), as you can see here:

The town is on a narrow peninsula, and has the typical narrow alleys of all these BSTs. So narrow in fact, that it was impossible to get a decent photo of the facade of the cathedral:

We were especially impressed by the facades of many houses here, not only the typical variations on white, there were many colorful buildings:

After our picnic lunch, custom made in a butcher shop, we headed back east via Lecce. Anja was running out of reading material, and most of these small towns don't seem to have much in the way of German or English books. I was reading John Grisham in Italian (with lots of help from the dictionary), at the rate I was going I wasn't going to need anything new soon.

We parked close to the old town, near where we'd parked a few days before. The city was like a ghost town (it was a Friday afternoon). We knew that the G8 finance ministers were having a meeting here, we'd seen the preparations on our first visit. But we didn't imagine to what extent the city was closed down. There were police and security guards everywhere, all the shops were closed, and it wasn't even possible to enter the old town if you weren't a resident. Sadly, we headed back to the Conca Marco, pondering what Anja could read next (she was leery about trying my Trollope in English).

At the Conca Marco we quickly changed to our beach things, later we had dinner again at San Foca, where we both tried horse for the first time ever (Dale Cosper: if you're reading this, I'm sorry!) The Italians seem to be quite fond of horse; it was quite good, tasting pretty much like beef but with a slightly different note reminiscent of game. The restaurant in San Foca has oven-roasted potatoes that are to die for!

Puglia Day 7

2009-07-12T14:52:00.008+02:00

The day began at the beach, but it was windy, the surf was up, and snorkeling wasn't possible. After a shower back at the ranch we drove a half hour down the coast to the wonderful historic town Otranto. The town has a natural harbor that was used by early Greek seafarers, around 700 B.C. they founded the town Hydrus here, which later under the Romans was called Hydruntum. I guess you can see how Hydruntum became Otranto; it helps if you pronounce both as if you had your mouth full.

As usual in those parts, the town passed through many hands in the course of the centuries. In 1480 an event happened which left its mark on Otranto's history like the Chicago fire or the San Francisco earthquake. The town was attacked by a Turkish fleet with 90 galleys, 40 cargo ships and 18,000 soldiers. After a two-week siege Otranto was captured. 800 men who had fled to the cathedral and refused to convert to Islam were beheaded.

That's all far in the past, but I'll show you a few things in Otranto which show that the tragedy of 1480 is not forgotten. Just before the entrance to the old town you can see a monument to the martyrs of 1480.

The old town is entered through a gate in the massive town wall.

(To the left of the wall is a pizzeria, which will later find a place in this narrative.) The old town, as might be expected, is a labyrinth of charming narrow alleys and dead ends, going uphill. We visited the Castello at the the top of the old town, which was disappointing - they charged admission (which is reasonable enough), but there was actually little to see inside. At least we were rewarded with a fine view of the harbor.

After some searching we found the cathedral, which goes back to at least 1088. An impressive building, which is famous for its mosaic floor, conceived and laid out by the monk Pantaleone between 1163 and 1165. The figures show scenes from the Old Testament, historic figures, and scenes from everyday life. This gives a weak idea of the effect:

A side chapel, the Capella dei Martiri, exhibits the skeletal remains of the 800 martyrs, stacked up in several glass-fronted display cases. Gruesome and yet very moving:

After wandering around the old town for several hours on yet another warm, beautiful Puglian day, it was time for some refreshment. We thought it would be way to early to think about eating dinner (it was only around 6:30), but we thought a cold beer would tide us over until the restaurants would start serving food. We noticed an inviting bistro/restaurant where a few others where having a beer or cocktail outside, and sat down. As we were waiting to be served, we noticed the daily specials, including a reasonably-priced seafood antipasto. The waitress asked us if we wanted to eat dinner, "we haven't decided yet" was our answer. The beer tasted wonderful! Actually, we had been planning to go to the pizzeria outside the town walls mentioned above. But the ambiance was pleasant, and we decided we were to lazy to get up again. So we ordered dinner. Naturally starting with the seafood antipasto. The owner of the restaurant (I assume), a lady around 60, made a couple of suggestions for our main course. We accepted without thinking too much about it. The antipasto came, followed by the main dish, which was also fish. Of course we had wine with dinner. Everything was quite good. When the check came, we learned the useful lesson that it's a good idea to ask how expensive a recommended dish is - the total was 100 €!

Puglia Day 6

2009-07-04T17:28:00.004+02:00

Well, if I'm going to finish this travelogue before our next ski vacation I'd better get cracking. On the other hand, I know Goethe didn't publish his experiences travelling in Italy on the next day (seems like almost every little town in Northern Italy has a sign saying "Goethe slept here"). But I digress. What was going on back in Puglia?

On our first morning way in the south of Puglia we drove to Lecce after a simple breakfast (the usual croissant and cappuccino). I picked a location on the edge of the old town that was supposed to have ample parking, and my TomTom took us there reliably. It was another hot day, unfortunately the parking lot didn't have any shade. Oh well, at least it was cheap and gave the impression that no one would be breaking into cars there. Of course, we didn't leave anything in the car!

Lecce is worth a trip. A city of about 100,000 inhabitants, and the capital of the eponymous province. It's history goes back into pre-Roman times, and after being sacked by first the Ostrogoths, and later conquered by the Byzantines, Saracens, Lombards, Hungarians (what were they doing there?) and Slavs, reached a period of stability and increasing importance and wealth from the 11th century, after the Normans took over.

Starting around 1630 a number of Baroque monuments were built, the most notable being the Chiesa di Santa Croce, with an absolutely amazing Baroque facade. There's no spacious square around the church, so photographs don't give much of an impression. Still, here's a closeup of the facade:

We walked around for hours, admiring the many churches and cathedrals which must remain nameless here. We discovered a delicious local specialty, espresso poured over ice cubes with almond syrup. Just the thing on a hot day!

This shows another favorite of mine, one of the few combination wine and book shops I've ever seen - they even had tastings:

Check out many more photos of Lecce that I posted to Flickr. It finally got too hot for us, and we drove from there directly to the beach. I was delighted to see a cuttlefish while snorkeling - it looked like a small grey football, except it changed its color and shape with amazing speed, even to the finest details of vegetation and detritus on the sand. I also saw many specimens of what I believe to be nudibranchs. Alas, I don't have an underwater camera, so no photos.

Dinner that night was in the small seaside village of San Foca, at the (for us) decent hour of 7:30.

Puglia Day 5

2009-06-21T16:48:00.008+02:00

We hit the road after a breakfast that included freshly squeezed OJ from Sicilian oranges and fresh cherries from the trees of our landlady. The traffic on the four lane highway was light. We left the highway after Brindisi to have more scenery.

We stopped for a cappuccino in San Cataldo, a small seaside village, in a tiny joint that had numerous old photos which seemed to glorify Mussolini. Very bizarre! The Italians have never come to terms with their past as well as the Germans have.

We arrived at the Villa Conca Marco around 11:30, the reception was very friendly.

A welcome change from Il Casale dei Fornici! After unpacking we headed for the beach. Conca Marco has a semi-private beach with free use of lounge chairs and umbrellas for its guests.

Also Heineken on tap (not free, alas). We spent several hours there, swimming, sunning and snorkeling , then came home to shower up. Conca Marco is located in the midst of olive groves and fruit trees; they were just putting the finishing touches on a large swimming pool while we were there. They also had a donkey on the premises, who periodically made his presence known with piteous braying. Also a friendly little black dog (Signor Cane), who had the run of the place. And many, many small lizards of the sort found everywhere in Italy.

And we had our own private gecko (at times, at least), who hung out in the hallway outside our room:

After our showers we set forth to explore nearby villages. The fortified village of Acaja (sometimes spelled Acaya or Acaia) was interesting,

on the coast the seaside resort San Foca had a beautiful yacht harbor. We opted for dinner back at Conca Marco. We hadn't opted for the so-called "half pension" because we prefer trying out a variety of restaurants on vacation. The meals at Conca Marco are cooked by the Nonna, the grandmother of the resort. Dinner was OK, a massive portion of the typical orrecchiette, grilled pork cutlets, oranges and ice cream, an endless supply of local red wine. Our stomachs were severely stressed due to the sheer volume of food, we resolved to eat somewhere else the next night. We slept fairly well, except for the dogs and the donkey who made their presence known from time to time.

Puglia Day 4

2009-06-21T16:24:00.003+02:00

This was our last day near Polignano a Mare, we wanted to have a quiet day. In the morning we drove to Gioia del Colle, a town of 27,000 to our southwest. It's a charming town with an impressive castello,

built by Frederick the II around 1230. Otherwise there wasn't all that much to see, after a cappuccino we returned to Il Casale dei Fornici and spent the afternoon swimming, reading and jogging. We went to Polignano for dinner, and had an excellent pizza al fresco near the church in the old town. They were putting up what looked like a theatrical stage, it turned out to be part of the preparations for the weekend festivities honoring S. Vito Martire.

On our return to the albergo we noticed with horror that preparations for a party were underway - buffet tables were being set up around the swimming pool, a sound system was installed. It was 9:30 PM! At first I thought it must be for the next day, but Anja thought we should ask to be safe. Yes indeed, there was to be a wedding post-function, but not to worry, it should end by 2 AM! We worried, and expressed our displeasure. Unfortunately the owner of the Casale wasn't there yet, none of the employees present had the authority to decide anything. Of course they couldn't cancel the party, but we expected them to at least find us other accomodations. Finally a phone call was made, a room was found in a B&B up the road. We were extremely angry - they could have told us at breakfast that a party was on for the night, and offered then to move us. Il Casale dei Fornici earns primarily from receptions and parties, the few hotel guests almost seem to be an irritation to them. Certainly the owner seemed to see it that way. We definitely would not recommend this place to anyone!

So at about 10:30 PM we packed everything together (the party hadn't even started yet!) and drove about 2 km to Le Vigne, which proved to be a small, you might say "classical" B&B with a very friendly owner. The night was quiet - we had our best night's sleep up to now. And she served us the best breakfast we had our entire vacation.

Il Casale dei Fornici remains a bad memory.

Puglia Digression: Driving in Southern Italy

2009-06-21T16:04:00.002+02:00

Most people - even traffic-hardened Europeans - are at first aghast at the driving habits of Italians in the Mezzogiorno. I was. No one seems to obey any traffic laws, in the towns pure chaos seems to reign. At the wheel your blood pressure rises as you look nervously left, right, behind you, ahead of you.

But after a while you start to realize that, if not exactly a system, there is some kind of method here. The prime principle seems to be: It's all a game. In Germany or the U.S. tailgating is aggressive, and causes aggressive responses. But in Italy the tailgater is simply getting into position for the next chance to pass, and will happily stay there for miles if necessary, without intending any aggression. In town if you wait passively at a side street to merge into the arterial, you can wait for a long time if you don't take any action. But just start to nose your way into the flowing traffic, and they'll let you in. The same applies to pedestrians. Stand at the side of the road, even at a pedestrian crossing, and no one will stop for you. But take one step into the road - wherever you are - and they'll let you cross.

I checked recent statistics, and Italy's rate of traffic deaths is about the same as Germany's, and considerably lower than in the U.S. I guess that's all those 16 to 18 year olds - on the continent you need to be 18 to get a driver's license (in most countries).

The roads themselves are in varying condition. The four lane highways in Puglia compare well with most U.S. freeways (the speed limit is 110 km/h, but see rule 2 below). The local roads range from quite good to abysmal. Road markings are scarce in any case. Highway police are rarely seen; frequent signs refer to the use of radar, but they seem to be fakes. Around Lecce they are starting to put in red light cameras.

While in Puglia I tried to construct a system of (light-hearted) rules describing the way driving works in the Mezzogiorno:

Absolutely do not obey any road signs or laws. They're meant for drivers who are less skilled than you.
The true speed limit is the posted speed limit plus 1 km/h for each year you're under the age of 60.
"Do not pass" logically means don't pass if you can see a vehicle coming in the other lane.
If you use your turn signal too often it might break, so don't bother. Besides, everybody knows where you intend to go.
If you drive while talking on your cell phone (without a hands free set), obviously your concentration will be higher.
Drive as closely as possible to the car in front of you, this utilizes the road space more efficiently.
If you're having an important conversation with others in your car, be sure to slow down considerably so you don't miss a word. Don't forget to gesticulate with your hands so they understand you! Bonus points for talking on your cell phone at the same time.
If a pedestrian looks like she knows what she's doing, don't worry about her - she can obviously take care of herself.

I was glad to be driving a rented Fiat with full collision coverage! A smaller car is much easier to drive in Italy.

Puglia Day 3

2009-06-20T16:48:00.005+02:00

After a pleasant Sunday breakfast on the terrace, a friendly employee (maybe the daughter of the owner - we never found out) showed us how to turn on the air conditioning. I guess understanding how to operate modern air conditioners is a prerequisite for life in Puglia, but this otherwise tech-oriented northerner had a deal of difficulty throughout the trip.

We decided we were ready for the beach, so we drove to a beach south of Monopoli. Many of the beaches in Puglia are operated by concessionaires, who operate snack bars and rent umbrellas and lounge chairs. There was a large Sunday crowd at the beach, the atmosphere was friendly and very family-oriented. The actual beach was tiny, not much more than 20-30 yards wide. Only a few feet into the water the bottom was covered with stones and rocks that were slippery and difficult to walk on; at the extreme left of the beach there was an area where the sand extended somewhat farther into the water, everyone used this area to get into the water.

After a pleasant time at the beach we drove back to the albergo in the late afternoon, where some sort of loud party (wedding?) was going on. Instead of hanging out by the pool we decided to escape noise and drove to Alberobello, a small town famous for its trulli.

What's a trullo (singular of trulli)? A trullo is a small, conical building made of stone.

The story goes, back in the 17th century the king taxed permanent settlements. The local count (who had to pay the tax on his peasants' buildings) came up with an idea to evade this tax by having the peasants build in a way that escape the designation as "permanent". So the buildings were made of stones laid loosely upon each other - the trullo. No mortar was used.

Apparently there was once a spot inspection by the king's tax men, and the peasants duly disassembled their trulli.

Today they're built in a permanent way, but they retain the form (and the charm) of the 17th century. They remind me of hobbit houses - at least I think hobbits would enjoy living in them. They're of course dark inside; but the form and the stone used makes them warm in the winter and cool in the summer.

Alberobello, on the UNESCO world cultural heritage list, has over 1000 of these.

They're concentrated in two neighborhoods, Rione Monti (very touristy but interesting) and Rione Aia Piccola (a quiet residential neighborhood). It's a fantastic sight!

We ate dinner in Alberobello at a restaurant that was praised by our travel book, but turned out to be not so hot. Oh well. The Casale was at least quiet that night.

Puglia Day 2

2009-06-20T16:13:00.007+02:00

We woke to an unpleasant surprise - the toilet wouldn't flush. Hmm - it was one of those modern toilets where the entire works are hidden in the wall. I took off the cover plate, but I couldn't solve the problem - the tank wouldn't fill. We went down to breakfast at 8.45, and found we were the only guests. The owner of Il Casale, a dour, balding, grey-haired man apparently in his fifties, brought us croissants. We told him about the problem in our room. After bringing us our coffee and tea, he disappeared without comment, presumably to fix the toilet. Shortly thereafter he came back down, and to our dismay he started making phone calls - obviously the problem was beyond his ability to fix.

Hoping for the best, we drove to Polignano to take the train to Bari. We were in plenty of time, and after deciphering the faded Italian writing on the elderly ticket machines we bought two round trip tickets. Since we still had time, I decided to look for a newspaper - an Italian one would do, I had no hopes of finding a German or English paper in this small town. But within a three block radius of the train station there was no newspaper to be found. Throughout our trip it was not always easy finding newspapers and books, leading me to believe that Puglians perhaps don't read much.

The train was on time, clean, and virtually empty. After the thirty minute trip we walked towards Bari's old town. Bari, the capital of the region, is an interesting working Italian city with 350,000 inhabitants. It's not in the least touristy. Weddings were happening in both the big cathedrals - throughout our trip it seemed that weddings were almost continuously going on in the churches and basilicas. We walked around, looking in vain for a cafe with a great view in the old town. We ended up sitting down at a rather industrial cafe near the harbor for a cappuccino and to read the papers we scored in Bari.

We went to a salumeria (a butcher specializing in sausages and salami) and they made us a great sandwich with cheese and spicy salami, we found tomatoes and plums in a tiny market. We walked some more, drank a bottle of beer in the shade, bought Anja a new summer dress, walked to the park, ate some fruit (tomatoes great, plums watery), bought a gelato (just for John; Anja was trying to watch her weight). Here are a few shots from Bari:

We took the train back to Polignano and drove to Il Casale. With relief we noted that the toilet was fixed! After some time at the swimming pool and a jog through the narrow lanes and olive groves, we decided to drive to the nearby town Conversano, which according to our guide books was scenic and had good restaurants. It was moderately attractive, but the restaurants all opened at 8:30 PM. It was a quarter to 8, we'e already seen most of the town, and it was getting cold. We decided to drive back to our albergo and dine there. The dinner was excellent and reasonably priced, though the portions were huge for a late dinner. The albergo was again noisy till 2 AM or so - there was some kind of dance going on. We slept till 9 the next morning.

Puglia Day 1

2009-06-20T12:18:00.009+02:00

Our flight from Munich arrived 15 minutes early in Bari, a good start to the trip. But our suitcase took 45 minutes to show up at sleepy Bari airport. We picked up our Fiat Panda rental car without difficulty at Hertz and hit the road for La Casale dei Fornici, the first albergo we had booked for this trip. We found it without too much trouble thanks to our trusty TomTom 930 PND. The initial impression of the Casale was good, a beautiful, modern hotel with a restaurant and a small number of rooms. We took a dip in the pool, then headed for nearby Polignano a Mare.
We couldn't find a place to park in Polignano, so we headed up the road to fishing village San Vito, which according to one of our guide books was "delightful fishing village". "Delightful" is perhaps an exaggeration, "modestly charming" would be more accurate. We were getting hungry, but it was much too early for restaurants to be open in Puglia - except in very touristy areas most restaurants don't open for dinner until 8 or 8:30. We discovered that a waterside bar, La Veranda di Giselda, wasn't serving hot food yet, but had wonderful fresh seafood salads and such. We had a fish salad with tomatoes and onions, and zucchini stuffed with shrimp, plus bread and olives and beer, all for 19€. We then drove back to Polignano, this time we found a parking spot. We were charmed by the old town and the views of the sea.

Back at the Casale we sat by the pool with a glass of wine for a while, but it was too windy to stay out long. We went to bed at around 10.30, but sleep came hard, as hotel and restaurant guests were coming and going. The room was rather warm, as we hadn't figured out how to work the air conditioning yet.

Puglia

2009-06-20T12:00:00.000+02:00

This was an amazing vacation. For us terra incognita, in our many Italian vacations we'd never gone farther south than Tuscany. How can I tell about this in a way that's not boring for the majority? I kept daily notes while there, I think I'll use them as a basis and tell the story day by day, making a new post for each day. This may also spawn some extra posts, for example about driving in southern Italy.

Background

For those not familiar with Italian geography, Puglia is the region in the extreme southeast of the country, the heel of the boot. The terrain is mostly flat, save for the last southern extension of the Appenines running down the middle of the region, the Murgia. It's bordered on the east by the Adriatic Sea; Albania is only about 60 miles away. It's a dry region, but not a desert. Along the coast vegetables are produced, and (as in much of Italy) olive trees and grapes seem to be growing everywhere. It's not a famous wine-growing region, but there are good local wines.

Earliest signs of human habitation go back to the Stone Age; there were Bronze Age settlements, which were later strongly under the influence of the Greeks. Later Puglia became part of the Roman Empire. In more modern times it had strong connections with Byzantium, and later with Venice.

We mostly planned this vacation using the internet and a couple of travel guides we purchased. A cheap flight exists from Munich to Bari; we decided on going that route and renting a car rather than driving, because the drive would have been at least 14 hours and we weren't enthusiastic about driving our Mazda Premacy with German license plates in the Mezzogiorno (as southern Italy is known). Since Puglia is comparatively large, we opted not to try and see everything but to concentrate on the area from Bari (the capital) south - a good decision. The Gargano peninsula in the northeast of the region is supposed to be beautiful; we'll save that for a future trip (anyone want to join us on that?)

We made reservations in three different B&B - type accomodations - the first near Polignano a Mare, called Il Casale dei Fornici, the second near Lecce to the south, called Villa Conca Marco, and the last near Martina Franca, a small B&B called Il Gallo Felice. They were all moderately priced (around 70€ for a double room including breakfast); we had varying experiences with them, as the travelogue will show.

The weather was ideal - highs from the mid 70s F to the upper 80s, sunny, nary a drop of rain. It was windy at times. The day was noticeably shorter than in northern Europe, sunset was shortly after 8 PM.

What's up?

2009-05-10T09:59:00.003+02:00

I 've been pretty lazy about writing lately - partly because I haven't had much to say, partly because I've been pretty busy, and partly because I've been intimitaded by the thought of finally starting my massive article about why I love Bavaria. What have I been busy with? Well, besides work and Anja, I've been investing time into physiotherapy for my left shoulder, which has been bothering me for a couple of months. A contributing factor for that may have been all the piano practicing I've been doing - the results of which may be heard here.

I will try and start my big Bavaria series before we head for Italy in early June, but after one concert is before the next concert. At least the physiotherapy is working pretty well. (Sigh) We're not getting any younger!

Beethoven's piano sonata in C major, Op. 2 Nr. 3

2009-03-15T15:12:00.001+01:00

Over on my homepage I posted some mp3s from the dress rehearsal of Beethoven's piano sonata in C major, Op. 2 Nr. 3. This was a "live" dress rehearsal at a retirement home in Munich, the Augustinum on Feb. 18th. The "real" performance is this coming Wednesday, March 18th at the Seidlvilla in Munich (see the Pianistenclub site for more information).

Oh, did I mention that I'm the one playing?

How are you feeling? - national differences in the perception of personal health

2009-03-01T15:26:00.002+01:00

"Wie geht es dir?" "How are you feeling?" These questions are probably heard in every culture. The answers, and how mild illness is dealt with, varies between Germany and America.

Mir geht es schlecht - I'm not feeling well. Really. Since Thursday I've been lying in bed with a low fever, racking cough, stuffed up nose and sneezing. A typical February complaint. What do I have? For an American, the answer is probably simple - either a cold or the flu, perhaps with a touch of bronchitis. For a German the answer is not quite so clear cut. The German is aware that real flu (influenza) is characterized by a sudden high fever, chills, and aches and pains - in addition to the typical upper respiratory symptoms. I don't think I have influenza - my fever, at around 100°, just isn't high enough. And I don't have any aches and pains. But a cold? Well, does a cold come with a fever? It might, I guess, in English. But the Germans have a special word for my condition - "grippaler Infekt", which roughly translated means a flu-like infection. Maybe this is what that word our great-grandmothers used - "ague" - means. The ague (if that's what it is) is caused by the same adeno- and rhinoviruses that cause colds. The influenza virus is quite another animal.

In any case I'm going to have to go to the doctor tomorrow due to an oddity of the German labor laws. You can stay home from work sick (or apparently sick) for up to two days without any proof. But on the third day you have to go to the doctor, who will issue the "Krankmeldung" (illness report). I guess this kind of thing still exists in institutions like the U.S. Army. I doubt that the doctor will be able to help me get better more quickly. Oh, he may give me some highly dosed intravenous vitamins and homeopathic medicines. He did that for me several years ago, and do you know what? I don't really believe in that stuff, but it seemed to help. But the real reason for going to the doctor is to get this piece of paper I'll have to fax to my employer afterwards (or bring it with me when I do go back to work).

Another common ailment in Germany that's unknown almost everywhere else is (actually are, since it's plural): "Kreislaufbeschwerden". OK, those of you who live in Germany, stop laughing now! You obviously know what I'm talking about. For those who don't, I'll start with a translation attempt: circulatory complaints. Sounds like something your great-aunt Margaret had, right? Absolute Quatsch, most doctors here will tell you. But many believe in it, and after living here for twenty years I'm starting to believe in it as well. So what is it? You know those days where you get out of bed and immediately notice that somebody replaced your blood with used diesel oil during the night, and your IQ is about 20 points lower, and those lead boots don't help either? Yep, that's it - Kreislaufbeschwerden. Or for those who like it slangy, you can say, "Mein Kreislauf ist im Eimer," which means, "My circulation sucks big time" (poetic license in the translation). According to statistics it's one of the most common illnesses in Germany (I don't know where those statistics are, but I know I've read it somewhere. Since my Kreislauf sucks big time, I'm going to depart from my usual high journalistic standards).

And let's not even start talking about weather sensitivity and the Föhn (warm Alpine winds)! I'll save that for a future post (or not).

The Perils of Proportional Politics

2009-02-11T07:36:00.003+01:00

Germany is governed by a coalition of three parties - the CDU/CSU and the SPD (see my previous post). Depending on the situation, the CDU and CSU like to think of themselves as one political party or as two political parties. When it comes to divvying up the minister positions in the government, then they're two parties. Which party gets which office is set down in the coalition contract; according to this contract, the CSU fills the office of Minister of Economics.

So far so good. When the current government took office in November 2005 the Minister of Economics was Michael Glos, an experienced CSU politician from a small town in lower Franconia. Glos has not enjoyed high visibility as Economics Minister, you might say that he hasn't had a good economic crisis. Making his situation worse were the difficulties he had with the head of the CSU, Horst Seehofer.

Did I mention that Glos is from a small town in lower Franconia? Foreigners tend to think of Bavaria as one big homogeneous state where everyone runs around in Lederhosen and Dirndl

and drink beer and talk to cows. Well, there's more to it than that. Bavaria is comprised of several distinct regions, each with its own proud history and dialects. What most tourists think of as Bavaria is the southern portion, with the two districts Lower Bavaria and Upper Bavaria (Upper Bavaria is the part closer to the Alps, which makes it easy to remember the difference). These two parts are often referred to as "Alt-Bayern", or Old Bavaria.
Off to the west of Munich is the Bavarian part of Swabia (most of Swabia is in Baden-Württemberg); to the east and northeast of Lower Bavaria lies the Upper Palatinate (including the Bavarian Forest), and to the north lie the three parts of Franconia, which are (bet you can't guess) Upper, Middle and Lower Franconia.

The Franconians are very proud of their history, traditions and culture. There are some obvious differences - they don't have as many mountains, they tend to drink wine instead of beer (Franconia is a major wine-producing area), and they're known for having a dry, laconic sense of humor. The CSU always tries to keep the peace among the Bavarian regions by dividing the offices among them. Now you may guess the significance of the fact that Michael Glos is a Franconian.

As established above, the office of Economics Minister is at the disposal of the CSU in this government. And since Glos is a Franconian, his replacement practically has to be a Franconian. So the crux of the matter is, curing the worst economic crisis that most of us will experience, the post of Economics Minister of one of the top industrial nations in the world is being limited to a small circle of people, thanks to the politics of proportionalism (which has nothing to do with proportional representation). That's about the same as if Obama had to pick the commerce secretary only among Hawaiian Democrats. I don't want to imply that Franconians or Hawaiians are generally unsuited for high office, just that it seems wrong to limit your choices so narrowly - especially at such a crucial time.

In the end, a Franconian, Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, was named Glos' successor and was quickly sworn in. He is a very young politician (37), whose most prominent post till now has been the general secretary of the CSU. Guttenberg is from an old noble family; his father is a noted conductor. He is apparently intelligent and ambitious; I wish him luck in his new job. But Germany should consider whether this is a sensible way to select important government officials.

Smoke gets in your eyes

2009-02-07T12:10:00.002+01:00

Europe has generally been lagging behind the US in supporting and implementing non-smokers' rights. Over the last few years this has started to change - Italy, Ireland, France and the UK have all passed more or less strict laws banning smoking from many public places. Italy is an interesting example - the Italians are generally not known for obeying the law rigorously, but the smoking law (which bans smoking in most public places) has been a general success. I remember well a vacation in Italy soon after the smoking ban went into effect; how pleasant it was to eat dinner in a restaurant without being bothered by clouds of smoke from the next table, or having our clothes stink like smoke after leaving the restaurant. "If only Germany would pass a modern smoking law," I thought.

I'm a not smoker. I used to smoke a pipe, but I gave that up about15 years ago. Once in a great while I'll smoke a cigar. Just so you all know where I'm coming from.

So in 2007 Germany started to jump on the non-smoking bandwagon. Since Germany is a federal republic and matters pertaining to restaurants are generally in the hands of the states, it was clear that there wouldn't be a single federal law to regulate this. It was going to be up to each state to come up with something on its own. As the opinion in favor of at least partial smoking bans grew in recent years, many voices were heard saying, "We don't want to over-regulate this!" or "Let's leave it up to the individual innkeepers whether they want to be non-smoking establishments or not." Well, this approach was not working. Munich, a city of over a million, had only a handful of non-smoking restaurants. Oh sure, some restaurants were starting to add non-smoking areas, but usually these weren't even separated by a door from the smoking areas. Each restaurant owner was afraid of losing market share to the others if they converted to non-smoking. Seems like a pretty clear case of market failure to me.

In the course of 2007 a number of German states passed smoking bans of varying strictness. Bavaria's law was the strictest of them all. This was somewhat surprising given the frequent appeals to "Liberalitas Bavariae" by Bavarain politicians. Smoking was to be banned in virtually every public place and public establishment, even in beer tents, even in beer tents at the Oktoberfest. A heated debate broke out. Many smokers were in favor of the new law, many non-smokers were against it; many feared the so-called Gemütlichkeit of the traditional Bavarian inns would suffer. The law came into effect in 2008, and it didn't take long for the clever Bavarian innkeepers to figure out ways of getting around it. A loophole in the law allowed smoking in private gatherings; many pub owners declared their establishments to be "smoking clubs," effectively making them private gatherings. Of course to meet the letter of the law they had to issue membership cards and exclude non-members, but this proved not to be a high barrier. Hundreds of pubs became smoking clubs; the authorities didn't even attempt to check whether they were really "members only."

In the meantime those who were obeying the law complained about declining revenue. There were those with increased revenue, but they didn't usually get as much attention in the press. It should have been obvious that it would take a few months for people to adjust to the new law; experience in Ireland and Italy actually showed increased revenue after a time. Bavarian politicians started wavering; one of the first aspects of the law to fall was the smoking ban at the Oktoberfest - "Impossible to enforce" was the reason given. Yet on the whole most folks got along well with the new situation. Non-smokers enjoyed visiting restaurants more - except for those who were disturbed because their smoking friends had to go outside to grab a quick butt during a meal. Personal note - smokers, I'm sorry, but anybody who can't manage to eat an entire meal without having to smoke a cigarette is pretty pathetic.

In September the Bavarian state parliament was up for reelection, the ruling CSU party, which governed without a coalition partner, suffered one of the worst results of its history. Many were quick to give the blame to the smoking ban, although the government led by Günther Beckstein had many other problems which caused the debacle. One of the first things the new CSU/FDP coalition government under new minister president Horst Seehofer decided was to weaken the smoking ban.

New howls of protest ensued - even the smokers had gotten used to the strict law, and now innkeepers would have to change their policies again. The new law - which allows small one-room pubs to make their own decision whether to allow smoking or not - will come into effect in August. Let's see how long it takes before people start complaining about this one.

Just another example of how things long accepted in other countries cause heated yammering when their adoption is considered in Germany.

A Brief Primer on the German Political System

2009-01-30T16:00:00.005+01:00

I want to provide a brief primer on the German political system to provide background for a series of articles I'm thinking about. This may not be everyone's cup of beer, but I'll do my best to make it as entertaining as possible. To reward you, dear reader, for your perseverance, there'll be a multiple choice quiz at the end with cash prizes. Ready? Off we go!

1. Representative bodies, elections, etc.
Germany is a federal republic; this means that a significant number of powers are delegated to the 16 states (Bundesländer). Each state has its own parliament (generally known as a Landtag, with a few exceptions). The federal government has a main parliamentary body, the Bundestag (known in English as the Federal Diet; this does not imply that government spending is on a diet). In a federal election each citizen has two votes - the first serves to elect a representative directly based on election districts (there are 299), the second vote is directly for a party (more about them later). A complicated formula divides up the seats based on the directly elected representatives and the percentage of the vote that each party gets. Thanks to this complicated formula the number of representatives actually elected to the Bundestag varies from year to year. At the moment there are 614 representatives. Only parties receiving at least 5% of the second vote get seats (excepting directly elected representatives). The Bundestag comes up for reelection every four years - the exact date of the election is variable.
There's a second federal body called the Bundesrat (Federal Council), roughly comparable to the US Senate. Each state sends six representatives to the Bundesrat; they're not elected directly, but apportioned by the governing coalition in each state. The Bundesrat has the right of approval or rejection of certain legislation - I won't go into details here, mostly because I don't know that much about it. Wikipedia is your friend!
There's also a federal president, whose function is largely ceremonial and advisory (kind of like the Queen of England). The president is elected for a five-year term by the Bundesversammlung, a body convened just for that purpose and consisting of the Bundestag and an equal number of members chosen by the state governments.

2. Political Parties
Since any party receiving 5% of the vote is guaranteed to be represented in the Bundestag, small parties and coalition governments play a large role in the German political system. As far as I can tell it's never happened that one party has been able to govern without forming a coalition with another party (we're talking post-1949 here, of course). It occasionally happens at the state level, especially in Bavaria (which is a special case). Each party is associated with a particular color (just as the colors blue and red are associated with the Democrats and the Republicans, respectively).
The major parties are:

The Christian Democratic Union (CDU). This party has been in government more often than not since 1949. It's place on the political spectrum is center-right. Federal chancellors belonging to this party include Konrad Adenauer, Helmut Kohl and the current chancellor, Angela Merkel. You could compare this party to the US Republican Party. Its color: black.
The Social Democratic Party (SPD). This party of the center-left has also provided some famous chancellors, including Willy Brandt, Helmut Schmidt and Gerhard Schröder. It's roughly comparable to the US Democratic Party, traditionally the party of the working class and labor unions. Its color: red.
The Free Democratic Party (FDP), also known as the "Liberals". The word liberal is applicable in the classic British sense, i.e. a general belief in freedom. This party has been involved in many coalition governments, but since it's relatively small, it's never provided the chancellor (except temporarily). When its in government the German foreign minister often belongs to this party (famous example: Hans-Dietrich Genscher). It tends to go through phases of emphasizing liberal (i.e. libertarian) economic policy, and liberal social policy. It usually gets votes from small businessmen and the self-employed. Its color: yellow.
The Green Party (officially Alliance '90/The Greens). This party is commited to sound environmental policies. Apart from the environment, it usually tends to liberal social policies and pacifism in foreign affairs. Some party speakers often sound libertarian in their economic philosophy, others are more socialist. Its voters tend to be affluent and highly educated. Guess what its color is?
The Left. This is perhaps the strangest party among the five that are now represented in the German Bundestag. It was formed from two constituent parties; the PDS (Party of Democratic Socialism), which directly descended from the ruling party of the GDR ("East Germany") joined up with a small splinter group which broke away from the SPD several years ago in disappointment at market-oriented reforms the SPD authored under Gerhard Schröder. Its most prominent leaders are Gregor Gysi, a charismatic attorney who was a member of the ruling party of the GDR, and Oskar Lafontaine, former premier of the Saarland, another charismatic (some might say demagogic) figure. Their supporters are mostly the losers of unification in East Germany, and disgruntled retirees in West Germany. As you might guess, it's policies (which are vague at best) are to the left of the SPD. Its color is also red.
The Christian Social Union (CSU). Remember where I said above that Bavaria was a special case? This party is the Bavarian sister party of the CDU. It always contests federal elections jointly with the CDU, agreeing with the sister party on the candidate for chancellor. That said, this party has never fielded a German chancellor. Edmund Stoiber, then prime minister of Bavaria, came within several thousand votes in 2002. It tends to be more conservative than the CDU on social issues, but a bit farther to the left on economic issues. Its color is also black. This party has ruled Bavaria continuously since 1949, often without needing a coalition partner. Its traditional voters are the many rural communities of Bavaria.

The party colors are frequently referred to, especially when talking of coalitions or possible coalitions. One coalition that has existed on state level is the so-called "traffic light" coalition - red/yellow/green. Another that hasn't existed yet but could happen in the future is the "Jamaica" coalition (named for the colors of the Jamaican flag), black/yellow/green.

3. Conclusion
This could go on and on, but I hope it's provided enough detail to give a feeling for the German political system. Maybe in future posts I'll expand on this - especially if anyone reading this begs me too. I'm aware of the possibility that my fine readers may beg me not to expand on this - a wish which I would take under consideration, should it be expressed.

Oh yes, the promised quiz? Are you ready? Sharpen your wits...

Which of the following film titles isn't related to a German political party?
Men In Black
Red River Valley
I Am Curious Yellow
How Green Was My Valley
The Blue Lagoon

OK, you can stop clicking the Submit button - it doesn't do anything. Sorry about that. But we'll assume you all got the right answer. As the dodo said, "All must have prizes." Anyone who shows up at my door in Munich is warmly invited for a beer.

Great winter vacation in Reit im Winkl

2009-01-24T15:06:00.010+01:00

We just got back from our annual ski vacation, this year for the first time in Reit im Winkl. We had stayed there for a weekend in August 2000, the year we moved to Munich. It made a favorable impression on us at the time; back then we weren't thinking in terms of ski vacation. Our first ski vacations were spent in Mittenwald, a town we're very fond of, but the ski area there is just too small and unchallenging. Last year we tried Alpbach in Austria, but we weren't totally convinced. So this year something new!

1. Our Quarters
We stayed at Haus Seerose, where we had a two-person apartment. Our hosts were very friendly, the apartment was well-equipped and cozy. Just off the small, serviceable kitchen was a charming breakfast nook with a bay window and a great view:

In addition there was a small sitting room which included a flat-screen TV with cable and an L-formed couch with table. The bathroom was modern (with shower, not tub), and a separate bedroom with a very comfortable double mattress. There was also a balcony which we didn't use this trip but would be pleasant on a summer visit. The house had free WiFi available, but I left my laptop at home. All in all a bargain at 69€ a night (including use of the garage); we plan to return next year.

2. The Village

Reit im Winkl is about 100 km from Munich, under ideal conditions a driving time of 1 hour 20 minutes. As anyone familiar with traffic around Munich knows, these ideal conditions are seldom present, especially on a Saturday. It took us about an hour 45 minutes to get there last Saturday (Jan. 17), and two hours to get home this morning. How I wish Germany had the level of traffic reporting of the USA! Traffic jam info comes late and inaccurately. An example - as we were already in a traffic jam south of Munich, Bavarian radio reported a blockage of two lanes due to a multi-car accident. The potentially useful information which lanes were blocked (a four-lane freeway) was lacking. And by the time we heard this message and decided to leave the Autobahn at the earliest opportunity the traffic jam must have had a length of 7 km or so.

I digress - we were talking about Reit im Winkl. Those who followed the link above will have learned more about the village.The population is about 2,600, but during peak vacation periods there are probably about 5,000 or more tourists in town. Its roots go back to the 12th century or earlier. To those who know a little German, it must seem as if the name has something to do with horse riding (Reiten = ride). But actually it refers to a clearing in the forest (Rode, Reuth, Reit). If you think about it this is a part of the name of many German cities and towns (Bayreuth, Wernigerode). The word "Winkl" means corner ("Winkel" in Hochdeutsch), and refers to the geographic location of the village in a corner between Bavaria and Austria.

Why was there a clearing? Because they cut down most of the trees in the valley. For centuries the village subsisted by providing wood for the salt manufactures of Traunstein and Reichenhall. Today the primary source of income is tourism.

It seems Reit im Winkl (the clearing in the corner) is largely unknown to foreign tourists - we encountered some Dutch on the ski slopes, but otherwise practically all the tourists were Germans. Mostly Northerners (or "Preußen" as they're sometimes referred to deprecatingly in Bavaria). Mostly middle-aged or older (logical at this time of the year, since school vacations come later).

Reit im Winkl, like most Alpine villages, doesn't have much impressive architecture, but the village center is compact and attractive, dominated by the village church. Nestled along the north side of a valley that's about a kilometer wide and several kilometers long, it offers spectacular views of the Kaisergebirge in Tirol.

There are plenty of shopping opportunities in the village, including one of the best sports apparel and equipment stores I've seen. Everywhere we met friendly and helpful salespersons and store owners (most of the stores are small, independent operations).

3. Winter sports

We came primarily for Alpine (downhill) skiing, but a majority of the guests seem to be there for cross country skiing. Reit im Winkl has dozens of kilometers of prepared cross country trails (and many opportunities to rent or buy equipment). There's also a decent public indoor swimming pool (Ruhpolding, 23 km away, has a very fancy spa-type complex).

The alpine ski area stretches between the Winkelmoos Alm at 1160 m and the Steinplatte at 1870 meters. One curiosity: if you ski the whole area you will cross from Germany into Austria! There's a central parking lot at Seegatterl, about a ten minutes drive from Reit im Winkl; here you can buy your lift ticket and take the bus up to Winkelmoos Alm (a ten minute ride, the buses leave more or less continuously). The lower ski area (Winkelmoos) is mostly suited for beginners, it has a long, even, gentle run (we called it the Autobahn) that's good for finding your ski legs again after 11 months. The more adventurous will cross over to the Steinplatte area in Austria, where there is a wide variety of chair lifts; most of the runs here are only moderately difficult, but there are also red and black runs for the experts. The views are as expected:

The snow was excellent, the slopes were not overcrowded. The only quibbles - the markings could have been better, and the Skihütten could have been more numerous and convenient. But all in all we felt that this was the perfect ski area for us (I'm an advanced beginner, Anja is experienced).

4. Dining

After an exhausting day on the slopes (OK, we rarely spent more than three hours skiing), one's thoughts turn to culinary pleasures. And we were not disappointed in Reit im Winkl. After a rather irritating Auftakt Saturday night in a restaurant where the waitresses seemed to be still learning their trade (though the food was excellent), we landed by chance in a wonderful place called Zum Fiaker (At the Carriage). Located in the center of the village (Kirchplatz 6, Tel. 08640/796590) it features a mixture of Bavarian and Mediterranean cuisine served in a romantic atmosphere. The prices were moderate (entrees from under 9€ to about 18€). The presentation of the food was appealing, and the food itself was better than in most restaurants of this price class (or higher) in Munich. The service was attentive, friendly yet unobtrusive. Particularly memorable were the scallops, the pork roast, and the clear pheasant broth with truffle dumplings.

And for a snack or coffee in the afternoon, we found a delightful café called Sonnhof's, run by the Gautier family, originally from Colmar in the Alsace region of France. The best cappuccino in town, and fantastic homemade pastries. It's located at Weitseestr. 14, tel. 08640/797847. While you're there, you can buy some of their homemade jam.

5. Summary

Anyone still there? There's not much else to tell - so go and see Reit im Winkl yourself someday!

We conclude with some photos of our winter sports fans.

Cold!

2009-01-09T09:00:00.003+01:00

This morning it was -11° Celsius in Munich - that's about 12° F. Other parts of Germany have been much colder - in Saxony temperatures have been as low as -27° C, that's -16.6° F!

No change to this clear, cold weather is in sight. My wife is convinced that the weather will turn nasty as soon as we start our ski vacation the week after next...

Perpetual check

2008-12-30T16:37:00.004+01:00

Once upon a time a young boy named Johnny learned how to play chess. He didn't have frequent opportunities to play, but he acquired a few chess books and played occasionally with friends. Once he visited his great-uncle Clark. Clark had a truly remarkable library, the likes of which Johnny had never seen. Johnny hoped to have a library like his great-uncle some day (a wish which has never come quite true).

Clark had a number of books about chess, and generously gave several to Johnny. Johnny read the books and practiced the openings and endgames shown in them. Johnny never forgot Great-Uncle Clark!

A few years later Johnny's family moved. Across the street lived a family with twin daughters a year younger than Johnny. The girls' father (we'll call him Mr. W) was a good chess player, and Johnny finally had a regular chess partner. Johnny couldn't beat Mr. W in those days; Mr. W was a patient chess partner and gave Johnny valuable pointers about the art of chess. At some point Johnny was able to beat Mr. W, but their games were still close.

A few years later John (as we'll call him now) was in high school, and his high school had a chess team. John joined the team, which had several talented players. This was around the time of the Fischer-Spassky match, chess was going through a boom. John read many chess books, memorized openings from Modern Chess Openings, and attended chess tournaments in the Seattle area. John's team won the state championship, and John had some nice results at the local chess tournaments. He wasn't a star, but was on his way to being an excellent player.

For some reason John lost interest in chess around the age of sixteen - school, working part time, a variety of musical activities reduced the amount of time available for chess. Most of the good players graduated from Mariner High School, and chess simply fell by the wayside. Around this time John learned how to play bridge; when John was in his twenties bridge had the importance that chess did earlier.

Years later John moved to Germany and got married to Anja. Anja's sister Charlotte had two sons; the older of the two, Randolf, showed some interest in chess. It became a ritual at family gatherings for Randolf to challenge John to a game of chess. Randolf was never able to beat John, even though John wasn't in practice anymore. There were some good games, but a fatal blunder would usually end things.

This year at Christmas Randolf (now sixteen years old and in the 12th grade) again challenged John to a game of chess. Randolf had been practicing. John gladly accepted the challenge, drew the white pieces, and found himself in an uncomfortable position under a blistering attack. Down over a piece and with his king in danger, he resigned. The next day a rematch with the black pieces; Randolf checkmated him. The third game. John drew the white pieces again. Early on Randolf made a mistake and John was up two pawns. But he couldn't maintain the advantage, again his king fell victim to Randolf's merciless attack. This was clearly no fluke - Randolf's chess game had improved while John's stagnated. The story of Johnny had come full circle with Randolf.

Perhaps the story doesn't end here - John has now ordered a chess program for his computer, we'll see what happens at the next family gathering!

The year 2008

2008-12-24T16:25:00.019+01:00

Judging by the feedback I had last year, my readership is in the vicinity of a Serbo-Croation translation of the New Testament in Kabul. Undaunted by indifference, here goes the chronicle of 2008 as seen through the lives of John & Anja:

January
The winter of 2007-2008 was another warm, dry one in Munich, with very little snowfall after a promising start in December. We celebrated Anja's birthday with a fine dinner at a small Munich French restaurant, Atelier Gourmet. The number of years marked by this birthday will be provided upon receipt of a self-addressed, stamped envelope (German stamps only please!) accompanied by a suitable donation.
Since my birthday was what is known in German as "round" (not referring to the birthday boy), I threw, uncharacteristically, a small party in our local Bavarian restaurant, the Franziskaner Garten. Just about a mile from our apartment in nearly suburban Munich, we have had many a fine meal here (and a few less memorable ones alas, mostly when the owner was on vacation). I invited thirteen friends, a mixture of friends from work and friends from the music world, for an evening of food and potables. My friends honored me with many thoughtful gifts, in many cases showing remarkable imagination and industry. In short, a good time was had by all!

February
For our yearly skiing vacation we tried something new, the Austrian village of Alpbach. This Tirolean village was voted the most scenic in Austria a few years ago, and since the slopes of Mittenwald were becoming too monotonous for us, we thought a change would be nice. The weather was beautiful; there wasn't much snow left in the village, but there was plenty, thanks to the snow cannons, on the slopes. This photo is from the year 2006, when we had lots of snow.
Our vacation apartment was one of the nicest we've ever had, with a cozy fireplace (and free wood). We enjoyed the week, but Alpbach had a couple of disadvantages: it was so small that there was a very limited selection of shops and restaurants (we're inveterate consumers), and the ski slopes were very crowded and rather difficult for John (Anja laughing at this!) So this year (in January) we're going to try Reit im Winkl in the southeast corner of Bavaria, which shares a ski area known as the Steinplatte with Austria.

March

The Securius family gathered as usual for the Easter holiday in Offenbach. The weather was cold and wet. Here's the family gathered around the dining room table, Franklin trying to look especially clever:

April

My good friend Ron Reis (of high school and college days) visited Munich for a convention, and Anja and I shared an evening with him in our neighborhood restaurant (see above).

May

On May 9th we boarded the plane for our semi-annual trip to the old Webber homesteads in the Pacific Northwest. Since the traditional Webber estate on Camano Island had not yet reopened, we trekked with Melanie, our nephew Beau and his lovely wife Kim, and our ever-charming nieces Rachel and Holly the long way to Cannon Beach, Oregon. We were rewarded with fantastic weather; indeed, the Friday of our arrival it was almost too hot, with temperatures around 90° on the beach. On the following days it cooled off to more typical levels, which made for pleasant beach sitting.

The weather was good enough to allow dining outdoors:

Most of our stay at home we were graciously hosted by my brother Brent and his wife Kathi; our nephew Jackson and our niece Emma demontstrated their domination over us on the Wii console. We visited other dear friends on the trip, notably Blaine and Rosanne Newland (and their boys), Tom and Silke Harper (and their new puppies), and Chris Wheatley (and his geoducks). We also visited my step-mother Sandra in Bremerton; not far from Bremerton we were rewarded with some amazing views of bald eagles.

June

In June we had a concert with the Munich Pianists' Club, Debussy's Chansons de Bilitis in Munich's Kaulbach Villa. We also saw a local production of the play Gaslight, directed by our good friend Christine Ackermann at the community theater in Feldkirchen-Westerham.

July

On the 19th we attended an open air production of A Midsummer Night's Dream in Munich; unfortunately, as will happen with open air performances, it rained, and the performance never reached the end that night despite many heroic attempts. Before the evening performance we sat together with friends in a beer garden under mild temperatures; it was really inordinately bad luck that the weather took such an unexpected turn for the worse.

On July 24th Anja's mom celebrated her 85th birthday; the Securius family gathered once again in Offenbach:

August

On the 2nd we celebrated our 15th anniversary with a weekend getaway to the Schliersee near Munich; the weather (as in most of August) was so-so, but we had a good time. They even sent a special fleet to greet us:

Otherwise the weather was so lousy in August that we didn't do a thing - at least that's how it seems now. I'm sure there were a few weekend visits to the beer garden, but I'm not getting any younger and memories are fading...

Actually that's not true - my cousin Katie Welsh visited, and spent four delightful days with us. At least they were delightful for us, and I hope they were for her as well. We showed her some of the sights of Munich and the countryside, and proved that Seattle is not the only place where it rains frequently.

September

The summer is over, the countdown to the Oktoberfest is on. We were rewarded with some fine fall weather which we took advantage of for weekend excursions to Salzburg and Kitzbühel.

We attended the Oktoberfest with our friend Susanne Hohenberger, who took this photo of us with her cell phone:

September ended with the the annual half-marathon in Haar near Munich, where I improved on my time from 2007 by over four minutes.
And we moved on into

October

where we were rewarded with more wonderful weekend weather, enabling an excursion to the Brauneck where we hiked to a mountain hut where they make their own cheese. October seemed shorter than normal and was replaced by

November
where not much of note happened, except a weekend excursion to Bichlbach in Austria near the Zugspitze, Germany's highest mountain. On the way back we visited one of Mad King Ludwig's lesser palaces, Schloss Linderhof:

...bringing us up to

December

And the Christmas season was upon us, and there was a frantic visiting of rustic Christmas markets throughout the land, and there was haggling with the tradesmen, and lo, gifts were purchased, and burnt offerings were made, and refreshing beverages were consumed. And that's all there was to 2008!

Merry Christmas to all, and a happy, healthy 2009!

The drug football

2008-01-19T15:05:00.000+01:00

Having lived in Germany since 1988, I haven't seen too many football games in past years. Americans may not believe this, but American football games are rarely shown on German TV. Oh, the Super Bowl is usually shown, but since it's usually on at 2 in the morning I haven't bothered watching very often. It's not much fun watching a game alone at 2 AM. Anyone who thinks my dear wife would stay up and watch the Super Bowl with me, raise your hand! You back there? Wrong! Go to the back of the class.

Well, a few weeks ago I ordered digital cable and it was activated just in time for the Seattle Seahawks first-round playoff game against the Washington Redskins. I didn't know when I ordered digital cable, but Kabel Deutschland includes NASN, North American Sports Network. And they show all the important games.

My wife is sure I ordered digital cable just so I could watch football games, but I really didn't know it would work out that way. Really, I didn't.

So I recorded the Seahawks-Redskins game, since even for this I didn't want to watch the game alone that late. OK, it started at 10:30 PM, but it could easily have gone till 3 AM, and I don't usually stay up that late.

Sunday morning I turned on the HD recorder and TV, and starting watching the game (audio on headphones - dear wife was still asleep). I was amazed how quickly and thoroughly the game sucked me in. I had to exert utmost control to avoid cursing, yelling and cheering. A few weird noises must have escaped, because dear wife woke up and came into the living room asking if I'd gone crazy. Nope. Just the drug football.

I repeated the exercise the next week for the second-round game, but as you know this one was a downer for Seahawks fans. After half-time I used the fast-forward and skip buttons liberally.

There's always next year!

2007 - a look back

2007-12-21T08:19:00.000+01:00

Everybody is doing Christmas letters. Driven by guilt pangs, I've decided to join the crowd. Not having children, there are fewer events to list here - no PTA meetings, youth baseball games, or, as many of my former classmates report (are we that old?), graduations, weddings, or grandchildren. If this is boring - too bad. Stop reading now.

In January Anja & I celebrated our birthdays (inevitably, but as I always say, it beats the alternative). The winter of 2006-2007 saw very little snow, but we were able to spend the first week of February on our traditional winter vacation in Mittenwald, a beautiful town in the Bavarian Alps. Note: this photo is from 2005!
This year we had the pleasure of having our nephew Randolf Carr spend the week with us. Randolf proved an accomplished and daring skier, and we very much enjoyed his company during the week. Too bad he doesn't have any winter vacation this year! There was just enough snow to ski, but this year we'll be spending our winter vacation in the Alpbachtal in Tyrol, where the snow should be better. (As I write this there's lots of snow in the Austrian Alps)

Easter was spent as usual at Anja's mother in Offenbach, where the family gathered; if I recall correctly the weather was not bad for April.

In May Jentro landed a new investment of $29 million by NEA (New Enterprise Associates). We began to grow more rapidly; the development staff increased from 10 to 15, and a North American sales office was opened.

In early June we took advantage of a low-cost flight to Nice to spend 9 days on the French Riviera (or Côte d'Azur, as the French call it). We stayed in the small city of Menton close to the Italian border.

Though the weather was borderline for early June (it rained almost every day), we had a delightful time, and plan to return sometime.

In June I was promoted to Director of Software Development at Jentro. So far I'm enjoying my new responsibilities. My work load has of course increased, and I have less time for music and sports. But having more responsibility is fulfilling, I enjoy the challenge of improving processes and creating an enjoyable work atmosphere.

June and July saw concert activity with the Munich Pianists' Club - Songs by Grieg, Copland and Barber with Anja, and sonatas with the violinist Anke Schwab (Franck and Bolcom). Back in the States my nephew Beau Garrison married his beautiful bride, Kim. Unfortunately we weren't able to attend. I remember when Beau was a little brat terrorizing us at Cama Beach (just kidding, Beau!)

The Munich summer was rain-rich; the first week of September we went to Lake Garda for a week in search of the sun. Staying yet again in the town of Malcesine,

we were only moderately successful in sun-finding - there was only one day where it was really warm enough to hang out at the lake all day. Still, the whole week we were in Italy the weather was cold and rainy in Munich.

On September 30th I ran in my first half-marathon, in a respectable time slightly under 1'55". The elation at this sporting achievement was quickly extinguished that evening by the death of my beloved father.

I flew home to be with my family; a moving remembrance gathering was held at my brother's house, where I saw many cousins I hadn't seen for twenty years or more. I miss Dad very much!

In late November came another concert with Anja and our good friend Susanne Absmaier from the Pianists' Club - Anja & I performed songs by Brahms (Zigeunerlieder) and Grieg, Susanne played the Beethoven Kreutzer Sonata with her sister Sabine Gödel, and Susanne and I played an arrangement of Mozart's G minor symphony for piano four hands. The concert was virtually sold out!

The year rushes to its end, Christmas is upon us. On the 25th we'll be heading to Berlin for a few days (as usual). And then 2008 will be here (together with my 50th birthday). Anja continues to be busy as a private voice teacher, in addition to teaching voice one day a week at the music school in Markt Essenbach, about 50 miles from Munich. She recently started a Nordic Walking course to get more exercise, which has been a lot of fun for her.

Merry Christmas to all, and may 2008 bring happiness and health!

Taxes, taxes

2006-05-11T10:28:00.000+02:00

Why don't Germans get as excited about high taxes as Americans? The coalition government in Berlin is increasing the national value-added tax from 16% to 19% on January 1 2007 (imagine paying a hidden sales tax of 19% on nearly everything you buy), gasoline prices, much higher than in the US anyway (how would you like to pay $6 a gallon? We do over here), are going to rise another 6 Euro cents a liter on January 1st (that's $0.27 a gallon), the tax deduction for interest income is being sharply cut - the list goes on and on. And yet no one seems to notice very much. No American politician who voted to increase taxes like that would be re-elected.

Welcome...

2006-05-08T12:55:00.000+02:00

As a native-born Seattleite who's been living in Germany since 1988 and in Munich since 2000, I plan on occasionally commenting on German and American culture and politics, from the perspective of one with a foot in each country.