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.

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 ther

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 char

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 caff

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

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 rea

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 actu

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 bookstor

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 .

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 thing

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-R

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 fin

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

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

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

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

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 restaur

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

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!

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?

" 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 fo

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 ho

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 Germa

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