Fahrrad success

Our trip to the used bicycle store was successful and now we have two new-to-us red bikes! Mine is definitely a city bike-- fully tricked out with metal fenders, a back rack, a front basket, dynamo-powered front and back lights and of course, a semi-strident German Achtung bell. I even had occasion to use the bell to castigate I mean warn some errant pedestrians who were in the bike lane. Alex's is more of a mountain bike. We've seen quite a bit of Munich during the last few days-- yesterday we took a long ride to the south along the Isar River and Grunwald forest. Naturally, we ended up at a biergarten, where we shared a fried trout and a pretzel with some Obatzda (Bavarian paprika/caraway/Camembert cheese mixture, served with onion and radish) and then took the S-Bahn back to the city.

First week in Germany

I have settled in here fairly quickly, and have been pretty good about establishing a work routine...it's actually the same as it is in Seattle: sitting at my computer, sporadic ranting at a cat. Alex has been doing some experiments, so we haven't really been doing anything hugely exciting. However, I do have access to one of the institute's image processing computers, which is nice because I can run some (boring but necessary) things that I have been meaning to run while still working at home.

The weather has been great...today we are going to try and purchase bicycles from a highly-recommended secondhand shop. If we're successful, reports on a wholesome country outing will follow...

German culinary adventures

Alexander and I seem to have a joint personal goal of NOT going to the supermarket every single day. Of course, this is a goal because it seems to be impossible. It's probably a generic complaint about tiny European refrigerators, but it does get annoying that 40% of the usable space seems to be occupied by mustard and curry paste. It also lead to mild hypothetical-end-of-days panic....what would happen if there was a disaster and we had to live in the flat for a month? Do we have enough emergency coffee? Would Sticklet taste better with curry or a simple mustard glaze?

Notable dinners to date have included:

• Bowtie pasta with chipotle shrimp and chives.
• Englischer Garden grill experiment: tuna steak and lemon apricot chicken with red peppers, pinapple and garlic bread.
• Broiled polenta cakes with zucchini and prawns in saffron lemon cream sauce.
• Hamburgers (don't tell anyone!) on ciabatta with pickled onion, red pepper and cucumber salad.
• Some kind of exclusive Neopolitan spiral pasta (girella?) with eggplant, rosemary, chorizo and white beans.

Some people had doubts...

...but Heather and I did finish the quilt for Anna and the new Harriet Jane! I am a little surprised that it came together so quickly...my working explanation is that the project served as an attractive vortex of procrastination.

And of course, knowing us, it had to include pirates, cartoon crabs, and a flock of psychedelic chickens. The 1950s bathroom wallpaper contingent is also well-represented.

We basically repeated this conversation about 100 times, with increasing vehemence:

B (holds up quilt): Hey, it looks like a quilt!

H (grabs quilt): Seriously, I think it is actually a QUILT!

B & H (shaking quilt violently): We appear to have constructed a legitimate quilt! AN HONEST TO GOD QUILT, WE HAVE QUILTED A QUILT!

Ultimate Porsche

I'm always a little shocked when I experience car lust, but it can happen at any moment.... such as this morning when I saw this ridiculous car.

nochmal Deutschland

After a harrowing 24 hours, I am now back in Germany! My flights were great, although I was exhausted from dealing with what seemed to be all of the last minute irritations that Seattle could devise. I've also learned that approximately 80% of my wardrobe is actually here in Germany, taking over Alexander's apartment-- luckily the cat maintains constant vigilance regarding tidiness.