Texas Meets Bavaria

 

Just like Texans are proud to be Texan, Bavarians are proud to be Bayerisch! "Mia samma mia" is what they say that is a warning implying, "We are we, don't mess with us." And they mean it, just like Don't Mess With Texas does. And just like in the good ol' Spirit of Aggieland song, "We are the Aggies, the Aggies are we. True to eachother as Aggies can be." Even other Americans have said to me that Bavaria is like the "proud Texan attitude" of Germany. I love it!


Typical Bavarians are very direct, conservative, honest and say what they think. Some think it comes off as unfriendly but that's not the case, it's just a characteristic. They are proud of their southern dialect (which is impossible to understand, especially if you are learning German).  They are proud of being the biggest and most beautiful state in Germany. They are proud of their trachten gear, their amazing capital München, their castles, their numerous beer festivals (Oktoberfest, Starkbierfest, Frühlingsfest...) and their Weißbier, of course. They also think they are the most intelligent people in the world :) Every German has to bow down before the Bavarian Gymnasium high school graduate. Even though the rest of Germany sometimes thinks Bavarians are the "Farmer Joe" types. 


When Americans think of Germany they think of “Lederhosn”, beer culture, and Oktoberfest.  Little do we realize though, that most of our stereotypical ideas of Germany aren't the norm for all of Germany but just for Bavaria. “Lederhosn” are mostly worn in Bavaria, beer culture is also
connected to Bavaria, and the Oktoberfest is in Munich. 


Walt Disney loved Bavaria too! He modeled his infamous castle logo after Kng Ludwig's Neuschwannsteinschloss. He also depicted the town in the Pinocchio film from Rothenburg. And, according to Wikipedia, a scene from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was filmed there.


This sums it up well.
We're from Bavaria. It's near Germany.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYaWoA9FfFY


So, Bavaria is pretty awesome, just like Texas :)


Thank you to my true Bavarian friends, Laura and Anna and the other people I asked random questions to, who gave me the insight to write this :) Y'all make me a proud Texan to be living in Bavaria!

Starkbierfest

Starkbierfest is the strong beer festival that goes on every season of Lent. And yes, it couldn't be more obvious to call it the Starkbierfest because the beer is strong. It's a really dark brew and is so sweet it tastes almost like a cola. It aparently started at a monestary. Since the monks couldn't eat for 40 days, they brewed a really strong beer. This was so they could get more calories and sleep more - so I was told. There is more than 1,000 calories in a liter. Yummy. I would say though that we danced off about 500 of those calories though. So it's like an Oktoberfest atmosphere but it is not as big of a deal. The best brewery for this event is the Paulaner Keller so naturally that's where we celebrated! And Michaela said it perfectly, "Everything is just so much more fun in your dirndl!"

Ich bin ein Berliner

JFK gave a speech in West Berlin to show them support from the US but said this phrase with an awesome American accent.

Catriona and I visited Berlin last weekend! Berlin is completely different than Munich. It is the capital and actually one of the 16 states of Germany. It didn't even feel like we were in Germany anymore because it is such an international city with people from all over. It doesn't really have a city center like most others because it was originally a bunch of different towns that grew in together and then it was seperated after WWII. The city has an artsy and creative feel to it. We met so many different characters out at night, it was a good time! We took a walking tour (my favorite!) on Saturday morning and got to hear all sorts of great stories and briefly of the extensive history from this great city! And then we did our own getting lost touring strolling through the awesome city.

Us at Brandenburg Tor.

This was originally the gate way back in the day that people had to pass through to go into the city when it was under Prussian power. The statue ontop is the goddess of Victory. When little Napolean defeated them in Berlin, he stole the statue on top and took it to Paris. But after Napolean was conquered it was taken back to Berlin. This area was severely damaged in WWII, but was restored to its original design to remain a magnificent symbol of the city. And the hotel across the street is the place Micheal Jackson held his baby outside the window...yikes.

Brandenburg Tor chocolate goodness. Yummy!

Reichstag building- where the German parliament meets.

Humboldt Universitaet.

 Einstein was a professor here just before Hitler came to power.

This is the library and the plaza where one of the campaigns of the Nazi book burnings took place. They burned 20,000 books from here.

Spree River that goes through the city.

Berliner Dom on Museum Island.

Checkpoint Charlie.

My favorite part of the Berlin Wall East Side Gallery.

After WWII Berlin was split up into 4 sections - US, French, British, and Soviet. West Berlin (the US, French, and British sections) was blocked off from East Berlin and East Germany in 1961 and completely surrounded by this blockade.  The Berlin Wall gathered quite the interesting collection of stories over its nearly 30 years of existence. The Wall was also a symbol for the tensions in the Cold War. It came down in 1989 and then Germany was reunified in 1990. There are so many more fun facts to this that were so interesting to hear about while we were there! History Lesson :)

So there are bits and peceies of the Wall around the city and there is also part of the weathered down original Wall too. But this pictures above is the famous Berliner Mauer East Side Gallery. After the Wall was taken down in 1989 the city invited over 100 different artists to come paint it. So now it is an open air art gallery that stretches for about 1km on the side of a road. It represents well the past and present spirit of the city!

Straddling where the Berlin Wall used to be.



We had such a great time in Berlin! It has a different atmosphere than here in Munich. It has more of an edge to it, I think. I like how it's history wasn't hidden but preserved. Walking around the city was a great time and the people are quite friendly ;)  Thank for being my travel buddy Catriona!

The Usual

So not too much has been going on here. Just the normal days with the kids. The village we moved to, Alling, is nice. It's a quiet little place. We have setlled well into the new house.  They had a meet the neighbors get together here this weekend so that was cool - it was a big test for me speaking German haha.The drives and walks in Alling are lovely since we are a bit more outside of the town. This picture sums up Alling pretty well I think. It is so pleasant now since the weather is getting a bit nicer... Well it's still in the just barely over freezing range but it's better than the previous -20 degrees we had. I've started a new language course in the city that's twice a week and I am enjoying it :)

I will officially be home on June 30th. I'll be flying into Dallas. So I am looking forward to seeing y'all again! Which means I have got 4 more months here. Crazy to think about. Trips left to take: Berlin, Vienna, Budapest, Farst Family Switzerland Tour, Venice, Paris, and every week I get to go into Munich, one of the best cities in the world! And there are many things left to do in Munich!