Dirndl Update

I have been working on the dirndl in sporadic bursts, but it finally is starting to take shape. I think the top is 80% of the work!!

Both layers of the bodice are complete and I've pinned them together.  I need to make a few adjustments but am almost ready to attach the pieces and put on the skirt.  So far, so good...

This weekend we stumbled upon a great trachten outlet just outside of Munich and I picked up a fun trachten hat. 

I hope to make some further progress this week, but have a couple of work trips planned.

Walking a dog from the Animal Shelter

Frau A and I have walked dogs at the main animal shelter in Munich and recently went back.  It's in a suburb called Riem and is reacheable by train plus a 15 minute walk - a little farther than the English Garden or Nymphenburg.

The "tierheim" (literally translated: animal home) opens at 09:00 daily, at which point you can sign out a dog and take it for a walk.  They ask that you walk your dog for at least one and a half hours to get them a lot of exercise.

There is already a line of people waiting at 08:50! Many arrive early to make sure they get their favorite friend.  We just asked for any two dogs that needed to get out.  While we were waiting, Frau investigated the small pond where all sorts of birds were starting to wake up. (Geese, ducks...)

Included in the mix around the small pond are hens!  We wonder how they got there, and if they lay eggs...

The queue eventually got to us and we received two dogs, then headed out onto one of the trails in the area.

Riem is the place for horse farms and riding areas in Munich.  There are lots of walking & riding paths through woods and along the farms here.  We paused on our path at a creek to give Frau A's dog a drink and relax a sec.

This guy is smaller than we usually get, but he was very sweet and had a lot of energy.

Also along the path was a small childrens' playground, with one of the longest playground slides we've ever seen!

The quaint farmer's houses along the trail had lovely flowers in a warm morning sun.

The horses and colts(two of them right here!) were out grazing peacefully too.

It's a great way to start the day, for both us and the dogs.  We'll go back to make more friends soon.

Festivals: Dauchauer Volksfest

In August, construction workers start erecting the huge tents and rides on Munich's "Wiesn" -- the first reminder that Oktoberfest is coming soon!  However, before late September gets here, Dachau holds its traditional Volksfest.  Some people say it's a mid-August warm-up for the big event a month later...

Dachau lies just to Munich's northwest.  I've added some recent Schnitzelbahn destinations for reference:

Dachau sits at the end of the S2 (commuter train) line, an easy 30 minute ride from the center of Munich.

Most visitors think of the concentration camp and museum when they hear the word "Dachau" -- but it also has a charming old town & church, castle, and lots of green spaces.  Last year we saw a classical concert in the castle. 

The Volksfest is basically like a smaller, less hectic Oktoberfest. It's a great way to spend a summer afternoon or evening eating, drinking, riding rides, and playing games (plus it's another excuse to wear your trachten).  Here's some views from the top of the ferris wheel. First, looking down at a beer tent, town in the background:

And the "Octopus" ride (second photo above) - a classic spinning carnival ride.  Great techno music pumping too.

You see everyone below in their dirndl's & lederhosen (except the far right - Americans?  White tennis shoes...).

There are two main tents plus a few smaller "gardens" serving weißbier, cocktails, and of course festbier.  The festival's 350 year history is older than Oktoberfest (sorry, link in German but video is fun).  The festbier comes from a local brewer (not one of Munich's big 6) and costs 4.90, whereas a mass at Oktoberfest will run 9 euros!

One of the smaller "tents" (pictured below) has a specific niche - strudl!  (We didn't have a chance to try it.)

The larger bier tents are decorated much like the ones at Oktoberfest.  the blue & white pattern come from the Bavarian crest /and flag), and the green wreaths are also traditional and a common color for trachten.

The outside of the large tents are also decorated in a manner like the tents at Oktoberfest (photo below). 

Due to the fantastic weather, the smaller biergartens were the most crowded.  The cold festbier was good. 

The tent's band warms up to begin the entertainment, after fueling up with some beer themselves.

It was VERY hot that afternoon -- finally, Germany gets some of the Summer heat that the U.S. experienced.
To stay cool, we decided to take the classic "log ride" and saw this furry fellow at the entrance.  Frau A said hello:

This dog was in the perfect place to stay cool.  The woman in the ticket booth would throw water at him and he would try to catch it.  Otherwise he would just hang out and greet riders.   (Why the "Welcome" in English?)

I think it's great, but for whatever reasons (legal?) could never see this happening in the U.S..

 

Also:  how about Frau A's awesone dirndl!!!

The festival has the requisite kiddie rides too (colorful and cute)...

...plus carnival games.  Below, Frau A is throwing a ball to try and knock down a stack of cans.  Classic! 

I took my turn as well, sporting short lederhosen and a country-style shirt (rather than blue & white): 

Almost!  I don't think I've even done this to 100%.  Next time... 

And this classic roll-a-ball-into-holes game pictured below.  I'm terrible at it.  Frau gave it a try though.

 

No luck, despite the good roll in the above photo.  Someone else just had the magic touch that time.

The ol' balloon/darts game had some odd prizes....a stuffed Meerkat in heart boxer shorts??? 

My favorite?  The shooting gallery.  No prizes, just a jaeger's (hunter -- yes, like Jaegermeister) satisfaction of knocking over bottles, starting the player piano, spraying water, or making odd taxidermied animals dance.
It's a staple at all Munich-area fairs, just like the U.S..

Naturally the sledgehammer/strongman game was here too.  Very popular with guys especially after a few beers: 

And no festival would be complete without big food.

There's the spit-roasted ox ("ochs") on a bun, a speciality we saw at one of the large beer tents:

Frau A skipped the Ox and had Wiener schnitzel in another beer tent (she loved the seasoned fries they served):

I tried something new, Ludwig-Thoma-Braten, which is thick chunks of ham (with sauerkraut and knödel).

It must be repeated: the festbeer was quite good, and an unbelievable €4.90 per maß (roughly 1 liter).
That's the same price as 2010!  For about half the price of Oktoberfest, it's a dark malty steal.

Outside of the tents are lots of other stalls, selling greek food, döner, and the usual carnival snacks.
We had to try a nutella crepe, of course.  Want to help support them vs. the stupid lawsuit.

Overall, Dachauer Volksfest is a great prelude to Oktoberfest, and fun in it's own right.  It's cheaper, less crazy, with a small-town feel.  We're definitely planning to go again next year... let us know if you want to join!

BMW Museum - Classic Luxury and Cabrios

At the BMW Museum, we shared photos from the motorcycle room, so now on to the luxury and cabriolet /convertable rooms.

The car on the left is the BMW 326, produced from 1936-1941.  "The first luxury-class BMW."  It had a OHV straight six, with innovative (for the time) hydraulic brakes and torsion bar rear suspension.  World War II only partially destroyed the factory, and production restarted briefly in 1946 during occupation (under the new badge BMW 326s).

On the right is the BMW 501, produced from 1952-1962.  This was the first new model by BMW after WWII.  The body weighed a lot more than anticipated, so the car's performance was not a good as the competing Mercedes at the time.  This spurred the development of BMW's first V8 engine.

The first luxury-class BMW.  This "saloon" also came in a cabrio version. 

As we mentioned in the previous post, the BMW museum is organized by topic rather than a pure timeline.  In this case, you can see the evolution of their luxury cars side by side -- into the 7-series of today.

Many of the luxury models also had a cabrio counterpart.  Below we see Frau A snapping a photo of the BMW 315/1 "sports roadster".   Only 242 were built, from 1934-1936.  Compared to its parent, the saloon 315, it weighted 180 pounds less but delivered 18% more horsepower (up to 40hp). 

The model behind Frau A in the previous photo is the BMW 328 sports car (I think).  It's innovations were a tubular space frame, and hemispherical combustion chambers in the engine.  Only 464 were produced, from 1936-1940.  Top speed was 93, and it finished 5th overall (and first in its class) in the 1939 Le Mans.

She particularly liked the detail and the old leather straps used to keep the hood closed.

Our favorite was the BMW 507.  Only 252 were build between 1956 and 1959, but a pre-production model made its debut at the Waldorf Astoria in New York, 1955.  They had hoped to sell a bunch in the U.S., but it ended up being twice as expensive as planned.  The Mercedes 300SL trounced it in sales.

It is primarily made of hand-formed aluminum (cool!), so no two models are exactly the same.  Despite the 2900lb curb weight, the V8 pushed it up to 122mph.

We really like the design (and so did Elvis - he bought one).  It was the inspiration for the limited production (and incredibly popular) BMW Z8 from 1999-2003. We see these on the autobahn from time to time and really like them.

The 80s were not forgotten, with the downward-retracting door of the Z1!  maybe not as cool as Doc Brown's DeLorean, but still fun.

This was a fantastic room at the BMW Museum.  Coming soon... the M Series!

Have you seen... [cat & dog bloopers]

Frau A loves cats.  So I found this YouTube video that has fantastic examples of cats... just being cats.

In the case of dogs, you're not always sure if it's the dog or the owner that is silly.

Cooking Thai Food: Pomelo Salad

It's hard to name a favorite Thai dish, but I'm pretty certain that Pomelo Salad (yam som-o) gets my vote for #1.  Unfortunately it isn't one that is served widely outside of Thailand. Sad, because it's one of those dishes that blends together all of the flavors and textures into a well-balanced delicious dish.

If you want to try the real thing, Baan Khanitha in Bangkok makes the best one I've ever had. Then again, they make almost everything incredibly well. I highly recommend a feast there!

As with other Thai "salads," this is a main dish that you enjoy with your other dishes family style, not a side salad in the US/European style. It's great with some satay and a fish dish.

These days pomelos are available throughout the US and Europe, and the other ingredients all are readily available at any Asian grocery store.  When it's just Herr J and I eating it, I take a few shortcuts, since peeling the pomelo is enough work: buy roasted chicken from the deli counter and buy the fried garlic and shallots rather than cooking them anew each time. You could also fry up batches and store them, which is what I do with roasted peanuts and toasted coconut.  Except for the meat, fruit, and herbs, you can keep most of the ingredients on hand in the pantry.  Unless I'm going to use a whole can of coconut cream cooking something else, I usually cheat a little and mix up some from powdered coconut milk.  It works fine where used as a flavoring, but I would recommend using the liquid for curries and other coconut milk-based dishes.

Though it's an impressive tasting dish and a daunting ingredient list, it's a surprisingly simple dish to make and one that requires no real cooking.

The first step is finding and peeling the pomelo.  You can find them in Munich at the Semmel (Edeka) on Einsteinstrasse or at Galleria Kaufhof, as well as in many Asian markets.  In the US they'll be in most Asian or Hispanic markets.  They're a bit larger than grapefruit and usually slightly oblong.  This one was green, but they often are yellow and wrapped in orange netting like this:

If we were in Thailand, we could just buy the peeled pomelo sections in the store. I'm ashamed to admit that about 3 years into living in Bangkok I asked, "What kind of fruit is that?" because I had never seen pomelo in its natural state. Once you try to peel one for the first time, you'll understand why someone does the work for you.....  But I've found a pretty efficient method for peeling them (I do the same with grapefruits):

1) Slice pomelo in half:

2) See how thick the peel is?  

3) Now slice off the bottom, just to the beginning of the meat:

4) Trim off the sides

5) Trim most of the remaining white stuff off the bottom (so that the sections are all open at the bottom)
You'll be left with two cores of meat and a big pile of peel.  The peel makes one of the best deodorizers in existence (much better than baking soda).  Take a few of the bigger pieces and stick them in your fridge for a couple of days. 

6) I often use a regular or butter knife to help with this part.  Split the pomelo in half and then start pulling the sections of meat out from their sections.  Pomelos usually come apart pretty easily, but the knife can help slip in between the membrane and the meat.

7) And finally you'll have a bowl of pomelo meat (and the dividers to throw away). The hard work is done!

Pomelo Salad (Yam Som-O):
(adapted from David Thompson's Classic Thai Cuisine)  

Salad
1 pomelo
5-10 (depending on size) cooked, shelled shrimp
shredded, cooked meat from 1 large chicken breast 
3 Tbsp roasted, shredded coconut
1 tsp fried, sliced garlic (or 2 cloves, if you slice thinly and fry yourself)
2 Tbsp fried, sliced shallots (or 3 shallots, if you slice thinly and fry yourself)
1-2 Tbsp coarsely ground roasted peanuts (unsalted)
2-5 fresh small chilies, thinly sliced (start with 1 or 2 if using prik kii noo or other really hot ones. And be careful with the cutting! Serrano chilies also work well)
4-6 mint leaves, torn
2 Tbsp chopped coriander leaves

Dressing

1.5 Tbsp fish sauce (can substitute light soy sauce) 
4 tsp palm sugar
2.5 tsp lime juice
2 Tbsp chili jam (nam prik pao - I recommend Pantainorasingh brand, which is widely available in US and Europe) 
4 Tbsp coconut cream

Put all the salad ingredients in a bowl with the pomelo chunks. Stir together the dressing ingredients, adjusting as necessary to have a salty/sweet dressing.  Pour dressing over salad and toss to mix well.  Be careful not to break up the pomelo too much.  As with most Thai dishes, you can adjust the spiciness to fit your tastes.  The sugar and coconut will help reduce spiciness, the lime will add sour, and the fish sauce will add salt.  There will be a little spice to the chili jam, but your real heat will come from the chilies, so choose them (and the quantity) according to your tastes. 

Serve immediately after assembling. This dish is best served fresh while the textures and flavors all play off one another.

Sit back and enjoy, possibly with some cold Singha beer.

You can play around a bit and make it artistically beautiful by cooking the shrimp with the tails on and carefully sprinkling the herbs and shallots.  In this case, we couldn't wait to eat it!

As a little bonus, pomelos on the tree in My Tho, Vietnam. Sometimes it's really cool to see something in its natural state!

The Höllentalklamm [1]: From Munich to the "AlpspiX"

Frau A and I have visited the Garmisch-Partenkirchen area a few times now, once for the Women's Skiing World Cup and another time to hike through the Partnachklamm ("klamm" = gorge).

We choose to return recently to hike through the other popular gorge in this area, the Höllentalklamm.  So we checked the train schedule for that Sunday, prepared the cameras, and loaded the backpacks. 

The train ride from Munich to Garmisch would normally take about 90 minutes.  Unfortunately, we had some early misfortune, which turned our trip into something like "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles".

To start, the regular regional trains were NOT departing from Munich due to track construction/repair.  So the Bahn provided a bus instead, a shuttle to a station beyond the track repairs.  

Due to the confusion, the busses departed perhaps 20 minutes later than the train would have.  After a half-hour ride, the bus dropped us off at a train station called Gauting.  It would normally take just 20 minutes to get there, but we were already past the 40 minute mark, with a long way to go towards the Austrian border...  

At Gauting station, a regional train was waiting.  We all boarded.  And waited.  And waited some more.  Eventually, the train departed (after the next wave of busses from Munich arrived).
With another 40 minute delay here, the total impact was now almost 1.5 hours! 

Finally we arrived at the Garmisch-Partenkirchen train station and could begin the next phase of our day...
which of course required another train ride!  This train ride was planned, however.

Let's look at the map below.  As a reference, the Partnachklamm (our prior gorge hike) can be seen on the far left, outlined in a yellow box.  The "Start" point is along the bottom, at the Garmisch train station.  From here we will: 

- Transfer to the Zugspitzbahn (black & white marked train tracks, headed left-to-right on the map)
- Disembark at the "Kreuzeckbahn" (underlined in yellow) and take this ski lift (yellow arrow) up to the Kreuzeck
- Hike up (trails are in red color on the map) to the Hochalm ("alm" = hut, bottom of the upper yellow arrow)
- Take the next gondola (upper yellow arrow) up to the Osterfelderkopf
- Hike down a bit, then trek left-to-right along the Hupfleitenjoch (outlined in yellow).
  Next milestone is the Höllentalangerhütte ("hütte" = hut, also outlined in yellow)
- Hike down through the Höllentalklamm to the Höllentaleingangshütte (the bottom yellow box)
- Hike down one last red path to the town of Hammersbach marked "End"
- Board the Zugspitzbahn (underlined in yellow) back to Garmisch, and return home to Munich

Simple, right?  That's what the hiking book said, at least!  

Thankfully, things started looking up as soon as the regional train reached Garmisch.  The weather was great, and the Zugspitzbahn is quaint (below).  It was a quick 10 minutes to our stop.  Had we stayed on, the train eventually goes into rack-rail mode and up 25% slopes to the foot of the Zugspitze, a gain of 1800m! 

It was a short walk from the Kreuzeck station to the Kreuzeckbahn (a gondola) and we boarded without delay: 

From the top of this first lift, we saw a lot of people paragliding overhead... an activity that is creeping higher and higher on our "must-try" list.  The sky was very blue, with just whisps of clouds and a slight breeze - gorgeous. 

At this point, we finally had some actual hiking to do!  From the top of the Kreuzeckbahn it takes about 30 minutes to ascend to the base of the next lift, climbing 300-400 feet over a broad, gentle trail.

The mountain views continued to get better & better along the way: 

At the base of the next gondola, some hiking trails branched out while cows were grazing... 

...but rather than take a trail down the mountain from here (or say hello to the cows, which Frau A wanted to do), we boarded the next ski lift.  Frau A held the door open while I snapped a photo.

It's not the greatest photo, but you get an idea what the view was like from inside the lift car:

This second lift brought us to the "Osterfelderkopf".  This was the height at which people were taking off with parasails (duly noted).  Also, a short hike from the lift sits a unique lookout platform called the AlpspiX.
The upper platform hangs 13 meters out from the edge of the cliff, with just steel "mesh" underfoot.

The capital "X" in name "AlpspiX" is supposed to represent the architecture of the crossing lookout platforms.
Note:  you can see the town of Garmisch in the valley below, and of course a panorama of mountains. 

 

Frau A is on the upper platform (picture below).  It's not a straight drop, but the view extends down 1000 meters!  Due to the steel "mesh" floor and plexiglass end barrier, the web site promises a "wobbly stomach".  

Wow - a bus, a train, a rack-train, a gondola, a short hike, and another gondola to a lookout!

Coming soon:  We'll share photos from the second half of this trip in a follow-up post.  From here we head across the face of the Hupfleitenjoch.  This will provide views of the Zugspitze, and entrance to the Hollental gorge.