Bored, Educated Germans Build the Ultimate Scarecrow

"Achtung! Achtung! Bitte fliegen Sie weiter"

"Attention, attention. Please fly somewhere else."

Strangely polite....

These vagabond shoes...

Yup, they're longing to stray.  Want to wake up in the city that never sleeps... you know the words.

Frau A and I have made some travel plans for the holidays, and it includes a few days in New York City, between Christmas and New Year's Eve..  I’m excited – I visited as a teen, then lived in the Kips Bay neighborhood and worked in the Citicorp building from 2000-2004.  So maybe I don't have the little town blues (although I tease my Munich friends about how small it is here) but the movies are right - Christmastime in NYC can be nice.

Good memories:  my apartment was on the 20th floor of a 70’s-era building.  Looking left out the windows, you could see the Chrysler Building and just a nick of the Met Life Building – overall a decent view of Midtown from the southeast:

Looking straight out the windows, that’s 2nd Avenue.  Luckily, there is an Armenian church right across the street, so there are no tall buildings blocking the view.  Plus, the Queens-Midtown tunnel was right there as well, so it felt quite open and provided a good breeze:  (Of course lots of traffic noise, but it’s New York.  Whatevah!  I didn’t notice it.):

Finally, looking right out the windows, it gets crowded but the East River is only a block or so away.  NYC launched the July 4th fireworks from the pier there, so the “booms” shook the windows and you could see not only the real fireworks but reflections off the windows of the facing buildings.  The booms would echo too.  A real home-entertainment experience.  Here's the "view":

But the real excitement is the chance to take Frau A to some interesting restaurants while we’re there.  I've already booked these restaurants, and can recommend them to anyone visiting The Big Apple.

Frau A is not the biggest cheese eater, but I’ll try to change that here.   Artisanal lies on busy Park Avenue just below Midtown, the interior was designed by noted architect Adam Tihany… but you come for the cheese that they age in their own “cave” (more than 200 varieties) and endless wines available by the glass (over 150).  Food is great (get the gougères appetizer), I love the skate main dish (hope they still have it), and you’ll never get a better cheese plate for dessert – you pick ‘em or have the Fromagier select them for you.

This place is the perfect Sunday brunch spot, but we'll settle for a weekday lunch with the business crowd.

Here's the interior and a example of a cheese plate:

        

Frau A & I like to eat Indian here in Munich, so this is perfect.   Tabla is unique with an Indian/fusion menu, and it’s a nice balance between dressy & relaxed.  Location is lovely too, near Madison Square Park downtown.
I just checked their website – they’re shutting down after at year end!  Glad I get to go one more time.   Wonder what happened?

Here's a view of the 2-story inside and some dishes with nan:           

You might have seen chef Anthony Bourdain on television - he's the resident smart-ass on Food Network (or was... don't get it here on German television).  He has some cookbooks too, that have the same attitude.  Love them.  The motto at Brasserie Les Halles:  American Beef, French Style.  Translation:  the best steak frites in the city.  French fries are fried twice.  Oh yeah.  And there is always room for my favorite chocolate mousse dessert.  Also on Park Avenue, but opened a newer downtown location too.

Here's a view of the restaurant and the famous steak frites:

      

 
Here's the chef (who's really never there anymore) and his book about sex, drugs, and rock & roll in a NYC restaurant kitchen, plus the Les Halles cookbook:

             

Tao is the ultimate example of a guilty pleasure.  It’s like a cross between Sex and the City & Disneyland.  Ladies dressed to the nines, everyone drinking like crazy, a 16-foot tall buddha statue dominating the room and a roving sax player that jams with the pulsating techno music.  Oh, the food?  Not truly gourmet, but actually very respectable Asian/fusion - a bit on the pricey side though.  Definitely a weekend dinner place to take in the scene, but get reservations or wait for hours.

Here's the inside with the buddha statue:

Blue Smoke has some of the best barbeque in the city.  Ribs are lean and smoked for hours, burgers are juicy, and even the desserts are excellent (yup, they have a pastry chef!).  Sometimes you can smell the meat smoking on the street... yum.  I’m curious how Frau A will compare this BBQ to her experience from Texas and the South.  “Jazz Standard” is their downstairs jazz club, so the music is great too.  Perfect for relaxing lunch or cool dinner.

Here's a view of the artists at work with link to Serious Eats:

Combine Asian and Latin food ("eclectic"), served in a fashionably modern/hip environment?  I think Frau A will love it.  I tend to be skeptical of hotel restaurants, but this one really works.  They have a unique, long "common" table in the middle where a few dozen people sit together, which ironically is how things work in Germany.  A couple looking for seats just needs to ask occupied tables to join them if they see two free seats.  A conversation starts up, and you have new dinner friends.  We'll get some good spice here - maybe Frau A will blog what she thinks...

Here is a view of the decor:

Well, we won't have time for all my favs.  Have to catch these on the next pass through:

• "Restaurant" founded on making homemade peanut butter and the best PB&J anywhere.  Only in New York
• Most famous steak in NYC
• 3-star French/seafood that is truly one of the finest in the world

Gummi Garden of Eden

Trolli "Puzzle Trees" + Katjes "Apple & Eve" gummis = tasty and tempting fun

 

Both of these are cool on their own...the Puzzle trees come in pieces that you mix and match to assemble trees.  The different colored fruits actually are different flavors (pear, apricot, plum, lemon, cherry, and apple).

The Apple & Eve are sour apple gummis in apple and snake shapes, with slogan "Who needs Adam?"

    

No more loose batteries?

I've been using rechargable batteries lately. Between the Wii controllers, my translator, and new flash for my camera, I'm eating up loads of batteries.

But, for our trip, I grabbed a pack of batteries in case the flash needed them, instead of bringing yet another electrical device.

Usually when you open a pack of batterie, they open in the middle and then the others all fall out in the drawer. The Germans have invented an innovative and simple solution for this....just open the package for the batteries you need, and leave the others closed. Simple, and efficient!

Stereotype Maps

These are fun.... Yanko Tsvetkov has created a series of maps showing countries as their stereotypes. He's from the UK, so there are several maps of Europe, from various view points....

In "Europe According to the Vatican" Swtizerland is shown as "Guards" and Finland as "Jesus Never Went There." The countries also are conveniently color-coded (with shading to denote intensity) as "Righteous People," "Misguided Brothers," and "Bastards."

In "South American According to the USA" we see the "Cuba del Sur" (Bolivia) and the "British Riviera" (Falkland Islands).

Russia is generally depicted by other Europeans as "Big Spenders," gas supplier, or "Bully." However, my favorite Russian one is in "Europe According to France", where it is shown as "Napolean's Dream."  

"Europe According to Gay Men" also is fun, with Sweden shown as "Trashy Dance Music" and Turkey as "Sexy Homophobes." Portugal, the Spanish islands, Greece, Cyprus, and the Dalmatian Coast are collectively shown as "The Federated Holiday States of the Mediterranean," or "F.H.S.o.M."

My two favorites are The World According to USA and The World According to Germany. (Not surprisingly, being an American living in Germany...)

The World According to USA

The World According to Germany

German Traditions + Redneck Craft Projects = Awesome Advent Calendar

I've lived in enough totally different places now to be a little culturally screwed up. Or we could look at it more positively, as having the opportunity to combine the best of various cultures.

This one is lacking in Asian influence, but blends the best of the redneck spirit of homemade things and the German traditions of Advent calendars. And from both, of course, beer!

Introducing the Official 2010 Schnitzelbahn Advent Calendar: 

Inside is waiting 24 days of malty, hoppy, beer goodness!

I started with a 24-beer crate and then filled it with an assortment of 24 different 0.33 L beers. As most beers here are half liter bottles, it was a little harder than expected to find enough good beers. But luckily I could branch out beyond German beers and add some American, Australian, Czech, flavored, English and other beers not allowed in the Beer Tournament.

Tasty!

After finding the beers, the major design difficulty was in creating "doors," as the beers were aligned in hexagonal holders, not in a straight grid.

So, a cardboard top with doors was out of the question and I had to build in dividers. I solved the problem with Curling ribbon and packing tape. I used the curling ribbon to create grid with an opening over each bottle. Then I ran packing tape, sticky side up, under each line in the grid. This stuck to the ribbon and held the shape, while also providing something adhesive on which to mount the top.

Building the Grid

I needed something that could easily be torn open, and also adhere tightly to the tape. Aluminum foil made the most sense and looked festive. The tape running along the ribbon also should serve as a border to stop the tearing when each compartment is opened daily.

And finally.... I got satin star stickers from a stationery store and wrote the numbers 1-24 for each day in silver pen.  

Finishing with stickers for each day

Update on Tuesday, December 7, 2010 at 16:18 by Frau A

This guy has taken a fun and different approach to the advent calendar idea....Each December, he tastes and reviews a different beer per day to celebrate Advent.

http://beeradventcalendar.blogspot.com/

Living in Deutschland

From our Schnitzelbahn guest-blogger, BB:

I arrived for the first time March 8th 2004. Ops, take that back, Jan 6^th1966 was the first arrival. And that should explain this short preamble. After an 11 day adventure across the North Atlantic in a major winter storm on a WWII vintage rust bucket troop transport we (860 soldiers and a few families including my 4 month pregnant wife) docked. Bremerhaven was cold and dreary and we boarded a bus to catch a train to Schweinfurt. Bench seats and no heat. 10 hours later a Lieutenant met us at the train station in a jeep and took us to the BOQ. I met my commanding office the next day and was told to report to my unit and the next morning we left for a two week training exercise at Hoenfels. He said the officer wives would take care of her. (My wife). Nevertheless she was hysterical. Bless her heart; the hysteria lasted well into my son’s first year.

Truth be known, I loved Germany, the US Army, the beer, camaraderie, my shiny new Beetle, Tanks, and playing war games, assuming command of a tank company and generally feeling like I was 24 year old hot stuff!

So when the business opportunity arose, I was excited about returning to live and in the intervening years, I had traveled back several times on holidays and Army reunions. I was no stranger! So I have a different perspective about the Fatherland than some of my colleagues. I saw the development miracle over a period of 44 years.  Most of my colleagues are not yet 40!

I saw this country for the first time exactly 20 years after the end of WWII. They were climbing back but it was a slow climb. Restoration was complete or in progress for many partially destroyed buildings and there was a housing boom for multifamily houses in the cities that lacked any attempt at architectural creativity. It was simply a provide shelter exercise.  There were many, many vacant spaces that were evidence of once rubble piles.

This country went from a scientific and industrial power to a destroyed nation in a few years.  There were few young men, many widows and orphans, virtually no infrastructure, services, jobs, an unsympathetic foreign government and military occupation. Add in humiliation, shame, poverty and low morale.

Ok the US and the Allies did provide some leadership and lots of cash--- but what you see today in modern Germany is a testament to the human spirit coupled with an economic miracle! And three generations hence, the guilt is waning. Perhaps the seniors have learned from history, and the young—well they are the young.

We Americans can argue about high taxes, socialism, big brother, rules, holidays, business culture, high costs and more. I will now return to a country that I love above all after God and Family. But I will also be wary of crime, drugs, drunk drivers, the criminal tort system, unusually bad politics, huge disconnect with minorities, a dysfunctional health care system and economic malaise.

Yes, I will miss the calm, safe, ordered society and of course its beauty and its autobahns! I am not embarrassed or sad to return to my beloved America but I wonder sometimes if the answer between our two very diverse systems lies somewhere in the middle.