Hello!

Last Thursday marked the biggest national Hungarian holiday – the celebration of the revolution that won the nation freedom from Habsburg rule in 1848. And, to celebrate, I took off. 🙂 We had a 4-day weekend so I went back to my first European home, Deutschland. The train ride is ~7.5 hours (nearly the time it takes to fly from Cincinnati to Paris) but it’s mostly a nice ride. Believe me when I tell you that it makes a difference which train you take and ALWAYS take a German train if you have a choice. The Krauts (I can say that b/c I am at least 1/4 Kraut) know what they’re doing when it comes to transportation. German trains = BMWs and all other trains = Yugos. Or so I’ve been told (and so I saw w/ my own 2 eyes at the train station). I think I’ve only been on German trains so Lawd help me the day I board another, inferior train. 😉

Munich was lovely as always and the weather was outstanding. It was so wonderful to catch up w/ my pals there! A definite highlight of the trip was eating brunch at Kaisergarten where German football great Bastian Schweinsteiger (or, “pig mounter,” as his surname translates) was dining too with his model girlfriend. To explain how I reacted, I guess I have to revert back to the 2010 World Cup, during which I became what some might call obsessed with football. I was like an obnoxious super fan who rarely missed a match and, since I definitely inherited my dad’s loud voice and sports enthusiasm, my reactions were, um, memorable. Praise God that I didn’t own a vuvuzela. So, when I learned that Schweinsteiger was right next to us at the restaurant, I went a little nuts. At least I left him in peace, despite my minor fit at our table.

For our brunch dessert we had my FAVORITE German dessert, Kaiserschmarrn. It is a gift from the gods. For those of you who have never had the pleasure, it’s kind of like American pancakes, only approximately 8,000 times better. You can get it at fairs and festivals in Munich but the Kaisergarten in trendy Schwabing (Schweinsteiger’s neighborhood!) is probably the best I’ve ever had. It takes 45 minutes to prepare but it’s well worth the wait. Our group shared two orders and it somehow turned into a hypothetical world war for the last bite with representatives from Italy, Germany, Cameroon, India, Pakistan, Iran and the U.S. Of course the U.S. faction was the loudest and most obnoxious but we conceded the last piece despite our clear military superiority. 🙂 You’re welcome, other countries.

After stuffing ourselves it was off to the Englischer Garten, Munich’s gorgeous and gigantisch (gigantic) public park. It was the perfect day to sit in the sun and watch my friends play frisbee. And at least we burned off some of the Kaiserschmarrn biking around town. Sunday morning I was back on the train heading to Budapest. It was such a beautiful day and the scenic views between Munich and Salzburg are truly stunning. And, yes, I was listening to and singing (in my head) the entire Sound of Music soundtrack all the way to Salzburg. As always, I wanted to get the whole train in on an improvised version of the movie (starring myself as Maria von Trapp, of course) but the rational part of my brain sent the fanciful part to its room. Boo to sanity!

Can’t wait to see my Munich friends again!

C