Creatures of Habit

So if you know our family, you would know that this is the 7th(?) time we've traveled to Munich. "Why do you keep going back?" People ask us when they find out we are going to Munich yet again. "Because it's heaven," I respond. And it's true. If someday, we lived out the rest of our days here, I am pretty sure I wouldn't know if I was alive any more. We've come in winter, spring, and summer (not fall due to the start of school) and so far it's fabulous in every season.

So this trip, it's just us three. For the past few years we've traveled with people when we've come. Mostly Donnie's parents, my family and before Paul, we came with my friends. Donnie secured us a perfect little apartment right downtown (next to the Deustches Museum and the Viktualenmarkt), and we've been playing house in dreamland.

I've been neglectful of my blogging, mostly because I've been taken over by a lazy disease, but also because we've been taking an online course in IB to hopefully better our job prospects when we decide to move. So I will try to keep this brief, but if you've ever read any of these before, brief is not my strong point :).

Our fav summer meal.

We arrived after a four-plane hop across the Atlantic, exhausted and prepared to settle in for the next four weeks. After a slight hiccup with the car rental, we stopped at the grocery stores we shopped at during Christmas (we knew they were good and had a drink market), then headed back to unpack. The first few days were blissful. The weather was cool, we could wake up at any time, wander 400 meters to the Isar, run as far as we wanted then collapse at a beer garden while Paul played. We frequented the Hofbraukeller because of it's proximity to our apartment, but also the killer food and playground. In the downtime, we were still watching soccer like crazy, and Germany was advancing with a steady increase in intensity. We watched the Germany vs. France game at the Hofbraukeller on the July 4 (and felt a little guilty wearing German jerseys on July 4). It was super fun, but crowded! Paul was able to play on the playground until it was filled up with fuddy-duddy adults trying to watch the game. But we won!

Cool night in Munich. Priceless.

Off to watch Germany!

Picnic at the Hofbraukeller

Just us and a few hundred friends.

The days here don't distinguish themselves very well unless there was some marked event. We got into a routine of going to bed late after World Cup games, getting up and eventually going running and then going to our favorite places, including the Augustiner Brau. We felt no need to do tourist activities because we were tired from the late games, but also because we've done most of them before. :) Paul seemed happy to play and take a nap while we were running, then wake up to play wherever we arrived. It was a smooth flow, until we hit a patch of rainy weather.

This is the life.

Silly faced boy.

Silly faced boy with a mohawk.

Off to watch Germany play again. 

Post-run picnic at the Chinesischer Turm

We decided to rent a car and go for an adventure for the weekend. The first thing we did was revisit the Andechs Brewery that we went to at Christmas time with Matt, Ron and Angie. The rain cleared up and it was a gorgeous evening. Andechs is a peaceful place to visit, and it was nice to see that in summer the patio is open and the playground is just as fun as it looks. 

Hale road trip on the Autobahn!

Andechs Kloster

My hearts.

Prost!

Such a peaceful retreat.

The next day, we ventured out to Erding to an indoor waterpark, which I have no pictures of, but it was fantastic. It was cold and rainy outside, but inside was a wonderland of warm pools, spas and waterslides. Donnie and I watched as Paul took his turns sliding down the pint-sized slides and we snuck him on some faster ones. He wanted to go on the super-duper big scary ones, but we had to talk him out of it in favor of the lazy river. If you want to see pics, check out the website: http://www.therme-erding.de/

From there we stopped in Freising on the way home, but were discouraged to find that the drink market was closed at one of our favorite breweries, Weihenstephaner. The discouragement continued when we realized that their beer garden was closed and we had to sit in the cellar for our meal, and nobody came to wait on us. Luckily, they redeemed themselves by having ridiculously good food and of course, beer. We headed home after that, feeling a bit put off of this particular brewery. Time will tell if we ever venture back (it was our third time there).

Oldest Brewery in Germany.

We had planned to go to Salzburg the following day, to revisit the Steiglkeller and see some other sights, and when we got home I saw that my stepbrother, Nick was in Salzburg that very moment. I messaged him, and hoped that we could share a meal with him and his wife (we missed their wedding this year while we were in China). He responded! So we made plans to meet up for lunch the next day.

We got a rather late start to Salzburg, but we managed to make lunch on time and it was fabulous. He and his wife are adorable and they were in town taking classes in Vienna. It was such luck that we crossed paths; I haven't seen him since our brief greeting at our brother's graduation last year. He's doing so well and it was so wonderful to catch up with him and have them meet Paul. After a long meal, we dropped them at the train station and headed off to the Steigl Brewery.

Paul, Nicci and Nick

Salzburg is crazy beautiful.

Always good to spend time with people you grew up with.

The last summer we were in Munich, we made our way to Salzburg simply because we'd missed a train and I was fascinated by it's splendor. We lucked into touring the fortress and eating at the Steiglkeller, falling in love with their grapefruit radlers. So we made it a mission this time to visit the place they brewed this beautiful beer.

I think I've mentioned this before, but we have been on a lot of brewery tours. This one wasn't so much of a tour as a walk through their museum, but it started with this incredible movie. We were the only patrons at the time, so we had the theater to ourselves, and it surrounded us. Paul loved it. After the tour, we sat in their garden for a few hours trying out their different brews and enjoying the sun, but it was time to move on...Germany was in the World Cup final that night.

Best movie ever.

He loved it!

Donnie's fav! Hops!

uggggh, I can't lift it.

Delish.

Our son is a good sport. He wore his lederhosen all day.

We had booked a room right on the border of Germany and Austria, in Berchtesgaten. The hotel was amazing, an Intercontinental set in the side of the hill, right below the Eagle's nest. It was a Sunday evening, so the hotel was quiet, and all guests gathered in the "library" to watch the World Cup final. It was low key, but fun. AND GERMANY WON! I feel a little fortunate that the Spurs and Germany won while we were in those respective places. :) Couldn't ask for a more charmed sports life this summer.

The following day we had planned to go on adventure hiking through the hills, but due to the late game and beverages consumed, we laid low. We did rally at the end of the day to take the last bus up to the Eagle's Nest to see the view. The Eagle's Nest (not to insult anybody's intelligence) was a gift to Hitler for his fiftieth birthday. It was a retreat for him, but now it's a restaurant and tourist attraction. It was a high-stakes roller coaster of a ride on a bus up there, but the view was ridiculous. It's a little crazy such a beautiful place belonged to such an atrocious person. Paul had fun hiking around, and was genuinely bummed when we headed back down and made the trek back to Munich. Overall, I would say it was a successful roadtrip.

Our hotel in the hills of music.

Bus ride up.

Selfie at the Eagle's Nest.

The dudes.

We were in and out of clouds the whole time.

Tunnel to the elevator up to the Eagle's Nest.

The next few days were uneventful, we caught up on sleep, running and IB school work. But by Wednesday we were ready to head out and experience the city. Two years ago, we went to a festival called Tollwood. It's a really cool, laid back fest that is focused on Earth-friendly life and products. So they sell all kinds of cool stuff. It's also multi-cultural, so you can get any kind of food you want. AND there's live music. So after a long run, we geared up and took the train and bus out to Olympic Park. Veronica was on my mind because just two years ago we were there with her and it looked exactly the same. We sat at the same tent, and if it weren't for the oppressive heat and my exhaustion from the run, I think it would have been really fun. But after a few hours, I was just ready to go. It was kind of a bust, but cool to see it exactly like it had been before.

Remember V??

Amazing food, though.

Since the temperatures had been steadily increasing, and Friday was due to be the hottest one yet. So I convinced Donnie that a day at the river was necessary. We run on the river almost every day and on hot days it taunts me. It's so cool and refreshing and I can't help but daydream about sitting in the cold water and relaxing in the hot sun. So after our daily run, we packed up a cooler, our swimsuits and blankets to a spot we had scouted. It was perfect. The sun was hot. The water was frigid (so cold that Donnie wouldn't even go in) and our spot was awesome. We spent the whole afternoon playing and lounging and followed up our day with some delicious Thai food,  then slept well after our day in the sun.

Relaxing.

So happy.

A peaceful piece to ourselves.

No sand, just rocks.

YUM.

The next day was the Hofbrau Dult! We'd gone to this super fun party two years ago on the eve of our departure, so I was happy to get to spend the afternoon stress-free this year. We arrived by public transport and it was hot again. Paul was napping so we wandered around the grounds of the brewery for a while before we settled in some shade with some treats. When Paul woke up, we took him to the Kinder part of the fest, he rode the merry-go-round countless times and even jumped on a trampoline! We finished the evening by watching an 80's tribute band before heading home. 

Breakfast of champions before the Dult.

Sunny day at the Hofbrau brewery

yay!

Jumping!

His fav, the heart-cookie.

Unfortunately, we were too spent from our days in the sun to rise at dawn for the Kocherlball in the Englischer Garten. I was disappointed, but happy to sleep in on the Sunday after the Dult. 

So today, the weather has turned cold and rainy again (which makes me relieved), and we are planning a few more excursions in our last 10 days in Munich. If you've read my other blogs about our times in Munich before, you may find them redundant, but that's ok by me. We are creatures of habit. We know what we like. This week we will fill our days with our favorites before heading out on another roadtrip this weekend. 

This city is dreamland to me. It's everything I would want and more, but even then I struggle to get motivated to enjoy the place I love. I hope the next ten days are full and fun and sunny and not too hot. :) Thanks for sticking it out on this epically long post. Love to all.

Summer 2014 Part 1-San Antonio Love

Loving his time with Grammy and Papa.

 So this is one of those cases when you're too busy living life to record it, but I don't want to forget a moment of our time. I knew it would go by in a flash, but I didn't realize it would go that fast. And really, I'm only 3 weeks into my summer, but somehow it feels like it's slipping away so quickly. So here is my best recollection of our short time in SA.

We arrived in Dallas after a relatively smooth, albeit cramped 14 hour plane ride. We struggled to gather all of our luggage (they lost our stroller, but found it!), we met up with Donnie's parents and drove about an hour out of town to a hotel and settled into watch the Spurs. They won their fifth championship that night, and between being with family and extreme exhaustion, I couldn't help but cry. It was a perfect way to start our summer.

The first week back in SA was a blur of shopping, eating, and World Cup. We took every opportunity to run in our old parks, eat at our favorite places and meet up with friends to watch the soccer matches. It was exhausting, but my heart was full. I met up with the ladies from Oak Grove, and marveled with them how big our kids were getting. :) Getting to see all the familiar faces and catch up with what had happened in the past year was exactly what I wanted to do.

World Cup!

Beach time with this hot chick

Before I knew it, it was the end of the first week, and Donnie, his parents, and Paul left for the beach, while I waited for my sister to arrive from Seattle. She got in on a Friday evening, and I whisked her off for a run. It was a little hot and uncomfortable, so we quit early, and headed home to prep for a night out. We hit all my favorite spots, minus the awesome taco truck, but it got too late for that. It's always a blast with Andie, but that night was especially fun. :) She was like a magnet for guys, every time I walked away, I'd come back to find her deep in convo with somebody new. I couldn't help but smile. :) We got home late, and up early for our long drive to the beach, but it was worth it to lay by the pool and lounge around the beach for the weekend with her by my side.  We spent the rest of the weekend being lazy, the sun and lack of sleep caught up with me and I ended up being too sick to watch the US vs. Portugal game out. So we cheered them on from our apartment, and then it was Monday, and time to head back to SA. After a long drive, a doctor's check up for Paul, and another soccer game, we dropped her off at the airport. I hate saying goodbye to her, but I know we'll see her again soon when she comes to HK in August. She's a rock, and I love her for her amazing calm and motivation and patience. she continues to be an inspiration.

Perfect girl's night out.

Life is good. <3

Yay, beach!

Sand castle attempt.

Ahh the wide open space of TX beaches.

The days seemed to get shorter after that. Donnie and I took a quick trip to Austin with the intention of going to see some live music, but we spent the day eating and shopping and ended up being too tired to go out. We got up early the next day for a 10 mile run around the lake, which has changed since we left. It was fun, but tiring, so Wednesday was quiet.

The next day we watched Germany and US play at Beethoven Maennorchor with lots of German and US fans. It was a loss for the US, but both teams pushed on to the next round, so it felt like a win for both. :) From there, we did some final shopping and I took a nap before meeting up with the BDC girls at a cool new outdoor eatery. Unfortunately, we got rained out and ended up at a pizza place. I laughed so hard that night; they are so funny and so warm. I miss my monthly get togethers with them. We went out after, but I was too tired to dance, but I had a great time laughing and people watching.

Love this chica.

The hot girls of BDC

The next day was another full day of errands, friends and food. We met up with Ron and Angie's old friends and their kids who have become our friends. Their two kiddos are great with Paul and he played his heart out. The following day, we met up with Donnie's best friends for a zoo trip with the kids. It wasn't too hot or crowded so we spent a couple of hours wandering and doing all the fun stuff, like the carousel, petting zoo and feeding the birds. From their we caught a soccer game with everybody, and although we had planned on all meeting up later for drinks, Donnie and I spent the evening packing.

The Hales!

Paul and Sophie are the same size. She's six.

Back on the Brackenridge train!

Feed the birds! Josie's skeptical.

The cool kids.

Finished ten miles in 80% humidity!

Our last day in San Antonio started with a 10 mile run, then a rush to go see the poor Mexico team lose to the Netherlands, then more packing and that's when the sadness hit. We went downtown for a Brazilian steakhouse dinner, and then finished up our packing. I went out for a last minute drink with Jane, and couldn't help but feel that ache of wanting to stay when I drove home.



There is so much I love about San Antonio, the food, the culture, the way of life that is so warm and welcoming. There are so many people there that hold pieces of my heart, that when I'm there it feels so good to be whole again. But when I seriously think about my daily life their compared with what I have now in China, it's hard to compare. Yes, things are easier in SA, it's familiar, and so much that made me who I am happened there, but after review, I struggled a lot. I worked hard, with little payoff, I was frustrated a lot with an education system I didn't quite believe in.

I know I'll be back in SA sometime soon, and it's never far from my mind or heart. I am so grateful for the short time I had with all of the people I care for there. I hope you all know that I think of you often, and I love you all. <3

And now on to Summer 2014 Part 2!