Raul and Lauren’s third weekend together in Germany held a visit to a medieval town called Rothenburg ob der Tauber (“Red fortress above the Tauber [River]). The town, now of about 11,000 inhabitants, has been around since the tenth century, and its medieval buildings and city wall remain well-preserved, having mostly escaped WWII bombing. On Saturday morning, the 20th of July, they bought a special Bavaria train ticket which gave them a discount for travel within the state. After a couple station changes, they arrived in Rothenburg and walked underneath the city wall to the old town. Lauren had reserved them a room in Gästehaus Raidel, a quirky and immensely charming 600-year-old house run by a very dear old man. The layout of their room was unlike anything they had seen before, with a low-ceilinged ante-chamber that housed a sink, mirror, chair, and wardrobe. The main room with a double bed had small windows looking out onto neighboring rooftops and featured a desk which they used for their laptop. A narrow study off the bedroom held a tiny window, chair, and tabletop running between the two walls. The toilet was in a little room behind the study, and the shower and a second sink were in a separate bathroom. It was all a little dusty and sported a few cobwebs on the ceilings, but it was quite cozy and the ambiance added to its medieval charm.

After dropping their backpacks, the travellers sauntered up a shop-lined street toward the main square, stopping to sample some sweets from a pastry shop. There were many tourists about, a majority of whom were Americans, for an American high school band was performing in the square that day. Rothenburg has become a popular tourist destination, but many are day-trippers, so the evenings are less crowded. They walked around the city and admired the centuries-old buildings, enjoying especially the trip around the city’s ramparts which encircle it for over a mile. They had a great Italian meal which served as another confirmation of the superiority of immigrant cooking for ethnic food. Saturday evening held a tour with the famous Rothenburg Night Watchman. He dresses up in medieval costume for his role and leads groups of tourists on a semi-historical circuit of the town, highlighting the city’s developments and declines. It was a thoroughly unique and enjoyable tour, and Raul and Lauren hope to repeat it in the future with their families and friends.

The next day, the expatriates hiked down through a forest and along a river to a small town where they had brunch at a beer garden (yes, they’re even open early Sunday mornings!). Raul had some kind of coffee cake and picked out a delicious cheesecake for Lauren. The hike back up to Rothenburg was steep but shady. After catching a train back to Munich, they ended up in Münchner Freiheit for dinner at an Italian place, also staffed by Italian immigrants. They took their meal at a sidewalk table and enjoyed the pleasant evening and slow pace of life in Munich.

The third week together was full of activities. Both Lauren and Raul viewed separate apartments on Monday evening in an attempt to find a permanent place to live. They have their current apartment only till mid-September. Tuesday evening was much more enjoyable, for Raul’s colleague Ross invited them to a beer garden with him, his girlfriend, and four of their friends. Raul and Lauren greatly enjoyed their company. They purchased a pretzel and Obazda, but Ross’s friends brought their own picnic fare. Thursday evening saw a stroll around Münchner Freiheit once again, with the particular reason of visiting the delicious ice cream shop there.

The second weekend of July held a visit to a nearby municipality of southern Bavaria called Berchtesgaden. The area is just a few miles from Austria and is also home to the mountain peak where Hitler’s Eagle Nest rests. Lauren and Raul’s destination was the Berchtesgaden National Park, where they took a ferry across an immense glacial lake, Königssee, and disembarked at St. Bartholomä pilgrimage church. The crystal-clear lake, surrounded by sheer rock walls and forest, is a stunning image of beauty. On the ferry ride across, the captain of the boat played a trumpet to demonstrate the echo that those tall cliffs produce. At St. Bartholomä, Raul and Lauren put their camera to good use and then followed a hiking path along the lake-front. Later turning their backs on the water, they delved into the forested hillside for a steep scramble up rocks and the dirt path. They were eager to continue exploring the many hiking possibilities here, but they had to return to the dock before the last ferry of the day left. They had just enough time to visit the beer garden and order fries, spritzer drinks, and dessert before departing. Since it is an easy trip from Munich, they are sure to come back in the future.

The next day, Raul and Lauren acted as tourists of their city and followed Rick Steves’ walking guide to learn about München and its most celebrated sights. They ended up in Hofbräuhaus, the most famous beer hall in the world, according to Rick Steves. Although frequented by plenty of tourists, the food and live oompah music made for an enjoyable break, and they followed the sausage, pretzel, and cheese snack with some delicious ice cream from a nearby shop.

On Tuesday, July 16th, Lauren gathered up materials for Mexican-American tacos, and prepared lunch for Raul and his colleagues at Agrista. The eight employees generally eat lunch together and take turns cooking, so Lauren took the opportunity to cook for them and become acquainted. She had done a test-run of the tacos at home a few days earlier and found that German beef is quite unappetizing. According to what she read, Germany primarily raises dairy cows, not beef cows, and then just slaughters the old, tough dairy cows for the beef that is in the supermarkets. To avoid that tasteless beef, Lauren turned to the more common 60% beef, 40% pork mixture that seems commonly to replace the 100% ground beef that is called for in recipes. Thankfully, she found Old El Paso soft taco shells and cheddar cheese in an unusually large grocery store and had brought a container of taco seasoning all the way from the United States. She thinks the tacos at Agrista turned out well, since she made a large amount, and it was completely gone at the end. In the future, she plans to make her own corn tortillas, and then they will certainly have a taste of home in Munich.

After lunch, Lauren stayed at Agrista, and she and Raul accompanied his colleagues after work to Tollwood once more and spent a pleasant evening outside in very “mixed” company. The eight employees of Agrista are from a variety of countries: Germany, South Africa, Britain, China, Romania, and the United States, so it has been fascinating to get to know each of these people and their stories.

Raul’s colleague Diane and her husband Tai came over for an American dinner of chicken fajitas on Thursday. After enjoying nice dinner conversation with them, they took the subway one stop down the line to the square known as Münchner Freiheit (Freedom of Munich). Lauren was in heaven when they found the darkest chocolate ice cream she’s ever had – it was even called black chocolate. She knew she would never love another dark chocolate ice cream after that moment. After purchasing the treat, the four of them strolled around Münchner Freiheit and became acquainted with the area, which houses many enticing restaurants and two large, public chessboards on the pavement like those that Raul and Lauren saw in Switzerland last year.

On Friday, the expatriates once again sought out German garage sales, which are called “Flohmärkte.” The previous week, they had bought a wooden chair to be used at the desk in their apartment, and this week, Raul found a British Harry Potter book. German and American garage sales seem to be not very different. Raul and Lauren found used clothing, dishware, children’s toys, and a lot of mediocre novels.

Lauren arrived in München late in the evening on July 5th, sorry to have missed her family’s traditional 4th of July cheesecake but unspeakably happy to finally see Raul after nine long weeks of separation! The next day, they woke up early to go to the Viktualienmarkt in Pasing, the neighborhood where Raul’s work is located. They purchased a baguette, some fruit, and delicious cheese from a cheese shop and headed back to the train station. From there, they travelled southwest to the town of Herrsching, whence they began a three-mile pilgrimage up a large hill to Andechs Monastery. When Raul went by himself to this church, some weeks ago, he did not keep up with the group that arrived on the train with him. This time, he made sure they did in order to see the route the Germans would take. Lauren enjoyed seeing many men in Lederhosen on the hike up. Some even wore the traditional shoes and wool socks.

At the monastery church, Lauren climbed almost 200 steps up a narrow tower to view the surrounding countryside, but Raul stayed below since he had already made that climb. One highlight from the rest of the trip was a lovely meal at the nearby beer garden which included fries, Bratwurst, Apfelschörle (carbonated apple juice) and Johannesbeerschörle (carbonated currant juice). Another highlight was seeing a young lady walking in front of them as she flipped up the back of her dirndl, likely to cool off the back of her legs, and revealed a nice pair of underwear partially covering a nice derrière. Just as the scenery is beautiful, so are the girls.

After hiking down from the monastery, Raul and Lauren walked along the Ammersee and rested on a bench as they enjoyed a well-deserved ice cream. From there, it was back to Munich and to the home of Diane, a colleague of Raul’s, and Tai, her husband. Raul and Lauren enjoyed a game of Settlers of Catan with them.

Next day, Sunday, was moving day. After sleeping in late, Raul and Lauren made two trips with their luggage to their new apartment in Schwabing, a verdant neighborhood north of the city center. They met their roommate Mona, a nice Romanian girl about their age, and her Swiss boyfriend “Jorge.”

They spent the evening enjoying the nearby English Garden. It is a large park, about two-thirds the size of St. Louis’ Forest Park, whose southern half is popular with tourists who visit the Chinese Tower and the beer garden. Raul and Lauren entered in the northern half, near to their apartment. The air pregnant with the heavy smell of linden flowers, they wandered down shady paths until they too reached the Chinese Tower. Lauren could not resist ordering an enormous salted pretzel. Unfortunately, her meek voice was misunderstood, and the attendant presented her with a large radish cut in a spiral style. “Kein radi,” she protested, “no radish,” and pointed to the pretzel instead. They moved on to another shop where they bought a traditional cheese spread called Obazda which is perfect for being scooped up by a pretzel. Delicious fries accompanied the snack.

They sauntered out of the garden at the south end and ended up on the edge of Odeonsplatz. They tried to enter the plaza, but a ticketed event was occurring inside. After walking around the plaza to the opposite side, they picked out a spot on the sidewalk near several others without tickets and waited in anticipation for the orchestral concert to begin. Lauren was especially excitable and even more so when they heard Dvořák’s New World Symphony begin to play. She had never heard it live before. They were just going to listen for a few minutes…which turned into “Five more minutes, please” and then into the first movement, the second movement, and part of the third. It was quite late by that time, and Raul had to work in the morning, so they tore themselves away.

The weekdays came long and uncomfortable for Lauren since Raul had to work and she was anxious to spend as much time with him as possible. On Thursday evening, they accompanied some of Raul’s colleagues to Tollwood, a summer music festival where many tents and booths of food were also set up. Lauren enjoyed her first döner, served in pita bread. This Turkish food is quite popular as a kind of fast-food in Germany. After the festival, they looked forward to their free time on the weekend, and thus ended the first week of Lauren’s visit.

I left Thursday morning for Madrid, and after a few little hiccups, I arrived around 9 o’clock this morning. Unfortunately, when our flight was delayed in Chicago and then we were put on a different flight to Madrid, skipping what would have been my second lay-over city, Boston, the luggage was separated from its owners and is still in Boston. Supposedly it will be delivered tomorrow afternoon to the place I’m staying, and I really hope it is. I packed two large suitcases full (right to the limit of 50 lbs. each) of things to leave behind permanently in Munich. I had only my essential documents and papers for getting a library card to the Biblioteca Nacional on my person, so I have no toothbrush, clean clothes, or the like. Happily, as I was taking my documents out of my small backpack, I found an old t-shirt that was supposed to be in the donation box a few weeks ago. I guess it was left behind for just the occasion of sleeping tonight. At least I can take this dirty shirt off for a while.

I am spending two weeks in Madrid now for researching books pertaining to my dissertation. The excellent thing about this situation is that it got my flight to Europe paid for, so I will be able to see Raul very soon!

Raul and I came to Spain in 2005, so this is my second time here. Madrid is pretty much like I remember it – not too enticing from the approach by air (it’s pretty arid), many people, and kind of dirty. I guess those last two describe most all capital cities, which is why I don’t care for them too much. Already today I’ve had my fill of people for many days. I took several Metro rides between the airport, the apartment I’m staying at, and the National Library. It seems like those stations generally smell filthy. It looks like there’s a more direct route by bus to the Library, so I will try that on Monday.

I’m staying in a room in an apartment rented by a Peruvian couple, for the really excellent price of $28/night, whereas most hotels and other apartment rooms in the same area were 70, 80, 90 euros a night. I have my own bath and access to their kitchen and WiFi (Wee-Fee). It was a great deal, and it’s very clean. As to be expected, it’s quite small, which isn’t a problem except for the shower. I literally could not turn around without either banging the shower door with my elbows or accidentally turning off the water. First world problems – at least the water was hot.

I wanted to make sure I went by the Library today, so after I stopped by the apartment, I just took a quick shower, put my dirty clothes back on, and headed out. It was pretty easy to navigate the Metro system and find it. The grandiose building sticks out from the ones around it. Spain has an old reputation of bureaucracy and “come back tomorrow” mentality, so I was thrilled when it took less than ten minutes total to get my researcher card. Armed with a gas bill to establish my residence, a letter of introduction signed by my thesis director, and my passport, I entered to find out what I needed to do. A colleague of mine had said it took her about 30 minutes when she did it last year. I had to stop at four desks and security before I could get it, but it turned out without a hitch. I requested the book I wanted, they assigned me a desk number, and then a red light flashed on my desk when I could pick up my book. I started reading one of the primary sources I’ll be working with.

I tried to stay as long as possible, but I was so sleepy from not having slept much on the plane that I had to leave. I went by a grocery store on the way home and purchased the requisite Taranu foods : yogurt, granola, salami, cheese, water, baguette, and a red bell pepper. I did not have success finding apples. I had a late lunch and then caught up on some emails. I’m trying to make myself stay awake in order to adjust to the time, but I’m having a hard time fighting it. That’s why I am bumbling through this entry. Good night!

Tonight was a special evening spent with my closest friends, and in a happy coincidence, Raul will be meeting the missing members of our St. Louis gang in just a couple hours in Florence, Italy. It’s just a shame that we couldn’t all be in Italy for this reunion.

After enjoying a truly beautiful and mild May and first week of June, typical St. Louis summer weather is back with a vengeance. It was in the 90s till late in the evening with high humidity. Nevertheless, we convened at Forest Park, the expansive and verdant gem of St. Louis and rented paddle boats as if we were young couples on first dates. It’s a good thing Betsy wasn’t on a date though, or one may have raised one’s eyebrows at the coquettish manner in which she “tried” to cover herself as she paddled in a dress. A grand time was had by all even though we were sticky with sweat by the end of our lake tour.

After boating, we returned to the Boat House for dinner where we were able to review our impressions of the season finale of our beloved Game of Thrones, which we had all watched in time for our meet-up. The King is tired.

Sung looked a little tired too, as he took the liberty of unbuttoning his shirt at dinner to take better advantage of the air conditioning.

Soon Sung was back to himself, and he dutifully returned to his task of picking out our own sigils. Trent’s is a river, after the River Trent as I understand it, and Kari’s is a moose because that’s all there is in Canada. (Confirm or deny, Kari?) We imagined theirs together with the moose peacefully lapping up water from the river. I told Sung Raul’s name is from a word for Wolf, but Sung said Raul’s sigil is a beaver. Betsy kindly thought it was because of his industriousness, but Sung explained that it’s due to a physical resemblance. I must disagree; Raul doesn’t even have the teeth for a beaver, the most obvious characteristic! Sung deemed me a phoenix because he rises from the ashes of a fire like my red hair. Betsy is a horse with a flowing mane, and Sung is a sloth who never comes down from his tree. All in all, we make a formidable group.

As for the events on the European continent, I will let Raul pick up the story.