Salzburg 2002-01-12

Flew, bussed and trained YYZ-LHR-STN-SLZ-STR in a very round-about way, just to capture the cheapest fares...sometimes I surprise even myself. But My entry into Austria did offer my first exposure to the Euro, and I could thankfully take out money for lunch and the local bus, without having to wait until I return to Austria to spend the change. Definitely makes up for the ugly bills....

Stuttgart 2002-01-13

Having only slept one night in Germany, and feeling a bit jet-lagged, I went out to Weilimdorf for Onkel Ottmar's 70th birthday. The fesitivities started in ths Ski Club with Kaffeetrinken (a day musn't pass without Kaffetrinken!) and then there was a brief pause while everyone got dressed up for dinner (I was under-dressed, I didn't know!) Dinner was had in the hall of a very nice restaurant in Korntal, with a five course italian buffet! The tables were fairly spread out to help fill a very large room, and the guests were divided into the friendship circles/clubs that they came from...the Ski club, bowling team, work friends...I was at the head table with the rest of the family, which I am sure was the appropriate thing to do, but really, if you have gotten all your friends together for one evening, do you really want to sit and chat with just your family? But I guess with all the uniquely family occasions and uniquely friend occasions throughout the year, one rarely has to combine the two on such a large scale.

Sankt Gallenkirch 2001-01-25

Waldheim Ski Weekend! Photos are up. What can I say, a little chalet for the 30 of us, skiing and eating and drinking and not much else really. What more does one need.

Munich 2001-02-02

Went to Munich to write the LSAT test. Cannot say that aspirations of Lawyerdom overwhelm me, but I thought I'd give it a try. I decided to make it a day trip using a Schones Wochenende ticket, and thus commit myself to the slow trains. The ride there consisted of trains with increasing number of football fans, and I was pleasantly surprised at how well they mixed. At worst there was just some jovial banter and insulting songs directed at the other teams. I deduced that Bayern Munich was playing Borussia Dortmund judging by the attire they were wearing. I was in top form for the LSAT.

The test went fine. Only about twenty people wrote it, but this was also my greatest exposure to American's in a long while. A couple bore incredible resemblance to Contra-positive Mike, which was a bit eerie.

It was however the ride home that was most eventful, because the trains were full. Very very full. So full that people had climbed up to sit on the luggage rack. And yet there were no scuffles or injuries and no incidents outside of a fan group lighting a smoke bomb, but that was more annoying than antagonism.

Stuttgart 2002-03-29

Sheena, Anthony, Christopher and Andrew came to Stuttgart to squeeze into my little apartment at Easter. A lack of space never proved to be a problem, since the weather was perfect and we could stay outside. Much of the visit was spent at various children's parks, definitely a German highlight, but not exactly typical tourist fare. However the guests did get to see the Schloss in Ludwigsburg (plus Märchengarten), Wilhelma and climb the double Helix in Munich.

Plus Easter was a chocolate-laden affair, which is entirely my doing, but really any excuse is all I need. Plus I had not eaten a bite of chocolate for Lent (no alcohol as well!), so it just started to accumulate.