Sunday Beer Sales

Today was a gorgeous sunny day with temps reaching close to 70. We went for a stroll and late lunch in the huge park/green space on the outskirts of Munich along with hundreds of other people. I couldn't believe how many people there were....must have been the after church crowd??

We had a great lunch at another Biergarten. Yes, that is more saukraut I am eating and no, I have not had my fill of it.

As for the question of Sunday Beer sales??? Oh, yes, definately!!!

Munching down in Munich

I have made a decision to eat saurkraut every day I am here. We went to a Bier Garten today for lunch and had the best sausage, spaetzle and more saurkraut. I have always been a big lover of kraut but this stuff is wonderful. I can't seem to get enough of it. Konrad said maybe we should just include a whole album of the empty plates I am leaving behind!! I will definately be into big girls sizes when I get home!
I took a couple shots today of some of the architecture around town. There was a protest in front of this big arched stage which has quite a politcal history to begin with. It is where Hitler gave one of his speeches and 500,000 were in this square.
I finally went out today and bought us each a complete outfit as our luggage still has not arrived. I am optimistic it will get here and hopefully before we leave!!!!

Day 3 No Bags but Good Food

I am really loving Munich. It is a beautiful city, clean, obviously affluent. It has been so nice that Konrad speaks German because it appears very few people speak or are willing to speak English. I am crazy about the food. Our bags have still not arrived and we will probably need to go ahead and buy some new clothes today. I was freezing, so the first day we went looking for a sweater or jacket for me. We happened upon a thrift shop with a little frau tending the place. As I was perusing the rack, Konrad was conversing with her in German. She asked him what size I wore. I said a size 10 in the States....she looked me up and down and shook her head in disbelief and motioned me to follow here and THEN in perfect English she said,"Here are the clothes for bigger girls!!!!!!!!" I was almost in tears.....Konrad is flitting around nervously trying to keep me in the shop directed to finding a coat. ANYWAY, I did find a coat and it WAS NOT on the "bigger girls" rack. So just to spite her, I ate to the excess the rest of the day!
We went to one of Konrad's favorite restaurants with typical Bavarian fare. It was so good. He ordered the big sausage plate and I ordered pork with saurkraut and potato pancakes. The beer was the best I have ever tasted. And yes, I finished everything on my plate.....I am a good value for the dollar on a date!!!

Baggage Woes

Well, we have not had good luck with flights on this trip. On Thursday we flew out of London Heathrow from the brand new Terminal 5...1st day it was opened. Things did not go as planned and our flight was 4 hours late leaving for Munich. We finally got on board and they announced that we would be leaving with NO bags.....honestly, not one bag was on board. We found out the next day that the baggage handlers were not able to log into the new system and they thus could not get the bags moving at all, all day!!! What a nightmare.....reminded me alot of the opening of our new IMC Hospital so I was feeling a bit empathetic!!!

Kew Gardens

Went to the world famous Kew Gardens on my last day in London. It was wonderful and very nourshing for my soul after the hustle and bustle of the city. I have definately confirmed that I am a peasant girl. The gardens were just barely blooming but it was nice because I went around and looked at things I normally wouldn't have spent so much time in. The conservatories were enormous and filled with all kinds of unusual specimens. There was a gallery of botanical paintings over 500 from the same artist which I was just smitten with. It was actually nice to be able to concentrate on plant and tree forms around the garden because I wasn't distracted by the usual bombardment to my senses of all the blooming flora. I enjoyed it very much.

Royal Society Dinner

Some pictures from the Royal Society dinner last night. The meetings that Konrad is here for are being held to honor one of his friends from Cambridge who was just inducted into the Royal Society which is a great honor in Britain in the Sciences.








Here are the 3 who organzed the event. This is as dressed up as this group gets. The only reason Konrad even has a tie is that I bought him one that day at I thrift shop down the street from Harrods!














The guest of honor and his family, Michael Gordon.











Konrad's old pals from Calgary.

Shopping in London

Spent the day yesterday checking out the shopping and museums. Made it to Harrods and was certainly in awe at the decadence. Two floors of Handbags alone. The one I looked at was 2000 pounds ($4000) and people were buying them. Great shoes,also, of course. The window display with the shoes and $$$ symbol said it all. We wandered through Soho a couple days ago and Konrad did his own version of window shopping....something for everyone in this city!!!

Here we are in front of Parliment.

London

Finally able to get back on line and post some more pics. I am having a bit of withdrawal from technology...no cell phone and intermittent internet access!!! Of course, I am spending my evenings with techno-geeks so that should count for something!!!
We left Cambridge on Monday and took the bus to London. Wandered around for a few hours together and did a quick tour. Saw Big Ben, Parliment, Buckingham Palace, Windsor Cathedral, Pickidilly and just ALOT of people. I do think this may be the biggest city I have ever been in???
The masses of humanity and the diversity of "peoples" was amazing. We walked and walked. Public transportation is everywhere, of course, but Konrad believes in the "on-foot" method of rapid transit. I didn't have my best walking shoes and I have definately had a way too sedate winter in Utah. It was freezing cold - coldest Easter weekend in 40 years, complete with the first snow of the year on Easter Day! Konrad thinks he is the Snow King and pontificates endlessly on the virtures of snow and frigid weather when we are at home in Utah. He has loved our endless winter this year and believes he can convert me to his wicked ideals. I told him I am going to start calling him the Snow Devil as he brought this weather with him!!!
Here he is rubbing my aching feet on the train to Wimbledon to pay for his sins!!!
We are staying at Anya's an old girlfriend of Konrads while in London (it's free and I am very mature!!really I am!!) She lives in Wimbledon which is about a 15 minute train ride from London.

more pics

A few more shots from around the campus.

Cambridge

Here are a few first shots from Cambridge. I found this darling little churchyard garden but it appears to be planted all amongst the old graveyard. The BBC is here to record the Easter concerts this weekend at Kings College Chapel. I think we will try to go on Easter Sunday morning. I hope a brought a proper frock and I could actually wear an Easter hat (if I had one) for the first time since 1966. I visited a garden nursery today which was glorious but terribly frustrating as I can only bring back seeds but no plants with soil on them. It is probably for the best as I could have spent hundreds of dollars there. Well, off to the pub for a pint and some fish and chips!!

We arrived

Well, we finally arrived in Cambridge after a typical 24 hour travel ordeal. Our flight out of Salt Lake City was delayed about 3 hours causing us to miss our flight in Chicago to London. We tried to get on the next (and last) flight of the night. We were on the standby list and they were down to the last seat and to my name being the last called. We had to give it up as I, of course, wasn’t going without my guy!! Just as we are waiting to see what flight we could get on the next morning, the agent informed us that our original flight had been sitting out on the runway for the last 3 hours and was returning to a gate to switch planes due to mechanical problems!! So we ran there and at 3 am finally took off!!! We arrived in London around 3pm without problem except that my bag didn’t make it – Konrad’s did arrive. We hopped a bus to Cambridge (about 2 hour trip in rush hour) had a nice meal and were quite tired enough to fall asleep by 11pm. My bag did come on the next flight and is to be delivered tonight. We are supposed to go to dinner with some of Konrad’s friends tonight so it will be nice if I can put on some fresh clothes!!
I love this town. The architecture is great with the University originating in the 1200's. It is rainy and cold today and I am wandering and exploring while Konrad is working at the computer lab. I have discovered several lovely little gardens, all tucked into old churchyards. The early spring bulbs are blooming- daffodils, hyacinths, snowdrops along with hellebores, bergenia, forsythia, quince and oh, the primroses which I love and which are really underused in our gardens. It has just been a pure visual delight.

We're off!

Heading for Europe tomorrow and we are so excited!! Andy left last night to meet up with his Dad in Puerto Rico. Ben, his girlfriend Megan and his friend Gwillie will be arriving in SLC tonight. They, also, are heading to Puerto Rico to spend Easter with Todd. Be watching for pics and updates on our trip!!!