Visitors of the Year

As many of you know, we've been in Munich for just over a year now and counted 16 total visitors from July to July! So we thought it'd be fun to do a wrap-up with pictures *hopefully we got it right*.

Lee, Leif and Greg in July 2009 - these two just welcomed a little one to their family a couple months ago!

My aunt Smadar in November (although she didn't come to see just us :-)

Jessica and Chris on their honeymoon (!!!) in September

Robin and Ryan spent a night with us in the fall

My grandma, Safta Rachel, in December

Oren and Erin happened to overlap their visits so we had plenty of pretzel and beer time together.

My other grandmother, Safta Tzipi, came twice to visit my aunt and cousins as well.

Santhi and her boyfriend, James, stopped over before a conference in March for a few days.


And of course, we just had Greg's parents and Aunt Kathy in from Wisconsin.

With all these guests, you may be wondering if we have any others lined up. Yes, we do! This week, Greg's friend from high school, Trisha, is in town and will head to Prague for a bit. Then, my parents come in for a few days. And we just got word that Greg's college buddy, Sarah, and her boyfriend, Davidian, will be here in October. Surprisingly, no one is coming for Oktoberfest or the strong beer fest in the spring. We love having visitors so these are definitely exciting times!

Oren and Erin's Visit, Part 1

We had a great day yesterday trying to keep jet-lagged Oren up. My buddy Erin had come into town Monday night for a couple days in Munich so I had lots to show them. We walked around Munich - saw the synagogue, St. Jakob's platz, Marienplatz, Asamkirche, Sendlinger Tor, Frauenkirche, Odeonsplatz, surfers in Englisch Gartens, Viktualienmarket, and got some pretzels along the way. It was a beautiful day for a walk around town. We finished off the day meeting with our aunt Na'ama at an Italian place in Schwabing.

Erin with her small beer

Erin and Oren with their brezen

Erin and I on the old school U-bahn/subway

Safta Rachel's Visit to Munich

Here are the highlights in images and words of my grandma's visit to Munich. Safta and I started the vacation without Greg because he was finishing his last day of school. We hit the Christkindlmarkt in Marienplatz, the Jewish museum and synagogue, and tried the Asam church (beautiful baroque chapel) but it was closed.

View of the Rathaus and part of Marienplatz's Christkindlmarkt at sunset

The next day we actually were able to get in and see some of the church as well as another larger church, Theatinerkirche, in Odeonsplatz. Along the way, we stopped by a gallery showing amazing black and white photos from New York in the 1940's and 50's (think Breakfast at Tiffany's). We also stopped by the Alte Pinakothek, which houses the older paintings and is one of the three Pinakotheks in the area.

Koeningsplatz near the ancient museums and close to the Pinakotheks

Sunday was museum day!! We began the day with two museums of ancient greek, roman and egyptian artifacts. The Greek and Roman museum was interesting because it had been heavily bombed during the war and when they rebuilt it, they couldn't paint the same level of decoration or detail to it. So instead they showcased photos of what it looked like before the war.

Greg looking like a priest in the Pinakothek der Moderne
(and doesn't Safta kind of look like Julie Andrews here, right?)

After Pakistani food, we stopped by the Pinakothek der Moderne, which was amazing. It's large, colorful (well, at least many of the paintings were) and ranged from German expressionist painters to designers to Chinese wood architecture to more modern art installations.

The next day we went to Chiemsee to see Ludwig II's Versailles-wannabe Herrenchiemsee palace. Let me tell you this: they do not heat the palace in the winter and you could feel it. But the grounds were beautiful, covered with fresh powdery snow, and the inside was extravagant and a homage to the French kind, Louis XIV. Greg especially enjoyed the mammoth-size hot tub and table that could be lowered through the floor. That night we dined with Nami and Gil (aunt and uncle on the other side of the family) at an Italian restaurant.

Snacking on the warm boat to Herreninsel and Herrenchiemsee

Fun times at Herreninsel

As this post is getting quite long, I will stop here and write another post tomorrow about what we've done from Tuesday until today. Merry Christmas to those that celebrate!

Safta enjoying her first cup of Gluehwein
(and not our only picture of her drinking alcohol...stay tuned!)

Visitors!

We got visitors yesterday from Milwaukee--Jess and Chris--on their honeymoon through Europe. Here's a pic of them in Marienplatz in front of the city government building and Glockenspiel:I think I've fooled them into thinking I know stuff about Munich. Either that or they're just being polite. We tried to go to a vegetarian place (the one that gives big entrees and a free piece of cake afterwards), but it was closed. We ended up in a bistro called Colours, a restaurant of lifestyle (which translates to a restaurant specifically for gay men or artistic types because there were huge photographs of men in interesting poses and outfits on the walls). The food was great and the waiter spoke perfect English, which is always a plus.

Then we walked from Karlsplatz, which has a fantastic fountain that one can walk through, to Marienplatz, stopping for some shoe gazing along the way. We did see the Marienplatz clock in action with the music and twirling dolls. Unfortunately, the video from my camera is too grainy to show. Afterwards, we took a quick walk through the Viktualienmarket and then headed home. Chris and Jess wanted to experience the biergarten so we headed to the Hirschgarten's biergarten. It was PACKED yesterday, but wonderful to be with all the people, hanging out. Looking forward to showing more visitors around!