Guilty Pleasures…

Well, chilly Autumn has arrived in Munich with a bang, and despite this being my absolute favourite season anywhere in the world, I have succumbed to a hideous seasonal cold. Still, with some time cooped up in the house and mostly in bed, it gives me a moment to slow down, drink lots of tea, read some of my favourite cookbooks, and generally indulge myself with lots of stodgy winter food (and my OH's incredible chicken-soup-for-the-soul – a sure fire cure for any nasty winter ills).

As such, with my mother here visiting, and some time off last week we have been hard at work in the kitchen – filling the house with all those gorgeous smells from pickle and chutney making, as well as a trip across the border into Austria last week (what better to do on a German national holiday than skip across the border to Austria to do some shopping?) to visit the historic town of Küfstein – only just over an hour away from Munich and a hidden gem.

Have you been feeling neglected? (Or, the Perfect Pav)

36 / 365

Ok, so I admit it, guilty as charged, I have been neglecting my blog! Bad Jay! I feel like I need to go to blog confession … 'forgive me WordPress for I have sinned… It has been 12 days (!) since my last entry…'

The good news however, is that amongst all the mad-chaotic-craziness of the last two weeks (went to Italy, came back, got married – no really!) I have managed to not let my 365 project lapse! I will say there are a couple of photos in there that aren't my most amazing work, but the point of this project I think is not only to challenge myself to take better photos, it is also a document of this year, whether the photo is brilliant, or just a memory – it's all good right?

So, here is today's photo – an INCREDIBLY delicious pavlova, the recipe comes from my dear friend Kevin, and as soon as I have checked that he doesn't mind sharing the secret with all of you, I will (hopefully!) post the recipe here. Let me just say that it is delicious, crisp on the outside, soft, light and perfect on the inside – yum.

For those not in the know, you can read all about my all time favourite desserty-thing here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pavlova_(food)

(And yes, despite Kevin's recipe being sooo delicious, I stand by Pavlova being a New Zealand invention – a bone of much contention between us antipodeans – first world problems?)

Tomorrow I will post the missing 365 project shots for you and tell you a little more about the last two weeks along the way. It's nice to be back with you!

 

Posted with Blogsy

The Graf Von Pfaffenwinkel…

23 / 365

 

Today? Less words, more pictures.

We started early again and drove to Landsberg Am Lech, a lovely walled city with a beautiful church the 'Heilig Kreuz' (pictured below).

We wandered around the city a fair bit, was accosted by an elderly gent who wanted to show me things to photograph in Landsberg (sweet, but we were on a pretty tight schedule) and then headed off for Neuschwanstein, with a stop enroute for a famous five style picnic (yes, cold turkey sandwiches, but no lashings of ginger beer) behind a very picturesque barn in an field.

Moving on, we visited the castles (my second time here) and despite Neuschwanstein looking like it was wrapped in bubble wrap from the road side, all was well on the walk up and the tour inside which was excellent. Hohenschwangau (pictured up top) we just visited from outside as I had been in on my first trip to the area.

On then to the Wies Kirche near Steingaden a UNESCO heritage site – (pictured) I actually thought this was more beautiful from outside than in but I was distracted by the glorious sunset.

More admiring of the sunset on the way home, and tomorrow? Austria and maybe onto Italy a little early – happy days.

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

To the end, to the end, they remain…

With all of the beauty of Bavaria, and the wonderful life we have here, it is sometimes easy to forget that it has a past that it would rather hadn't happened. Today we visited the excellent and thoughtful memorial on the site of the Dachau concentration camp, which is only a short train ride from Munich Hauptbahnhof, and then a slightly longer walk (or bus if you're feeling lazy!) from the Dachau town centre.

This was the second time I have visited the memorial and both times I have left feeling overwhelmed by the sheer suffering and endurance of those who were imprisoned there between 1933 and 1945.

The memorial is split into three main parts – the old administration block and showers is now the museum with very good photography, essays and multimedia installations on the history of the camp, one row of barracks (pictured) which have been left intact to show the unbelievably crowded situations of the camp, and the crematorium (ghastly). There are also several sculptures around the camp – one purportedly showing all of the badges worn by the inmates of the camp and noticeably missing the pink triangle worn by the homosexuals – not entirely sure about this oversight!

Of course there is the camp gate with the famous inscription 'Arbeit Macht Frei' with the obligatory tourists lining up for ghoulish photos with it – it bewilders me sometimes – I can just see someone getting home and handing around the photos to the family – cut to the inane smile next to the gate.. 'well, gee, this is me in that little concentration camp we visited, I was having such a bad hair day!' Lest we forget.

In other, less somber news, we had a lovely lunch in the town of Dachau, I have eaten so much Schweinebraten (roast pork) this week I think I will explode! Tomorrow we pick up the hire car and head for the hills – Oberammergau and the Eibsee I think – is it time to break out the lederhosen?

 

Posted with Blogsy

Dancing for the fishermen…

20 / 365

Another glorious, crisp Autumn day here, and perfect (we thought) for heading to yet another lake – this time the very lovely Starnberger See – infamous as being the mysterious death place of König Ludwig II, and very famous around these parts as being a pleasant lake near to the city with some nice cafes.

A quick 40 minute train trip took us straight to the lake shore, and we headed to a nice restaurant there – food was excellent and gigantic (anyone who has ever had a German 'Fitness Salad' will attest to the fact that after eating one the only fitness you are likely to be doing is the 100m waddle) the waiter however, had an appalling attitude – I have worked in service for many years, so go out of my way to be nice to waiters, and am being completely honest here – not entirely what job he would have preferred to be doing but it certainly wasn't working on the shoreline of an extraordinary lake with views of the alps!

After lunch we wandered further around the lake enjoying the day, before taking it a little easy and planning the next weeks travels back at home. Looks like we will head to the (very pretty) town of Dachau tomorrow where some of us can check out the history (been there, done that personally) and others can walk the town.

I have hardly been cooking at all this week with all the lunches out, so may have to get some baking in during the morning – my lemon thyme is looking a little sad – anyone have any suggestions for other herbs to add to my shortbread?

 

Posted with Blogsy

Wie gerne wollt ich mit dir geh’n…

19 / 365

Today we walked a lot – this was a good thing as we had a huge lunch at our destination – Kloster Andechs – a monastery on the top of a hill near the town of Herrsching and the lake Ammersee (pictured).

After taking a train from central Munich, we walked through beautiful Bavarian forest for about 5 – 6km to the Kloster. The monks have been brewing beer here for centuries, and while I wasn't quite brave enough to try the strongest beer (18.5%, and comes in a litre Maß if you ask nicely!) I was delighted to see they were serving an Autumn favourite of mine – Federweisse – fermented, freshly pressed grape juice – sort of a cloudy, alcoholic grape drink, sweet and perfect with the enormous portion of roast pork with crackling, dumplings and krautsalat that followed swiftly from the kitchen.

After the Kloster, we walked (rolled) down the hill and took a rather scenic route through the woods to walk along the foreshore of the lake back to the station – while having the added benefit of burning off some of the lunchtime indulgence, it was a stunning walk and the Ammersee was particularly still and beautiful.

Autumn is such a great time to walk in the woods – hopefully the weather stays clear for our trip to the Eibsee over the weekend!

 

Posted with Blogsy

Like toy soldiers…

18 / 365

Waking up to an extremely grey, cold and rainy Munich day, we jumped online to check where the nearest patch of passable weather was, and before long we were on the train to Nürnberg!

I love Nürnberg, it is a beautiful, vibrant city – I love the intact city wall, which gives such a neat feeling and there is a great vibe to the city. I love the main square with the markets, I love the bridges across the river – so many things to look at (and today, great smells EVERYWHERE – or maybe I was just hungry!)

Mmmmmm... Delicious Nürnbergers!

We headed straightaway for a lunch of delicious Nürnbergers – grilled bratwurst served with mustard (a local speciality) and then explored the city a little more. The rain managed to find us but we stayed mostly dry while wandering around and after visiting the fortress behind the city made our way back to the main station with a slight detour through the red light district – sort of a tame Amsterdam with some rather venerable ladies showing their wares in the windows – to catch the train back home.

Schöner Brunnen - Nürnbergs 'Beautiful Fountain' built in the 14th century

Great day out – may need to escape Munich again tomorrow – weather depending… It's nice to have a break from work!

 

Posted with Blogsy

Mean what you’re thinking, and think anything…

13 / 365

This morning had that fantastic crispness in the air that makes me love Autumn so much. Cloudless sky, every smell sharp and rich in the air – one of those days that really makes you feel alive.

Autumn always has great memories for me – childhood in New Zealand, walking to school with the frost on the ground, ending up with wet shoes from leaving a big trail of footprints across the school field. Fog on Sydney Harbour so thick you can hardly see past the end of the ferry, contrails all across the early morning London sky, I could go on and on.

Autumn evenings are so beautiful too – still with the relaxed feeling of summer, but with the promise of cosy nights, winter foods, bigger, fuller wines. How can you not love it?

My father and stepmother are arriving on Monday to stay with us for two weeks – incredibly excited to have them in this part of the world! My family are so spread out – as I write, my immediate family members (myself included) are in 5 different countries – Germany, Japan, Australia, Spain and New Zealand! Life of the international jet set!

Posted with Blogsy

As the mayor of Munchkin City…

10 / 365

Munich / München is the beautiful city I live in. Famous and infamous for many things, it is represented by the figure of the Münchner Kindl – a figure originally of a monk, now usually shown as a child in monks robes. Stories abound to the origin and nature of this, but my personal favourite is that it is where L. Frank Baum of 'Wizard of OZ' fame coined the term Munchkin – given that Baum himself was of Germanic ancestry it's not entirely out of the question!

Much like the S.P.Q.R (Senātus Populusque Rōmānus) of Rome, when visiting Munich you will find the (sometimes admittedly creepy) Münchner Kindl all over the place as a symbol of the city, it's history and it's culture.

Bavaria is beautiful in the Autumn. I have been living here for nearly a year and am enjoying seeing things come full circle (not the wasps of late summer / autumn, quite frankly they can go away and never come back) but the genuine, subtle seasonal changes that coming from the antipodes with our mild climate I didn't really notice growing up. Sure, in Auckland we had the cool days, and the mushrooms and apples and the fog etc etc, but with all NZ's evergreen trees I never really appreciated the beauty of the change to Autumn – sadly my childhood fantasy of kicking through heaps of fallen leaves was brought down to earth by my OH who has sagely advised that dogs love to crap there, as much as people love to kick through 🙂

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

Show Us Your Schloss. . .

Another one of those beautiful late Summer, early Autumn days, which called for (I thought) sautéed mushrooms and fried eggs for breakfast – it is so nice that my work hours let me make breakfast a proper main meal – I have never been one of those people who can get by without eating in the morning, give me eggs, fruit, cereal, bacon or all of the above and I am a happy man.

But I digress, as Autumn comes along I start craving all those earthy flavours – root vegetables, squash, pumpkin, kumara (sweet potato for those not from NZ) and of course mushrooms – which means you will be seeing plenty of those ingredients in recipes on this blog in days to come – no baking today however as we are still working our way through birthday cake…watch this space!

 

So after a cruisy start (and an excellent coffee at Trachtenvogl) we headed out to Schloss Nymphenburg – I had been when I first arrived in Munich but as winter was approaching all of the statues had been put away in their winter storage boxes – today however they were all on display – I was particularly taken with the statue of Hades (below) who cuts a rather dashing figure – don't you think?

2 / 365

(and no, despite the trident it really is Hades – at his feet is his 3 headed friend)

 

Posted with Blogsy