Day 0 - Josef's Prologue: Drooling...

Here we sit, in a vat of great excitement (it smells delicious) about our impending trip back to Germany.  This one has been planned for a while, and has been a long time coming.  For those keeping score, this is Susan's and my third trip to Germany together as a happily married couple.  My total is actually four, thanks to a trip in 1999.

This trip has been on the calendar for what has felt like eternity.  It was originally supposed to occur in December 2011 and culminate with a grand celebration of Silvester to close out 2011.  No, not the Looney Toons cat.  Silvester, AKA New Years Eve in Germany, is a grand celebration during which highly intoxicated but otherwise completely sane human beings dance all night in the street and shoot fireworks at each other, and at which we felt our presence was necessary.  We has also planned to see the end of the Christmas markets and spend Christmas Eve and Day there.  However,  thanks to a great job change for Susan (and the accompanying POOFing of her accumulated vacation time at her old employer), that trip faded into Nevernevergonnahappen Land.  But that's okay.  As extremely awesome as that trip would have been, we realized that we had planned it in somewhat knee-jerk fashion, and that we should take a deep breath and a step back and see if we could concoct something longer and even more epic.  Perhaps we could explore some lands not yet visited.  So in March 2011 we cancelled our reservations, fired up the VLRCC (Very-Long-Range Calendar Cannon), and took aim on June 2012 and a 15 month wait.

We thought about going through Sweden and Denmark to explore my Scandinavian roots prior to heading to Germany.  The train from Copenhagen to Berlin rolls onto a ferry for a few hours, while it crosses the Baltic Sea.  There's a really cool You Tube Video about this.  We also thought a trip through parts of Italy would be incredible.  Unfortunately, both of these options, coupled with a stop in Munich, turned out to be a little too much of a time and monetary commitment.  We decided to make it simple and conquer one city we've always wanted to see - Berlin, and make another visit to the city that we both know well and love very much - Munich.  Some day I know we will make it to Scandinavia, Italy, the UK, and Ireland, but not this year.

I remember when the 12 month mark came.  Time to book the flights!  Sweet!  Oh, wait, it's still 330 days away.  Darn.  Yes, I'm a little neurotic about planning stuff way in advance.  Then the 8 month, and 6 month marks passed (about which time we booked the hotels).  And finally, we are now less than 24 hours from taking to the skies.

Finally, here we are, in June, with the overwhelming majority of that wait a figment of the past.  Our minds are drooling with excitement about returning to what we amount to a fantasy land.  I can't quite pinpoint what makes it such a fantasy, even though it's definitely very real.  We love our friends there (both those that live there and those that we met there that actually live in the USA), the scenery, the beer (of course), and the way of life.

This trip will encompass 16 days - eight in Berlin and eight in Munich.  While Munich is definitely old hat, this will be our first trip to Berlin.  We have read our Lonely Planet guide cover to cover, scoured many a website, and talked to many of our friends who are more versed in Berlin-ness than we.  As a result we feel generally prepared for our trip.  We have a basic idea of what we want and expect to see, and have prioritized things.  But I know that we will still find so many surprises, and still find everything very moving, one way or another.  I know some of the things we plan to see will be difficult to digest.  And I know some will bring complete and utter joy and/or relaxation.  On top of all this, we get to see three very special people - my brother Sam, my sister Liz, and my Hungarian brother Gabor!  Sam and Liz have both been living in London for months or more, so it will be great to spend time with them.  We saw Gabor about a year ago when he came to Atlanta.  For various reasons, including preposterous things like higher education and advanced degrees, it has been a couple years (I think) since the four of us have all been together in the same place.  

Then half way through the trip we will take the night train south and spend the second half of the trip in Munich, one of our favorite cities in the world.  While we have seen all the museums and sights that we ever would want to see, we can't seem to get enough of the Hofbräuhaus and other similar establishments.  Also, and more importantly, we now have very dear friends there.  We are very excited that we will get to spend a few days with them.  We also hope that the weather in Munich will be better than it was in 2010.  Two years ago, we went from 80°F and sunny in Budapest to 55°F and rainy in Munich.  This weather persisted for the overwhelming majority of the time we were in Munich.  This meant no beer gardens.  No swimming in the lakes or in the Isar River.  It even made walking around outside rather miserable.  So with any luck, we will be able to go to these great places with our great friends and experience them the way they were meant to be experienced - in the beaming sunlight with a litre mug of beer in one hand!

Why the title "Bears & Beers" for this blog?  The bear is the unofficial official mascot of Berlin.  It is featured in the city coat of arms (pictured at right), and many believe that the name "Berlin" is a derivative or descendant of the word for bear that was used by the Slavic tribes that settled in the region around 720 A.D. [Wikipedia].  There was Knut, the famous polar bear born in captivity in the Berlin Zoo, rejected by his mother, then raised by the zoo staff.  Now there are Schnute and Maxi (mother and daughter brown bears) that live in a luxurious and very centrally-located enclosure.  And, as most everyone knows beer is the official official mascot of Munich.  Little explanation is needed for the city that hosts the world's largest drinking party.  But while we're talking about city coats of arms, the Munich coat of arms features the Münchner Kindl.  The Münchner Kindl has adorned the city coat of arms since the 13th century.  It has evolved from a monk-like figure (since the name München is thought to come from "monks" or "cloister of monks") to a gender-neutral child to a small girl.  At many of the city festivals (like Oktoberfest and Brauertag), a young woman is paraded through dressed as the Münchner Kindl [Wikipedia].

So with all that said, I would like to end this post (and, of course, start our trip) the same way that Rick Steves begins each of his Rick Steves' Europe travel guide episodes.  Susan and I have been watching a lot of Mr. Steves' shows.  They are on at 8:30 and 9:00 in the morning on Saturdays and Sundays, but most of the time we watch them off the DVR.  In case you haven't heard him, Rick's voice is very soothing, the narration is interesting, and the photography is great.  All this together with a bowl of cereal and a strong oversized cup of fair trade coffee makes for a great way to begin burning off a hangover or or just finding the strength to keep those eyelids open (although sometimes Rick's narration has the opposite effect).  Anyway, he begins all his episodes the same way:  "[Description of some activity or custom] as we explore the [featured city or region].  Thanks for joining us!"

Anyway, so here it goes:  We hope you will live vicariously through our antics over the next two weeks as we explore all things awesome in Berlin and Munich and their surroundings.  Look for great photos and stories, and maybe a familiar face or two!  Thanks for joining us!

From our 2009 trip, at the Hofbräuhaus