Munich Round II

“Work”…Despite not being required to start our internship until after the class ends, I decided to start two weeks early to give some flexibility to take a few days off over the next month. One of the other students, Jake, and I are interning for the local IP firm Zimmermann & Partner. The view from my office is less than a block from the city center and absolutely stunning! Not a bad place to spend the afternoon after class and it comes with unlimited coke, oj and sparkling mineral vassa. Sold. Boss is totally cool and everyone in the office is really nice.

Kristi (Keith’s sister) came to visit for a night before leaving back to the states. I convinced her to go dirndl shopping and now can’t wait to have a German dirndl party in SF. We even met the creepy little dirndl guy from the ad!

Disposable Bbqing… Craving a little home and inspired by the 3 euro disposable bbqs at the store, the boys organized a little courtyard gathering. The other veggie Nick found some 100% veggie schnitzel, yes it actually says 100%… that’s one serious guarantee. It was a bit like soggy cardboard but a nice gesture Deutschland. A couple of beers, some serious flames, a few kebabs and fruit salad… the locals walking by looked at us like we were crazy.







Lowenbrau Bike Ride… One day after work I went for a bike ride. Three hours later and doubling back about 10 times we managed to locate the Lowenbrau beer garden on the island of the Isaar River. Well worth the wait! A giant stein and an even bigger pretzel later I was a happy camper, we spent the evening comparing cultures and enjoying the gorgeous weather outside. We were having such a good time, we stayed until it was a bit too dark which made the ride home without lights a bit exhilarating. I could not believe how many people were on the river partying, music and bonfires everywhere. Gerd warned me of the “Sausage Police”, but I decided the river would be an ideal place for the 4th of July that coming weekend.




Worldcup Public Viewing II…. We decided to watch Germany in the quarter finals at the Public viewing in the English Garden. The boys scoped out the spot the night before and while it was a noble effort, we must remind them which way the sun rises and sets. Recognize the blue blankets? A continued thank you to Continental Airlines, these blankets have really gotten their use. ;) Four hours of sun, four steins of beer, and many games of Euker… the game finally started! Germany kicked some ass and the streets got crazy!

A little Local Flavor

Lauf an der Pegnitz...



Fantastic weekend! Ich leibe Deutschland!



I traveled with two other students north this weekend. We took a train to the tiny town of Lauf an der Pengitz near Nuremberg. My good friend Keith's wife is from the town and they have been telling me of the awesome summer beer festival the town throws every year. So I bought myself a dirndl (the traditional costume) and set out for an adventurous weekend of day drinking. Turns out that one of the girls in the program has in-laws that live in the town as well! Her three blond haired kids are the most angelic German looking children you have ever seen!



We could not have asked for better weather! It was sunny and warm with the deadly smell of burnt sugar filling the air! Live bands in every little plaza and enough steins of cold German beer to drown yourself. Food vendors lining the streets selling delicious goodies of every kind... donner kababs, fresh baked bread from the wood-fire ovens, fried mushrooms, chocolate covered fruit and cinnamon coated almonds! Mmmmm...

Keith's sister Kristi was in Germany to visit her in-laws Klaus and Ute (Suzi's parents) so we met up and ended up spending the rest of the evening drinking and partying with them. As it turns out, there is some family connection with the hotel (Weisses Lamm) we were staying at so most of her family was there...they are such a hoot!! We spent the evening drinking away the sorrow of the USA world cup loss, listening to the live bands and putting together hilarious German phrases. I am pretty certain I was fluent at the end of the night!



At 9am sharp the next morning the bands were back at it... built in alarm clock. We rallied, had a little breakfast and then hit the street for our hair of the dog stein! Now if only I had retained my German fluency from the night before I could tell you the German phrase, but alas... my German skills faded as quickly as they came. It is something to the effect of punching back the beer that beat you up the night before. I filled my Nalgene bottle with peach soaked white wine and we jumped on a train to Nuremberg.

Nuremberg....

Took a little stroll through the town, collected some Burger King crowns with the German flag and headed to the Fan Fair public viewing to watch Germany destroy England.






Tens of thousands of people in the park, the crowd was a frenzy with confetti and beer cups launching into the air with every gooooooooal! Crazy outfits and plenty, of course, BEER!

We hopped our train back to Munich... Jeremy dj-ed for the hour and a half ride home introducing me to a few awesome new bands. Mission amazing weekend... success!

First days in Munich

Munchen...
Munich is beautiful! It's clean and modern but with all the charm of old buildings. The cobblestone streets are lined with farmers market stands and the p
arks are green and lush with rivers running right through the middle of town.


I stopped at the Airbrau brewery in the airport to have a beer in honor of my uncle Chris and then jumped on the S-bahn and headed to the city center where our hotel/serviced apartments are. A few months previous I attempted to arrange my own housing as it is much cheaper and I do not find it necessary to have maid service once a week, but securing such things from a far is next to impossible. It was extremely hot the day I arrived but I went to look at a studio apartment in the Studentenstadt (student housing) and could not bring myself to stay there despite it costing a fraction of the hotel. There are 14 students in the summer program, 8 of which are staying at the hotel, the remainder arranged their own housing through a service for a hefty fee. Several of them brought their families for the summer... what a fun experience!


The class has been spectacular! We have two sessions each day from 9am- 1pm. The vast majority of the classes are taught by local professors and practicing attorneys covering a range of topics from the structure of the European Union to the nitty gritty of claim drafting restrictions for each member country. My brain may explode soon, but I am giddy with the intricacies. Eleven of the 14 students will stay for internships and I will be working for the IP firm, Zimmermann & Partner with one of the other students. We met with one of the attorneys last week and I learned quickly that heels and cobblestone streets make for an interesting game of extreme hopscotch! We will start work tomorrow after class and put in a few hours each day until the class ends in two weeks and then start going full time to get our paws dirty with German and European patent law.

Chimesee...
We took a field trip to Chiemesee a gorgeous lake in southern Bavaria near the border of Austria. King Ludwig II built one of his castles, Herrenchiemsee, on an island in the middle of the lake. He was slightly obsessed with the King of France and the place of Versailles, and this castle was a not so subtle display of it. Spending nearly 125 million dollars, only 20 of the 70 rooms were actually finished, which he enjoyed for the whole 10 days he spent there before he died. The best part was his bathtub that took the vast majority of the day to fill and was the size of my pool! Ah the things we do for fun when we have too much money on our hands. :)


I saved a 'little' friend I found crossing the path of death... do you see him? I think his cammo outfit is quite dangerous.



Back in the grounds of safety...



A few days later we took a field trip to the European Patent Office to hear an opposition proceeding. I'll refrain from nerding out, but it was really cool. If the new US Patent Act ever makes it through Congress and the US begins to allow opposition proceedings, I think we're going to have some serious patenting delays, but that means plenty of work for aspiring young attorneys!

A few nights ago was a free "Opera" in Munich's five courtyards.



Less of opera and more just general music festival, Claudine and I wandered the streets for a few hours listening to great opera, rock, jazz and a sax quartet at the stages around town. Armed with a box of sangria and my favorite cookies... it was a great time!

South America to Germany... 6,500 miles

Sorry for the delay Melissa... here are your updates ;). To those who don't know Melissa, she is the gate keeper of my journal. On my first trip to Europe I would tear pages from my journal and send them to her as updates and for safe keeping. I think she still has them and has refused to hand them back over! Anyway...

From Tarapoto I had a 3 hour flight to Lima which layed over in Iquitos, spent a few hours in the airport doing some work while I waited for my flight . Leaving Lima on an overnight flight (6.5 hours) I arrived in Houston around 6:30 am. I decided to rent a car for the 10 hour layover to run some errands and just get out of the airport. Found myself a walmart, picked up some new sunglasses (lost mine the first day in Peru) and a duffel bag to repack my carry on luggage which I then shipped home (holy reminiscent hell Rachelle!).

With hours to spare I decided to check out downtown Houston. Stopped at the Spaghetti Warehouse for some lunch. I picked the place simply because there was parking available and thought a salad would be a sure thing. Mind you I hadn't had serious fresh veggies in almost 3 weeks. The restaurant did not open for another 10 minutes but the woman let me use the restroom where I washed my face and brushed my teeth. Ah the simple things in life! Turns out this was THE restaurant to be at! When I came out of the restroom there entire lobby was FULL...and even better the meals came with bottomless salad and delicious hot brown bread loaves! Heaven. I ate 2 full plates of salad and took my veggie lasagna to go. Back to the airport and Munich here I come!!



Luftansa is one of the BEST airlines hands down. After my miserable experience with Continental even just adequate would have done, but Luftansa never fails to impress me. Above average meals, first class service in economy and one of the few airlines to still serve free alcohol on international flights! woo hoo! I was on a double decker plane with some 100 American hormonally imbalanced highschool students. So I ate, had a couple glasses of wine, put my head phones in and relaxed for the 10 hour flight to Frankfurt. A quick layover and another Luftansa flight to Munich.

I dont know if it is age or the fact that I spent two straight days on planes, but I had my first case of cankles! My hands and feet were so swollen it looked like I had overfilled sausages for toes and I could barely bend my calves the skin was so tight. GROSS!

Final Thoughts on PERU

If you are short on time and really want to see as much of the country and attractions as possible, arrange a pre-packaged trip. While I like to explore the less touristy and see the real culture of a country... the pace of life here combined with the minimal tourism (except Machu Picchu) makes it next to impossible without having a month to spare.

Despite this I have managed to see some truly amazing things: Machu Picchu is a must. No surprise. Expect to spend half your budget here, the prices of Aguas Calientes are so incredibly inflated. Wear a ton of DEET. You cannot see them but you'll get eaten alive by sand flies. Stop and spend a night in Ollyanta on your way back to Cusco, likely one of my favorite places in Peru. The best company, a cute hotel and amazing lemonade may be the real reason.

Certainly attempt to make it to Huaraz. Again, arrange your trekking in advance or expect to go alone and pay inflated prices. Most of the treks are a minimum of 5 days plus one day to acclimatize. The better treks are upwards of 8 or 9 days. Huaraz itself is really just a layover and not an exciting city to hang out in. But if you need to acclimatize or have a day to spare Laguna 69 is a MUST. The hike there is painful at almsot 16,ooo ft, but well worth the dizzy glory.

Tarapoto again is a layover town. The city feels a bit bigger than Huaraz. No one speaks english here. Be wise (unlike me) and at least bring a dictionary. Even more than Huaraz a pre-booked package is best here, it seems that everything runs out of a resort just outside of town called Puerto Palmeras. While you can take taxis or scooter mobiles to some of the sites you'll be doing it alone and paying heavily for it. If you are looking to escape tourists, enjoy some warm weather and still have a little civilization, this is a good place.

Overnight buses were discouraged in the guide books, but I found them to be rather convenient, comfortable and plenty safe. Maybe I was just lucky. :)

My spanish has reached all new levels of ridiculous, but i'd like to think its endearing to those trying to understand. Its amazing how far you can get with just a few words if you know the right ones.

I've become an avid fan of Yaca. And while explaining to my mother what the root vegetable is, discovered eating too much of the wrong kind of Yaca that is not correctly prepared will lead to a paralytic disease. Minor detail.

Tarapoto, Peru

After an overnight bus to Lima, my plane to Tarapoto was rerouted to Pucallpa (there were Tstorms in Tarapoto) we got to fly over Iquitos and the Amazon river. I finally arrived to Tarapoto late in the evening and spent the first two hauled up in my hotel room (RioSol) doing work and relaxing. The weather had been quite treacherous and uninviting for exploring. While I had hoped to do some white water river rafting here, I do not believe I will. Perhaps I will save my first rafting experience to share with a special someone who has already been before. ;)



After splurging on my nice hotel for an extra night I transferred to Luna Azul hostel. Half the price... half the luxury. Though the room is clean enough with a fan, tv and minifridge... I cannot believe they wanted to charge s./75 for a night (only 15 soles less than RioSol... thats about $5). The staff here is quite pushy but friendly enough.




Cataratas de Ahuashiyacu y Lamas. The hostel staff speaks VERY little english and my spanish leave a lot to the imagination. Somehow we arranged for a young guy to drive me to the waterfalls and then to Lamas. He spoke not a lick of English so it was an entertaining 4 hours in the car with my ridiculous spanish comments. Finally a day of really nice weather... the Cataratas are gorgeous... definitely feels more like the Amazon rainforest than I have seen yet. The water was cool but not too cold and several locals were lounging around in the pool at the base. I went for a quick dip.



Next we headed to Lamas. I really think this town can be skipped altogether. It was either an off-day or the whole town was alseep and a bit of a waste. We drove up to El Mirador which gave a nice view of the surrounding jungle mountains and Tarapoto. Apparently this is a beautiful place to see Tarapoto at night. Passing back through the town a man was carrying an entire dead pig slung over his shoulder and wide open. GROSS! Not only was the sight the site of the dead pig a bit much but to think people were going to eat something transported in such a way made my stomach turn. I asked my 'tour guide', Cesar if we could stop for some lunch in Lamas. I had Yuca fritas and some purple corn drink. Quite tasty and quite expensive as Cesar rudely stuck me with the entire bill!



Highlight of the day..... a short nap, I ventured to the market to get some snacks. On the way I ran into my Dutch friends (still not sure if they are a cute older gay couple). Surprised to see me we had a nice little chat on the street and back on my way to the store. I found fresh gingerbread. YUM!! and washed it down with my favorite liquid yogurt duranzo! Bought some cookies and some fruit. Now back to work for the evening.

No Huacamaillo Falls, no white water rafting... I must say Tarapoto is a bit of a disappointment. But I did get to see the Amazon jungle a bit. Sadly, it was brought to my attention that there was yet another tragedy in Peru. A ferry departing from Iquitos sank a few days ago killing at least 12 of the over 170 on board. The boat had a legal limit of 150 passengers, but stopped to pick up more passengers and livestock down the river. These ferry boats are a common way for budget travelers to see and travel down the Amzaon river sleeping in hammocks on the deck. I am happy to have not seen quite so much of the jungle.

I went shopping for lunch at the market, some rolls and cheese, Inka Chiffles Picante (aka. spicey Yaca chips), some plums and a coke. mmm. Of course I picked up another loaf of fresh gingerbread for the morning and flights tomorrow. I stopped at the art market on the way back and bought a couple bracelets for a few soles and now time to get to work and make the day at least a productive one. :)

Tomorrow I leave for Lima midday (wish for good weather and smooth flight out this time) where I will spend a few hours before hopping on my plane to Munich.

A minor update.... I have just had the most hilarious Spanglish conversation with the kid that works at the hostel, who happens to be studying law. We discussed the corruption in Peru and how the law school works. I would summarize here, but I understood only fractions of what he was trying to tell me. He and the other girl were having their lunch and he asked if Id like to have some. Then he laughed at me for being vegetarian and insisted that I must come eat at his house tonight if I like the spicey food. We'll see. He told me that Tarapoto is best city in Peru because it is calm and relaxed and it is why he moved here from Truillo. The girl, who speaks NO english, just kept laughing at his excitement to talk to me. Highlight of Tarapoto.

Huaraz II - Adventures

Huaraz II
Laguna 69 - despite its uncharacteristic and ridiculous name, is one of the most amazing places! I had high hopes of doing some trekking and adventure in Huaraz, but seemed to catch it at a slow time. The wonderful woman at my hostel (Liz) made some phone calls and found a combi headed to the trailhead at 6am with two Israeli guys. A bit nervous that they wouldn't speak English and would be less than excited to be joined by an American girl, they turned out to be hilarious and very welcoming. Both recently finished with the mandatory Army in Israel were on their typical trip before starting school. Ido, the more wild of the two told amazing stories of his past 6 months hitchiking through South America for the entire 3 hour drive to the trailhead. His stories put mine to shame... he honestly should publish his life story at the ripe age of 23.

The start of the hike was gorgeous... a brisk morning we arrived at the trailhead followed by another combi with a girl Ido knew (Eden) and several of her friends. Within minutes I realized I had removed the SD chip from my camera the previous night and forgotten to replace. IDIOT! The boys took pictures for me along the way and hopefully I will have them soon to post. Within the first 10 minutes we lost everyone and Areil and I ended up hiking it together. We ran into a local in the middle of nowhere ... in broken Spanish we asked have you seen our friends? He asked have you seen my donkey? No amigos, no burros, no nada. And on we go. It was a chilly, windy day and poor Ariel was in a T-shirt with no jacket. Brrrr.

It took close to 3 hours to hike, plateau, climb, plateau, climb....the lake is close to 5000 meters.. thats almost 1600 ft! I began to get dizzy about 20 minutes from the top. Five steps and you have to stop for a few breaths, five more steps, a few more breaths. Another Israeli guy passed me in the last 100 feet and waived me on with encouragement. Despite being able to see the end of the climb where presumably the lake sat, I could not force myself to take more than a few steps at a time. Ten feet left and I could see the lake peak between the valley at the top. OH MY GOD! was it AMAZING. Milky blue like you can only imagine. When I finally made it to the top there was Ido standing butt naked with only a cowboy hat covering himself and sign that read in Hebrew "1big pen and paper in Huaraz 10 soles, 1 taxi ride to Laguna 69 trail 35 soles, telling all your friends you miss them from 5000 meters PRICELESS".

It must have been Israeli day because there were a total of about 10 people at the lake that day 9 of them Israeli. They could not have been a more friendly cheery bunch. They pulled out their stoves and heated up Israeli coffee and passed it around. It tasted of tobacco to me which apparently is a spice in the coffee. Nonetheless the warm drink was welcomed as it started to snow! Poor poor COLD Ariel. We had a lunch feast with everyone passing around what they had to share. Everyone was laughing and singing and soaking in the few rays of sun that would peak through for a few minutes. I had already decided I liked Eden, she was sweet and carefree, one of those people you get the feeling loves everything about life, but when she asked me if I had the soundtrack to "Into the Wild" on my ipod I about fell over! A girl straight to my heart! We listened to Eddie Vedder and if I was not already happy enough with view I slipped into a state of delirious happiness. It may have been the altitude, but I could not have felt closer to heaven.

We began the hike down... Ido, Ariel and Eden singing the whole way. Eden throwing in cabaret dance moves every few steps. Their knowledge of American lyrics was amazing. I returned to the hostel, spoke to Liz about the next day's plans and promptly passed out from exhaustion.

Yaca Glacier Ice Climbing
The next day I booked a trip with Galaxia Expeditions to go Ice Climbing in the Cordillera Blanca. That which I had been staring at for days out my hostel window. My climbing companions, Anat and Yariv, informed me that the previous day had not been Israeli day, but Huaraz was in fact the Israeli town. :) Anat and Yariv a really sweet married Israeli couple my age. Anat struggled with the altitude but kindly referred to by her husband as a goat, she was the adventurous one dragging him along for the ride.

Our guide, Dario, was studying to get his national guide certification. And I later found it was his first day with the company. Sadly, as many have heard an American skier had fallen off a cliff in the Cordillera Blanca the previous day and died. Galaxia, one of the better expedition companies in Huaraz were organizing the recovery mission. I believe this maybe the reason for the lack of trips leaving as many of the best guides were part of the recovery.

Another 3 hours bumpy car ride took us to the trail head. This time only a quick 30 minute hike to the glacier.


So now I can add Ice climbing to my list! Ice climbing is NOT easy. Jamming your toes into the ice and standing at 90 degrees with nothing under you takes a lot of faith. The axes are heavy for my little arms and the altitude is just another challenge to make it all that much harder. Somehow we all managed to make it to the top. What a feeling!

I have conquered!