15th century: a sailboat crossing Lago di Garda was hit by a sudden devastating thunderstorm. The vessel smashed onto big boulders at the shore, the sail ripped to pieces. Waves smashing over the ship again and again, the sail was shredded into tiny pieces. And when the storm finally moved on, the sun came out and dried all those flax pieces that had been soaked for a while, then washed ashore. Local people gathered those pieces and with the creative minds they had, figured out that this might be a good alteration the very expensive papyrus that was invented in Egypt, made of papyrus.
Over the next 200 years a paper making manufacturing process was developed right there, along the Toscolano River, along a narrow picturesque valley.
Everything was made by hand and simple machinery that was powered by the flowing water. In the 19th century Industrialization found that hidden valley, a street was built and heavy machinery could be transported up the river to those paper manufacturers, improving their work environment, speed and product quality.
One of those factories was remodeled ~15 years ago and made into this interesting museum. Every step of the process is explained in German, English and Italian, you can rent an audio device or read your way though.
Soaking the shredded fabric for a few weeks, making it into a pulp, then – with the help of a meshed frame – scoop the pulp out, sheet by sheetThose individual sheets were stacked in between felt pads and pressed to squeeze out excess water, The dried!The highest quality paper was made of silk, followed by linen and cotton
We really enjoyed our visit there! The cafe had a nice selection of tasty salads and sandwiches, drinks (of course) and my three most beloved sounds in the world: music, flowing water and cicadas!
I love railroad stations. And I hate them. Let’s get the bad feelings out of the way to make room for the good, ok? So the story is, that I felt the most lonely ever at – guess – a railroad station. In Munich. On Christmas Eve. With a big bag full of gifts for my family. And there was no train in – what felt forever. My boyfriend and I had plans to visit my family for Christmas, so we got his parents car for that trip, prepared a nice stay with my family and I was bursting with anticipation to be swallowed up in hugs and kisses and laughter and talk and food. Of course there will be food! Delicious Christmas cookies, stollen, marzipan and all those good smelling gingerbread. I was 21, and I thought: this guy is the love of my life. I really did! And I was very wrong. So we had an argument and – just when we were supposed to leave – he decided to not go. So this was the end of the idea to go see my family, which lived an hours train ride north of Munich. And I so wanted to go and see them, I had a gift for each of them, mostly handmade little somethings, but hey: it’s the thought that counts, right? So I packed all those little goodies in a big bag and left. And it was freezing cold! It was already dark outside and because it was Christmas Eve, there was hardly anybody out there on the streets. Christmas Eve is when in Germany everybody is with their loved ones. It is the main event. The highlight! And for me it was the lowlight. Catching a bus to the next subway station was a challenge, taking the subway to the railroad station was the next challenge, because every public transportation was on a holiday schedule. Well and then there was the railroad station, deserted, just the announcements through the speakers and I. I’m not sure, but I must have waited for hours to be able to get on a train to Ingolstadt. I was freezing, I was sad, disappointed, hurt and in disbelieve what I had let somebody do to me! But I made it!!! Another 30minute walk to my parent’s house and everybody was there: it was warm, cozy, happy, perfect!
Railroad stations on the other side are fantastic! They are the start to an adventure, there are trains from everywhere, going to somewhere else. There are announcements, magazine kiosks, bakeries. You can watch people hurrying, running, waiting, strolling. Everybody wants to go somewhere, nobody wants to spend time there. Railroad station are not for staying I guess: they are just in-between launches to somewhere exciting. They are a promise to the next destination!
Airports are also temporary locations, similar to railroad stations, but in a different way. You are forced to stay there longer than you want, 2 or 3 hours before your departure, sometimes even longer if your connection flight leaves 8 hours later, like yesterday, when we flew from California to Munich and had a leisurely forever break in LAX. So you have time to kill and the airport gods know how they want you to spend your time: you should eat. Especially in airports in the US there are significantly more places to eat than anything else. You grab food to go, you sit down to eat, you hang out at a bar at 8am, everything is encouraged. Eating and drinking is the main focus what people should do when they are bored. And you have at least 2 or 3 hours to be bored, that means you can eat a tremendous amount of food! In any airport outside the US you’ll find way less food opportunities and more shopping and relaxing places. An occasional restaurant, yes, but your boredom should be filled with shopping. Not much better, but at least you’ll be healthier. Think about all the food you’re not eating and all the steps you’re walking!
And then there is the mystery about the carpet. Why do airports have carpet on the floor? Of course you think they want you to work harder pulling your suitcase, that makes you burn more calories and because of all the calories burnt your appetite builds up and – voila! – you will be happy to see all the food choices!
No, that’s not really the reason why there are carpets. The only true thing is, that it is harder to pull your luggage around. Another reason you will think is noise reduction. And you are right: it is significantly less loud if there are carpets on the floor. No matter where you are: houses, restaurants, airports, etc.
And here comes my fun fact about carpets in airports: researchers have found out that people feel more homey and cozy when they walk on carpets and therefore – drumroll – they spend more money shopping. In fact, 25% more money is made in airport areas with carpets than in those without (because without a carpet they think they are at a railroad station and they are in a hurry and don’t have time to shop. Maybe…)
While being on a boat through the mangrove forests, near the gold of Mexico, we encountered a group of dolphins. They followed us for a while, riding the waves our boat created. I’m not sure who had more fun, the dolphins or us
Spending a few weeks in Europe make you realize what a wasteful society we are here in the US. Is it a picnic in the park, gatherings with friends, a potluck get-together – we use plastic cutlery, paper plates, plastic cups. Buying a bucket of coffee at Starbucks will leave you with a bucket size paper cup, or doubled paper cup with a plastic lid of course.
We are in Miami for a few days before our next adventure. Our hotel is nice, clean, modern. The rooms are spacious, everything you need is provided. Breakfast is included and it’s ok. Scrambled eggs, waffles and that kind of stuff you expect there to be.
And everything is served with plastic cutlery, paper plates and paper bowls and cups. At the end of breakfast time, towards 10am, it looks like that:
I’m not afraid of flying. It’s not my favorite form of transportation, the check in and out, the hustle and bustles, all those people, etc. I just don’t enjoy it. The tight space inside the air plane, economy meaning child size seating and no legroom, nothing really appeals to me. And then the overhead space for carryon luggage: I stick to the rule to have one carryon. Sometimes it is a backpack, a basket, or a small rolling carryon suitcase. And that’s it. But I hate it when people show up with a carryon, a big shopper, and 3 huge paper bags from the @%# outlet stores where they needed to spent the last money they had left from vacation. And that’s when the overhead compartments get too small. And that’s when the stewardess gets involved, shifting things from A to B, then taking smaller bags / backpacks out to accommodate the outlet bags + suitcase + shopper combo. And that smaller backpack is usually mine, so I’m asked to put my bag underneath the seat in front of me, meaning I will not have any legroom for the entire flight as a punishment for somebody else overpacking. I’m not a complainer, but with a situation like that, I do complain, which is swept away in the hectic of boarding a plane and getting everybody and everything stuffed inside. They make me be the bad person, the complainer, although I was the one following the rules, but getting punished for it. So here you go, I’m not afraid of flying, I just don’t like it.
My carryon
Being afraid and having fear is a different story. Being afraid is more a general emotion, usually without a specific reason. You’re afraid of flying in general, because it might get bumpy. Having fear is more specific. Having fear for your life is connected to an incident. And that happened on my flight over from Europe to the US.
Halfway over the Atlantic, 3 hours away from the closest airport, a passenger decided to ignore the non-smoking sign and went to the bathroom, smoking inside. The sprinkler alarm went on, flooding the whole bathroom. And it didn’t stop. The bathroom was filled with water, over spilled into the cabin, etc. the stewardesses and stewards kept running back and forth, trying to take control. They even used those coffee pots they usually offer tea and coffee with to scoop up water, so here you go: don’t drink coffee or tea on an airplane! You never know what they used it before they made coffee for you….. This whole incident took ~45min before it was under control.
15 or 20 minutes later the pilot interrupted the entertainment program and gave a 5 min speech. I didn’t understand a single word, since it was in Spanish, but I paid attention because he sounded very serious, his voice trembling, almost as if he had cried. This was different, more serious than any pilot speech I ever heard. Everybody on the plane was listening, nobody said a word, people looked shocked. And I had fear. I didn’t know what it was about, I had no idea that it was connected to the smoker in the bathroom, I just was in a “shit, why did I never learn Spanish” state of mind. All different scenarios galloping through my brain, for example the murder/suicide in 2015, where a copilot locked the pilot out of the cabin and crashed the airplane into a hillside in southern France. All 150 people died. I had the flashback and thought that this will end up in a similar way, that our pilot is doing the same. Whom should I write a message now? How much time do we have? Why? That can’t be it! It took several minutes, that seemed like an hour or so, until another person tried to explain what had happened in broken English. Part of it I experienced first hand, sitting on the aisle seat 3 rows behind the restroom. The second part I tried to understand. Apparently the sprinkler system didn’t stop, therefore we were very close to an emergency landing 3 hours away from the next airport. Not a fun idea. The person smoking will be found and hit with a $2000 fine, on top of a criminal investigation, because their action risked the lives of a few hundred people.
But that flight wasn’t bad the entire time. I hadn’t realized that Air Europe was a cheap budget airline, not providing any food or drinks, not even on international flights. So I ended up very hungry and thirsty. On the airlines’ website I saw an option to preorder food, so I just gave it a try. Unfortunately the order didn’t go through, so I tried it again: a rice bowl and a water. Again, didn’t go through. Darn! The surprise came 5 minutes later in form of a tray, topped with a rice chicken mix, gazpacho, dessert, and a glass of water. Very impressive! And very tasty!!! I had just finished every bit of it, when the steward came back and told me that he accidentally gave me the tray that was meant to be given to another person, embarrassing! And I had thought this was my rice bowl with some water! Little did I know. Another stewardess came, telling me the same thing, trying to make me be more embarrassed! And then another steward stopped by and did the same thing: the classic guilt trip! So what should I do? Give it back??? How? My seat neighbor had a good laugh, I felt embarrassed but well fed. The steward came back and asked for my order confirmation (that I didn’t have), he came back another time to check how I actually had ordered and so on. At that point I joined my neighbor laughing. Just wait and I’ll give it back…..
Just another thunderstorm rolling in…Neuburg, where I spent a nice day with my sister Petra…Munich with everything your heart desires, family,the opera house,and Princess Sophie cake, rhubarb cake and delicious teaMy niece Saskia and her huge portion of tiramisu. I swear, I only tried a tiny bite! Or was it half of it? I can’t remember and it’s not that important…
Leaving California is not easy. You leave gorgeous weather, perfect temperatures, crisp ocean water, and a lot of happy people, because the weather does affect your mood, in case you didn’t know!
Leaving California is also great for your wallet: nowhere else are prices so ridiculous, over the top and beyond, nowhere else they expect tips for services not performed, and nowhere else those tips are expected to be 30% [[additionally to a $790 dinner at Justin – I almost had to postpone my trip 😬! But I have to admit that we did receive a gift bag, a special goody bag, filled with a tiny micro jar of seasalt (1/2 teaspoon) and a small bottle of Fiji water, I’m talking plain drinking water]]. So I’m glad to go to „anywhere-is-cheaper-than-California“ country now! Good bye!!!
Every time I leave Munich it is tough. It is tough to leave my family, my friends, it is tough to leave all those hugs & kisses, all those tears.
But then there is the good- bye treat at the airport, which are white sausages, pretzel and sweet mustard. It is the ultimate Bavarian comfort food that makes it a little easier to leave – kind of like a band aid with a Mickey Mouse print…
There are a few rules how to eat them though:
You cannot eat them after 12pm! The saying is: a white sausage shouldn’t hear the 12 o‘clock church bell ringing! They are made fresh every day in the morning and they have to be eaten immediately. Therefore white sausages are eaten for breakfast. And yes, traditionally you have to drink Wheat beer with them. And yes, beer for breakfast – it is Bavaria for heaven’s sake! 🍺
You should never cut the white sausage like you’d cut any other sausage: they have to be peeled, but lengthwise! Or alternatively you can grab them with your hands and suck them out of the skin…
White sausage, cut and peeled lengthwise
You have to eat sweet mustard with white sausages, any other mustard would be a crime. Similar to eating French fries with honey instead of ketchup. The combination of white sausages with a salty pretzel (which is actually called a Brezn), and sweet mustard is the ultimate taste combination made in heaven. In the Bavarian heaven. In the Italian heaven, the ultimate combination is tomatoes and basil, in the French heaven it is butter. Butter with everything and anything…
And here I am, on my way into the airport, via the Bavarian heaven
You might wonder by all the food posting I do (and therefore all the food I am eating), that I must have gained weight like never before! Infact, I wonder myself 🤣
But would you say no if somebody – like my sister Petra – invited you for breakfast and it looks like this?
Or you meet your friend Wendl from highschool to cook dinner together, and you create this Bavarian classic: bread dumplings with chanterelle cream sauce and endive salad, would you say no to this?
As Wendl says: cooking is the sex of old age
Wendl and I have a history together, it’s kind of a love affair, but not with each other: we share the love of cooking and eating. So every time I am in Germany, Wendl and I cook something delicious 🥬🍲🌶️🥗🫒🍷 And did I mention that we know each other for 40+ years?
Or would you refuse to eat those spinach and cheese dumplings I ate today for lunch? Would you? Followed by Kaiserschmarrn, a dessert classic in Bavaria 🥰
My good bye dinner party two days ago was not only lots of fun – 15 family members showed up with fun stories, good mood and big appetites – we also had delicious food!
My sister asked me a few days ago what I’d like to do if I had the chance to try something totally different. My answer: something food related, not being a chef, but a taster (if there is such a thing). Somebody trying, tasting, combining, presenting food to perfection. That’s what I would do! No wonder that I like to eat and drink…..
