It's Zak's House!!!

Our friends Zaakera and Sean lived in an airstream for awhile. I love airstreams and every time I see one I say "hey look! It's Zak's house!" And sure enough, her house flew over to Munich to say "hi"

Another Angle

Here's another angle on the flying airstream. Pretty cool!

Lambkin & Munchen

Lambkin made a friend on this trip. We found Munchin in a cool little shop in old Muich (Munchen). He's not technically a puppet, but he has little magnets in his arms that allow him to give teeny, tiny, Lambkin size hugs!

The Mariandl

I was looking for an inexpensive hotel near Old Munich and a friend in Munich recommended the Mariandl. It's kind of a Pension/Hotel, so it's not luxurious, but definitely did the trick for my needs. http://www.mariandl.com

Front Door

This is what the entrance to the Mariandl looked like. There isn't so much a lobby, as a hallway and you walk to the back and someone checks you in at the computer behind the bar in the restaurant.

The Stairs

And only stairs, so not a good place if you have a ton of luggage or are disabled, but I packed light (at least for me) so it wasn't too bad. The stairs are beautiful

Nice Room

For around 65 Euros a night it was a pretty good room. Good size, and a comfortable bed. I just needed a place to sleep, shower, and store my bags while I got part of a day of wandering around Munich in.

The Bathroom is a Shower

Christi and I had complained that we didn't have a shower curtain in our Paris room, and this room was one step removed. The bathroom floor was literally the shower floor, and if you were brushing your teeth while someone took a shower you'd pretty much be taking a shower too.

Balcony

The room even had an adorable little balcony that looked out on the courtyard

Self Portrait

I arrived late Sunday afternoon, took a shower, and headed out to wander around. Of course I had to do a self-portrait on the way out

Scary Little Dog

There were som cool posters pasted on walls, and this scary little dog cracked me up

The Gate

This was the gate into Old Munich on the side that my hotel was on. My hotel was about 3-blocks from old Munich

Neat Ducks!

I love the little space ducks! We saw them in Luxembourg, but the shop wasn't open when we were there. This time I made sure to catch them when they were open so I could get one for Lenny

Cool Facade

The front of this building was beautiful!

Guess How Much I Love You

Of course, after using the words from "Guess How Much I Love You" as our wedding vows I had to get a German copy

Starbucks!!!

I was kind of sad traveling without Christi, and knowing that we'd only have a day together when I got back before she headed to Florida for a week. I could tell I was feeling out of sorts, because I kept going to starbucks which reminds me of home. Always the same lighting fixtures and decor no matter what country you're in.

Adorable Shop Window

I loved all the dried fruit in this store window. The heart shaped cookie is apparently a traditional octoberfest thing and is made of gingerbread. I kept meaning to get one, but never did.

Sigi Sommer

A famous German journalist. If you read German you can see a page on him at http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigi_Sommer

Adorable Outfits

I love the Dirndel and Leiderhosen outfits.

Night Falls

As the sun went down and the lights wend up I started getting some neat shots

Another Gate

This one was over on the Karlsplatz side of Old Munich

Busy Street

Even though all the shops were closed in the evening, there were still quite a few people wandering around Old Munich. The pedestrian streets were really cool and I was able to get some good window shopping done in preparation for the following morning when they'd be open.

A Neat Night Shot

with cool spires in the background

The Hofbrauhouse

It's kind of like a mini Octoberfest

Big Beer

I think I drank about two inches of this beer. It was huge

Classic German Food

And yummy!

And a Classic German Band

This cool German band was playing in the background. You just sit down at a picnic table with other people and order what you want

Cool Jersey!

Sweet! I must have the jersey on the left!

Great Buskers

There were some great buskers out in the evening. I loved this guy, gave him a couple euros, and got a little video of him. Check out the video link at the top of the page.

Cool Display

I love this domino display in a wine shop window

The Rathaus

This is the Rathaus or town hall in Marienplatz. It has a neat glockenspiel. The top part of it tells the story of the marriage of the local Duke Wilhelm V (who also founded the Hofbrauhaus

Heading to the Hotel

I was torn as to whether I should walk home or take a cab. I'm glad I walked because I got some neat night shots, but the block before my hotel had a mental hospital and I got a little scared walking down the street.

Neat Sign

I saw this neat sign as I neared the edge of old Munich

The Gate

I got this cool shot of a signpost as I neared the gate at the edge of old Munich

The Gate at Night

I love this night shot of the gate

Neat Fountain

This fountain is just outside the gate

Blur of a Streetcar

I nearly got ran over by this streetcar earlier. I patiently waited for a streetcar to pass by, then stepped out to cross the street. The honking of another street car coming the other way scared the crap out of me, and I had to jump out of the way.

Neat Building

This was a restaurant across from my hotel. I love the tracers of car lights I got in this long exposure

Me Again

Another self-portrait as I head out for the day

Pesky Apple!

I just can't get away from those pesky Macs!

Entering Old Munich

the view through the gate into old Munich

Cool Helmet

I love the little fin on the top of this helmet. It would be cool on a scooter

Cool old Violinist

I love this old violinist

Come and Join me...

This kid's shirt cracks me up. It's correct english, but just not the way you'd normally say it

Street Cafe

I love all the street cafes in Europe. I wish we had more in the US, and more pedestrian only avenues

Fruitstrands

There were quite a few fruitstands out during the day

Up Close

an up close view of another fruitstand. I love the signs in other languages

Neat Courtyard

I love this courtyard. I saw it as I walked toward the English Gardens

Cool Spires

You could see these spires from a long way off

How should I decorate my smartcar?

With faux aligator skin

Another option

well, it's an option I guess

The English Gardens

This is a huge park in Munich. Last time I was here it was winter, so I was excited to get out and wander through a park

Young Swans

At first I thought these were geese, but I realized later they were juvenile swans

Happy Dog

He was rolling around

Ah Yeah!

and generally loving life

Backpackers

A cool shot of the swans with some backpackers in the background

Cool Swan

This guy was pretty

Uh, oh

Look out, he's coming straight at me!

Map of the English Gardens

I walked from the far left over to the banks of the pond on the far right

Neat Ducks

or some sort of nifty bird. I've never seen this type of bird before. I might have discovered them. I think I'll name them Markington Quakers

Hi!

Hi, I'm a dog, me too!

Cool View

The English Garden was beautiful! Huge fields, beautiful creeks and ponds, and neat restaurants built right in

Romantic Picnic

What a great place to have a picnic

A Closer View

A neat shot as I got closer

The Spires Again

You can even see the spires from all the way over in the park

Neat Pond

A shot across the pond, full of birds, and with a neat restaurant across the way

Silly Goose

A cool goose standing on the edge of the pond

Chasing the Geese

I heard geese honking and a dog barking and looked over to see this guy racing around and chasing the geese off

Hey, are those people naked?

Yep, there were old dudes walking around naked all over

A Kid'l Eat Ivy Too

And he'd love this building

It's a Meat Market

I love these little markets. All the food looks so fresh

Lunch in a little market

I sat next to a cool old German couple and had lunch near Marienplatz

Cheese Anyone?

Another cool little shop

Headed back towards Marienplatz

I got this neat shot as I headed back towards Marienplatz. Marienplatz is just to the left of the tall spire

Flower Stand

The flowers were beautiful, but I couldn't really get any since I didn't have anywhere to put them

Great sky!

I couldn't have designed a better backdrop for the Rathaus. The one other day I had to take pictures the square was full of tents and people for some sort of celebration

Cute little store

This was a neat little second hand clothing store

Catching the train

I caught the train out to the countryside. It was quite the challenge figuring out how to get to Hohenkammer. I caught the train to Petershausen then a cab to Hohenkammer.

Riding the train

The German countryside was adorable! It was nice getting outside the city.

My train

Not a bullet train, but a fun ride. I thought my stop was the last stop, but it turned out it wasn't. It was the first stop! I had to scramble to grab my stuff and jump off the train.

Petershausen

When I got out at Petershausen I realized the phone number for the cab company that I'd gotten at the train station was wrong. So I had to walk down the street to find someone to help. There were no real stores or hotels so I walked into a random office where the three guys didn't really speak much English. But they were totally cool and called me a cab.

Here I am!

At least I could tell from the map that it was a walkable distance in the worst case

Schloss Hohenkammer!

Not the kind of castle I'm used to, but it did have a moat

My room

My room was modern and huge!

Huge!

The room was huge, especially for Europe!

Seperate shower?

What? no shower head in the middle of the bathroom?

Out for a walk

We drove to a nearby town for dinner and saw this neat old man walking his sheep dog

The Gang

The gang gathered outside the restaurant. They said it was the oldest brewery in the world, but I assume a lot of places make that claim

A big beer!

DUDE! How are these people not drunk all the time?!?

A cool room

I love this room!

Night Shot

I was out talking to Christi about five minutes earlier and there was cool steam coming out of the building. I ran back to grab my camera and sure enough, the steam was gone

Another angle

This was cool outbuilding

Long exposure

If you look really close you can see the big carp in the moat

Looking the other way

This was the building where my room was

Morning at the castle

The castle looked cool in the morning with the steam rising off the water

The cafeteria

The cafe was really neat

Cool sculpture

You have to have guts to commission a piece of artwork like this. "I want a massive red chunk of steel for my entryway"

Beautiful morning

The castle looked great in the morning sunlight

Lighting

The entire inside of the castle had been turned into conference space. Classic, yet modern. It was great

Day 1

We met with the Enterprise Services Field Readiness Managers

Why is Mark taking my picture

A frequent look I get

The Courtyard

The center of the castle was a courtyard

Far out room

I don't know what this room was for, but it was cool

Looking up

at the cool lights in the stairwell

Holger

Holger giving us the rundown

Radhika

Presenting on the planning process

James

Getting his point across

Sirwin and Shinichi

Deep in thought

Carolyn and Jan

Collaborating

Wayne

The Waynester, Wayne-a-lane-a-ding-dong

Jose and Larry

Soaking up the knowledge

Franca

Providing the 411 on Canada

ICE CREAM!

After lunch this cooler appeared in the courtyard. It had a little sign that could have said "only for company x" or "hey Mark, want some ice cream." but I had no idea. So I took this picture and ran it by Frauke who speaks German. It essentially said "For our guests. Please take one" So I did, and it was outstanding!!!

Afternoon reflection

Once you start seeing the tower as having two eyes and the clock face as a nose, you just can't stop

I took a walk

After the meetings and catching up on email I walked around the nearby farms

Hi Sheep!

These sheep were grazing out in the open where they could just walk away, but this cool old farmer was putting in a temporary fence to pen them in

Putting in fence

And here he is

Goats!

They even had their own climbing toy

Goat and Farmer

a cool shot of the goat with the farmer in the background

Corn and Maypole

Every village had its own maypole. you can see this one's out in the distance

Flyer

What a great way to see the countryside! He flew over when I was walking around. The fan wasn't too loud either.

Adorable houses

I walked through a neighborhood in the village. The houses were adorable and very well taken care of

Cool Flower

A pretty flower

Mad Dog!

I was lining up to take his picture and he barked and scared the crap out of me. I got a couple blurry shots as I recovered, and walked away laughing my head off

Heading Home

As I was walking back I saw the cool old farmer heading home with his bicycle

Cute Dog

A guy on a bike rode by the sheep with this neat dog. He was very interested in the sheep

Yikes, a dog!

And the sheep were very interested in him

Feuerwehr

Then a neat firetruck went by

Night at the castle

The spire looked cool with the moon behind it

Mary presenting

Mary doing a presentation

Laurent

Laurent talks us through Workforce Planning

The Conference room

This was our conference room. It was a really cool room.

Who's in which room

This chalkboard was at the entrance to the castle, and you can see our room noted

Another Walk

At lunch one day Larry and I walked across the field to the other village

Black Sheep

This little guy was adorable

Solar Panels

Lots of the buildings had solar panels

Lambkin!

Lambkin wanted a picture in front of the castle

Bavarian Film City!

One night we went to Bavarian Film city. It was hilarious! The guy doing the tour kept listing off movies and tv shows we'd never heard of. Some famous as far off as Austria! They did film Das Boot and parts of Shindler's List here though.

Listening to the tour guide

The crew listening to the tour guide

The Transporter

The transporter console for the Star Trek spoof that they used to film at this studio

Control Panel

Another one of the set pieces

The Script

They had a few of the group act out some scenes and then they cut it together with scenes from the original Star Trek Spoof

The Transporter

Siew Hong, Scott, and Shinichi on the transporter

Guy Hamming it up

Guy doing his scene

Shooting the scene

Radhika and Tim on the bridge

Famous German Sci-fi soccer movie

The set of a famous German sci-fi soccer movie

Vampire Soccer

A set piece from the sci-fi soccer movie

Nice bunk!

Thierry pointing out the worst bunk ever, on the set of Das Boot. They clarified that it wasn't a real submarine. Thank goodness they did, because it being built inside a big tent would have never given it away.

Beer Garden

After the studio we went to a local beer garden

The view from outside

The beer garden was huge, but empty, and we ate under the awning at the far end

Allianz Arena

The giant soccer arena. Depending on what team is playing it's either lit up blue or red

Carp Feeder

This cool old guy walked up to me as I was walking to breakfast and started talking German. I said I didn't speak German, but he motioned me over to the railing over the moat so I could watch him feed the fish. He must have seen my camera. He was really nice.

Feeding Frenzy

Here's a shot of the carp chowing down on the bagel and apple he was feeding them

Misty Morning

Another misty morning

The Contessa Room

Okay, it's not really called that, but it was one of our breakout rooms and it was pretty cool

Meeting

In our main meeting room

More Meeting

More of the main meeting room

Thierry

Thierry presenting

Jose

Jose talking through his flipcharts

Jet Lag Cure

When the jet lag got too bad I squeezed a bottle cap in my hand to keep myself awake

Baling

One evening I took a long walk across the field to the nearby village, and down the valley back to Hohenkammer

My Hohenkammer walk

Here's a map of my walk around Hohenkammer

Sheep!

Heading across the field

Looking back

Looking back at the Castle

Cute sign

In the little village across the field I saw this cute sign

May Pole

It's so cool how their may poles had little signs seeking success in all different professions

Sunflower

I could have take flower pictures all day

Calf!

This adorable little calf was in the nearby village

Another Maypole Shot

Here's another shot with more of the little signs

Hohenkammer

Looking across the fields toward the church in Hohenkammer

Little Kids

This group of kids followed me around for awhile. They had lots of questions, but all of them were in German and the best we could do was that I was a tourist

Hay Bales

The hay bales were neat

Bad Corn

It didn't look like they were harvesting the corn, just letting it go

A neat shot along the corn

Looking back at the castle

Riding with dad

It was cool, I saw several instances of kids riding with their dads in tractors

Hohenkammer

Another shot across the field at the village

Sign for the sheep farm

I think this was the sign for the farm where I got the pictures of the sheep and the old farmer

It's me!

A self-portrait in a traffic mirror

The graveyard

A cool shot of the church from the graveyard

The maypole

A full shot of the hohenkammer maypole

Liquor store (I think)

There weren't many stores in Hohenkammer. I saw a bank, a pizza place, and this liquor store. Come to think of it, they've really covered all the bases

Sunflower

One of my favorite shots

I love these flowers

I see them in Sunriver, and in a park near our house, but I've never gotten around to shooting them. I had plenty of time on my walk

Talking to Christi

I stopped in an adorable little park to call Christi

The path

This was a neat little path I walked down. They had an incredible amount of walking/riding paths

My Favorite

This is currently my desktop on my laptop. One of the best shots I've ever taken

A Snail!

There's a cute little snail on this flower

More Flowers

Yeah, had a hard time stopping

Sunset

The horizon glowed with the sunset

The Rathaus

Another Rathaus. Their city halls are called "Rathaus" which I thought was appropriate since you tend to find so many rats in city hall

Schloss

The street that the Schloss Hohenkammer is on

Stephen Colbert's brother?

This guy looked kind of like Stephen Colbert

Long exposure

A neat long exposure as I neared the castle

Slowness

This sign was inside the hotel lobby. It looked like it was advertising a far out festival of small walks around the villages

Night at the castle

At the end of my walk I shot a few more castle shots

The gate

The light from the doors gave it kind of an unearthly look

Feuerwehrzufahrt

Now that's a funny word!

One last walk

On the last day we took a walk at lunch

Sheep still adorable

of course

Neat cart

I love this cool cart

Obelyx

I was able to visit the kittens too

Cool old motorcycles

These neat old bikes were parked in the nearby village

The farm road

I walked this cool farm road many times. I love how it curves through the field

Scott

Scott educating us

Scott, Josh, Wayne, and Tim

Solving the world's problems

The Breakroom

I love the architecture of the room where we had our coffee breaks

Display

A neat display of local wines in the breakroom

Larry

Larry dropping some knowledge

Hard at work

Talking about the planning process

Larry, Mark, Diana, with Scott and Wayne in the foreground

Showing no signs of slowing down

The Volksfest!!!

Apparently Octoberfest is just the Munich version of a festival that all villages in Germany have, called a Volksfest. We went to one near Hohenkammer

Cigarettes?

This should have been a clue to me that I was going to be in trouble later. As the place filled up it got smokier and smokier. My eyes were burning and my head was on fire by the end of the night (okay, actually sooner)

Impressive!

It was hard enough to lift one of these glasses, let along the number that the waiters carried at once

Yeah, we've got enough meat

They were cooking a serious amount of meat!