I am currently on the job hunt. I just finished my product marketing internship at Fujitsu Technology Solutions at the end of December. Now I am going after an awesome marketing position. I have a couple good leads and my hopes are high. We are sure something will work out soon.

This is the Seal of our new town Starnberg

As for our place of residence, we are no longer in the bustling metropolis of Munich. We have moved about 35 minutes south (by train from Munich city center) to the beautiful town of Starnberg. It is a very lovely city that has a lake called the Stanberger See. This lake is famous in Bavaria because the late King Ludgwig II of Bavaria mysteriously “drowned” in the lake (13 June 1886). How exciting. He was an interesting King. He was referred to as the “Swan King” or “Der Märchenkönig (the Fairly Tale King). He was the King that built the Neuschwanstein Castle, which later inspired the Disneyland Castle. He also built other castles and palaces in Bavaria.

Neuschwanstein Castle

Our place is on the north side of town just a little walk away from the train station. We love it.

Dr. Seuss Tree

I thought this was a really funny looking tree. There are a fair amount of these trees around here. I think it looks like a tree out of a Dr. Seuss book. It’s funky; I like it.

Salzburg

October 17th was Adelaide’s Birthday. We celebrated it with a trip to the Salzburg, Austria. It was a quick 2 hour train ride from Munich. I love taking the trains. No worries about directions. parking, or staying awake at the wheel. Very nice, comfortable and affordable.  It only cost 28 Euros for the both of us, round trip!

Since it was Adelaide’s B-day, we slept in a little and then caught the 10:45 am train. We arrived in Salzburg before one and first searched for a place to get a yummy b-day lunch. Strolling down the narrow roads in the historic city center, we found a charming Italian restaurant. As we enter the restaurant, Adelaide said that she thinks she has been here before. Back in the Fall of 2007, Adelaide went on a Germany study abroad and the group stayed in Salzburg for couple of days. Well, when we were seated,  Adelaide remember that she ate at this exact place when she was here during the study abroad. We were seated next where Adelaide and her friends sat, a little more than 2 years ago! Good times. We had a delicious pizza.

After that, we went exploring around the city. What a beautiful city it is. Amazing buildings all around. Narrow winding cobblestone roads. Huge cathedrals and a giant fortress overlooking the city on a hill. I absolutely love Salzburg.

Salzburg

It was a little rainy and chilly, so later that afternoon we went to this cafe to get some hot chocolate to warm up. Adelaide got a big piece of amazing chocolate cake and I got a traditional and wonderful apple strudel.  We were in heaven.

It was a nice day trip for a birthday.

Apple Strudel!

Its October and we live in Munich, Germany. Its time for Oktoberfest! Funny thing, Oktoberfest actually started in September. It is the largest folk festival in the world. It goes for two weeks and this year it started on Saturday September 26th. On the opening day there is a parade by the Oktoberfest fair ground and then the official drinking begins when the mayor of Munich taps the first large wooden keg.

Adelaide and I went with a married couple friends of ours. We all went on Wednesday, Sept. 30. We arrived around 6 pm and left a little before 10 pm. It was a fun time.

So what is Oktoberfest. Well, it takes place at this large field/park called Theresienweise. I am not exactly sure how big it is, but it is pretty big. Maybe it is around 3/4 a mile wide and 1-2 miles long. The different breweries each put up a big “tent”. These “tents” aren’t really what I though of. They are pretty much huge gyms. They take a month or two to build them up and they hold around 5,000 people, some tents more and some less. Inside there lots of talbes with benches and in the middle, on a raised area, is the band. In there tents, they serve the beer and food. Usually typical Bavaiian yummies such as huge pretzels, roasted chicken/duck/beef/pork, french fries, and other stuff. Adelaide’s boss gave up a gift certificate for a free half a chicken. It was delicious! The waiter thought we were weird since we didn’t order any beer. We asked for an apfelscholre(a bubble apple juice drink), but he said the only drink they serve is beer.

We ate roasted chicken here. yum yum

Inside the "tent"

The rest of Oktoberfest is pretty much a large carnival, but they have some intense rides. We went on a ride that we sat in swing seats and the ride spin around but then it went really high up. It was awesome. It was dark, so we had an amazing view of all the Oktoberfest lights and all of Munich. I loved it and I screamed a lot. My favorite ride was this old traditional Bavarian looking sit-down carousel ride that also rocked back and forth. As the ride went, they had a live band playing Bavarian music. It was neat.

Traditional lederhosen

Tradtional Bavarian dresses

A gingerbread heart. everyone has one at Oktoberfest

Roasted almonds are the best.

We had a great time. If we are around here next year, we will definitely go again.

good/bye!

Next stop Augsburg!

Another Saturday (26/09/09), another fun outing. This time we caught a train and headed 45 minutes northwest to the third larges city in Bavaria, Augsburg. This beautiful city dates back to 15 BC, when it was a Roman campsite. Later it was ruled by bishops until 1316 when it became a Free Imperial City of the Holy Roman Empire.

In the square in front of the city hall, there was a little festival going on. It had little carnival rides for the kiddies. It was quite festive. The city hall is a large beautiful building. It has a large eagle painted on it front face, quite impressive. The historic city center was very charming. There are some impressive bronze statues here. In the square in front of the city hall is a statue of the Roman Emperor Augustus.

Rathaus - City Hall

Augustus

The old arsenal building is also very large and impressive. I think it interesting that the building were all the weapons were make/stored looks so nice.

Former Arsenal building, white with big guy painted on, middle right-side

We also visited the St. Anna Church. It is a Lutheran church build around the beginning of the 1500’s. We are not sure when it became a Lutheran church though. The reformist Martin Luther spent a couple of days here, we read from a plaque. It had a nice Renaissance chapel inside. We only have a picture of the outside though.

St. Anna Church

For lunch we ate at a yummy Argentine restaurant called Azsteakas. At first, I thought it was a Mexican place because of the similarity to Aztecs but it wasn’t. It was a steak place. Yum yum.

Azteakas

Another wonderful day in Bavaria. We are very happy to be able to see all these wonderful places. Augsburg was tons of fun. Well, we will leave you with one last view of Augsburg, perhaps the finest view – compliments of Adelaide’s photographic expertise (psss the buns of bronze).

oh she cut her hair, as well

Steinerne Brücke, built in the 12th century-Regensburg, DE

On Saturday Sept. 19, we took a little train ride northwest of Munich. 1 1/2 hours later, we arrived in Regensburg. The city dates back to a hundred and some years after Christ, it was a Roman campsite. Down below we have a picture of one of the original entrances to it old site. This town is beautiful. It has a wonderful historic city center with amazing historic building. In the main square is the impressive St. Peters Cathedral. It is one of the biggest we have seen here in Germany. We spend the whole day in Regensburg walking around and exploring. It was a wonderful sunny day. This old stone bridge was built back in the 12th century. From it, we had a wonderful view of the city. Of course during our exploring, Adelaide took advantage of finding some good books at the numerous bookshops. Below is a picture of Adelaide in book hunting mode. This city was wonderful. Adelaide says it is her favorite yet. The small side-roads lined with little specialty shops was my favorite part.

Triple Scoop of gelato... good day

Have we said that the ice cream, or more appropriately called gelato, is amazing. We decided to go a little crazy and get a three scooper. We ate it sitting down on the side of the river looking at the famous stone bridge (1st photo above)

City Center view & Adelaide shopping for books

St. Peters Cathedral

Streets of Regensburg

An old entrance to the old Roman settlement from about 170 AD

Best view of the city from the Steinerne Brücke

In this above pictures, the big building left to the bridge use to be a salt warehouse. It has a five story roof. The cafe tables next to it belong to the Wurstküche which mean sausage kitchen. It is believed to have been there since the 12th century, presumably as the canteen for the workers that built the stone bridge.  Overall it was a wonderful day trip to Regensburg.

We are loving living here in Munich. There is so much that is so close, and we have some more exciting day trips planned.

Till then,       Mach’s gut!

Noah and Hector, its everything we ever dream of...

Rothenburg city wall, historic district is to the left

Historic Town Hall

A shot of the inside of the Christmast store. It is really cooler than it looks.

Yummy lunch time. Better than a Dodgerdog...

The follow week, we were joined by the rest of the Milams. There Mike, Debby, Sierra, Rhet, and Jaicy. They had fun during the week while I went to work… But I took a couple of days off and we all took a 2 big road trips. The first one started on a Friday. We hit Zurich, Switzerland for Lunch. Then finished the day at Lake Como, Italy. Our hotel was right across the road from the lake. It was wonderful. We arrived later in the evening and we were pretty hungry. We didn’t know where to get something small to eat and our hunger was making us all a little cranky. So, sad to admit, the first place that we ate in Italy was the McDonald’s  next door to our hotel. It served its purpose and we soon all were pacified. It is interesting to see though, McDonald’s is everywhere, and it is actually pretty nice looking here.  The next morning, we took a tram up a nearby mountain and enjoyed a grand view over the valley. It was very interesting to see the almost sudden change of building architecture  from Switzerland to Italy. Nonetheless, it was pretty too.

Around noon time, we headed out for Florence. It was a couple hours drive south. We arrive safely at our hotel later that  afternoon. We arrive in Florence early enough to go to the Academy. That is the museum that has the original David statue from Michelangelo. It also had a lot of other statues from him and other paintings from other people. I didn’t realize before, but the David statue is huge. It stands a towering 17 feet high.

Deb - Como, Italy

The next day, we went to the Uffizi Gallery. We made the mistake of not booking tickets ahead of time and ended up waiting for almost 4 hours to get in. After that long of a wait, I really didn’t enjoy the museum much. It was interesting though. We saw paintings from Leonardo de Vinci, Michelangelo, Rembrant, and other famous painters. I am glad to have see it at least once in my lifetime.

We stayed one more night there and mid morning the next day we headed out to Venice. Florence was a nice place. Compared to the cleanliness of Munich, it is quite dumpy. There was graffiti even outside the Academy, sad. You could see how it really once was a truly magical place.

The plaza by the Ufizi

Tour bus in Florence

Later afternoon, we arrived in Venice. Just in time to see the sunset. It was beautiful. I enjoyed Venice. The architecture was beautiful. I guess since it was a major trade power between the west and east, they gained some neat styles from the east. I liked it. While were were there, we took a Gondola ride. That was really fun. On Tuesday morning we walk around the city and just enjoyed the neat atmosphere. There are no cars in Venice and instead of buses or subways, they have boats. The main roads are  water canals.  My favorite part of Venice was the San Marcos plaza. It has a huge cathedral, a place and other really big and cool looking buildings. The outsides of the Cathedral was decorated differently than the other cathedrals I have seen.

Venice

A church in Venice

Time to get the mail...

Alleyway of Venice

Cathedral in San Marcos square, Venice

Palace in San Marcos square, Venice

Tuesday afternoon, we said good-bye to Venice and headed back to Munich. It was very nice driving though the Austrian Alps. So so so so beautiful.

The next weekend we headed off to Prague in the Czech Republic. That was a sweet town. It was destroyed in WWII so it has a lot of really neat historic buildings. My favorite was the big cathedral in the town square. It looks like an old mid-evil castle. Awesome! We had a yummy duck dinner at a tradition Czech restaurant, too. We only stayed there for one night. I would definitely want to go back there again.

Cathedral in Prauge

Adelaide & Noah about to do the Milam Family cheer

The next day we drive down to Vienna, Austria. Also, Vienna did not get destroyed in WWII. Very pretty, but a lot bigger and hectic than Prague.  We stayed there two nights. There were so many mansions to see and historic place. Too much to do for just three days. I would like to go back there too.

A palace in Vienna

The Belveder Palace

Vienna is so exciting

Well, it was a lot of traveling. I really like to travel. Maybe I can get job just traveling. I should think about that…

hector and i have been on vacation this month with noah and my family. We went to different cities in Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, Czech Republic, and Slovakia. we loved it and had a lot of fun.

Big in Bavaria dirtjump competition

On Saturday, we went to a bike expo here in Munich. I really enjoyed checking out all the new bikes and bike accessories, but Adelaide got quickly bored of it. Also, there was a dirtjump competition and bmx races going on. It was all pretty sweet. Adelaide even enjoyed the dirtjump competition.

The jumps

A 360 something crazy

These following two photos are taken in the courtyard of this youth hostel we stayed in for a night when we got to Munich. The hostel was nice and clean but not somewhere we wanted to stay for long.  Funny thing, the weekend we arrived in Munich, it was a holiday weekend. Most other places were all booked up. Anyways, it was a good place for a night and the breakfast was yummy.

An old tram cab. It is a decoration in the garden of the Hostel we stayed in for one night when we first arrived to Munich.

View from the courtyard in the hostel

Zwinger Courtyard - Dresden, DE

Adelaide and I took a little weekend trip to the beautiful city of Dresden on June 11-13. Thursday was a Holiday in Bavaria, so we left Thursday morning and came back late Saturday night. After a nice 5 ½ hour train ride, we arrived at Dresden. We spend most of our time there visiting all the grand building in the historic city center. During WWII, Dresden was leveled by allied bombings, so the historic city center has been restored. It is still pretty amazing. We visited the Sachsische Saatsoper (Operhouse), Hofkirche, Frauenkirche, Residenzschloss, Neues Rathaus, Zwinger and many other places. Hector’s favorite was the Zwinger. It is a beautiful Baroque building with a big courtyard inside. The Zwinger houses the large art museum and the awesome armory museum. We spend hours in both. In the art museum we saw “Sistine Madonna” by Raphael, “Self-Portrait with Saskia” by Rembrandt, and “Tribute Money” (Christ) by Titan. In the armory we saw a lot of medieval age weapons and armor.

Sächsische Staatsoper, Opera House - Dresden, DE

Inside Hofkirche - Dresden, DE

Innercourtyard of Residenzscholss - Dresden, DE

A Train stop in Dresden

Freiburg, Germany LDS Temple

Freiburg Germany LDS Temple

On Saturday, on our way back, we made a little side trip to the LDS Temple in Freiburg. Freiburg is about 30 minutes from Dresden. It is a smaller temple, but still very beautiful. It was a wonderful time. Now, we need to visit the other temple in Germany which is in Frankfurt.

Life is good in Germany.