Under the Tuscan Sun

Ciao...Buonasera! So, Shea and I celebrated 4 years of wedded bliss on April 9th with a trip to Florence, Italy. It was a wonderful trip that included amazing food, Chianti wine, beautiful weather, and historical sites. Known as the birthplace of the Renaissance, Florence was home to all those famous artists we have all heard so much about (before they were ninja turtles) Leonardo, Donetello, and Michelangelo. It is also known for the Uffizi art gallery, the statute of "David", the Duomo cathedral, and the Ponte Vecchio bridge.
We left Frankfurt on an 8:30 flight direct to Florence and arrived there around 10:30. We took a bus to our hotel, which sat about 100 feet from the Arno River and only a 20-minute walk from the Duomo (their famous cathedral which dominates the city). We were a bit early for check-in, so we dropped off our bags and headed toward the city center to do a bit of sightseeing (via every gelato stand we could find). We strolled along the Ponte Vecchio, which was built in 1345 and was the only bridge spared in Florence in WWII. It is lined with jewelry shops built out over the bridge and is packed with people taking photographs. We then visited the Palazzo Vecchio, which is a fortress turned town hall and in its courtyard stands numerous marble statues and a copy of Michelangelo's "David". Adjacent to the Vecchio hall is the Loggia dei Lanzi, which has a gallery of even more statues. Needless to say, there were marble willies everywhere, and I had a hard time covering Shea's eyes and taking pictures for all of you! Behind the Loggia stands the Galleria degli Uffizi, or Uffizi museum. We waited to tour it until Sunday when we were able to get reservations rather than having to wait then in long lines. We visited the Plazza Repubblica and all its trendy shops and headed to see the Duomo cathedral and its baptismal building. We checked on mass times for Easter and decided we would tour the inside after mass. The cathedral was huge and was unlike any other cathedral we have seen. Florence is close to Italy's marble mines, so everything is constructed out of the stuff. The church gleamed with all its intricate detail and seemed to glow white and green.
We started getting pretty hungry so we ended up in a little side street restaurant that served delicious salads, pizzas, and wine. It was next to the Basilica di Santa Croce, which also has a beautiful marble exterior, library, and plaza. It was great place to watch the world go by. The restaurant had the Father in kitchen, the Mother waiting on the guests, and their little daughter playing around outside entertaining the patrons with her dark curls and pick-a-boo games. We sat at our outside table and enjoyed the slow pace of the city that you can't help but come to adopt. After soaking it up for a while, we headed south of the Arno River to the Piazza (Plaza) Michelangelo, which sits on a hill just east of the center of Florence. From there you get an amazing view of the Florence skyline and the surrounding landscape. Florence is nestled in the river valley but immediately outside starts the Apennines Mountains that run down the spine of Italy. We took way too many photos but couldn't help ourselves!
We bought a beer from a vendor and lounged on some steps cut into the side of the hill. There, we and about 100 of our new closest Italian friends enjoyed a concert by some musicians playing their guitars and flutes through sunset. Great afternoon!
We left there and headed back to the hotel to freshen up for dinner. We had received a recommendation from Shea's colleague that this restaurant served the best meal she had ever eaten...a place called Il Latini.
We arrived at our reservation time...9:30...to encounter a swarm of people outside this place trying to get in. Seriously, it was like a preppy mosh pit outside the front door, so we knew at that point it had to be good. We did out best Posh Spice and David Beckham impersonations and luckily they let us through to our table. This place was great. There are no such things as menus. The waiter brings stuff to you and you eat it. Wine is on the table and you serve yourself. He asks what type of entree you want (...we went with the veal) and they bring you a mountain of it. Each course seems to be followed by different glasses of wine the waiter keeps bringing by. The place was lively and the food was incredible...we had an absolute blast!
We had noticed throughout the night that when it was time settle up the waiters bring the owner of the restaurant to greet the patrons and then the owner himself delivers each bill. So, now it is our turn (mind you it is now getting close to 12:00, we have been indulging at every turn, and we are a bit afraid of what our tally is going to be). The waiter tells the owner what we had...and that it is our anniversary. The owner slaps me on the back and tells me what a lucky man I am to be with such a Bella, and he pulls a number out of his head and hands us a bottle of wine. Simply amazing! We ate like kings for the price of paupers and left with a parting gift to boot. Great anniversary day that we won't soon forget!
Friday, we slept in a bit and decided we wanted to check out some other areas of Tuscany. We took a bus to the train station and hopped on a train to Siena about an hour's ride away. The trip showed us countless vineyards, hilltop towns, forests, and grassland before we arrived in Siena.
Siena is quite a bit smaller than Florence, but every bit as charming (if not more so). The old city sits atop a hill and is surrounded by a great wall. It is one of Italy's best-preserved Renaissance cities and is beautiful in its small, quaint way. You walk down narrow streets and discover amazing views and buildings at every bend. The shell-shaped Piazza del Campo (or town square) houses the Palazzo Pubblico and is known as one of the most beautiful public spaces in Europe. It is also famous for hosting the Palio horse race twice a year. (If you saw the James Bond movie "Quantum Of Solace" it is the horse race Daniel Craig interrupts in the middle of the big chase scene). We took our shoes off and sat around in the Campo with all the locals, licking our gelato, and loving every minute of it. We visited the city's beautiful cathedral and then slowly walked back through the streets doing a little window-shopping. Shea says that Siena may be her favorite place we have been in all our time here!
On Friday night we decided to lay low a bit, so we took our free bottle of wine and went across the street from our hotel to a little cafe that has nothing but outdoor seating on the Arno. We ordered some pizzas and enjoyed a night by the river and our wine. Ahhh Tuscany.
Before we had left Frankfurt, we knew we wanted to do a wine tour. So, on Saturday, we had a little breakfast and then met our tour from tuscantrails.com at 10:15. It was us and 2 other couples on an 8-hour tour of the countryside that included two vineyard tours and tastings. Our tour guide was a woman from California who knew way too much about wine and olive oil, but had a great sense of humor and showed us all a wonderful time. We really enjoyed that day as the weather was perfect and the views and countryside were incredible. We bought two bottles of Chianti and learned how to categorize Italian wines...and yes, we did come home with red stained teeth. A little more pizza and opening up one of our bottles from earlier in the day and we had a wonderful night to polish off a wonderful day.
On Sunday, we woke up early to go to 9 am mass at the Duomo for Easter. When we got there, the police had guardrails up all around the exterior of the church. We finally found our way in and were treated to Easter mass in Italian. The church's dome was elaborately painted depicting God ruling over all creation, and it reminded us a bit of the Sistine Chapel.
We walked outside around 10:00 am and immediately heard the pounding of drums. We looked up a few blocks and found a parade headed straight for us. Men and women dressed in impressive period costume carrying flags and centuries old weaponry. We were soon flooded with onlookers as the parade ended between the front entrance of the Duomo and the baptistery. Come to find out, we had stumbled upon a tradition dating back to the Crusades where soldiers march and have a chariot pulled by two white oxen to the steps of the Church. They then proceed to blow up the cart with fireworks or as it is known in Italian..."Scoppio del Carro". A white dove (read firework) is shot out of the front doors of the church and the chariot starts a firework display. It was pretty incredible and just dumb luck that we ended up with the great spot to see it all. Here is a link to a videotaping of a past event just so you can get a better idea of what went down:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZOqySju-KA&feature=PlayList&p=D88BA6615CC59CBB&index=1
After the excitement of the fireworks, we headed over to the Uffizi museum for or 11:30 reservation. We toured it and saw works by all the masters. We were impressed with the work, but unfortunately a lot of the museum was shut down for construction, so we saw what we wanted and hightailed it.
We still had one more bottle of wine from our wine tour to finish and we had enjoyed the view from the Piazza Michelangelo so much that we headed back over.
We relaxed, laughed, and enjoyed another sunset from there. We left and had a bite to eat and then called it an early night for our early morning wake up call the next day to catch our flight.
All in all Florence was a great trip, and we really had a nice relaxing time for our anniversary!
Ciao for now- next stop in May...the South of France and then in June- Barcelona!
Bring on the beaches!

Das Feuerwerk

So, Shea and I are just chillin' in the apartment over the weekend, and all of a sudden we start hearing these popping sounds.
"Shea, you making popcorn?"
"Nope...Geoff, you sitting on bubble wrap?"
"Nope."
We look out our window and bamm...German fireworks display.
There is a small carnival that set-up shop last week in the parking lot of an arena near our apartment. It must have been opening night because they put on a pretty impressive display to kick it off.
We sat outside and watched for a while and thought about good times on the 4th of July. So, here are some firework photos because, hey, who doesn’t like fireworks.

Rhine Tour

So, everyone decided they wanted to see as many castles as possible and fortunately enough we live super close to the Rhine River where there are around a dozen castles within about a 2-hour stretch.
During the summer months (April through September) you can take a cruise up the Rhine from Frankfurt to enjoy the medieval sites and vineyards. Seeing as though we didn't have that option, we took the next best plan. There is a train that runs along a good portion of the river from Mainz to Koblenz, Germany...about a 1 1/2 hour trip. We saw at least a half dozen castles along the way and vineyards spread across the cliff sides everywhere.
Once you get to Koblenz you encounter the second largest fortification in Europe perched high above the city.
We enjoyed a couple of hours in Koblenz and visited the "Deutsche Eck," which is a giant statue of an early German King sitting atop his horse at the split of the Rhine and Moselle Rivers. There we had a nice late lunch looking out over the river and enjoyed the first warm winds of Spring. So, for those of you coming to visit and also wanting to take in a bunch of wine tours, pretty views, and ancient architecture- come between April and September and we'll do some cruising- German style.

Céad míle fáilte romhaibh

Means "100,000 Welcomes" in Irish, and we would have to say we all felt incredibly welcomed by the people of Dublin on our recent trip. We also felt incredibly welcomed by the weather...nothing but sunny skies and mild temperatures during what is generally a cold, rainy time for Dublin.

Mom, Aunt Marianne, Shea, and I arrived in Dublin about 9:30 on Sunday night March 15th. We all cleared customs and headed to the taxi queue. Our taxi driver loaded our bags and immediately wanted to know where all us "Yankee Doodles" were from...Aunt Marianne said Michigan and we said Texas..."Who killed JR and let me see yer beltbuckles?!" he replied. He kept us rolling on our 25-minute drive through Dublin to our hotel (whilst driving on the wrong side of the car and the road- very hard to get used too). He showed us all the major sites and filled us in on where we should spend our time and how best to enjoy St. Patty's Dublin style.

We checked in to our hotel and were really impressed with our accommodations. Definitely the nicest hotel we have stayed in in Europe. We really lucked out and if anyone plans on going we have a great recommendation.

So, on Monday, we woke up and jumped on a bus downtown. We walked along the River Liffey and made our way to O'Connell Street that runs through the heart of the city. There we jumped on a guided tour bus to see the sites Dublin had to offer. On the tour we would get off the bus and visit the sites we wanted to check out thoroughly.

Just to name a few things we saw Trinity College, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Christ Church Cathedral, the Irish White House, the Jameson distillery, their Parliament house, and the O'Connell Monument. As I know many of you are dying to know...Yes, we did tour the Guinness Factory. We ran through the tour and then shot up to the 7th floor bar that sits atop the factory. From there you get a birds-eye view of Dublin and can see the beautiful old city (without any skyscrapers). We each enjoyed our pint of Guinness with a shamrock delicately imprinted in the foam by the bartenders. Great times!!!!

From there we took the tour bus to Ryan's Victorian Bar (a famous bar in Dublin) where we enjoyed a few more pints and some dinner. Afterward, we headed back down to O'Connell Street where we stocked up on supplies for St. Patty's Day. We bought shirts, scarves, snacks, and beer.

The St. Patty's Day parade starts at 12:00 and we were told that if you want to get a spot anywhere close to the barricades you need to be out there early. So, we packed our supplies and headed to the parade route for 10:00. We scoped out a spot directly across from a grandstand and only had one row of people in front of us. They were super friendly and came down for the parade and to get away from Belfast on this rowdy day. At around 11:30 a couple local personalities started warming up the crowd. They walked around the grandstand and baited people into singing songs from their homeland. We heard the Canadian national anthem, the Swedish anthem, the Yellow Rose of Texas, and of course as he walked past us, Mom grabbed the mic from him and belted out our National anthem. It was great and everyone around was thoroughly impressed.

The parade started and countless bands, bagpipers, floats, clowns, and drunk Irishmen made there way down the route. When it ended we crossed the street into a Pub and got a pint and some hearty Irish stew. From there we joined the celebrations in Temple Bar. Temple Bar is not a Bar, but rather an area, similar to Bourbon Street in NO or 6th Street in Austin. It was packed with St. Patty's Day revelers…most decked out in green and goofy tall hats. We had a great time just watching the celebration. We found a bar and went inside...met some people from Michigan, via London, a couple French guys, and some Aussies. People come from all over for this event just to say they were there...including us!

We spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying the party in Temple Bar and then along the River Liffey. We saw the Half Penny Bridge and after a big late dinner we headed back to the hotel.

We hit the sack as we had an early wake up call for our 6:30 flight the following morning.

We all had a great time and really enjoyed the city and the people in Dublin. Shea and I would love to get back and explore outside the city and see the countryside of this welcoming "green" isle.

Football Game

So, this last Saturday we were invited by some friends to go to a professional football (soccer) game here in Frankfurt. The crew included Steve, an OU grad who married a German, Christina, Steve's wife's good friend, Jens, Christina's boyfriend, and Shea and me.
All professional German league games are played at either 3:30 or 8:30 on Saturday and Sunday. We were catching the 3:30 Saturday game of the fighting team from Frankfurt known as Eintracht Frankfurt against the rival FC Schalke 04. Both teams rank around the middle of the top tier German league of football.
Jens was the one able to get everyone the tickets and of course he is an avid (read crazy) Schalke fan. We ended up with great seats on the first row of the middle level of the stadium, almost directly above the visitor section, with a great view of the game.
Let me start by talking about the game. Not being the biggest soccer fan before coming, I'd have to say having now been to a live game I'm pretty hooked. Shea really had a great time too. Watching it live really makes you appreciate the strategy of the game and the athleticism of the players.
Schalke scored first just before half time. Frankfurt was able to tie it up with about 20 minutes to play, but Schalke headed-in what was the game-winning goal with about 15 to play. Schalke took the 2-1 victory and serenaded the Frankfurt fans on their walk out with their songs of victory.
Now, how best to describe the atmosphere directly below us in the visitor section...let's see...did everyone see Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome? Seriously, it's that intense.
I say this and it is not a joke- the visiting fans are put in a caged off section of the stadium, and they go absolutely monkey-butt crazy for the duration of the game. There are no seats in the section, no bleachers, no nothing that anyone can destroy or throw. They wave team flags and raise banners ridiculing selected opposing players. One member of their crowd sits atop the cage throughout the game with a megaphone and leads the crowd in chants, songs, cheers, and whistles from the player introductions until it was over. I don’t think they stopped for half time. It is like the Aggie student section on steroids, with all the arm in arm singing and cheering. There are security guards stationed every 5 feet in the visitor section, who are basically there to ensure no one is trampled to death by their fellow fans.
We were originally supposed to have different seats, so we asked Jens, "Jens where were we suppose to be originally?"
He points down to the visitor section and laughs.
Shea and I must have been pretty good recently because karma awarded us with not having to experience all that.
Needless to say, beer is served throughout the course of the game, and though the weather was probably in the 40's, there were a growing number of fat guys without their shirts on as the game progressed into the second half.
All in all, we had an awesome time and though that one section was rough, we never felt unsafe. Even, with Jens wearing his Schalke jersey and scarves as we left. We certainly hope to go to another game- it was a lot of fun- oh, and we learned how to insult ref’s in a foreign tongue.

Fasching

Lent is almost upon us and as we all know that means it is time to get all your partying out. New Orleans has Mardi Gras, Rio has Carnival, and Germany has Fasching.

Fasching is a weeks worth of parades, parties, and festivals located all over Germany. Lucky for us one of the biggest and best celebrations is located in Mainz, just a 30 minute train ride away, so Shea and I went over yesterday to check it out first hand. Of course like any good party, you have to wear a costume. I went as an old lady with blue hair and Shea dressed in a sombrero and poncho. Generally, most people prefer darker color patterns here in their clothing, however, for Fasching the brighter the better. We saw Elvis, Boris Becker, Clowns, Cats, Cowboys, Nurses, Soldiers, Ghosts, Frogs, and many other creative ideas. Bands marched through the streets with a potpourri of characters trailing behind forming makeshift parades that anyone could join. After enjoying the sights and sounds outside for a while, Shea and I decided to step inside a local "kneipe" (bar). It was packed with people standing shoulder to shoulder dancing, singing, and drinking. The bartenders had an assembly line of pilsner beers going and as fast as they could fill them up they were being handed across the bar to the costumed consumers. People stood arm in arm and swayed back and forth to the traditional German songs. It was like being at an ATM football game with all the memorization and synchronized movement taking place.
After several hours, we left there and followed a marching band back towards the train station... dancing and singing our way out of town. We will maybe try to take in a few more events before Tuesday and will let you all know what we find! Otherwise enjoy some of the funny pics were able to take.

München

Beers, Blondes, and "Burrr" cold weather...München, otherwise known as Munich- the Capital of Bavaria, was paid a visit by us "northerners" this last weekend.
Munich is the entry to the Alps for most Germans, and as we noticed on the packed train headed there on Friday afternoon, many Germans use it as their ski destination headquarters.
We left Frankfurt at 1:00 and rolled into Munich right at 4:00, an easy three-hour train ride through the rolling hills of southern Germany dotted with picturesque small villages. We were able to see that Frankfurt really is pretty insulated from the snow because as soon as we left town we were able to see the snow banks grow higher and higher. Munich was covered with the stuff and if you felt the desire there you could stop and snowangel anywhere you wanted...Snow-appaloosa.
After arriving we took a local train to our hotel a few minutes outside of downtown. We checked in, then headed right back downtown to the "Altstadt" or old city. The central area of town known for its history (not necessarily all good- as Munich was Hitler's home base of operations).
We got downtown and found the Marienplatz with the famous Glockenspeil (giant dancing clock) on the centuries old Ratskeller (town hall). We wandered around map-less, but if one thing has been proven in our short time here, it is that we have a nose for the party. As we wandered looking for someplace reasonable to eat, we looked up and find ourselves standing smackdab in front of the world famous Hofbrauhaus.
"After you Frau Keller"
"Dankeschön Herr Keller"
Once entered you are immediately struck by the size of the place and large number of people sucking down "maß" (pronounced like "mass") mugs of beer. A maß is a liter, so you can certainly get your bicep workout in as you down the tasty beverage.
Something we should explain is that going out to eat in Germany is not like it is in the States. Unless you are in some 5 star restaurant, there is no such thing as hostesses here. No waiting to be seated at your own table.
No, it is every man for himself here-sharing your table is how its done.
You walk around and find a spot you can fit in and you simple put your butt in the seat. German engineering at its finest. So, not only do you enjoy a good meal but you always make new friends socializing at your table.

We sat down and struck up a conversation with a guy from Brazil, a guy from Mexico, a German with his PHD in philosophy and a woman from Germany who is a journalist. We had a great time and all enjoyed our maß and some hearty German food. After about 2 maß apiece we were visited by the live band who plays traditional German music. They surrounded our table and we all toasted in their honor (photos above)!
It was a great time and the only downside is the headache you have to pay the next day!

On Saturday, we went back downtown and toured the historical sites during the day. We arrived for the noon showing of the Glockenspeil performance. We then toured the Dom, which is their centuries old church with twin towers that look like beer steins. We went to another church where they let you tour their tower to get a birds eye view of Munich. We only had to climb 305 steps to get to the top (I counted). We were able to see all of the Munich tourist spots, Olympic park, beer gardens, but unfortunately because of the falling snow, couldn't see the Alps. Next, we took a tour of the Wittelsbach family castle. They were the ruling family of this Bayern (Bavaria) area of German for many centuries and had several castles throughout the area. We visited two of them during this trip. One in the heart of Downtown Munich on Saturday and another one of their summer retreats a few miles outside the city on Sunday. Needless to say, it would have been a pretty swank life to be a Wittelsbach back in the day. From that point on Shea would only answer if I referred to her as Her Majesty Sheattelsbach...weird.

Saturday, as you all know, was also Valentine's Day...so, only the best for my baby- Back to another Beer Hall!!!! This time we went to St. Augustiner. After a full day of walking around the city, sightseeing, and climbing stairs, we only needed one beer apiece before we were ready to curl up at our table and race off to dreamland. We had a nice dinner and then called it a day.

On Sunday, we headed outside of Munich to Dachau. As most of you know Dachua was one of the largest concentration camps used by the Germans during WWII. A rather somber and sobering experience, but a site everyone should see so as to ensure history will never repeat itself.

After Dachau, we headed to the Wittelsbach castle called Nymphenburg Castle outside of Munich. Sunday was a cold, but sunny, day, so Shea and I enjoyed walking around the castle and doing some people watching. People were iceskating on the frozen canal and playing a game similar to bocci on ice. We had a great time there and wondered just how quickly we would fall on our butts if we tried playing.

Now this trip wasn't all fun and games, part of the reason we were there was because Shea had to meet with some clients on Monday, so while she worked, I toured the Olympic park. It was a very pretty area of the city and though it was really cold out, people were still taking advantage of all the tracks and facilities there. There was a big tribute to the Israeli athletes and the swimming pool was calling my name. "Herr Keller, Wo ist sein Speedo?"

Monday night, Shea had a business dinner that her clients were kind enough to invite me along to. We had a wonderful French meal, and they were excellent hosts. The wine was a-flowing. They are a well-traveled couple who had been to Dallas about 2 years ago for a conference. While there they had bought cowboy boots and hats, and visited both Gilley's and Billy Bob's. The man kept trying to say "Yeehaw", but something about his pronunciation was amiss. Shea kept having to correct him on how it was done but he loved every minute of it.

All in all, Munich was a great time. We will certainly want to go back again when the weather is nice...umm, I don't know, say late September, for OKTOBERFEST!!!!
Seriously, if you are planning on coming, let us know, we need to start booking our stuff pretty soon, because it is going to be an amazing time!!!! Tschuss!