I'm Back...

It has been some time since I posted anything on my blog and it's time to fire it up again.

For the past six months or so I've been side tracked with a Deutsch Integrationskurs and now I am studying for the B1-Prüfung (exam) upcoming on May 9th. The Deutsch Integrationskurs is a 600 hour course for learning the German language, integrating into the German culture learning about recent German history and the Politics. The course has been pretty interesting considering we only speak German and there are people from Russia, Bulgaria, Turkey, Greece, Romania, Columbia, Venezuela, Brazil, Mongolia, Slovakia and Moldavia in the class. It's sort of like a movie we've probably all seen where the American guy is teaching English as a second language to a group of people who all speak a different language. We have had a few pot luck parties and the food is varied and pretty darn good.

At the end of the course I take an nine hour exam that covers reading, writing, hearing and speaking German. I took the A1-Prüfung about a year ago and passed with no problem. This one is going to be a little different I think.

So, if I pass the B1 exam what does that do for me? My Visa will be good for two or three years before I will need to reapply. If I don't pass then I will need to reapply every year until I do pass the exam - or - until I have lived in Germany for six years when the Visa automatically becomes permanent. Interestingly enough, if you hold an EU Passport all of this is not necessary. Fortunately, I won't get kicked out of the country.

Deport

I have to say the whole exercise is a bit frustrating, as I have no problems getting along on a day to day basis living in Germany, even with my limited Deutsch sprechen. I certainly have no problem ordering Nüernberger Bratwürste und Bier.

Nüenberger Bratwürste erobern die Welt
(Nürnberg Bratwürst conquer the World)

On the other hand, I of course understand the idea of being "invited" by the immigrations folks at the Ausländeramt to participate in the course and exam. Germany has been the go to country for folks immigrating (or Ayslbewerber, i.e. asylum seekers) from countries outside of the EU for some time now. Germany would prefer that people who are living here are able to contribute to the overall society. For those who need to earn a living that means speaking the language. Not such a bad idea.

BMW Motorrad Days 2013 - Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Deutschland

From the BMW Web Site

Judith and I received a super wedding gift. We were fortunate enough to spend the weekend in Garmisch-Partenkirchen (GAP) at BMW Motorrad Days.  This was all thanks to some secret organizing by our friends Christian and Wieland, and donations from other friends (a Big Thank You from Judith and Me!).

Motorrad Days was held July 5, 6 and 7.  Here's a link to a video that will give you an idea of the event. BMW Motorrad Days 2013.  The video gives a nice overview of the event, but it doesn't (and probably cannot) come close to the real thing.

I took about 400 pictures on this trip, but edited them down to about 130.  You can see them here: Pictures - BMW Motorrad Days Tour.  Hope you enjoy them.

Christian, Yella (Christian's daughter), Steffi and Wieland also joined us.  A hotel (the Dorint Sportshotel) was pre-arranged by Christian.  The Dorint is a very nice 4 Star hotel not far from the Garmisch-Partenkirchen Ski Area.


The venue at the Garmisch-Partenkirchen Ski Area is expansive.  Over the weekend there about 30,000 visitors, and it seemed nearly as many motorcycles.  The facility really does a super job in staging the event.

BMW Motorrad must have a monstrous budget for the event. The number of demo bikes for both Street and Enduro riding was huge. Every model was available - from the new C 650 Scooter up to the K 1600 GT and GTL.  The street demo rides were 90 minutes and went over some great Straße.  On Fri. they included the B11 over Kochelsee Pass, a very nice twisty ride.  The road is closed to motorcycles on the weekend, but we road in over the pass on Friday morning.

Here is a section of the Kochelsee Pass

An Enduro track was carved out on the event's grounds on which you could ride any of the BMW GS models for three laps per session for free, for as many sessions as you wanted or were able to do (OK, there was a 5€ charge for a Riders Pass that covered all demo rides).

The crowd on Friday was very large, but on Sat. it was gigantic.  We watched the mob riding in for awhile and were sort of slack-jawed at the number and diversity of bikes.  The Polizei did a great job keeping things moving and organized (of course it is Germany, it is expected).

Many, many, many interesting BMWs, including R90s and R80GSs, plus a good number of real "Oldtimers" both ridden in and on display. There was a large pavilion for the various BMW Clubs throughout Europe with museum quality examples of BMW Motorrad, including, but not limited to, an R32, R7 Prototype and display of the evolution of the GS.

Chris Pfeiffer as usual put on a mind blowing exhibition Chris Pfeiffer BMW Motorrad Days 2013.  The Original Motodrom (Wall of Death) was also as entertaining as can be.

Great Bier and Brots were in good supply as well, and at reasonable cost.

We were witness to one unfortunate event however. It was scene from the 60's Beach Party movies ( you know, Frankie Avalon, Annette Funicello and Eric von Zipper).  There was a long row of bikes (mostly BMWs) parked side by side and pretty close together. They were on a very slight downhill slope, some resting on side stands and some on center stands. Some dude comes along and parks his bike at the high end of the row of bikes - puts his side stand down - gets off the the bike and starts to take off his gear. The bike falls to the right, hits the next bike, it falls and like dominos about a dozen bikes go down. Judith and I saw the entire thing unfold in front of us in slow motion.  And yes, there was some relatively serious damage to a few bikes.  A bunch of people all pitched in (including me) to untangle the mess and get everything back on two wheels.  Except for the guy who started the avalanche, it didn't look like any of the bike owners were around, so there will be some big (WTF) surprises, but no one was hurt.

To my amazement, all of this, except for Bier, Brots and 5€ cost for a demo Riders Pass, is at no cost.

This a good one for the Bucket List.

Great riding, good friends, fantastic weather, super nice hotel and lots and lots of motorcycles.  We had a really great weekend

A Meter of Bratwurst and a Night in a Castle

May 1st was a Holiday (Labor Day in Germany).  We decided to take a long weekend and go for a three day Motorbike Tour, leaving on Thursday.

Forecasts for heavy rain to the East literally put the damper on our planned three day Motorbike Tour to Ceske Budejovice in the Czech Republic.  Too bad too since Ceske Budejovice is the home of the original Budweiser Beer, which is not at all like "Bud" in America.

The rained out route to Ceske Budejovice

We decided to head towards sunny surrounds instead and see where we would end up.  Our friends Wieland and Christian joined Judith and I and we headed North West from Nürnberg towards Würzburg.  I forgot my camera, so pictures are stolen from the Web.

Our alternative route away from the rain

• Day one is the lighter green route. 
• Day two is the purple route.
• The last day is dark green.
• A total of about 725 kilometers.

Sulzfeld am Main (Picture stolen from the Web)

Christian was very familiar with this area, having spent a lot of time in Würzburg when younger.  Along the way we stopped in Sulzfeld am Main for lunch.  This is a nice large village on the Main River (pronounced Mine). 








Bratwurst is traditionally sold by the meter in this region, so we naturally had to have Bratwurst for lunch - but only a half meter.

Traditional meter of Bratwurst (Picture stolen from the Web)

Like the name already says the sausage is one meter (40inches) long. In 1953 Lawrence Stark a butcher in Sulzfeld, Bavaria invented this meter long sausage on the suggestion of a guest who proclaimed : "I can Wurscht The meter setting ess" meaning he could eat a whole meter of sausage in one sitting. Lawrence rose to the occasion and came out with a meter long sausage sizzling in a pan, that started the tradition and is still a fun thing to do.

There are contests to see how much meter bratwurst you can eat. The current record set in 1982 is 5.15 meters or 16.9 feet! 

Michels Keller (Picture stolen from the Web)

Herr Stark's restaurant was not open when we arrived (it was a little late for lunch), but we founds a very suitable choice at Michels Keller right up the street. 

Bratwurst at Michels Keller (Picture stolen from the Web)

The Bratwurst was served in a sizzling iron plate shaped like a steer (weird, since this is pork sausage), with a delicious wine sauce, sides of sauerkraut and potato salad.








After lunch we continued on West for awhile and the turned to the North.  Very wonderful roads, with little traffic and good weather.  Since I forgot my camera there are no pictures.

Around 5:30 or 6:00 we decided to start looking for a place to stay and came across a nice small hotel, but sorry to say I have forgotten the name.  Reasonably priced and good food, but nothing else remarkable to mention.

Breakfast coffee was good, as were the other items.  After filling up we packed up and headed further North, and then South, and then North.  Just winding around the roads through the forests all day.  As the day wore on the weather started to turn a little colder and gray.   We finally figured it was time to find somewhere to stay for the night. 

We pulled into Bischofsheim an der Rhön around 6:00.  This is a pretty small town/village.  Christian found an information kiosk with a list of local Gasthauses.  There was one listed about six kilometers out of the village we decided to try, with really no idea what it would be like.  So I set the GPS for Holzberg 1, Bischofsheim an der Rhön Germany and headed out.  For almost six kilometers we wound up a small winding road and then the GPS pointed us down an even smaller, very narrow winding road.  It had started to rain about 15 minutes earlier, so the half kilometer was a slow go.

Coming around the last corner we found the Gasthause -- the Jagdschloss Holzberghaus -- a  Hunter's Castle in the High Rhön.  We got the last two rooms.  There are no amenities here and the Bad (bathroom) is shared.  But this is to be expected at a hotel & restaurant that was built in 1614.  While the rooms were clean and adequate and sparse, the restaurant was super.  Dinner was excellent, beer great and a proper wine list.

Jagdschloss Holzberghaus

The main courses served here are hunted daily in a local game preserve, ensuring fresh, local meat. The secluded location of the castle and the fact that there are no electric lights in the dining room make for a nice, relaxing experience. Because of it's location near several hiking trails, the restaurant is open all day, although on off-hours they mainly serve bread and wurst. The evening meals can be a bit expensive, but the day meals for the hikers average about 4 euro in price. 

The next morning we woke to a light rain.  After slowly managing to get coffee, wake up and eat breakfast - also great - we packed up to head back towards home.  We decided to stay off of the small back roads because of the rain and jumped on larger roads (not the Autobahn).  After about one and a half hours the rain let up and the sky became slowly sunny.  We stopped in Bamburg a little after Noon for lunch and then took the back roads into Nürnberg.