KNITTING WITHOUT DOG HAIR IS NOT AN OPTION

Hi, my name is Claudia and I own this blog, even tho’ I almost lost the rights to the domain a few weeks ago... I figured I should re-introduce me because it has been a long while since I last blogged. I mean really blogged, not just an ittybitty entry.

Now, here is my pitiful list of excuses for the lack of being around:

1. I went on a 10-day vacation to Germany and Italy with the Coach. We had a fabulous time. More about that further down. Keep reading. I try not to write a novel, but I might…

2. From the vacation I came home REALLY sick. So sick, that I only went to work for 1.5 days after the vacation and I had to stay home another 10 days. I ran a fever of 103 for three days (because macho me does not like to see a doctor and tries to cure any illness herself). But I did not get any better and the Coach eventually had enough and drove me to the doctor. I was so sick that he had to sit in front of my bathroom while I showered because I thought I might pass out. Not eating and having a high fever made me feel truly weak and out of whack. The doctor first diagnosed an acute bronchitis and gave me some heavy duty antibiotics, a five-day treatment. The cough was still as violent as at the beginning of the treatment and so I went back to the doctor’s office after a few days. Which was a good thing because when they x-rayed my chest, they actually found out that had pneumonia in my left lunge. The result, stronger antibiotics this time, a cough syrup with codeine (hello blissful sleep at night... I still have some left... shhhhh) and a doctor’s note to stay home.

I have to say that I have never been that sick in my entire life. And my parents agree. Mom had been calling every day to check on her 42-old baby. The conversations did not go very far because I would get into a coughing fit when I talked for a longer period of time. And my voice turned into one of those voices that bartenders have who work into the early morning hours, drink scotch and smoke a lot. I have been told it is a very sexy voice but that was not much of a consolation. Plus, I am such a terrible patient. I don’t want to see anyone. Reminds me of Greta Garbo "I want to be let alone." I just wanted to sleep and get better. Thank goodness for cable TV and two furry friends who took up 2/3s of my bed… I think I scared my roommate Brett, too. Since I have never been that sick, he has never seen me that pale and looking like death warmed over... Now, good four weeks later, I am back to normal. Always amazing to me what chemicals can do to your body.

3. A lot of work at the office and therefore I am tired in the evening and rather go to bed than go back online.

4. A very busy new "social life" - as my dear friends call my new life with the Coach and his kids and lots of sports activities etc.

5. A bunch of knitting projects that took priority over writing about them…

6. Oh, and yes, last minute Christmas knitting gifts and baking gifts and getting ready for lots of get-togethers.

But without further ado... Here is the vacation report from our trip to Germany and Italy. I think this is going to be a looooooooooong post to make up for the lost time and there will be a bunch of pictures (I counted almost 60 pix). Don’t get bored, OK?

I already started drafting this portion of the blog entry while sitting on the plane back to Atlanta, when I had peace and quiet for the first time on the vacation. This was one of the busiest vacations I ever had. The Coach and I were literally on the go every day. Also, I edited over 1,000 pictured during the 10-hour plane confinement. Gosh, good time killers, because it can get boring on a plane. I can't imagine how boring it must be when you are a kid...

So, the Coach and I had a great time. We both agreed that it was one of the best vacations ever. He is a wonderful travel companion and I felt much pampered with the big guy. I hardly had to carry any bags, doors were always opened incl. car doors in snow showers, etc. A nice change in pace for an emancipated girl... ;-) Plus the Coach totally charmed my entire family, including my little brother who is always protective of his big/little sister. He is supposed to come back with his kids. Which will be a fun trip as soon as we win the lottery because four plane tickets during summer break cost a little fortune…

Now, the weather on the trip: We had everything. From pizza in the Italian sunshine wearing t-shirts and sunglasses to heavy jackets and scarves in snow fall in Germany.

We rented this snazzy BMW 325 Convertible and we actually drove around with the top off, as well as we drove through bunches of snow showers at the end of the vacation.

The Couch asked for snow and he sure got his wish. And I think that extreme change in temperature was also the reason why we both got sick and I ended up with pneumonia.

We did so much while we were there. I am just going to give you the highlights.

MORITZ’S CHRISTENING

The family highlight was for sure my nephew’s christening. One day before the event, I found out that most of my family would dress in traditional Bavarian clothes. Dang, and now I didn’t have anything to wear. Well, since I was in the right place, the Coach and I went shopping and I bought myself a new outfit, a traditional Bavarian Dirndl.

The coach likes the dress and I am hoping to wear it soon to some fancy occasion in the US. The lovely lady next to me is my mom.

The christening ceremony took place at the local church (all catholic where I come from, no other denominations).

My dad tailored the christening gown and my siblings, niece and nephews have all been christened in the same gown.

And Moritz was a good baby for the most part. Afterwards everybody (approx. 20 people) piled into my brother’s kitchen for champagne, coffee and cake to celebrate. It was a lot of fun and nice to hang out with in entire family.

A DAY IN BERCHTESGADEN

The Coach asked me for one thing to go visit, if we can and if it’s not too far away. He is a big history buff and totally knows more about German history, especially about the times of WWII. And of course we did, because nothing is far away in tiny Germany, really. We went to see the Eagle’s Nest in Berchtesgaden, visited the Documentation Center there and Hitler’s bunker.

Unfortunately we didn’t make it to the top, the Eagle's Nest, because we missed the last bus at 4pm. We were there at 4.10pm and didn’t know about the schedule... And you know how it is, German buses leave on time… The Coach tried to blame it on me. Supposedly I was “farting” around in the bunker. I think he wanted to say that I took a lot of pictures for his sake and it just came out the wrong way. ;-) Well, a good reason to come back with the kids. Especially since his youngest son is just as much into German WWII history as he is.

We just got a look from the valley to the top of the mountain where Hitler’s residence was. Sorry for the blurriness but it is really high up and I had to zoom in big time.

A DAY AT THE AUDI MUSEUM

I was so happy to meet up with Alys, one of my best friends in Germany. I hadn’t seen her boys (husband and two kids) in forever and we took the opportunity to meet up with the entire family in Ingolstadt, where Audi, the German car manufacturer, has a fabulous museum. Yup, we looked at old cars for several hours. The Coach and I took my nephew Michael with us. Michael did pretty well with his English. After all it’s his 3rd year in school. And Michael and Alys’ boys tried everything out they could at the museum. I took a gazillion car pictures. Here are just a few of these vehicles.

ITALY

Ah, bella Italia… What else do I need to say. Nope, there is much more to say. We left Germany with snow and arrived after 4.5 hours in sun. No need to say that we sat outside to enjoy our first pizza and one of my favorite antipasti - melon & thinly sliced ham - for lunch. We had a hotel reservation at my favorite lake in Northern Italy called Lake Garda.

They have the BEST ice cream in Italy, I swear!

Even the ducks like it. ;-)

We ventured around the lake and drove through a bunch of towns until we arrived in Sirmione which is located on a peninsula. We spend quite some time in an ancient castle until the sun set. I almost had to drag The Coach out of the castle…

The view was truly breathtaking and so was the sunset.

The next day, Venice was on the agenda. It is a beautiful city, only reachable by boat and you can only conquer the city by foot. Meaning, we did a lot of walking. I mean a lot of walking…

Pimped out gondolas…

A yarn store and nope, I didn’t go in… We were in a hurry to catch a ferry to another island. I actually did not buy and yarn at all on the entire trip. Shocking. I know.

And we took a ferry to visit two adjacent islands. We first stopped at Murano, famous for its stunning glass work. The Coach and I bought a very nice set of Martini glasses and we didn’t break them on the way back on the plane. I had nightmares about that because they were so freakin’ expensive.

And after that we hopped back on the ferry and went over to Burano, very famous for its lace work. I saw the most beautiful lace pieces in the oldest store on the island. You might want to lean back and look at the following pictures a little longer. I have never seen anything like it.

This is the thread the lace is made of… Super thin…

Some of the pieces date back to Napoleon.

And chitchatted with the owner for a little bit, until she tried to sell me her expensive lace. ;-)

The Burano lace is not knitted, crocheted or tatted. Very fine thread and a needle is used to make this kind of lace. Truly pieces of art. The funny thing is that I didn’t know about this island and its crafty women until I read about it in the travel guide to prepare for the Venice visit. The island is also famous for its colorful fisher houses.

I would love to have a purple house.

It is also funny how much laundry I saw hanging out to dry around here.

We were extremely exhausted after all this walking and all the sightseeing. There is just sooooooooooo much to look at and so much to take in. And I think that was also the beginning of my body saying “I think I am going to get sick now.”…

The next day we drove to Verona and Padua. Verona has – after the one in Rome – the other only completely renovated amphitheatre in Italy. I am sure the arena saw its fair share of lions and gladiators fighting.

Padua on the other hand is the home of St. Anthony’s cathedral. I didn’t take any pictures inside because we were not allowed. It was quite breathtaking tho’ because that church is just filled with statues, gold, etc. Makes you think about how ornate a church really has to be as a place of worship. But then again, we are talking about a Catholic church in Italy.

The next day we drove back to Germany and hung out with my family for a couple more days until we had to leave for the US again. The Coach really liked the trip a lot. So let me finish with a few Bavaria pictures.

The Alpes

Kloster Andechs, an old monastery that is also famous for its beer brewery

The view from our vacation apartment

And a bunch of snow…

And if you just haven’t looked at enough pictures and you would like to sit through a slide show of all 1,000+, go here.