Ich bin vegetarierin

My highly prized organic peanut butter I lugged from home disappeared in one day.  All of the American sailors got hold of the freshly baked bread and peanut butter and jam. I should have brought a case. Now it’s only nutella (yuk). Being a vegetarian is a challenge in Germany, the home of the brockwurst.

July 9th

Joerg and his 5 year old son Frederick visited from Berlin. It was very handy to have a native translating the road signs and menus. I learned what the funny little “B” letter is (two double ss’) and that you can’t turn right on a red light. Apparently I was also breaking many parking laws. I also discovered that they have two doors in the entrance of our room to keep the heat in. Frederick braved the cold water of the lake for a little skinny-dipping. Joerg’s been great at staying connected to the family since he lived with us 10 years ago. He and Dane reminisced about playing basketball with Joerg when Dane was Frederick's age. Dane joined us for pizza after a good day of sailing and then left to join his friends at a round of miniature golf.

"It's just a little weather"

I was in the lobby of our little German inn working on my laptop. The boys were down at the sail base checking out their boat and going for a warm up sail. Our bright, sunny day turned suddenly black. It was as if someone had turned out the lights. I heard loud thunder and rushed to my car. The sky opened up and it was pouring.  Thunder and lightning were hitting every few seconds with barely any delay between the two. I could see lightning strike near the sail base several times. I don’t remember every being in a lightning storm so intense. I drove way too fast through the suddenly abandoned town. When I arrived at the sail base only Dane and Newt were there. They were keeping their heads low. It felt like a war zone. I yelled for the boys to get into the car. Dane complied but Newt insisted on finishing putting the boat away and got frustrated with Dane for not helping. I told Newt, “Get in the car now and I’m not letting Dane get out.” (Full disclosure: I inserted a few explicatives). He sensed my determination and got in protesting that it was “just a little weather.” I changed tactics and apologized and explained that sometimes he just had to honor a neurotic mother’s wishes. At that point Newt relinquished and we navigated our way home without being able to see much of the road. The storm cleared as quickly as it came on. We headed back to the sail base and finished putting away the soaked sails. I honestly wish I still had the sense of invincibility and fearlessness of teenagers. (Full disclosure #2: photo not from event, but added for dramatic effect)

July 8th

We drove from Munich to Lake Walchensee in the Bavarian Alps. The countryside is quaint with lots of farms and cattle and little towns in between. Our gps in the car isn’t working and we wiggled our way (again with a few wrong turns) to the lake. I kept wanting to look at the lovely meadows dotted with Alpine barns which might explain the few wrong turns. When we turned the corner to the lake it’s a breathtaking emerald green surrounded by dark green forests.

We immediately saw the sail base and the 29ers being set up. Newt and Dane worked on their boat and did a little afternoon sail to warm up and check out their charter boat.

Our little inn is quite charming.  The Hotel Einsiedl is a very stereotypical German inn with flowers on the windowsill and painted flowers around the shuttered windows. The breakfasts are amazing. They have a spread of fresh fruit and freshly baked breads. The preserves are all homemade and served with my favorite Earl Gray Tea.

Walchensee is Germany’s deepest Alpine lake and there are rumors of Nazi treasured buried deep in the lake.

July 7th

After a long flight to Munich we arrived in the early evening. We rented a little BMW hatchback and found our way (with a few wrong turns) to Stern Hotel Soller in a nice suburb of Munich called Ismaning. We stumbled upon “Rick’s Cafe” figuring it might have some food we’d recognize. After struggling trying understand the menu the waitress asked if we wanted one in English. We ordered spaghetti and burgers and sat outside.  It was a lovely, warm evening.  It stays dark until 10pm and the sky starts to lighten at 4:30am. We all had a good night’s sleep.  Jet lag won’t hit for another day when we all tossed and turned from about 4am to 6am.