Page 2 of The Munich Abendzeitung Newspaper

Wow, we've been here only two weeks, and we've already made page 2 of the local newspaper!

Don't expect me to translate it for you!

The Augustiner Biergarten

We went to dinner Monday night at the Augustiner Beer Garden.. but now that it is after Oktoberfest, most beer gardens move inside to their kellers (cellars).

So here we are deep in the ground. Tristan has made friends with the girls everywhere we go!




They bring him beers!



Don't worry, Tristan did not actually drink them...his father saw to that!

And we had dinner inside of a giant barrel.

The Munich Aquarium

Today we headed to Olympic Park where the Munich aquarium is located. And of course our Tristan has been looking forward to this ALL week!

Because he loves fish....

and the rays....

He is intrigued by the sea snakes (unlike his mother!)...

Adores the sea turtles....

and is absolutely fasinated by sharks!!

It was a beautiful day here today!

At the Toy Store!

Normally, going to the toy store is not something I would brag about or even admit to. But after thinking long and hard about it, we decided to move to Munich with only what we could carry on our backs. It was a minimalist decision that left Tristan with very few toys here. I did bring with us every single Elsa Beskow book we own...all seven!, along with the Tomten (both are Waldorf favorites) and the Tale of Peter Rabbit. I brought the fishing pole and fish that I made at the Waldorf School with him. I took watercolor paints and paper, The Planet Earth dvd, and some wooden tile matching games. I took three of his favorite stuffed animals, and the Waldorf baby I made for him, along with his magnifying glass and his tub sharks.

Maybe you can see the theme here, but the "Waldorf way" brings us peace and calm in a world that can be chaotic and stressful even for children. And while we really do miss our Waldorf school and all of our friends there, we are thrilled to be in the country of its origin. So today when we walked into the toy store you can imagine MY delight in finding the Ostheimer handcrafted wooden figures at terrific prices!! I scooped up a little boy figure, a sheep, goat, rabbit, cat, chicken, and mouse. I think I was more excited than Tristan!





So here he is creating a story about hiding the animals from Pelle, the little boy who came to bring them rock biscuits!



It felt good to settle back down with nature and rhythm!



For more information on the Waldorf School:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waldorf_Education


For more information on the Waldorf Way:

http://www.whywaldorfworks.org/


For more information on Elsa Beskow:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elsa_Beskow

The Playground!

Tristan had a fun day at the playground today!

A little bit of rock collecting, climbing, sliding, and then getting the sand out of his shoes!

I think this smile speaks volumes...Tristan loves his new bike from grandma and grand-dad!

The old city of Munich

Today we woke up to some funny weather...a bit of rain and sun and hail and even a tiny bit of snow thrown in for good measure. But we dressed up nice and warm and headed out to the old city of Munich, which was about a 20 minute walk from our hotel.

First stop was the Marienplatz to see the Glockenspiel. The tower is closed on the weekends, so we will come back another day to go up to the top.

Click on link below for information about the Glockenspiel:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rathaus-Glockenspiel

Click on link below to see the Glockenspiel in action:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JH6pwKdw9CI











Next stop was the famous "HB", the Hofbrauhaus...but when we went to go inside, the oompaloompa band was way too loud for Tristan, so we left.



Interested in the Hofbrauhaus? Listen to the band inside at the link below:
http://search.yahoo.com/search?ei=UTF-8&fr=yfp-t-133-s&fp_ip=DE&rs=0&p=hofbrauhaus+munich+germany+beer+hall&rs=0&fr2=rs-top
Click on the youtube video.

Gutentag Germany!

We left for Germany on Friday afternoon, but who knew that Tristan would be landing the plane??




And here he is with that look of "see... I told you I could fly a plane!"



And here he is making that ever so slight adjustment.




Is this the ejection button?

And here is Tristan all proud of himself!

Now, having said that, if a Lufthansa plane should happen to go down in the next 24 hours...it was probably his fault for touching every possible knob!

How we spent the rest of the week in London!

We spent the rest of the week doing some really fun stuff! We went to the Natural History Museum and saw dinosaurs and other assorted bones.

Then we spent the afternoon walking around Holland Park and the Kyoto Gardens.

Tristan picked a flower for mommy and then we posed for our family photo!

Then we made our way over to Hyde Park and walked to Kensington Palace where Tristan wondered where he hid his spare key??

Then he just had to make a phone call!

London England!!

We left Boston on Monday night, and arrived in London England early Tuesday morning. Tristan settled in nicely on the plane ride once he realized he was getting his own tv and headphones and would be comfortably watching Ice Age III until he fell asleep. Later, after a much needed napping session, we headed out for dinner and a stroll around the town. We took a loop around our old stomping grounds in Kensington. Here is a photo of Tristan enjoying the ride.