Schwarzfahrer

As you may know I am currently lacking in funds, hence the babysitting. This means at times I must be a Schwarzfahrerin (lit. black rider) and ride the UBahn, SBahn, bus, or tram without a ticket. They do not check for these every time you board public transportation (unless you are getting on a bus at night), which means if you don't guilt easily by all the signs saying not to do it you can get away with not paying. Occassionally they have undercover ticket inspectors that will board and wait for the doors to close and then whip out their id and ask for tickets. Even though it is a 40 euro fine, I always imagine getting caught will go down like the scene in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade where he throws a Nazi out of the plane and then explains this action by saying, "No ticket."

Anyway the only good thing about this situtation is that it makes me think of this excellent short film from several years ago.

See Mozart's Birthplace! Attend Famous Music Festival! Hear Worst Street Muscians Ever!

So for my birthday week I ended up going to Salzburg twice.  The Salzburg Music Festival is nearing its end, but the tourist and buskers are here in full force.

 Mozart pointing to the ground and showing that he put this place on the map. His reward: having an old man with a guitar singing Neil Young's "Heart of Gold" badly underneath his statue

 The Burg (i.e. fortress). From where I am standing I could here the lovely strains "My Heart Will Go On:" on electric violin with Muzak accompaniment played on a loud speaker

 The driver is telling the passengers that "when you know the notes to sing, you can sing most anything!"

 When I was last here in March it was freezing and all the fountains were under glass pyramids. As my friend Wendy pointed out Salzburg really has a thing for horses.

 Because I am cheap I refused to pay 10 euro to go up to the castle. You can take an elevator near the modern art museum for a fraction of that price and see the same views. While Wendy and Aaron went up in a funicular (seen here), I got a Melange (Viennese coffee, like a cappuccino and with whipped cream on top)

 Waiting for W and A to come down from the burg, I stood by this fountain and pretended to be in Italy

 I think this should just be a universal rule. 

 Last time I was here standing in this beautiful cemetary my feet had frozen to the ground.

 Aaron taking pics in Mirabell Gardens 

 Yes it was much warmer than in March, still I had to wear a jacket in the middle of August. Oh Salzburg I think I love you. 

These guys are featured in Sound of Music, like everything good in Salzburg.

When I went back on Sunday I was able to get a five euro ticket at the last minute to see an amazing program of Chopin (who I never liked until that moment) played by Maurizio Pollini. I am not ashamed to admit that I teared  up a bit when he played the preludes. Life doesn't get much better than this.

Pollini playing Chopin's Nocturne N 8

Klein-Venedig

So when my friend who has been living in Venice came to visit, I decided he must be homesick so I thought we could go up to Bamberg (aka Little Venice). And as we discovered is exactly like Venice...

 Churches with fun quadratura!

 Gondolas

 

 And buildings, like this town hall, built right on the water

 Nothing says Venice like half-timbered buildings

 I promised Michael, that unlike Salzburg where we were going later, there wasn't going to be a busy festival. You can see I was correct. Also here is where Bamberg has a little bit of an identity crisis, because we are on one of its seven hills.

 Boat Races

 And only Venice has flowers

. 

Here is Michael feeling right at home. 

Anyway it was a really beautiful town, and what is more, very important to the Ottonian King Henry II, who is buried here with his wife, and my dissertation.

 The church built under ol' Heinrich II was partially destroyed by fire in 1081. The new cathedral was consecrated in 1111 (an easy date to remember) and in the 13th century received its present late-Romanesque form.

 Neue Residenz, residence of the bishops after the 17th century

Der Super-Famous Bamberger Reiter which is a symbol of the city, even though no one knows who it is supposed to represent. Considering the rest of the town I am going to say it represents Colleoni*

*Bad art history joke.**

**like you really needed to be told that

Tracht

In other news, I bought a dirndl a while back. Since buying it I have notice that Bavarians will use any excuse to wear Tracht: a traditional national costume in German-speaking countries.

Going to a festival? lederhose
Going to the biergarten? lederhose
Going out with friends? lederhose
Market? lederhose
Picnic? lederhose
Lecture at the Zentralinstitut fur Kunstgeschichte? You guessed it....lederhose

Anyway here is a blurry picture of my dirndl. It matters which side you tie the bow on your apron. Left: single, Right: taken. Although from what I have seen men are a bit too intoxicated to notice something that sutble.

The Babysitter Diaries

I haven't been posting anything, because my life now revolves around babysitting and dissertating.

So what is it like to be a babysitter here in Munich?
Here is a picture I took of German kids at a playground...

 That's right, they are reading. What you don't see is a little girl on the swing quizzing them.

OK, so that is a bit of an exaggeration. They were just playing school (I think)

Anyway I have been working for about four different families, off and on. I actually enjoy babysitting and it is teaching me important lessons:

1. How not to laugh when a little German boy says in English  he needs to "make a schhhhtinker"


2. How to explain Disney princesses' behavior with a straight face. Try this some time.
Child: Why is Sleeping Beauty sad?
Me: She doesn't want to be a princess and marry the person they picked out for her. She wants to marry the guy she met in the woods.
Child: But she just met him.
Me: Um...sometimes that is all it takes.

Child: Why did Cinderella go with the prince outside?
Me: Um...they wanted to be alone and to go somewhere romantic
Child: Why?
Me: Uh...just watch the movie

I love Disney movies, but I have realized what horrible messages they send to little girls.
I think this clip sums it up:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8xCgC3w1zs

3. Frozen corn makes a great ice pack for minor injuries blown way out of proportion

4. Playground time = Other parents telling their kids to go talk to the English lady.

5. Never listen to the fathers about the children's schedule. Because of misinformation I ended up inacting a scene in every movie where the parent must learn to be better: leaving a child waiting out in front of the school with a teacher after everyone else has left for the day.

6. And finally it is not only ok, but often necessary to bribe children

(Note: To any parents of the children I watch. This is meant for entertainment purposes only. Please do not fire me)