Breakfast in Germany

I 'm not sure what to call the weather we have been having lately, fall or winter. It looks like fall with leaves covering the ground, but we have had most days in single digits, a couple days around -2 degrees! That is celsius for my fellow Americans! However, I can't complain because the sun has been shining. I am always grateful for rainless days here. Besides, I am grateful to not have been anywhere near hurricane Sandy and my thoughts are with everyone on the East Coast back home! What an unbelievable storm.

Since Kev usually has practice in the mornings and games or practice on the weekends, we rarely ever go out for breakfast. So we took advantage of yesterday's 3 p.m. practice and my day off to enjoy a nice sleep in and a breakfast out. I mean we really took advantage, getting an 11+ hour night of sleep. I won't even say how late we slept in because I can already see my dad rolling his eyes at the 11+ hours of sleep (the guy is lucky to sleep in past 5 a.m.).

So after lazily getting out of bed, we headed on over to a chain restaurant called Schweinske for breakfast brunch. What do you think of when you hear the word breakfast? Pancakes and Belgian waffles? Scrambled eggs or an omelette stuffed with just about everything? Cinnamon Rolls, bacon, sausage, home fries, and hash browns? I'm salivating at the thought of it and may have to make tonight a breakfast for dinner kind of night.

However, one of the adjustments of moving to a new country is accepting new traditions and cultures, food being a large one. What I described above is not quite at all what you would get for breakfast here in Germany.

A traditional German breakfast usually consists of a multiple of different kinds of Brötchen (rolls), many spreads (butter, honey, marmalades, nutella, cream cheese, etc.), and different deli meats and cheeses for your bread. If an egg is served, it is most commonly soft boiled. Sometimes, smoked salmon, or tiny shrimp is also served. They offer the same drinks for breakfast as back home: tee, coffee, fruit juices, etc.

Our breakfast at Schweinske

I have come to really enjoy the traditional German breakfast (especially the smoked salmon over some cream cheese on bread!). Kev, not so much. He makes sure to get his eggs scrambled and would definitely prefer some chocolate chip pancakes! But he has given it a good shot which is a part of immersing oneself in the culture!

Kev has left me today for yet another multiple day road trip. It seems as if he has been away a lot since I have gotten here. Although, I think this will be the last one for the next couple months, there are a lot of home games in November and December. Working, german class, running, and putting the finishing touches on our Halloween costumes are on my agenda for the rest of the week. Our party is on Sunday and I couldn't be more excited!

 Happy Halloween, Tschüss!

Sweaty Saturday

Welcome to Sweaty Saturday! And we're diving straight in, going to get all emotional right away. I'm going to share with you something I wrote back in the summer after a particularly difficult running workout. I posted it to the blog that night and removed it within 12 hours. I wasn't sure if you were all ready to read something more intense from me! Mostly, I wasn't sure if I was ready to share it. There is something so comforting and easy about keeping this blog light and airy. But that's not realistic. Life isn't always light and airy, and as all runners know, running isn't always easy and comforting. As far as I know, my mom was the only one to see this post before I took it off and she said it made her cry. Mom, that was not my intention! 

So here it goes, my first Sweaty Saturday post (originally written after a crummy run in June):

Tonight, I did one of the hardest running workouts I have over the past year. Lots of hills, lots of speed, lots of pain. And there’s times during workouts like these that I wonder why. Why do I put myself through this? Nobody’s forcing me. Why do I run till it hurts? I don’t even like to run all that much.

But then I remember what I do like.

Competing.
Racing.
And winning doesn’t hurt either.

There was a time in my running career I did just that. I competed. I raced. I won. In high school I ran with a fearlessness that I now forget I even had. I would line up next to a bunch of girls just knowing I was going to crush them. And if I didn’t crush them, I knew that I would be right up on their heels making them work their ass off to beat me. Then, senior year of high school, I broke my ankle in the middle of the qualifying race to the state meet. My mentality hasn’t quite been the same since. I’ve been scared. And in some races, I’ve down right given up.

I’ve been told since my final collegiate race that I had such a great career and have so much to be proud of. And that is a really happy, sweet, sugar coated way of looking at it. And in some facets that’s true. I did accomplish a lot and have things to be proud of. But the hardcore truth is that I didn’t do what I was recruited to do.

I didn’t do what I know for a fact I was capable of.

Ever since that season ending race my senior year in HS, I’ve been running full of fear. But who knows, that may have happened with or without the broken ankle. I may have still shown up to the race line in college, seen the other fast girls, and gotten completely scared.

My mind got in the way. And that is why I will continue to put myself through miserable (for me, at least) 90+ minute runs and speed workouts that I think my legs will fall off during. Because I know I have so much more that I can accomplish and will be proud of. I just need to get back to that naïve 16-year old running mentality I once had. I’ll get there. I’m working on it.

Now, don't go thinking that I am just some mental head case. Although, with my running, sometimes I feel like I am! I think that year+ break after BGSU was just what I needed and I'm ready to get back to kicking some butt.

I read this post before heading out to do my 2x10 minute hilly Tempo Intervals and it served as great motivation when I got tired! Ended up doing the first 10 minutes at 6:37 mile pace and the second at 6:22 mile pace. Breezed through it today! And you know what I said to myself when I was finished? "F***ing right, Autumn, F***ing right!" I obviously spend way too much time with a foul-mouthed hockey player.

Schönes Wochenende! Tschüss!

A new direction!

First off, some completely random Hamburg Happenings:

The boys won tonight in a shootout. I thought we had it in the bag until Nürnberg tied up the game with 3 seconds left. THREE Seconds. They just had to give us a thriller tonight! Thankfully, it ended in our favor. 

For the first time ever, Kev and I hosted a dinner party. We (or should I say, I, can't say Kev slaved in the kitchen the entire day ;-)) made a mexican themed feast for 10 people! That's a lot for our little apartment to hold. Not to mention that I can never host a dinner and not go all out. We tried our best to make sure we stayed with in our theme. Even down to the San Miguel beers. Alright, that means we already left the theme, San Miguel's are Spanish not Mexican. At least we were within one language!

our table setting for 10 (4 couples, and 2 of the single guys)

I am really looking forward to the team's "post-Halloween" party on November 4th. Halloween was a highlight of my days at BGSU and I like to think I had some pretty great costumes. After not having a party at all last year, I am really looking forward to going all out this year. We have decided what we are going to be, and have most of our supplies for our costumes. You all will have to wait until after the party for the big reveal!

The first league break is coming up soon after our Halloween party. So far, we are thinking of Prague, Czech Republic, although nothing has been booked yet.

The next city we may be crossing off the list!

I have been thinking for a while now what direction I want to go with this blog. As much as I enjoy being able to update everyone back home on our lives here in Hamburg, writing solely "life updates" gets repetitive for me. I need a change!

As most everyone that reads this blog knows, I run for fun. Well, most of the time I don't think it is all that fun, so we'll just stick with running is a big part of my life. Therefore, I have decided to start a new "feature" tomorrow, called "Sweaty Saturday." It will be a chance for me to bring another part of my life into the blog. It comes at the perfect time as I just registered for my first marathon today, the Hamburg Marathon in April, 2013. Check back in tomorrow! Tschüss!

Hofbräuhaus Hamburg

Our crew that visited us came during the time of Oktoberfest, but we weren't planning on making the trek to Munich for the festivities. Shocking, I know. However, Kev and I still wanted to be able to give them a taste of Oktoberfest since it is a large part of the German culture. So one of the nights, we headed on over to Hamburg's Hofbräuhaus for dinner. The girls and I had tried to go early on in their trip, but there was no getting a seat without a reservation. 

packed house!

The Hofbräuhaus serves Bavarian cuisine and the beers are served in the large liter-sized steins you would find at Oktoberfest. Boso, Graham (I think), and I had frankfurters (hotdogs) with sauerkraut, Alyssa and Nicky had Weisswurst (white sausage) with a pretzel and sweet mustard, and Kev had Schnitzel with Pommes (french fries). 

our frankfurters with sauerkraut

In addition to the food and beer, the servers wear the authentic lederhosen, as do some of the guests! There is a live band playing Bavarian music, much of which the diners/drinkers sing along and dance to. The dance floor was full and the tables were being utilized as well for dancing. I had came to the Hofbräuhaus once last year on a slower night, so this was my first time seeing it in true action and I loved every bit of it. 

dancing on our table

My phone deleted the video I took of our night at the Hofbräuhaus, so here is one via Youtube that gives you a picture of what our night was like! Just imagine everyone dancing on their tables as well.

Before I go, I'll leave you with this gem of a photo. By far my favorite from the night and I'm thinking they are ready for their second stein.

Tschüss!!

A whirlwind trip through Amsterdam

It's been almost a week here since our visitors have left and the apartment is back to the quiet sounds of Kev and I. It sure was nice having some great friends in town for two weeks. I had two friends from University here for nine days and Kev had a childhood buddy visiting for 13 days! The trips overlapped a little bit so we were able to go as a big group to Amsterdam for a night (minus Kev of course). I had expected a 4 hour drive which turned into almost 6 hours due to lots of construction and the fact that I don't drive as fast on the autobahn as Kev does!

These are the signs in the construction areas showing us how many kilometers are left. Too funny!

Since we only had one night and the daytime hours on Monday to be in Amsterdam, we truly made the most of it. We kept Sunday night low-key and stayed out just late enough to see Amsterdam's red-light district after dark. The red-light district (entertainment and prostitution district) is truly a sight to see as it is considered one of the biggest and best in Europe. 

Taking photos is prohibited, but thanks to Google, you can see what we saw!

We were up early on Monday morning, ready to get some coffee, breakfast and start our day. This trip was my second to Amsterdam because Kev and I went after the season last year. That turned out to be quite the blessing because I was able to oversee the maps for us pretty well. For anyone that knows me, this is quite the accomplishment as I still get lost in my small hometown after living there for over 20 years. Amsterdam is also full of canals and slightly confusing to navigate! Because there are so many canals and small streets, bikes are one of the most common ways to get around. They have their own lane in many areas so we had to make sure we always were looking around while walking. No one wants to get run over by a speeding bike! I'm not kidding, they won't stop for you.

The bike lane!

One of the main squares of Amsterdam 

These canals are everywhere!

We stayed in a hostel (although the place called itself a hotel) for the first time ever. Lucky for us, we were reassured that although there were six beds in the room, we were the only 4 going to be staying there. Good thing too, I did not sign up to sleep and leave my belongings in a room and with people I don't know!

4 of the 6 beds in our room

We had two goals in mind for the day: the Anne Frank House and the Heineken Brewery. By the time we got to the Anne Frank House shortly after opening, there was already a line out the door. It didn't take long to enter though. When Kev and I came the first time to Amsterdam, we didn't do any tours, just wandered around and saw the city. That was really great, but I am so glad that I got to go to the Anne Frank House this time around. This "museum" is located in the actual building that Anne Frank and her family hid in for two years. The "Secret Annex" is kept unfurnished but there was a room with models so we could see what the hiding place looked like while they were there. Her bedroom wall is kept the same and it was complete with the original photos that Anne hung to make it feel a little more like home. It is quite an eerie and emotional feeling to walk through the house. I can't imagine what it would have been like, hiding for the sake of your life and not even being able to open blinds let alone step outside over that long of time. Photos were prohibited here as well, so I only took some outside.

Memorial outside Anne Frank House

Anne Frank House today

Anne Frank House in the 40s

From there we walked through the center of the city over to the Heineken Brewery. I have been to the Coors Brewery in Colorado and the Anheuser-Busch Brewery in St. Louis before, but this was by far the best, most interactive one I have seen. From learning about the beer brewing process and being a beer bottle in the simulated ride, to learning the correct way to drink a Heineken, the Heineken Experience was exactly as it's name implies, an experience!

Everywhere Heineken is served!

Making some beer! ;-)

Alyssa testing her pouring ability

Congratulations! A pouring Master

Enjoying some samples

Graham and I then drove back to Hamburg and left the girls in Amsterdam so they could catch a flight to Rome the next day! Stay tuned, I'll write again soon about our experience at Hamburg's Hofbräuhaus! Tschüss!