There’s a new lady bag in town

German Company Invents Pocket Toilet for Women Lady Bags became sort of a conversational leitmotiv during the Whiny Expat Bloggers Meet-Up. We think they should market these at Oktoberfest by handing them out to bedirndled women waiting in long bathroom lines. Except they’re going to have to make them bigger, first, since I believe most … Read more

Munich: So many bloggers

Whew, what a weekend. We Munich bloggers had the honor of hosting this year’s Whiny Expat Blogger Meet-Up. Bloggers from the far corners of Germany descended upon us for a weekend of eating, drinking, wandering around, and lots and lots of conversation. We tried to give everyone a glimpse of our city with some unexpected … Read more

Berlin: as enchanting as ever

After almost three whole months (oh, the horror) of sleeping in my own bed, I finally got out of Munich for a few days in Berlin. Berlin is one of the few places I go back to over and over and over again, because I will never get enough of it. It’s so big and … Read more

Dublin notes

[I spent about a month in Dublin this past spring, and wrote most of this post then. I figured it’s high time I got around to publishing it.] What I enjoyed most about this stay in Dublin were the little bits of daily life: the grocery stores, the pubs, the friendliness of the people. Spending … Read more

How should we prepare for Oktoberfest?

Complete the following sentence: In anticipation of Oktoberfest, we should ______. A. Start drinking more, to build up our tolerance. B. Stop drinking entirely, to let our livers rest up before the big event. C. Other (please specify). It’s less than a month away!

Christmas in Munich

A short guide to Munich’s public transportation system

[Note: if you’re not planning on using Munich’s public transportation system anytime soon, I recommend skipping this post. Instead go look at some funny t-shirts from Gatlinburg.] Even Germans are bewildered when they first encounter Munich’s public transportation system in all its glory. The various zones, trams, S-bahns, rings, U-bahns, and Streifenkarten are enough to … Read more