Lazy Art in Deutschland

Turkey: Uluborlu Bazaar

2011-12-14T18:14:00.000+01:00

A bazaar under a huge canopy

Cheese!

Mostly all of the cheese is Sheep's cheese.

Olives

Goat or sheep milk in Fanta bottles

No, Mick doesn't look like a tourist at all in his Wolverine t-shirt...errrr. Hope he got a good deal.

Turkey: Mountain Lake trip

2011-12-12T18:02:00.000+01:00

On the way to the lake we stopped at a ice cold mountain spring.

Garbage at the base of the spring. Sadly this sight is all too often in Turkey, they are still stuck in the 70's when it comes to taking care of your trash.

Lake Eğirdir is fourth largest fresh water lake in Turkey. It's huge and is brightly colored from algae.

Village next the the lake

Pink! Rose scented and flavored things are a specialty of the area.

Playing with my hat

Cousins with a broken shade umbrella

Freshwater crab shell

Cousins sharing secrets

After a swim

The writing on the mountain side reminds me of all the towns in Montana with the letters on the hills or mountains.

The peninsula where we ate.

Uluboru Food

2011-12-10T17:30:00.000+01:00

Stove top

Tea

Cooked wheat drying (aka Bulgur)

Breakfast, the traditional way. Sitting on the floor is the more traditional way of eating in Turkey. This was the first time that we got to do this.

Mick's great aunt

Cousins and more floor eating....Yum!

Lentil soup

Tomato salad

Bean dish

Desert! Fried dough, covered in honey.

Making Uluborul Börek. A simple dough with a meat filling.

A special treat, tea from a wood burning machine.

More tea, from a fruit seller at the side of the road.

Turkey: Interiors and Cats

2011-12-08T16:55:00.000+01:00

Mick's cousin's home; a very colorful and cat-filled place.

CATS!

Hamburg: Kaltstart Theater Festival

2011-12-06T17:38:00.000+01:00

Hey look pictures from the theater festival in Hamburg that we were invited to....in June. Well better late than never.

Traveling deeper into Turkey

2011-12-04T16:35:00.001+01:00

During our Turkish vacation in August, we ventured 6 hours east into the Isparta area of Turkey. It's slightly mountainous and has a desert-like climate.

The mountain under which Mick's parents were born.

A series of desert plants.

The area is also very fertile through irrigation and it's famous for its fruits.

Plums

Mulberries

Plums drying on the tree.

Apples

Pears

Eye

Barefoot, picking fruit.

Izmir, Turkey

2011-08-23T15:56:00.003+02:00

At the BazaarScrunchies are back?

Hamburg Graffiti

2011-06-26T16:30:00.009+02:00

I recently spent a few days in Hamburg. We were only in the Sternschanze area, so the impression I got was of expensive boutiques, delicious restaurants, lots of homeless people and tons of graffiti. I'm a fan of northern Germany graffiti; see posts from a few years ago from Bremen und Munster.

The next few shots are from the bathroom at the theater festival.
I really liked that bathroom.

187 was painted everywhere and it started to creep me out after a while.

Driving around Levos

2010-12-22T22:29:00.000+01:00

Chilled red wine? Well it was refreshing, and relieving after that ferry ride.

I wanted a little butter for my fish. They didn't have any so the waiter called a friend to pick some up at the store. That is impressive service.

We spent 3 hours driving around an covered about a quarter of the island, so I definitely want to return and spend a few days there.

From Dikili to Mythilini (Greece for a day)

2010-10-02T21:22:00.017+02:00

Hey look, I still have pictures I haven't posted from our summer holiday.

Dikili, Turkey

Atomically-correct horse. Nothing but the best for Atatürk.

At the harbor, 7a.m. ready to take the ferry over to the island of Lesvos, Greece.

We waited for 5 hours for the 2 passport controllers to get through everyone.

Mythilini. It was only an hour ride.

Once we landed, we ran for it, getting ahead of most of the other 300 people and were through the passport line (again with only 2 controllers). We rented a car and took off on an adventure. Sadly we only had 5 hours since we needed to be back at 6 for the ferry. These are pictures from our wanderings around Mythilini after our car ride.

Our rental car.

Sik = Fuck in Turkish, so Mick had a little chuckle.

Yeah, it was a little disappointing. We spent 5 hours on the island and needed 8 hours to get there. I was still happy to get to see a little slice of Greece for the first time.

Ephesus

2010-09-20T17:43:00.001+02:00

Located about an hour south of Izmir, Ephesus is ruins of a city from Greek and Roman times. We wandered for 3 hours in the scorching sun. It was great!

Mount Bülbül

Small theater

Toilets

The library (3rd largest of it's time)

Big theater

Small theater again, from a distance

Food

2010-09-18T15:45:00.010+02:00

Turkish Breakfast

Turkish tea

Reading the coffee grounds

My tree has many branches....

Dondurma = Ice cream

Yummy and slighty chewy

Peppers drying on balcony

Desert...with honey, delicate pastry and cheeeeese...

Fresh bread

Filling grape leaves

Seashell Madness

2010-09-17T16:08:00.006+02:00

My sister-in-law and I made seashell mobiles from shells that were lying around the house and driftwood she found.

Sea Urchin skeletons

Inspired, we went snorkeling for more booty. I was a coward when it came to this, since the spiky sea urchins freaked me out, and I hated looking in the shells to see if any creature was still occupying it.

We also searched along the beach...

Mixed in with the stones were tiny delicate shells.

I'm overwhelmed (along the sandy shore were small shells every few yards. Here there were thousands.

Most of these are no larger than a centimeter.

On the Boat

2010-09-16T15:05:00.009+02:00

Sadly I only made it out on the boat once.

Island of Lesvos

Pretty little bay

Nothing but sand

Someone smearing green clay on himself, before jumping in the hot springs.

Fancy villas on a local island.

Dead squid.

Pretty old house

Mosquito bites

Bademli

2010-09-15T03:33:00.000+02:00

Images of the village and surrounding area

Nezi cooling down from the water at the mosque

Flour

Retirees playing cards at the local tea house.

Bottles of concentrated grape juice and dried zucchini

Grape juice watered down and chilled

My favorite sign

Goodbye

View from the local cemetery

New vacation homes

Sun setting into Greece (the island of Lesvos).

At the beach

2010-09-14T15:56:00.002+02:00

View from the roof (taken last year by my brother-in-law) of the hill behind the house.

The house

Grapes

My brother-in-law's awesome ride

Outdoor shower. Next time I'm going to rig one that provides warm water heated by the sun. I don't like cold showers even when it's 100 degrees out.

The lower terrace, where I often read and relaxed.

The beautiful, huge upper terrace, where we would join my brother-in-law's family to eat and play games. They later set up a tent for the boys to sleep in.

Looking down at the neighbors from the terrace.

Our room. I thought sleeping under a mosquito net would be awesome, but that thought stopped as soon as the net starting catching on my calloused feet.

Torrential downpour

River (that was once the road) created by said downpour.

Rain through the olive trees

The view of the sea from the terrace after the rain. It was the clearest the air had been in 4 weeks. It had been unusually humid the whole time which made the view of the distant hills hazy. The next few pictures were taken on a walk after the storm.

The boat

It looks and is pretty idyllic. The sea is only 50 yards from the house, and there are sandy beaches with shallow water for yards and yards (good for kids and people scared of the sea) and rocky beaches (good for snorkeling). Unfortunately there is a little to much garbage (i.e. plastic bottles and cigarette butts) lying around. Mick likes to say that Turkey is still in the 70's when it comes to that. And some of the beachfront bars and businesses play music really really loudly, which ruins the tranquility that the area would normally have. Apparently it was relatively quiet because it was Ramadan. All the houses in the area could be taken away at any moment by the government since historical pottery was found in the area. Hopefully we can keep enjoying the place as long as possible.

Ocean Drive

2010-09-13T15:21:00.006+02:00

The drive along the Aegean coast from Izmir north towards Dikili, where our beach house is located.

Markets

2010-09-12T15:38:00.013+02:00

The Sunday bazaar from the Şirinyer district of Izmir.

Downtown Izmir's daily bazaar named Kemeraltı.

Good luck charms

Cream puff Brides

Circumcision ceremony robes. Ask Mick about his very painful circumcision involving non-working anesthetics, scissors, and a 10 year-old swearing out the "doctor" and all his ancestors.

Zombie circumcision boy

Izmir

2010-09-11T14:23:00.011+02:00

We landed in Izmir, Turkey's 3rd largest city with 3 million people. The noise was constant and there was very little wind even though it is a port city. We spent about 2 weeks there over 3 different visits. Mick's grandmother and aunt had lived there and we stayed with family friends who had looked after the grandmother in her later years.

Atatürk. There were images of him everywhere but this was by far the most impressive. In the early 20th century he transformed Turkey into a more westernized culture. He secularized the government, changed the writing from Arabic alphabet to Latin and he is most revered for throwing the Greeks out of Turkey in 1922.

Aunt Nezi and I with the family friends...Oyna, oyna...dance dance.

The mosque near their home

Nephew

All the ladies

Us with the nephews

Old synagogue

Political message spray painted on the concrete.

Face pimped. The families 23-year-old daughter attacked me with make-up. It was the 9th of September the first day of a 3 day holiday celebrating the end of Ramadan and also a special day for Izmir celebrating their independence from Greece.

Holiday shopping.

Alisha is 30!

2010-09-10T19:11:00.000+02:00

I used my vacation time wisely I think.

Font Fail

2010-08-05T22:26:00.002+02:00

Not that I'm an expert, but this is just bad. It has at least three different fonts. The font at the top is a particular favorite in Germany....it's everywhere.

Another Drive Through the Odenwald

2010-06-27T13:38:00.004+02:00

Socks!

2010-03-16T17:36:00.002+01:00

I made these a while ago, but haven't posted them....I actually have made quite a few things...so I'll hopefully get them photographed soon.

Mannheim

2009-11-17T23:00:00.000+01:00

The river I cross every day.

Guerrilla Knitting!

2009-10-04T21:43:00.003+02:00

I love guerrilla knitting/knitted graffiti. We happened upon this while walking through the trendy Lower East Side neighborhood in New York. I started leaping around with glee, shouting excited gibberish, which kind of confused Mick. I thought I was seeing my first work from the Knitta, Please people, but it was some other awesome knitting artists.

Love it!

Around the House.

2009-09-24T22:38:00.002+02:00

The fruits of my summer....

I'm excited about the seeds that Aunt Nezi dried from this plant! There will be so many tomatoes next summer.

Trumpet tree.

Herbs!

Oven baked cream cheese wontons.

Fresh salsa....yum!
I'm afraid that I won't much time left to cook when my theater job starts.

Long drive.

2009-09-18T22:55:00.006+02:00

I had a day in June where I was feeling down, so we just got in the car and drove.

Meanderings with Laura

2009-09-04T00:11:00.008+02:00

Laura became my good friend over the last year. We liked to go out for beers or ice cream, and had a few bicycle adventures into the Odenwald. Sadly she has now returned turned to her native lands, but here are some memories of our outings.

Classic apple tree.

Random manhole in the middle of the countryside taken along the trail pictured below.

Miss you!

Turkish BBQ

2009-09-02T20:49:00.004+02:00

Ok...I'm going to try and catch up and post my summer pictures. This first post is from a Barbeque in June celebrating some of Mick's relatives visiting from Australia. It was a confusing day switching from German to English and then hearing a lot of Turkish. My favorite part was playing with 2 kids who were trying to speak to each other in the wrong language, all they needed to do was speak Turkish to each other, but nooo....so I just got confused.

Schlossbeleuchtung

2009-06-07T22:44:00.001+02:00

The French set the castle in Heidelberg on fire 3 times. That's why they light it up and set off fireworks 3 times a year.

Random lit up fountain.

Yam Yam

2009-06-01T00:53:00.000+02:00

Creepy Carnival

2009-06-01T00:50:00.001+02:00

Random Smiles.

2009-05-30T13:46:00.002+02:00

If you are in a tank you are allowed to go 70km/h one way and 30km/h the other.

I did a double take when I drove by this golden....loaf of bread. Could I be the next Georgia O'keef only with images of bread?

It's Spring Time....lalalala

2009-04-27T11:14:00.002+02:00

That's my trumpet tree! It's already twice that size.

Grilling on the balcony.

Spring in Heidelberg.

Börek

2009-03-28T19:59:00.004+01:00

I came home to a UFO in my kitchen! It has about a 2' diameter.

These are bread/pita type things filled with a light coating of a hamburger and onion mixture.

Grape Leaves

2009-03-23T18:02:00.002+01:00

After consuming a few hundred of the Aunts filled grape leaves, I finally got to try my hand at them.

Zum Geburtstag....

2009-03-21T17:49:00.002+01:00

We went to an Irish Pub, 16 people showed up, we ran up a 230 Euro bill and then used the tip money that's being horded instead of being distributed between us. Good use!

The present from my store! Mick also gave me a shockingly pink Ipod Nano! Yay for fun birthdays. It's starting to feel more like home.

1 Year!

2009-03-19T16:17:00.002+01:00

Fasching the German Mardi Gras

2009-03-04T19:17:00.003+01:00

So I spent 2 hours last week at work not working. There was a parade about 15 feet from our front door! We opened up both doors and waved and were greeted with showers of candy. For some reason in my green apron I was able to procure a couple of flowers and extra candy. I think they felt sorry for us having to work.

My favorite costume.

Police officer treated to kisses and flowers.

Even the onlookers were in costume.

View of the crowd from inside the store.

The witches were a little out of control.

I made a sock.

2009-02-18T00:42:00.000+01:00

More Snow!

2009-02-18T00:39:00.001+01:00

Snow!

2009-02-16T18:29:00.000+01:00

I preferred the graffiti.

2009-01-24T20:00:00.000+01:00

They painted away the awesome graffiti in the underground passage to my train platform. I miss it...though I don't miss the urine spell.

Polite D.C. Signs

2009-01-23T19:57:00.001+01:00

The Star of D.C.

2009-01-22T19:37:00.004+01:00

Not Obama....but my nephew!!!!!

Shallysha!!!!

I know this is blurry, but I just love both of their expressions.

Monkey slippers attack sister.

Well it tasted good...

Then Mick made us both cry.
Pow!

Mmm...must play!
Note how stoned Mick looks (poor thing with back pain and strong pain killers).

Washington D.C.

2009-01-21T15:54:00.004+01:00

In honor of the inauguration....my pictures from November in D.C.

A Day with Haley

2008-12-28T23:05:00.006+01:00

In October I met up with my friend Haley who is an old co-worker from my Minnesota Sbux days. We wandered the city of Frankfurt.

I do enjoy statue pretzels.

An Elephant for Alisha

u

Then we went to the Frankfurt history museum.

Children's toys ca 1940.

Have yourself a very Nazi Christmas....lalalaaalala

My little makeshift Christmas

2008-12-25T15:30:00.006+01:00

Note the festive shapes:

I knitted the rope!

Mick always looks at me a little askance when I talk about Christmas decorating (he's a little afraid). But since all my decorations are in the States, I just bought a poinsettia and figured that was that. Then last week I came home to a little surprise! It's a little crooked making it the perfect tree.

This and That.

2008-12-21T23:23:00.003+01:00

Here are the last few pictures from my parents visit.

In Reutlingen

My parent's exchange "grand kid"....she's one cool kid :)

At a Medieval Market.

Treating our friends to dinner who were present at the wedding.

Metz Cathedral Interiors

2008-11-22T20:18:00.002+01:00

Marc Chagall windows.

Metz Cathedral

2008-11-21T20:07:00.000+01:00

Same view later in day.

Metz: Around the City

2008-11-20T16:41:00.001+01:00

So we took mom and dad and the new English/Olaf teacher Laura and her friend Cindy for their first visit to France. But there was a slight snag. About an hour before the border we were in a mysterious traffic jam. A neighboring truck driver told us that they had found a bomb. In my American brain that means "a mysterious package" or some other such thing was found, but apparently it is quite common for them to find old bombs from the World Wars (especially during construction projects). So about 20 minutes went by and were were on our merry way.

I can't tell you much about Metz, but there is a nice Cathedral (pictures coming soon).

Details, details...of Metz, France

2008-11-19T01:03:00.000+01:00

Weinheim

2008-11-18T16:32:00.002+01:00

I never get tired of Weinheim and really there's nothing there to do.

Lorsch

2008-11-17T17:34:00.003+01:00

Oldest medieval Monastery in Europe that didn't have construction done on top of it or around it.

The King's Gate (?) part of the monastery ruins.

Random church in Lorsch.

Worms (again)

2008-11-11T21:49:00.006+01:00

I say again, since I was just there last March with Allie and then I was also there with James and Sarah (oops I thought my sister was there with me too...but too much time has gone by) when I lived here 4 years ago. Well, there's always something new to see.
Here again is the Worms Cathedral where Martin Luther nailed up those Thesis's.

Outside and inside the Worms museum.

The Martin Luther Monument.

Eisenach Wartburg Castle

2008-11-06T19:19:00.003+01:00

A little bit of history:
Martin Luther came here under the prince of the regions protection and started translating the Bible into German.

Eisenach

2008-11-05T18:05:00.002+01:00

J.S. Bach was born in this city.

This is the museum.

A cute little sandwiched house.

Fall Colors

2008-11-04T21:47:00.006+01:00

Eisenach

Heidelberg

Rimbach in the Odenwald

German Hoedown

2008-10-23T19:32:00.004+02:00

We went to a little fall festival and I was so surprised by the amount of people and things to look at that I really didn't compute that there was unusual amount of American flags.

We walked by the band playing classic rock and stopped to listen, and suddenly this happened:

eh?

Square dancing.

So we were a little surprised by the western theme, but my dad fit right in with his cowboy boots. And of course there was also the traditional western food of beer and brats.

Flat Stanley

2008-10-21T23:19:00.002+02:00

Choose Stanley....chooooose.

One of my little cousins who is in the 3rd grade gave this to my parents to hall around Europe. We had a fun time with him (though I'm not unconvinced that it wasn't an invention for my dad to annoy my mom). His name kept changing too...flat baby and fat Stanley were the two favorites.

Frankfurt

2008-10-20T22:13:00.010+02:00

My parents have been here for the last week. This is our first adventure.
The Frankfurt Ebbelwoi Express
I was a little disappointed by the tram. I had expected more of a tour but instead you get your cider and a pamphlet then read a little about what you are seeing...and drink.

Deep Thoughts.

2008-10-20T19:27:00.007+02:00

What would you like on your...

Keep your bratwurst dry.

The Irish Turks? (Cindy pointed that out in Metz...awesome)

Look closely.

In no way would making meat into a fun shape have enticed me to eat this as a child.

Fake Gucci

2008-10-18T21:44:00.002+02:00

I just found this picture I took of Mick when he was wearing my sunglasses...hehe...

Keyword Search Pride.

2008-10-17T23:21:00.000+02:00

I'm going to pull a Brian and share the amazing searches that brought people to my page:
anal, butter
how to be more butch
bordello in deutschland
anal butter video
anal butter
napoleon bbq deutschland
anal with butter (i'm starting to see a theme)
ninja neckwarmer (that's so cool)
german wieners (of course)

Hamdogs.

2008-10-16T13:15:00.000+02:00

The store didn't have hamburger buns.

The state of our refrigerator.

2008-10-15T13:13:00.000+02:00

Mick really loves the fact that when the shelf fell down the ketchup was frozen to the back of the frig.

Amazing sweater!

2008-10-14T13:11:00.001+02:00

You have to click on this image for a closer look.

One Year

2008-09-21T19:24:00.001+02:00

So I've been an entire year in Germany today.
The Top Ten highlights of my year.
1) Getting Married (still a little surprised).
2) Seeing Mick every single day.
3) Screaming my head off to Atmosphere and Brother Ali then seeing Katharine in Bremen.
4) My amazing 5 days with Allie!
5) Seeing my sister last December for a few days.
6) Mike and Laura's quick overnight visit. Short but sweet.
7) My internship with Mannheim Nationaltheater.
8) Getting a job (though it's slowly killing me now).
9) Starting some new friendships....slowly but surely.
10) My Skype phone calls to friends and family (it's so much easier now to keep in contact).

Things I miss
1) My awesome interesting friends.
2) My family (though I didn't see them very often even living in the States).
3) Really good Mexican food (or more accurately Tex-Mex).
4) The Minneapolis theater scene.
5) Un-dubbed Television (though we luckily have a few channels that can be switched to English).

Holy crap 6 months!

2008-09-19T19:57:00.001+02:00

Life in cartoon motion.

Happy Birthda pretty girl!

2008-09-10T19:37:00.000+02:00

Remember 26? Awwww...

Happy Birthday.....pretty...(pet...pet)

2008-09-09T19:06:00.000+02:00

Tube Sweater?

2008-09-08T19:13:00.000+02:00

I don't know what to call it, but I sure do like it.

Heidelberg Mona Lisa

2008-09-08T12:33:00.001+02:00

Cool Meets Blonde

2008-09-07T14:25:00.000+02:00

Then they all went out and partied.

Bembel on a Bottle.

2008-08-27T21:07:00.001+02:00

Oooo....gurgle...drool...

2008-08-25T00:00:00.004+02:00

Apparently my brain has decided that it is no longer needed and has decided to turn off.

First of all I ended up on the wrong train today, which has never happened. I'm not usually on my cell while I'm in transit, but today I was trying to iron out more details with my dad about my parents trip to Germany. While I was sitting at the correct platform and the last time I looked at the sign it still had the right train name listed, I was blissfully unaware that it must have changed. So I ended up going west and not north for about 10 minutes, spending another confused stressful 10 minutes trying to figure out what to do next, then nearly missing my next train out after staring at the vending machine for 5 minutes trying to decide what would be the best "thank you" candy to give Mick for picking me up so we wouldn't be late for our dinner invite.
Then tonight my sister sent me an awesome picture of my new nephew and my brother on my cell. I've never had a picture sent to me phone to phone (probably because I've never had a good enough phone). And I was totally amazed because I was surprised that my brother was with the baby. So I immediately turned on the old Skype and called my sister.
It went like this:
"Thanks for the picture!!!"
"HI! What?"
"Thanks for the awesome picture you sent me!"
"What? I DID?"
"Mom? What? Oh my god, sorry mom, I thought I called Tracy."
Then I did call my sister and it all came back to me that of course they were in MT and than my brother was visiting them....
Funny that all of this confusion centered on phone calls.
Evil phones.
Pretty balloons.
My brain is rotting.

Sometimes I miss skyscrapers.

2008-08-20T20:27:00.000+02:00

Frankfurt.

Yes I am 12.

2008-08-19T20:26:00.000+02:00

This matchbox just made me giggle.

Pretty

2008-08-17T21:30:00.000+02:00

I feel uncreative and over-worked.

Girl Ninja Neck Warmer

2008-08-07T10:40:00.002+02:00

Random video of my brother.

2008-07-19T11:16:00.000+02:00

story time with mr. johnke pt1

I found this when I was bored and googled myself.

Heidelberg Horse

2008-07-18T21:50:00.000+02:00

Ugly or Brilliant?

2008-07-18T21:47:00.001+02:00

Tickle your baby!

2008-07-09T15:56:00.001+02:00

I love my new little nephew Leif!

Can't wait to meet him.

Shake Your Babymaker

2008-07-08T17:05:00.005+02:00

This makes me happy and kind of homesick.

Go Bäng!

2008-07-06T10:32:00.000+02:00