2 People, 1 Path, No pants ... still

The buddymollys have entered their toddler year of marriage. Two years ago today we professed our love in the middle of the Pacific surrounded by aloha and made it official by the power vested in Big Chris and the state of Hawaii. 

And what a great two years it has been ...

Sometimes I think Jeremy and I are a little too perfect for each other; or maybe it's too much alike.

We're the kind of partners that can travel the world together

 try to out-goof each other

 drink beer and talk man stuff

 ... or have a girls night in.

Either way it's always an adventure and it's always filled with love.

In honor of this triumphant two year mark, here's a little wedding video of the theme song 

that officially made us the buddymollys. 

 

And two years later, we still have no pants.

Yet another delicious green item from Amsterdam

Green should be the official color of the Netherlands, gluttony should be the official word and pesto cheese should be the official food. It's more than delicious.

We consumed this whole brick in less than an hour, with some help from the official color and in a manner of the official word.

Dutch: 1, rest of civilization: 0

I’m not sure how it was possible, but our second trip to Amsterdam was even better than the first. Amsterdam is quickly becoming my favorite city in Europe.

Gliding along canals, cruising over innumerable cobblestone bridges … and then we left the coffeeshop. No, this time rather than sharing a last-minute hostel with 2 random Japanese girls, we opted for a comfy studio about 5 minutes from the train station and it was worth every euro cent. Plenty of room for the three of us: Molly, me and Rick (Steves).

We mainly cruised the streets and caught a few outdoor markets, and took a side trip to Haarlem, a quaint little town 20 minutes west of the city.

In addition to his usual humorous anecdotes and fun-facts (oh Rick, you’re such a kidder!), Rick provided one gem that really made our trip – a free ferry across the harbor to the north.

So we rented bikes and headed out into the countryside. The sun shining, sheep grazing, spokes spinning … It seems the Netherlands was made for bicycles – or they just built the country around them.

Amsterdam itself is so bike friendly it’s almost scary. As a pedestrian you really have to be more concerned with cyclists than cars, which are at the bottom of the totem pole. With a population of 750,000, the bikes in Amsterdam outnumber the cars by more than 2:1 (550,000 to 220,000), and cyclists are involved in 1/3 of all traffic accidents in the city.

We noticed a lot more Dutch being spoken this time and even tried our hand at it. It’s like a mix between German and … Japanese? For instance, “I would like / I will have” is Ik zou graag (pronounced “ich zoo hhhhaaahhhh”). Yes is “Ja” and no is “nee,” so you can see why we got pretty fluent quickly.

Back in the countryside we also noticed something interesting about their livestock: instead of chicken wire and posts, they fence their sheep with canals, so it’s like they’re grazing on little peninsulas.

After cruising effortlessly on superior Dutch bikes and smooth paths for a few hours, we stopped at a café for a sip and a snack.

Broodje met honing en brie? Mokka met slagroom?

Ja, alstublieft!

Our next trip will be by boat and we're always looking for a few deck hands and a first mate … 

for fasching's sake!

The Fasching season has come to an end and folks here are mourning ... (literally, on ash Wednesday hoards of people dressed in black parade through the streets in a funeral procession sobbing like beer will never flow again). But it kicked off with a "Weiberfasching" bang in Amberg last week and we witnessed (and participated in) all the madness.

Weiberfasching translates to Women’s Carnival Day and takes place the Thursday before the Fasching (mardi gras) weekend. It's a day were women rule all and men dress up as women to try to get in on the action.

I must admit there were some damn fine sexy man-women at this party.  Jeremy, Andreas and Franz, on the other hand,  looked like an accidental 80's rock band. Andreas obviously plays bass.

If a man decides to don his manly attire on this day and it happens to include a tie, it is customary, and downright fun, for the women to cut it off.

The town center was packed with folks in costume. The music was playing, drinks were flowing and booties were shakin'. Near the end of the night I was lovingly attacked by a giant bear and a witch stuck her very long nose in my gluhwein.

The Weiberfasching is rumored to have started around the time of women's rights. In the days of ole, women were not allowed to participate in any Fasching activities, so the mens gave us our own day.

Then we burned some bras -  but we still kept our day.

Scene from a ladies' room

notable favorite: "Bier was here." indeed bathroom caper. indeed.

The Draw of 2010: Part 3 of 4

Being as we are in the third month of 2011 it's about time we finish this damn 2010 wrap-up. So here is the third installment! As in the first and second installments, Jeremy and I each drew our favorite event of the pertaining months (this time summer! all two weeks of it then more cold months). And yet again, Jeremy's artistic creations are on the left, mine appear on the right.

July: In late July, as summer in Germany came to end (sigh) we travelled to London and Ireland, places Jeremy and I had never been, respectively. So I was the London tour guide, my old "fashion shoot" stomping ground for a few winters, while Jeremy held his own in Ireland having lived there during a semester in college. During the trip however, we both shared new experiences together including Irish lawn bowling (super fun) and surfing in Northern Ireland. It was the first time either of us had surfed in wetsuits. We looked like chubby seals, but it kept us warm and the water was fine, plus we got some mega cool points from the surf shop owner for our Hawaiian surf experiences. While the cold waters of Port Rush lacked a certain aloha warmth, they did have their own brisk charm.

August: The first few days of August we concluded the aforementioned trip at the Cambridge Folk Festival  where we were reunited with our favorite Brits, Jo and Gaynor and joined by Freddie and Jane, who soon moved up to share that number 1 spot. Jeremy decided to draw one of many mentionable moments of the day - the bar in which they served beer out of milk cartons. Dangerous. A few weeks later, in our little town of Weiden in der Oberpfalz, we took an epic bicycle ride, stopping at numerous cafe for a letter writing frenzy. It was a day of peace and catch up - both internally and to the outside world. As much as we enjoy travel, sometimes exploring your own backyard is just as rewarding, especially if your own backyard has amazing bike trails, quaint cafes and big ass bunnies.

September: This month was a no-brainer for both of us. We live in Germany, of course we are going to pick Oktoberfest! Munich has the largest Oktoberfest celebration in the world and folks travel from far away land to experience it. We are lucky to live only a few short hours from the madness - and it is complete madness. Maybe next time I shouldn't bring my mom though. Oh she can hold her own at a party no doubt - but there is a certain level of drunkenness you should never reveal to your parental units. Lesson learned.
So to sum op Oktoberfest in one word: druuuuuuuuuuunk. Oh wait, I meant to write fun, really I meant fun, or educational. Final answer - educational. Germany has taught us so much ...