In Search of Yoga: Yoga Expo München 2012

Come get your dog down at this year's YogaExpo, here in Munich.  This is a great chance to explore many different styles of yoga by many expert yoga teachers.  Just pay one entrance fee (either 13€ per day on Saturday/Sunday or 2 days for 22€, or all 3 days for 30€).  There is enough to do, see and experience each day to get your money's worth, some suggestions I can recommend firsthand:

• German-American Patrick Broome is teaching a jivamutki class each day - GO!  He will leave you feeling like you've been to Samadhi and back.  He brought the Jivamutki style to Germany from New York, which has become quite popular here as well.
  
• Susanne Giesse is a fun, soothing, spirited teacher who gives the gift of a deeply rooted yet uplifting practice.  You can't help but smile in her class.   She will be teaching some YogaWorks classes which is the teacher training I did in 2010 at her beautiful studio, Yogalounge in Pullach (just outside of Munich central).  If you can't make a workshop, get to her studio sometime soon!  Susanne teaches Sat, Sun.
  
• Jasmin Kirstein, owner of MySportLady in Munich and a heartfelt teacher, will lead a unique type of yoga class, Hormone Yoga and Meditation (and I will assist!).  She learned from the pioneer of Hormone Yoga, Dinah Rodriguez who founded this method.  Even if your hormones don't need balancing it's a calming and relaxing class.  Depending on how many attendees are there, you'll even receive a mini massage!  The meditation will leave you...well & happy!

I think the Handstand workshop sounds like fun and I highly recommend trying an Iyengar style class.  This style is so valueable for a safe, precise method of practicing yoga (which seems more and more to fall by the wayside these days).  Their teacher trainings are much more rigorous and take a lot longer than most to accomplish.  Strong focus on technique, sequence and timing separate this from other yoga styles.

At this YogaExpo one can dabble in the whole yogi lifestyle without committing by making the rounds:  Ayurveda methods, vegetarian foods, kirtan concerts, yoga for kids, accessories/equipment/clothing, lectures, meditation workshops.  As the popular Yoga Journal puts it, "Eine Messe für Körper, Geist und Seele" or "A Tradeshow for Body, Mind and Soul."
Hope to see you there!

In Search of Kunst: Egon Schiele in Munich

Winter time in Munich is a good time to hit the museums, if you're not out skiing or sledding that is.  And even though I'm on my way tomorrow to Schiele's home town of Vienna (I wonder if it would have been ranked the #1 city in the world to live back then*) I wanted to see it before I left, just in case I'm standing in front of so many blank walls at the Albertina wondering what once hung there.

Egon Schiele's "The Unsalvageable Ego" is showing now until March 4 at the Lenbachhaus Kunstbau - the temporary exhibition hall set up while the charming Lenbachhaus is closed for renovations (scheduled to reopen in Spring 2013). 

If you haven't seen this exhibit yet and won't be heading to Vienna anytime soon for his other works (majority of which permanently reside at the Leopold Museum, then make sure you stop by before March 4 when the works head back to their home at the Albertina Museum in Vienna.

Schiele's first solo show abroad was here in Munich one hundred years ago in 1912, he died only six years later of the Spanish flu at age 28, just a few days after his pregnant wife succombed to it herself.  IF you're not familiar with his work, perhaps you've heard of Gustav Klimt?  Well Schiele was Klimt's protege, becoming a respectable artist of his own right even while he was still alive.

How to get there?  Take the U2 or Bus 100 to Königsplatz (and take a walk around, it's pretty...it's pretty historical too!).


Schiele liked to rotate some of his works, even though it doesn't seem 'natural' it is meant to be hung vertically, like this (despite previous owners hanging it in landscape format).  You can tell by how his signature is placed.

Egon Schiele.  Lying nude, 1911
Pencil, water colour, topcoat paint and opaque white on wrapping paper© Albertina, Wien

I love this poster on display.  Schiele designed it
for the 49th Exhibition of the Viennese Seccession.

Egon Schiele
Self portrait in orange jacket, 1913
Pencil, water colour and topcoat paint on Japanese tissue paper

 To see a slideshow of the complete works of Egon Scheile click here.

* For the record, Munich isn't so shabby either, coming in at #4!

Get a Ve(n)dett(a)

While in London recently I was informed of a brilliant photo opp combining beer and your very own friend's smiling or frowning, silly, laughing or crying, sober or not-so-sober, you get the idea, face:  simply upload a photo of your choosing and it could be plastered and distributed on over 1,000 bottles of beer!  Like these people:

Can't wait to see if my friend's mug (sitting in back right) makes it onto some bottles!

Banananavedett feefifodett..Vedetttt.

The Belgian company, Vedett, has a quirky, fun website where it's easy and fast to upload a photo of your good friend, or yourself.  And the lager is quite good, we all had a couple few Extra Blondes at squish Covent Garden Hotel, previously a hospital converted into 5-star hotel with hip bar and restarurant, about 5 minutes from Leicester Square and a popular, lively meeting spot (not exactly for the budget traveler though).

London in (Christmas) Lights

I recently returned from a fun trip to London - as if a trip to this city isn't fun enough, I pumped up the fun a notch more by taking a really cool instructional photography workshop (ok, two!)  Christmas time is a looooovely time to visit, and its never too early to start planning your trip.  A friend of mine recommended this company, Hairy Goat (surprisingly neither of my instructors were actual goats, nor were they excessively hairy), but they were both terrific teachers who are passionate about photography and are oozing with technical and creative knowledge.

Hairy Goat offers some cool workshops:  one-on-one instructional lessons (which I did in the morning for about 3 hours) and other themed, more focused workshops like the Christmas Lights workshop (pssst.. look behind you..no I mean this background here behind this text), as well as city photography tours (like the mystery tour, which I did not do but it gets great reviews). Two workshops in one day made for a full day (especially after a night sampling the adorable pubs and varieties of beer I'm not accustomed to here in Munich).  But it also gave me a chance to practice what I learned in the morning..on a very chilly London day.

We practiced panning, zoom bursts, depth of field shots and a lot of aperture vs. ISO vs. shutter speed techniques in the morning.  Tricky stuff, if you're really trying to do it correctly and not just wing it.   In the evening we trapsed around town with our tripods to some nicely-decorated sites (you feel a lot less silly walking around with other like-minded photo geeks than you do by yourself).  The guides really know their way around London.   Obviously, I'm still learning but now I hope to be more in control, making conscious decisions about my settings, without missing the moment.  Afterwards we tucked away into a cozy pub for some Christmas cheer and beer together, Cheers!

Just when you thought the holidays were over...

...along comes one of my (recently appointed) favorites:  3 Kings Day!  For me, it's all about the scrumptious, buttery-flaky (King) cake 'Galette des Rois' that my french friend brings back from her holiday visit (she has also been known to make it from scratch) and we basically created a post-holiday party around this + a white elephant gift exchange + the 'adorning' (ok, defacing) of our Christmas tree = yummy fun.

Every King Cake comes with a little surprise inside and a crown!

No 3 Kings Party is complete without wieners and Paulaner beer.

This year's cake's surprise:  A little Elvis-looking portrait named "RAOUL"!

The lucky person who receives the slice with the little 'Raoul' in it (careful not to swallow and choke) has to sing a song...a french song is our tradition, and usually ends up being a pathetic version of Frere Jacques

Don't these unwanted gifts under Julie's tree (named Stan) look lovely?

And all the Christmas candy that didn't get eaten is put out..
including..snowman peeps imported from U.S.?!   

Before I moved to Munich I never gave this holiday due credit.  But somehow I started appreciating it for what it was (not)..an excuse for a post holiday party!  I found that the Christmas season went by all too fast, especially here in Munich what with more than a dozen worthy Christmas markets around town, parties, and friends or families traveling.  It seems like as soon as I've made it through Christmas, I'm ready to relax and celebrate the 'festiveness' of it all, alas only for it to be (just about, but not quite!) over.

I should give it some credit, for what it actually is... 'Epiphany Day'  is still a holiday in its own right here in Germany and Austria.  It's not at all uncommon to see kids on the streets dressed as Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar.  According to an old legend based on a Bible story, these three kings saw, on the night when Christ was born, a bright star, followed it to Bethlehem and found there the Christchild and presented it with gold, frankincense and myrrh.  Today all over Bavaria, many homes around town will be blessed by these 3 Kings and you will know which homes have been visited by them by the writing on the door "CMB" plus the current year. 

The 3 Kings were here (2011).. Christus Mansinem Benedictat

Special thanks to Julie for stepping in to host this year's gathering, due to unforeseen uh..plumbing problems at our place... Julie gladly stepped up to hostess.  And out of respect for her tree, or perhaps just because we forgot and someone had already scarfed all the wieners, we did not deface her little tree.

Sledders Take Your Mark! Part 1-Wallberg am Tegernsee

Oh how I love to sled the nearby foothills of the Alps!  Growing up in Florida, I didn't get too many experiences, soooo deprived I was. This year I would like to try some new places for one of my favorite winter pastimes (I think this has almost surpassed skiing for me now!)  But I'll begin with what I know, firsthand and can HIGHLY recommend!

The 6.5 km slope at Wallberg Mountain, in Rottach-Egern on Tegernsee lake, Germany's longest natural sledding run might not be the best spot for timid beginners (although this was my first time sledding anywhere and I survived).  The sharp curves and and lack of protective fences to catch you can make it somewhat dangerous.  Note to the daredevels out there:  "In the area of cable car and sledding run SPEEDIFYING is forbidden!" claims there website.  Nooooo speedifying?!%!

View of Tegernsee from the cable car heading up.

Beautiful, short walk from the top to the chapel.

Off she goes!

oops..Down she goes!

Here we see the speedifying limit is 50.

Helpful facts:

• 2011-12 season prices:  One-way cable car ride costs 10€ (Children 6-15 yrs, €5.50),
  Return trip costs 17€ (Children, 9€), sleds cost 5€ for day. 
• Good panaramic restaurant at top, beautiful views of Tegernsee Lake and Austrian Alps to south
• Run starts at 1,620 meters high (at restaurant)
• Takes about 30 minutes to sled down (depends on how many falls and laughs of course!)
• Cable car operates from 08:45 until 16:30 (last cable car down) in winter
• Get there via 'BOB' train from Munich to Tegernsee, then ROV bus to Wallbergbahn cable car

For more info on the Tegernsee area, including year round activities, accomodation and events, visit the Tegernsee Regional website.  Oooooh, while I'm at it, here's a direct link to the Rottach-Egern Christmas markets, which I'll also do another post on real soon!

Other places on/around Tegernsee for sledding that I won't be seen speedifying at this season (source: Der Tegernsee:  Your Holiday Guide)

Bad Wiesee

•  Tobogganing at Söllbachtal, starting from the Aueralm Inn all the way to Söllbachtal Valley, 4.3 km long.
• Floodlit tobogganing at Prinzenruh, 100 m long. 
  

Gmund 

• Natural toboggan run from Neureuth Mountain Inn, ascent from Gmund/Gasse, approx. 3.5 km long.   

Kreuth  

• Olympic luge run Kreuth-Klamm, floodlit night runs every Friday at 7 pm (with rented luge), from end of December.  
• Natural toboggan run from Mt. Hirschberg, ascent from Kreuth- Scharling, approx. 5 km long.
• Natural toboggan run from Mt. Setzberg, ascent from the centre of Kreuth, approx. 3 km long.

 Rottach-Egern, in addition to Wallberg:

• Natural toboggan run at Sibli, accessible via Enterrottach-Sutten toll road, approx. 1.5 km long.

Tegernsee

• Natural toboggan run from Galaun Mountain Inn, ascent from Riederstein parking lot, Tegernsee Süd, approx. 2 km long. 
• Natural toboggan run from Neureuth Mountain Inn, ascent from Tegernsee Town, Neureuthstraße parking lot, approx. 2 km long. 

 

What are your sledding experiences, stories, favorite memories?  Have you been to any of the above, including Wallberg?  If so, share your thoughts!

Accepting Offerings from An Elephant & A Monkey

Past travel experiences have recently caught up with me, in a good way.  It's hard to know at the time when such vivid experiences will not only turn into vivid memories but could even have a profound impact on someone's life...your own included.

In 2001 I was backpacking through Laos on my own (I highly recommend taking challenging trips alone from time to time).  I met a 20-year old who was studying to become a monk, he called himself 'Joy'.  He showed me around Vientiene, including taking me to his temple, Wat Nong Bone, where other monks were praying and chanting (I kept an open mind since I'd never been exposed to any of this before), he took me to the wild and fascinating Xiang Khouan (Buddha Park), about 25km outside of the city, arriving by tuk tuk..and, with the help of his English teacher who I could barely understand, even convinced me to teach his English class to his fellow monks-to-be.  A day I will always cherish.

Entry from "Buddha's Standing" workbook Joy sent.

We kept in touch for years.  He sent me quaint Buddha teachings, meditation beads, little books from his childhood and asked me loads of questions about my life in America.  Then hardship fell upon him and his family and we lost touch, he had to move to the countryside, no longer having access to email or phones. 


While I was taking care of my mother and grandmother for a month recently, I suddenly received an email from him:
"HI...kim
 how are you? it been so long time no hear from you and i only hope and hope
 to hear from you because i miscontact with you long
 i am Mr joy who i met you when i was monk in laos if you see this mail pls
write me i am really looking forward to hear from you
 your old friend in laos joy"

We continued a dialogue and I could begin to sense the worry he had about his mother who has not been healthy, and how he was selling their farms and other precious items to pay for a much needed operation.. he wrote things like:
"...right now what i can do for her i am plaese to do everything to save her life
what are you doing at the moment ? i will email you again when i am back from
my hometown, and how is your mom? is she getting well now.? yes sure i have to be stronger because i want to see my mom smile again"

Finally I received a desperate email from him asking for financial help to save his mom.  What could I do?  I know how much more fortunate we westerners are (in some ways).  But what if his life had changed for the worse?  Could I really believe him?  Do I have any reason to doubt him?  I didn't know what to do.  He said he would have to take an illegal job to pay for the operation and he was willing to do this.  I asked a friend for advice, she not only advised but decided to donate all her profits from an upcoming moving sale to Joy, for his mother.  WOW.  She brought up a good point, does it really even matter what he needs the money for?  Of course we like to think we are not giving money away for 'nothing', but if a person like this is desperate enough to ask someone he hasn't seen in 10 years, someone he only spent a couple of days with but made a lasting impact on their brief time in a remote land, does it really matter?  It's hard to explain the mystery behind these things, these feelings, these experiences and why these 'opportunities' happen.  And for whom are we really making these offerings, for them or for ourselves?

Novice monk, "Joy" at Buddha Park, March 2001.

On my way back into city from Buddha Park

Passing by family on way to Buddha Park, 25 km in a tuktuk.

The latest text message I received from Joy (Nov. 13, 2011):
"morning Kim, how r u?  I am so happy to tell u that today my mom, she eat a lot.  It so long time that I have not seen her like this."