Whew! What a whirlwind.

Our very first night in Munich, December 22, we dropped our bags, and headed out for a walk in our new 'hood and one block later came upon Das Maria. Its hippie food and shared tables were just what these Californians needed to feel at home. They weren't serving any longer, but Dave and I both quickly knew I'd be eating my way through their menu in short order. One block further, we came to Faun, and stepped inside to the bustling, traditional Bavarian part-eatery, part-brewhall. Even better, when we noticed a dog inside, Dave ran home to get our white fluffer so she could join us.

Truffle laying under the table, two biers, and an order of hummus and kraut, we were off to a very, very good start.

The next few days, we tried to balance vacation, exploration, and some progress ticking off the seemingly endless list of things to do. Seriously, moving abroad is not a trivial task. I am SURE to write more about this later, so I won't linger here any longer.

Our first full day, Dave was out of the house by 7am and off to some government office somewhere dealing with some sort of paperwork which I'm still not exactly sure what it was. But I'm sure it was important, and I'm so glad he handled it. Then, he came home with warm laugencroissants from the bakery a few doors away. Let me pause here. These are not just croissants. They are PRETZEL croissants. Why didn't anyone tell me these existed? I didn't think croissants could get any better. We got dressed in running gear and headed out to a doctor appointment which is requisite for applications to German health insurers. I'm sure we'll also have more to say about healthcare too, but for now I'll just say that 1) based on the looks I got, people don't wear their running gear out in public, and 2) Germans are pretty trusting and willingly accept IOUs. When we didn't have any euros to pay in cash, the receptionist said no worries if we came back in a few days, and in the meantime, oh yeah, they'd submit the paperwork, kein problem.

After our first German run along the Isar, where we accidentally and serendipitously found the Englischer Garten - a giant park where dogs and people roam free - we headed home and out to our first Christkindlemarkt! I had heard rumors from Marselle of how awesome these Christmas Markets are, and I can officially report they are indeed worthy of the hype. Basically, a Christmas Market is a lot of people of all ages and demographics standing around in the cold, eating roasted chestnuts and drinking mulled wine or beer. Talking and making merriment. Sure, there are stands with some homemade ornaments and other gifts - as well as a bunch of Made-in-China junk masquerading as cute German trinkets - but the attention is unequivocally just not on shopping. It's all about the hanging. Germans, I'm learning, are very serious about their chill.

Christmas eve was more of the same. With our first big meal in Germany. We opened some presents and headed back out to the Christkindlmarkt because we Just. Couldn't. Get. Enough.

So much so that the next day, Christmas day, we were disappointed to learn the market in Munich was closed. But not in Salzburg! (Also known as the original set for the Sound of Music. And Mozart's birthplace.) We of course then rented a car and road tripped to Austria. First, we spent the day hiking in the Alps! My first time! And indeed, the vistas were vast, the trail soft, and there were a lot of people out and about hiking a mountain. Secretly, though, I couldn't get to the market fast enough. But when we got there, somehow the Salzburg market just wasn't as charming as the one in Munich. It was actually sad in a way, maybe even depressing. I'm not quire sure why or how, but we ended leaving pretty quickly, and headed back home to Munich.

By the 27th, we were ready to head back to Austria for our first ski day. Note to Uncle Peter: five days after landing and we're on the hill. Not fast enough, I know, but the Alps were (definitely past tense now) having a slow start to the season. Dave chose Sölden, in large part for its conditions, proximity to Munich, and the parking sitch so we could let Truff out at lunch. Two things stood out right away: 1) Aprés starts before lunch. Scratch that - before skiing. I went into the chalet to get some tea at 10am and I was the only one ordering a non-alcoholic drink. Glühwein, beer, and schnapps. At 10am. I'm not kidding. 2) The alps are giant. Like, huge. It's a completely different skiing experience. There's more to say here, and between me and Dave, you can expect at least one (probably many more) whole post devoted to winter mountain activities.

A few days later, we took Truff on her first metro ride out to the suburbs to go car shopping. More specifically, to go VW campervan shopping. Can you guess what the model is called? "California" - our dream is literally to eurovan around Europe in a California (still gets me!).... As many of you might imagine, I am indeed sorely conflicted about buying a Volkswagen after the emissions scandal. But let's put that aside for now to reflect on the process of trying to buy a car in a foreign country: in some ways, it's exactly the same, and in other ways, we face real challenges in evaluating our options. The language barrier doesn't seem to be the hurdle, but understanding the contract is a big one. The structures are fundamentally different than what we know in the US, so there is a whole new set of questions to ask, and of course, a whole new set of risks. We walked away with a fancy brochure and one important question: WHAT are we getting ourselves into, which quickly devolved to, Exactly HOW bad of an idea is this? We didn't make any decisions, but we'll keep you posted.

We decided to walk back from the suburban car dealership, pubcrawling - beirgartening - our way home. We stopped here, here, here (our fave!), and here along the way. Two things worth noting here. First, picture the cliché image of a beer hall with big, wooden tables and tall Germans clinking litre-sized glasses filled with lager and overflowing foam. This, turns out, couldn’t be more authentic. And second, the beer hall is for everyone. Non-drinkers. Seniors. Families. People of all ages sitting down, slowing down, enjoying time together. At our first stop, the table to our left had two women, presumably mother and daughter, both over the age of 70. And they were dressed for town, both sipping their beers out of glasses double the size of mine. The next table over had a family with two well-behaved teenagers. There's an element of togetherness and family and connection and real life that seems to happen around these shared tables.

New Year’s was quiet in our apartment, and we watched fireworks from the window. First thing in the new year, Dave headed to the recently-opened-after-a-terrorist-threat Hauptbahnhof to pick up the rental car. Sidebar: He says how strange it was that there was no signal whatsoever that a mere five hours prior this had been the site of international alarm. Then off to Switzerland for a few days, we hit up St. Anton for a half day of east-coast-style ice - but some killer views! - and made our way to Lucerne (Luzern). In the morning, breakfast on the water at Luz was gorgeous, right before I had a date with myself at the Luzern Symphony Orchestra for a mind-blowing performance with Venezuelan piano improvisor Garbriela Montero. Meanwhile, Dave and his colleagues* hung at the Luzern Glacier Museum, learning about rocks and ice and geology and history and other fun stuff. After the symphony, I saddled up to the bar sopping wet and with a soggy, dirty dog, feeling very, loudly American, at Luzern Brewery (in the former city hall). I made friends with some other foreign tourists, who were nonetheless fawning over Truffle in spite of her appearance or smell.

Dave, along with his friends* Mel and Heiner (she German, he Swiss), and a family friend of theirs, met up with me at the bar. After a few beers, Mel and Heiner were so incredibly generous to host us for a feast at their home, atop the Lucerne hills, a meal filled with traditional German and Swiss dishes and accoutrements. We talked about the US, chocolate, the difference between Germans and Swiss and Austrians, backcountry skiing (Heiner is a mountain guide), and more.

A few days later, we headed to Zurich, and made a pit stop at Engelberg. Snow conditions were bad (according to me, not according to Dave), so Truff and I took a hike while Dave made sure to get some turns. And turns out, Dave was right. And Truffle rolled in manure.

And then... real life started. Work. We spent the next week in Zurich, Dave in all-day meetings, me bouncing between cafes and the hotel lounge working on a productization plan and dialing into conference calls. We soon returned to Munich, where life would be filled with errands (like going to the registration office), painful and tedious challenges when doing basic life tasks like grocery shopping, an occasional night out like the evening with Abby's friend Russ and his climbing crew at Tap House, and work. Lots and lots of work.

Off to Mexico then back to SF for a week, now here we are, back in our "home" of Munich. Well into our second month, we don't yet have a routine, but it's around the corner. I can feel it.

*Dave says he's not good at making friends. I say he is. Dave and Mel work on the same project, and there we were in their home drinking and laughing away for our first night of true Europen socializing. Both Mel and Heiner have been incredibly helpful translating apartment applications, providing recommendations on the best backcountry gear shops, giving us cultural insights, and so much more. You'll probably hear more about them.