Mini Holiday!

Since next Sunday is Easter, the Burg Staufeneck employees and us get 3 days off in a row as a little special treat. So with this wonderful news, Emma and I planned a two day trip to Munich!

We booked a hotel room for one night at the Hotel Brack on Lindwurmstrasse. We packed our small bags and we were all ready to go! Except one thing, it had snowed 6 cm the night before and was still continuing to snow all day. Here's what I looked like waiting for our train in Salach.

We thought maybe it was going to stop throughout the day, or it was not snowing in Munich. Once again, our anticipations were wrong. It was still snowing in Munich when we arrived, and not only just snowing, but snowing even harder than it was in Salach!

But non the less we arrived in Munich safe and sound and began walking towards our hotel. As we were journeying towards Lindwurmstrasse we came across a large open field with a gigantic statue of a woman and a lion in front of a Colosseum looking structure. We find out that it is the Oktoberfest Field where the famous even takes place every year.

 Each Picture I have the same pose only because of how cold it is.

Anyway we continued walking and found our hotel. It is very pleasant and they gave us the largest room, on the top floor in the corner with three windows over looking the streets below. It is very nice! It was more than we were expecting.

 After checking in and leaving our heavy back packs we set out again this time to sight see and head in the direction of our ultimate goal, Hofbrauhaus!

Salach and Burg Staufeneck

 Mirrors for cars around tight corners.











The river that runs through Salach

The Church in center of town

 FavaBella, Guardian of the Burg

Second Week Review

 Pumpkin Salad. The pumpkins are Pumpkin chutney in cream cheese and glazed with pumpkin squash soup.

Above is the Wegi Menu. Served with balsamic tapioka and green hummus.



 To the left is Veal and Foie Gras terrine. A Veal cristini, and pea paper.





Below is pike perch with daikon radish.











Below is Steak tartare with onion, and quail egg.

The days are going by faster and easier. I am able to veer off on my own, and complete tasks with little direction. It is easy that the same menu stays for 4 weeks so every day we prep the same things. Half way through the week on a normal day of about 25 A la Carte in the dining room, Herr Geiger, the Sous Chef of Burg Staufeneck comes up to me and states that instead of Amuse, I will be cooking at Garde Manger for service. I was ecstatic! I get to run the station by myself and the chefs trust me. The day went smoothly and there were no issues. Sadly that was the only day I got to run the station by myself. I understand on busy days that they schedule someone with me. Other than that it was a good week overall. Each day we feel more comfortable working and talking to our co-workers. These are some photos of the dishes I make in Garde Manger.

Stuttgart

Even though we are working so much, Emma and I do get two very needed days off together. This week we received Sunday and Monday off.
Since on Sunday's everything in town and generally all of Europe is closed we use that as our sleeping day. Sleep until about 12 then eat something and go back to sleep. Trust me, it’s much appreciated after a long week.

Monday is our day to go out and see this beautiful country we call our temporary home. This day we decided to go big and take a day trip into Stuttgart. Luckily, even though our town is so small, we do have a train station and an automated ticket machine. Its 18,80 Euros for a round trip to Stuttgart and back again.
42 minutes approximately, and we hear on the intercom “Nachster Halt, Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof.” Out the window on the right side we can see the gigantic Mercedes Benz logo slowly turning on top of the factory and museum. On the right side we see signs for the Wilhelma Botanical Gardens and zoo. Off in the distance in front of us is a huge Space Needle looking building overlooking the city. We later find out that is the TV tower with the Million dollar view of Stuttgart.
The train comes to a stop and everyone on the train exits, Emma and I more excited than ever to see where our Adventure has brought us. The train station, huge old brick in the middle of the city is surrounded with highway and bustling cars with no way across. Our goal this trip was to get to KonigStrasse. Luckily it was right across the impossible street. Soon we find an American couple having the same issue. To our right we see an underground tunnel filled with shops, cafes, and another entrance to Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof. The tunnel leads under the street and right up to the beginning of KonigStrasse! We did it. It was huge. An outside mall like we have never seen before. To our left is a large sign and building that reads, “Tourist Information” Something that was quite convenient. Once there we found brochures to all the exciting things to do in Stuttgart, but all for another day. It was shopping day, and seeing where Konigstrasse lead us. As we walked down the pedestrian road, to the left and right 3 stories up were name brand clothing stores, jewelry stores, starred restaurants, and our personal favorite, WMF the kitchen ware store. On the street, thousands of people wandered around with their arms full of bags and dressed in the most European style. There was no doubting that we were not in America. In the middle of the street every block or so there are small street performers. A man with didgeridoos and metal drums, a man with a giant bubble blower for the children, and these two very impressive boys ant the tricks they do with a soccer ball. If the video will upload, I will post it today.
Anyway, the day was a success and was very enjoyable. In the middle of Konigstrasse, it opens up to Schlossplatz. This is a park with statues and fountains, and the courtyard of a huge building. The building which was unidentified by a sign, but is quite impressive. It is dawned with angel sculptures and two pillars at the front gate, one with a lion, and the other with a deer. These two symbols are seen throughout Stuttgart on signs, crests, and on top of other buildings. The park was filled with people, and unlike America, it was free for anyone to climb, sit, and lay on the statues and fountains. There were chain borders to keep people off, but everyone climbs over and sits. We sat for a small amount of time while taking some photos.

 This is a sign briefly explaining Schlossplatz. The middle is in English.

 In the background you can see the Angel sculptures that sit on the roof.

Towards the end of the day we sat down at a café in the middle of Konigstrasse and had a beer. The menu said free Wifi so we asked for the code. This was the first time we were able to really sit down and catch up. I got to Oovoo Mom and Ted and that made everyone very happy. It was a good ending to the day and of the first adventure out in Germany.

First Week Review

Currently I am working in Garde Manger with a couple of character co-workers. There is Deniz who I work closely with. He has become our friend since he reminds us of our friend Omar so much. He is our go to person for any questions we have about culture, places, trains, translations, or culinary related questions. He enjoys talking to us and comparing the differences between Miami or America and Germany. He loves burgers and wants to travel to America and eat our gigantic cheese burgers. As well as Deniz there is Linda who is a second year trainee. As she puts it, in America we study culinary and they learn it. She is very friendly and nice, and a very hard worker. She speaks the most English out of the three that work in Garde Manger. The last one is Ray. He speaks the least English but can explain what he wants very clearly. He always has a task for me and keeps me busy. He is the fastest walker I have ever met! And when he is running around during service, it is best to move before he makes you. For right now, I am mainly prepping for service, and after our lunch and service begins I plate the Amuse dishes. For the most part it is all the same components every day, but I am learning about all the different ways the same ingredients can be made and plated. At the end of the week, Emma and I were so exhausted. It is definitely something we are going to have to get used to. 

I would upload photos of the dishes that I make, but  it is not working. I have been trying and as soon as it does I will. I promise!

Work Begins

It has been 2 days of getting acclimated. We ventured out on Sunday to see the town and get used to where everything is. Sorry photos haven't quite been working on Blogger, while the photos are posting to Facebook, it won't let me put captions of what they are. Complications always... 

 Monday we were starving since we had not eaten anything! So we found the grocery store and bought a couple of food products, laundry supplies, and hand soap! Hand soap has been the biggest issue we have come across. There was no soap in the bathrooms or rooms, or anywhere! At least the water got hot for the first two days while we waited for the stores to open. On Tuesday we got ready for work and got a ride from Mandy the pastry chef Emma would be starting with. It is a little difficult to get rides to and from work to the staff house.Not everyone has a car, and for us to go to work or come back to the staff house we have to wait for to leave and ask.

8:30 work starts. Emma is with Mandy, and I am with Deniz in Garde Manger. My main job during service is Amuse. Lunch is at 11:30 for 30 minutes, then right into service for the gourmet restaurant. Day one went well except for the language barrier, learning where everything is in the gigantic kitchen, and what everything is called. It has been easier to forget English for the time being and just memorize what things are by how they call them. Simple example, the blast chiller is a shock freeze. The break room is the Shuble. The dishwasher is the schpule. Certain ingredients are similar, but others are completely different from English. Most ingredients the cooks do not know what they are in English so we are all learning new words.

Then at the end of the lunch service, Emma and I received a pleasant surprise. We get a 2 hour break, and then must come back for the dinner service. Every employee does this, 5 days a week, with two off days. At the end of our day, which is usually over at about 11:30pm, we come back to the room and pass out. Wake up and do it again. Oh! I almost forgot… at the end of the dinner shift, the beverage cooler is open and fair game. One of our fellow employees showed us in and said, “At the end of each evening shift the Chef says we can have anything in here; beer, wine, water, Fanta, schwessers, anything. So go for it girls.” 

All the employees sit around in the shuble, drink their beers, and talk about the days to come. It has been nice sitting in there, yet we can't understand anything. 

The Adventure Begins

The long first day finally comes to an end for my traveling companion Emma and I.

The flight was something neither of us had experienced before. My longest flight I had ever been on before this was 4 hours. Many anticipations we had about the flight were also very incorrect. The flight itself was long, and a little rough since the cool air was shut off and the heat was cranked up to high! It made for an uncomfortable ride over. The up side was that we had unlimited movies, television, and games. Come half way through the flight it was dinner time. “Chicken or pasta?” Asked the flight attendant. I chose the chicken and Emma chose the pasta. Both were probably the best food I have ever received on a plane. 8 hours later we landed in Dusseldorf. 

 

We had our passports stamped and continued on to the next terminal for a short hour and a half trip to Munich.

We safely arrived in Munich and the confusion and struggle begins. We found baggage claim and picked up our suitcases and then headed towards the sign that merely had a photo of a train. Luckily we were right and found the desk to purchase tickets. We got two tickets to Göppingen which includes two train switches before we actually arrive at the correct city. We start at Muchen flaghaufen, first 20 minute train to Munich haupbanhouf. This was a gigantic train terminal with about 20 different rails that run away from it. With a little confusion of where our Gleis is, we find the train and sit for another 45 minute ride to Ulm Haupbanhouf. Now through this entire journey we are lugging around our 24KG suitcases, purses, backpacks, and 2 jackets each. From Ulm we got onto one more train to Göppingen. As we were sitting watching the stops pass us by, the overhead announcer says, “Nachster halt: Salach.” We had not passed Goppingen yet and it was two stops further. So we made the decision to get off in Salach instead of Goppingen. First impression of the town, it’s small! It was Saturday so every store was closed in the city center, except for one place called Mayer’s Café. It just about saved us! We were incredibly hungry and had not eaten all day except for the plane trip. We rolled our suitcases up and ordered a couple of pastries and Kasebrot.

A precaution that Mom had taken for me was to buy me a phone and a Sim card that works in Germany. Except every time we tried to call the Burg to come pick us up, it said my number was incorrect. Nearby the café was a yellow telephone booth. First call was to an operator, who only spoke german, second call was to the English speaking operator, and the third to the Burg. The reason our phone was not working is because we did not realize the amount of undistinguished zeros that apparently must be in the telephone number. The number we were told was 49 7162 93344. The number we needed was 0049 7162 933440. Never would have guessed. Anyway, we called the Burg and they sent someone over right away to bring us to the staff house.

House, another word we slowly learned does not mean the same thing, was not what we were described to. It is an apartment building. The owners live on the bottom level. First and second floor have about 25 rooms and each has one Burg Staufeneck employee residing in it. Emma and I get one room with two beds, a sink, and a wardrobe. For those of you who are my JWU friends, it is about half the size of Flamingo dorm with the same two beds. There are two bathrooms and two showers per floor. Emma and I are the only ones who are sharing a room, but we don’t mind one bit. 

It was dinner time so we were picked up and brought to the Burg for a small family meal with our future co-workers. It was a quiet.. awkward meal since no one said hello, introduced themselves, or spoke to us at all. So we ate our meal and left to go take photos of the Burg.

Back at the staff house, we settled in, and slept for 17 hours straight. We were extremely exhausted from the trip, especially Emma who did not sleep on the plane.