Hanging out in Berlin

It's been a fun couple of weeks just hanging out in Berlin. Last weekend we went to our local market and stocked up on fresh fruit and veggies as well as our favorite dips, bread, pasta, and raviolis. Saturday evening we had dinner out for a friend's 30th birthday. Sunday we had a BBQ in the Stadtvilla's for another friend's birthday. It was a little chilly but sunny at least.

The week went by relatively quickly, fairly busy at work for both of us. Good news at the doctor's on Thursday.... baby Machak is right in the middle of the growth charts, healthy, and.... a boy!

This weekend David went with John and Joe to a small town near Frankfurt to play in a softball tournament. Meanwhile, Christy went out to support the Berlin Buckaroos in the first game of the season. We won, 11-7, even without the three all-star home run hitters. Just wait 'til the Buckaroos get out on the field at full strength!

Sunday Christy went to Madame Tussaud's with Paula, Mickie, and Jordon. It was a lot of fun. It was Germany-focused. We saw WWII figures, Cold War figures, then a bunch of German soccer stars, musicians, and TV hosts before we got to the movie stars. It was a lot of fun and we got some fun pictures, below.


Brangolina

Johnny Depp

Paula, Mickie, and Jordon rocking out with the Beatles

Madame Tussaud herself. She was a real person, and started out with a wax figure of Benjamin Franklin in the 1700's. Who knew?

Since I didn't get my picture with the President in Strasbourg....

with JFK

Uncle Gene and Aunt Joyce arrive Wednesday and Friday we head to Prague for the long weekend!

Easter in Rothenburg

We had an amazing time in Rothenburg. It was a quick trip--we drove down Saturday morning, arriving around lunch time, and left Sunday around 3 p.m., home by 8 p.m. But, this medieval walled city is definitely worth the trip.

the streets of Rothenburg

inside the Kaethe Wohlfahrt store before we saw the "no pictures" sign

in front of the Kaethe Wohlfahrt store and Christmas Museum

"Christmas Village"

our purchases.... the store was conveniently tourist-oriented, so we were finally able to get our window candle piece in 110 volts. We had held off at the Christmas markets in December since Port of Spain is 110 volts like the U.S. and all we could get there was 220, but the wait paid off. It fulfilled our second goal of finding a nice manger scene.

a Nutcracker--this one is a night Watchman, just like our tour....


cute Christmas ornament to remind us of our trip.

the town was decorated for Easter

the Rathaus (city hall) at Markt Platz (Market Square)

beautiful view from the wall looking out

there were many old houses

at dinner Saturday night

cool paintings on the wall

hanging out waiting for our Night Watchman tour to start

the much-awaited Night Watchman

8:00 pm chimes on the city clock building

Rothenburg at night--outside one of the 6 gates

view from one part of the wall to another part of the city

"Markusturm" Gate near our hotel

Easter morning

all dressed up

We attended service at St. Jacob's Church, with the famous Holy Blood Altar

roof top view of the city from our walk on the wall

a canon--inside the wall

pretty view of the city

walking inside the wall.... the slightest of baby bumps showing :-)

still walking around the city wall

Spargelzeit (asparagus season) has begun! We had the white asparagus for Sunday lunch

in the stocks outside the Criminal (and medieval torture) museum

the instruments of torture were a little much for Christy but she liked the shame masks

the Schneeball, or "snowball" is the dessert of choice

David enjoying his schneeball

there was a special Easter dance in the Markt Platz, complete with sheep

we took a video so you can get a taste

the flowers were in full bloom

in front of our hotel

That was it.... an easy drive back Sunday evening, and then we had all Monday to relax. We went to the Marine House for an afternoon BBQ to celebrate the Gunny's birthday, and Christy made pie in the afternoon (see previous blog). Now, time to get back to work!

Happy Easter and Going's on in the Kitchen

We had a wonderful, sunny, warm, four day weekend in Berlin. Saturday and Sunday we went to Rothenburg (pictures in a separate post) and Friday and Monday we just enjoyed Berlin. We took a long walk along the river to the Hauptbahnhof and just enjoyed being home.


photo evidence--Christy does occasionally make pie :-)

and we dyed our Easter eggs on Easter Monday. We had one casualty in the boiling process.

getting ready to put the pie in the oven

a wonderful gift from soon-to-be Grandma and Grandpa Machak

the diplo-cat being as cute as ever

this was dinner prep last weekend--steak with mushrooms and mashed potatoes, and cauliflower, which didn't make it into the pictures.

Obama visit and Bob Dylan

It's been a busy couple of weeks for us. Christy had to go to Strasbourg for work to support the NATO Summit as the Motorcade Officer for Obama's motorcade. This wasn't really a fun job--a lot of sitting in the parking lot and waiting. No rewards like in Munich--not so much as a glimpse of Obama. But, it's over now and Christy is very glad to be back in Berlin with David and Moe.

David kept busy in Berlin while Christy was gone--practicing a little softball in preparation for the season on Tuesday night, attending a Bob Dylan concert on Wednesday night, and seeing a neighbor's friend play guitar on Thursday night. Not to mention dominating his March Madness bracket!

The pictures aren't exactly in order but there are captions:


Sunday my flight back to Berlin wasn't until 8:15 that evening so I had some time to explore Strasbourg. This is a view of the Parliament building (I've been there before, about 5 years ago) from my boat tour.

View of Petite France neighborhood from the boat tour.

astronomical clock inside the famous Cathedral in Strasbourg

stained glass inside the same cathedral

square in Strasbourg

there weren't enough hotel rooms so I had to stay on a boat the whole week

AF-1 loading for take off

outside the main building where the NATO summit was held

the summit

more summit.... at least we had good weather

the motorcade-- from about half way back

the motorcade--from the last car (not counting the police escort)

the Friendship bridge where Obama, Merkel, and Sarkozy met up. I am standing in France. Kehl, Germany, is on the other side.

sunrise over Kehl (did I mention the long hours?)

Staff helicopter getting ready to take off for Baden-Baden as marine one passes overhead

outside the stadium where Obama was giving his town hall speech. That's me in front of the Presidential limo.

one of the events was at a building next to the cathedral, so I got some good outside pics too.

the cathedral

hanging out next to the Presidential limo again

Palais Rohan. The red carpet was laid out for all the VIP's

AF-1 arriving--view from my car.

the shops in Baden Baden were ready for Obama

this is how small my boat hotel cabin was--one camera frame captures the entire room. The beds pull down from the wall....

That's it. We hope everyone has a happy Easter and we will be posting more pics soon.... we are off to Rothenburg for a romantic weekend!