pictures--Ludwigslust and Hamburg

top 2 pics-- town of Ludwigslust

next 2 pics--lock on Hamburg canal, view of Rathaus from bridge

bottom 3--Ludwigslust: the Schloss, one of the waterfalls in the Schlosspark, and the Main Street in the town

pictures-Leipzig and Hamburg

Hamburg--St. Nikolaikirche, view from the Cathedral (building with green roof is the Rathaus)

(last 2) Leipzig--church of Johann Sebastian Bach

Leipzig, Hamburg, and Ludwigslust

We got a chance to explore Germany outside of Berlin this weekend. Christy went to Leipzig on Thursday and then the two of us went to Hamburg and stopped at a cute little town called Ludwigslust on the way back. Leipzig was primarily work but Christy did get to take a moment to visit the church of Johann Sebastian Bach.

Hamburg was a lot of fun--great shopping and great restaurants. We experienced a Rodizio-style meal at a Brasilian restaurant, walked along the port, went up to the top of the cathedral tower of Nikolaikirche in Hamburg (the church was bombed in WWII and only the tower remains), and got some great pictures of the Rathouse.

Ludwigslust is our new favorite German town. We toured a "Schloss", or castle, former residence of the dukes of Mecklenburg (auf deutsch!) and plan to come back in the summer to tour the Schlosspark gardens and the 24 waterfalls in nicer weather.

We're having some downloading issues, pictures to follow soon!

Another weekend....

Well, another weekend has passed by. I can't believe we've been here over a month already. It is COLD! Definitely that crisp, fall weather. The week was relatively uneventful--David spent some late nights rooting on his Indians--big last game coming up! Go tribe! Also, the "Smurf-mobile" arrived in one piece so now at least we have a car to get around. This weekend we spent Saturday on a marathon shopping/getting lost around Berlin day. Saturday night Christy went out to see the Festival of Lights, where the Germans illuminate some of their famous buildings and structures in colored lights (see pictures). the Radio tower is "the world's longest blue glowing pole" when it's lit. Today we went for a mini-hike in the Gruenwald, a forested area which is just down the street from our apartment. There are a few lakes, one of which we hiked around (picture also above). Despite the cold weather, this seems like the popular thing to do--there were a lot of runners, dog-walkers, and baby strollers on the trail, in addition to other people just out for a walk. Plans for next week include carving pumpkins and a quick trip to Leipzig and Hamburg. We miss everyone and love to hear from you!!!

Poland Pottery Shopping

Happy Sunday Everyone...

I had a fun-ish Saturday............I went to Poland pottery shopping, Christy had to bail on Thursday due to a work thing so I had to go alone with 13 women to Poland shopping. It was ummmmm interesting. We got stopped at the border for 25 minutes while they checked us all out, then shopped at 5 pottery shops for some pretty cool plates and dishes. Best part of the day was lunch; I had a delicious plate of cheese and potato peroigis. Delicious and cheap...4 Euro for food and a beer :) i like Poland. Then came home last night and went to a nice little club place for some bluegrass jazz music and a Oktoberfest beer. All in all a good day. Got a bit of sleep and was up to root on the Indians past the nasty Red Sox, which we beat in an extra inning thriller...GO TRIBE!!!!! Also Ohio State won, now we are #1 in the country...yeah rebuilding year!!! Otherwise we are all good enjoying a beautiful fall day with a walk and some meandering downtown....Cheers

More pictures from Amsterdam (and 1 of Moe)

Well the first picture is not Amsterdam but Moe's awfully cute...

Additionally we have another canal view, the train station, David eating the Dutch version of a "pancake" the Koninklijk Paleis

Pictures from Amsterdam

We had an amazing time this weekend in Amsterdam--decided on Thursday we were going, booked a flight, booked a hotel on Friday, Saturday morning at 5 am we were on the way to the airport! The canals are absolutely beautiful and we were fortunate enough to have great weather. In addition to walking all over town and taking a canal tour by boat, we also visited the Ann Frank House, the Rembrandt House, the Van Gogh Museum, and the Artis Zoo. I thought Germany was the country of bikes until we got to Amsterdam--there are millions of them everywhere!