Happy 1 year anniversary to us!

Wow, we can't believe how fast this year has gone by. To celebrate, we spent President's Day weekend in London. Below are the pics!

Christy at the Lancaster Gate in Kensington Gardens, near the Diana Memorial
she looks so Royal in front of the Buckingham Palace
bigger than life
smallest door ever
Choir Boys.....

He was not as thrilled as I was
Windsor Palace was HUGE....
and very humbling
The Westminster Abbey was amazing
The Palace in all its reaglia

We are in love at the Roman Baths
the town of Bath was amazing, and the Gerorgian style architecture was amazing
This was gorgeous
I am all that is man
How cute....................

STONEHENGE
This place was awesome
Sheep...baaaaaaa
O-H-I-O....thank you to our Canadian friends
Jane Austen House

they drive on the wrong side of the road
Contrary to modern song, the London Bridge has not fallen down
Shakespeare's Globe Theater
A little touch of home whereever I go....there was no Pittsburgh London....
Amazing Door

50 degrees in February

We had a beautiful weekend--50 degrees and sunny. Not bad for Febraury. We miss the sunshine.

Friday night was Quiz night at the embassy.... this was actually a very well-attended event. We joined the FAST team (first and second tour officers), and did respectably, finishing about in the middle of the group.

Saturday we made our way into Potsdamer Platz to get tickets for the Berlinale Film Festival. After an hour and a half wait, a desperate "do you have anything in English for Sunday?" landed us some tickets to a documentary about Singapore called Invisible City. More on that later. Since we were down town early we decided to be spontaneous and have our Valentine's Day dinner a little early. We went to a Japanese tempura restaurant recommended by a friend of ours, and it was delicious! We sat at a bar watching the tempera chef make each piece, which he did one at a time and served them to us. Christy's favorite was the 5 inch long shrimp, David favored the okra and baby corn.

Sunday was a busy one. After a quick run to the gym, we joined our neighbor for brunch at a nearby French restaurant. mmmm crepes. Then we saw Invisible City at a theater near Alexander Platz. It was part of a collection of films on memories. We decided we weren't that impressed--while the topic was really interesting, the story lines didn't thread together well so if you didn't know a lot about Singapore's history coming into it, the film didn't make that much sense. And the filming itself was pretty amateur. Oh, well. Next year we'll get to the ticket line early and try to see a regular movie.

After the movie we wandered around Alexander Platz, where the famous radio tower is. We made our way over to Museum Insel for some flee market shopping and grabbed some coffee before heading to the Marien Kirche for church. We are trying out the different English-speaking churches in Berlin and this one has a regular service Sunday morning somewhere else, and then an evening one downtown. It was kind of cool to go to church in a gorgeous, historic building.

Below are some pics of the afternoon:

Above: The Marienkirche where we went to church.

Below: The theater where we saw the Berlinale film (that's the poster in red that is all over town right now)

Below: The Rathaus on Alexander Platz

Below: A statue of Neptune in Alexander Platz.

Free Walking Tour of Berlin

The Church lasted through WWII
We are in love
Me and our next door neighbor Susan

The French Dome
Stoic Christy
Humboldt University
Welcome to Berlin!!!!
A statue of a mother weeping for her solider son

Checkpoint Charlie
You are leaving the American Sector
Walking Tours are Fun!!!
Handsome Couple

Jewish Memorial
it was intense
Our Tour Guide showing up shrapnel marks
The Bunkers for the Statzi Office Building
Go Buckeyes!!!

Hotel Adlon...can you see where Michael Jackson hung his child out of the balcony????
Cool View
The Reichstag
Viva Germany
Life is full of Choices

Kite Runner

So I'm not sure how long it's been out in the States, but the movie Kite Runner just came out at the Sony Center movie theater in Berlin, which plays all movies in their original language (ie. English most of the time!). We went to see it with another couple Saturday night--it tracked pretty closely with the book, I thought, which made for a rather slow-moving movie on the one hand, but, on the other hand, kept the integrity of the story and included a lot of really cool shots, especially arials with the kites. We think it was filmed in China, since Afghanistan is not exactly a welcoming spot for American film-makers. We feel so out of touch--we hardly know what's playing in the theaters at home anymore. At least we have movie theaters, though. Next post we might not be so fortunate, so we count our blessings.

Moe's GQ Photo Shoot

The What are you doing look
My butt is on your blanket
Are you done yet?
Grrrrrrrrr

I am cute
Mommy and Daddy's bed is soooooooooooo comfortable
I was trying to nap
How did I get upside down?
I am ready to pounceI love my Mommy

Embassy Soccer Allstars

I played in the Embassy Round Robin Soccer Extravaganza!!!!!!!!
I still have the skills....
Trophy Presentation
I apparently won the trophy for beer!!!!

English Theater

Thursday night Christy went to see a play called The Harvest Chamber at the English theater in Berlin. It was a CLO sponsored trip so I was with other women from the embassy. The theater itself was cool--we got a tour beforehand and learned how they are building a new "barrier free" theater, meaning that it is on the ground floor and completely handicap accessible, because they partner with an acting group for disabled actors. We also learned that in honor of the opening of our new embassy opening and our elections, the theater decided to make this an "American season" and bring in different American acting groups. So far, so good.

Then, we sat down to actually watch the play. Awkward!!! it was a tiny little square shaped theater (since the new one is still under construction), reminding me of the stage used for many of our college plays. Could be ok, if the actors weren't in their underwear the whole time! The play was this futuristic thing about a society that had become completely engineered and people only "lived" online, and then this couple was tasked to pro-create the "natural" way, and the whole play was about them reading instructions on how to do it. very, very awkward. Anyway, I'd still give it another chance with a different play, but I'd make sure to read the synapsis first.