Happy 4th of July!

The day of the Grand Opening of the new embassy finally arrived. The weather didn't really cooperate, unfortunately, although the rain did stop in time for the fireworks. Nonetheless it was a lot of fun and I actually got to meet and take a picture with former President Bush ('41). Not too much out there in the way of news about the event yet, probably more tomorrow. It got a lot more coverage in Germany than in the U.S., anyway. There are some links a the bottom of this post. The picture with Bush was taken on an embassy camera so I don't have that yet but here's what I do have: the main stage

presentation of the colors by the embassy Marine Guard and German military to veterans of the Berlin Airlift

Ambassador and Mrs. Timken, former President Bush on their way out to the stage
Ambassador Timken and Chancellor Merkel on their way out to the stage
Airlift veterans

The Brandenburg Gate
Partying in the rain
Bush and Chancellor Merkel departing after their speeches
Former President Bush giving his remarks

Listening to the Elvis impersonator (he was pretty good!)
more Elvis
Susan and me
Neil Diamond impersonator... Sweet Caroline....

The French Embassy put out a nice welcome sign for us

Here is some early press about the event:

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,3461973,00.html

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601100&sid=aBcWSdws.UYc&refer=germany

http://germany.usembassy.gov/events/2008/july-4-5-festivities.html

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080704/pl_afp/germanyusdiplomacy_080704185900

Virtual Apartment Tour

I am back in Berlin (Moe is very excited about this) and David is still in Ohio but will be back to Berlin soon. My mom continues to progress every day in her recovery.

Before I left Berlin I had a chance to take some pictures of our apartment and thought you might enjoy a virtual tour: the dining room, looking into the foyer

the living room

other half of our living room

the kitchen. you can't see it because it is in the right hand corner, but our fridge and freezer look just like the built-in cabinets

other half of our kitchen

foyer

also in the hallway, our framed wedding document from Italy

the guest room (normally we have wireless but it is out right now so the guestroom has become a makeshift office). The couch is a pull-out couch though. Moe is scheming about how he can knock everything off the tray table

the dining room again, this time with a view to the balcony

our bed-- I think that we have the same bedspread as Carrie and Big in Sex and the City

my dresser
David's dresser and behind are the built-in floor to ceiling closets we have in the bed and guest rooms
our bathroom--yeah, double sinks!so we have a bidet... and the architect insisted that we need a soap dish between the toilet and the bidet.... not sure why exactly but it makes a good air freshener stand. Those are the heated towel racks on the wall above.


finally a big bathtub for bubble baths! It drains in the middle too instead of one end which is kind of cool.

so that's it--now you just have to come visit!

--Christy

your prayers needed

For those of you who haven't heard my (Christy's) mom was in a very bad car accident last week. She is stable and expected to make a full recovery, but her injuries are very serious and it will mean a long time in the hospital and then in physical therapy. My sister and I are both home in California now. I will be here for another week or so most likely, and Katie will stay home for the summer before she returns to Colorado to start her new teaching job in mid-August. So, this is a very tough time for our family but we are grateful that she is alive and that we can see signs of improvement each day. We are also thankful for the really strong support from my parents' friends and neighbors, our family, and all of our employers who are being completely understanding. We do appreciate your prayers during this time.

President's visit to Berlin

As you've seen in the news, the President and the First Lady stopped in Berlin as part of their European tour. I got to be the airport site officer for the visit (with a successful wheels up!) Of course I forgot my camera for the arrival but I did get some fun pics of the departure



Mrs. Bush posing for a picture with our Ambassador's wife (in the red shirt, Mrs. Bush is the black top)
me in front of Air Force 1
Marine 1 right after it landed
waiting for him to board
wave good bye

Aachen and Dusseldorf

Last weekend we drove about 5 hours to Aachen and Dusseldorf. Aachen is where Christy's dad's side of the family is originally from before they came to the U.S. in the 1700's (how's that for family history?).

Aachen is known as the city of emperors because Charlemagne ruled from there for a long time. It is famous for its Cathedral (Dom) and Town Hall (Rathaus).


View of the Cathedral from our hotel room

cute street with shops in the Old town part of Aachen
the olive oil store... after several tastings we walked away with three--orange, rosemary, and black truffle. We also threw in a star shaped bottle of Cassis (great mixed with champagne) for good measure
the RathausCoronation Hall, in the Rathaus (David is being creative with his photography skills)
enjoying a bowl of coffee Sunday morning

and Milchkaffee

place where we at lunch with ruins of old columns still standing
Charlemagne's thrown. Well, actually they are not quite sure if Charlemagne ever sat in it himself, but about 30 other kings did
view of the Cathedral from the Rathaus window

David is almost taller than the door.

After Aachen we drove to Dusseldorf where we met up with family of Christy's who were in town for Drupa, a big printing and media tradefair that takes place in Dusseldorf every four years.

got some freebies from the Xerox booth

Christy and Patrick

map of the entire trade show--this thing was huge!

inside one of the halls

enjoying a beer at the hotel

and in Altstadt (Old Town, Dusseldorf)

Dusseldorf along the Rhine River

Sunday musings and Schloss Charlottenberg

David took a day trip to Poland last week and found a pieroghy festival.

This morning after church we were looking for a place for brunch in Prenzlauer Berg and the Cupcake Bakery was open!

www.cupcakebakery.de



In the afternoon we went to explore the grounds of Schloss Charlottenberg. This is the view from the front.

and from the back where the gardens areChristy broke her sunglasses at an inopportune time, which is why she is wearing David's Ohio State sunglasses


we made kapabs on the grill for dinner

last week when we were also in Prenzlauer Berg we found a cool fish and chips place with an interesting chandelier
the diplocat is as cute as ever--he's in a phase where he likes sleeping in his bed again

not too happy to be woken up
lounging on the back of the couch.

P.S. Rhubarb icecream is delicious.