Our First Day Back

After sleeping off some jet lag yesterday, we went and visited some of Gisi's freinds last night. We had a nice dinner at a local kneipe (pub), some inexpensive, home cooked local food. As we ate, many of Gisi's freinds came by to welcome her back and congratulate us on our wedding. It was a very nice way to start off our stay here.
Today we went to take care of some legal stuff, name change, address change, re-register the car...Gisi is officially Mrs. Vella here in Germany (and the US). She now needs to get a new passport too. The car battery had died, so we got a jump from her friend Klaus this afternoon, then went for a ride on the Autobahn to recharge it, as the sun was setting. The weather here is so nice. Warm, 80's during the days, and dropping into the 60's at night.
Tomorrow we have to go see the movers-shippers, and find out about sending some stuff back to the states. After that we need to get boxes and start packing up things..thats always fun! Hopefully we can get to the market at the Münsterplatz for some fresh vegtebles and fruits. And then we have to drive to France, Alsace is only 30 mins away..we are low on mustard. I love this place.
Of course I took some photos today...right here.

New Years Day

January 1, 2009 Freiburg, Gemany 10:00 am


Photo's from later in the day here.

Rome Photo's

ok, I finally edited and captioned the photo's from Rome. There are a lot of pictures...over 300! But that's edited from 750...so I tried to choose what I think are essential to give a overview of what we saw. With attention paid to some of the details, and the overall beauty and feeling of the city, it was't easy. I thought about putting them in seperate albums for easier viewing but....I didn't. Take a look, I think they came out good. Sorry for some of the unclear, fuzzy shots, I didn't use a flash at anytime, I wanted to capture the natural lighting and sometimes it was a bit low...so there it is. I hope you enjoy!



http://picasaweb.google.de/allenineuropa

Back in Freiburg, Germany.....first week

hello friends...it's friday morning in Freiburg. i have been back here since tuesday morning and i think my biological clock is finally adjusting to the change. i had a really good sleep last night for the first time. being here now is different from the last time, Gisi is working and school's back, vacations over. i am trying to establish a routine here, so i don't feel like i'm just slumming. still feeling my way araound.

i've been getting up at 7am with Gisi, and we have coffee as she gets ready for work. she's usually gone by 8am..then i clean up the apartment, shower, do emails and such personal business. i've taken a walk around town and to the daily market, yesterday was overcast and i took a bunch of photos i will post. everything looks much different than it did in the summer. i am going to look into taking a german language course, there is a american-german cultural center in town. of course i hope to take a lot of photos through the seasons here, and capture the holidays. it should be beautiful.

Gisi is off next week. she is starting a new job on the 20th. so as this will be the only time we can get away other than weekends, we are going to Rome. we got a great deal on Ryan air, and found an inexpensive hotel right in the middle of Rome. it will cost a little over 500€ for both of us, 4 nights and airfare...that is cheap! i am really looking for ward to this trip. any reccomendations on what to see would be appreciated. obviously, we wil go to the big spots...the colloseum, the vatican, etc. i've heard the food is amazing there also ;-) i look forward especially to taking a lot of photos.

as for weekend trips, we are going to explore the areas in alsace, lorraine and switzerland, the jura mountains and some other German, Swiss and French cities all easily accessible by car. and of course we have the black forest literally at our doorstep. (the photo below is a panorama of the veiw of the Schlossberg from the apartment).

also keeping an eye on the elections and the economic crisis, although not too closely. it's nice to be able to escape the hysteria and drama. i'll have to face that when i get back in january, so for now we will enjoy the more sane aspects of life in europe.

it is really great being here with Gisi. she is a wonderful person, and we are enjoying a new dimension in our relationship. i hope you can meet her. she will be coming to the states in jan. for six months. i have a lot to show her back home...so we'll be around.

i miss my dog, Savannah, but i know she's in good hands with Claudia and hanging out with Nellie and Tate. I get to talk to Aidan via skype, which is great. free internet phone calls, in case you've not heard of it. if any of you have it downloaded, you can search my skype name, alithang, and send im's or call.

tomorrow we are going to drive to france to do some grocery shopping. we're running low on mustard! i will post photos today from the past few days. and i hope you have a great weekend! Tschuss!

sunday in town

cloudy day today..raining on and off. good day to be lazy...we will stick around town. made a nice breakfast omelette with potatos, onions, bell pepper, some schinken ..german bacon kind of...it was good. watched some of the formula 1 race in silverstone england. i think gisi likes cars as much as i do..especially 60's muscle cars.
after breakfast, we walked to the local cemetary. look at the pix..quite different from the usa. i have it from reliable sources that the germans treat their dead better than the living, and i kinda get that. if you think nyc is bad, in regards to personal contact and greetings of neighbors and strangers, you should see over here. i've unsuccesfully tried many times to say..hello...good morning..good evening, and in german. all i get is a blank stare or a very terse hallo.
but the cemetary...check it out..like a park and museum rolled into one. meticulous. i took a lot of pix it was so beautiful...notice the chapel, if you can call it that. huge! and the crematorium with he pyre atop. the ashes in urns are then placed in the cubby holes in the wall surrounding the crematorium. i really liked the one wooden cross with the little roof...he was a scheinermeister..a master woodworker. some of the monuments were like modern art. notice the ww I monument to the women who served in the army.
and the ponds, and see the water troughs with the yellow water containers next to them...all over..how long would they last in the states? they even have wheel barrows so you can take your plants from the car to the grave. gisi says it's really stunning in the fall, i could just imagine.

there are some pix of the neighborhood..street cars, etc. on the way back. only a 5 minute walk.

when we got back, i took the bike out to take some pix around town and at the wine festival. some great people pix...everyone looks so...german. funny, i think we are so used to a mixed race culture, it's a bit startling to see everyone from the same race, more or less. the kids are all beautiful..eyeglasses very funky, ..very interesting scene. notice the little streams that run thru town..they are called bächele.....if you step in one, legend has it you will marry a freiburger, or bobolee..the architecture is amazing, and kept in tip top shape.
i had a wurst in the square with some harissa on it...really spicy...the flammkuchen looked really good to, i have to try that another day...tschüß....until tomorrow