Gutten Tag!

Ok, so we finally found some time within the past two weeks to update this... as you saw in the previous post, we found a place to live, but sorting out other details has been let's say a bit of a challenge (ie. it taking 3 weeks to set up a bank account and turn on a phone line at home).

BUT...we did get to relax during a recent trip to Munich and Salzburg two weekends ago to celebrate Conrad's bday. We flew into Salzburg that Saturday morning and then drove two hours to Munich to hit up the last weekend of Oktoberfest there--we had a great time just hanging out downtown and then exploring the different beer gardens nearby for the rest of the day--I even managed to get swarmed by some friendly Germans. :)

We then drove back to the Salzburg area (to be more specific, to a small mountain village named Hinterthal) and spent the next two days there. The fresh mountain air was so refreshing and we really enjoyed our stay at the retreat there. On Sunday, we went to a castle, which is right up Conrad's alley so we nearly spent all day there. The name of it was Hohenwerfen Castle and it was most recently (well only a few hundred years back anyway) used as a falconry hunting ground (and before that, it was used as a fortress to protect Catholic bishops in the area from invading Protestants). Here are some views from our hotel and of the castle itself:

We watched a fighting reenactment as well as their bird show, Conrad got to try on a bit of knight's armor and play with some weapons, we enjoyed a great lunch (nothing better than tons of schnitzel and spaetzle!), and we then went on a stunning tour of the castle:

We then drove back to our hotel and decided to go on a group torch-lit hike led by one of their guides...it was a nice way to work off all the spaetzle and beer from earlier in the day!

Then finally on Monday (Conrad's birthday), we spent the entire day in downtown Salzburg. As soon as we arrived around lunchtime, we were starved so we grabbed some brats (and cheese of course!). I'm not sure which food we enjoyed best during our stay--spaetzle or brats?!

We then cruised around downtown exploring the main shopping street Getreidegasse (including Mozart's birthplace/Geburtshaus), followed by a tour that took us around the greater downtown area to further view the beautiful scenery (like at the Mirabellgarten or the Altstadt, the entire view of downtown with the fortress guarding over it) and architecture (like Leopold's Castle, which is unfortunately owned by Harvard now--boo!) that surrounded the city. Some of you may find a few of these pictures to remind you of a classic movie--The Sound of Music!

We then ended the day getting Conrad a special birthday cake--a Sacher torte, an original-type from the Hotel Sacher, and heading off to dinner at the oldest existing wine bar in Salzburg. Unfortunately we don't have pix from either of those, but we'll leave you with one we took on our way to both of those places--sure you'll enjoy it. :) Auf Wiedersehen! More to come soon...

We found a flat!

We'll be moving in here this weekend:

334 Queenstown Road
Flat 310
London SW8 4NP
UK

It's in a neighborhood called Battersea, just south of the River (and Chelsea). We're right next to the park and plenty of cute shops, restaurants, and pubs. Should be nice to have a permanent place to live over the next 2 years!

We're off to Munich this weekend for Oktoberfest and to celebrate Conrad's birthday! Pix to come shortly after...

I'm old(er)!

Ok, well obviously there are reasons why 1) I'm not a sports journalist and 2) why I don't bet on sports. USA killed England 3-0--go USA! ;)

On to more exciting news! We had a great weekend this past one. It was my birthday on Friday the 21st and it was a great one! My team and I left work around 1pm and went to lunch w/ MSN at The Bleeding Heart (a great French restaurant)--needless to say, I did not go back to work and went straight home from there. Then, Conrad gave me an awesome Chelsea zip-up (to wear to a game we're going to on the 10th) and we went to see Spamalot in the West end (it was hilarious!). On Saturday we made our way to Islington, which is a part of London a bit north of where we're staying, to have dinner with some friends (we made through our friend Mark in Seattle) and on Sunday we went to the Chelsea/Kensington area to have lunch with my friend Cat from school. Conrad and I were happy to see both the Giants and Seahawks win yesterday, and he's off hunting for flats today and I'm on a conference call at work as I type this. :)

Check out some of the pix we posted--they're all pretty self explanatory. We're currently staying in corporate housing in Holborn, which is right between Covent Garden and Bloomsbury, so we're really in the thick of things and love it. Last weekend we walked for miles and miles along the river, so hence getting to see many other sites already.

We need to find a flat by this weekend, but more posts will follow shortly after that. Hope everyone is well!

Women's World Cup

Not many of you probably care about this (or even know that the Women's World Cup is going on right now, perhaps), BUT here are my future predictions:

--Germany, England, the US, and N Korea are all through to the quarters. Sad to say it, but I think the US is going to be beat by England in the quarters. I'm not a traitor already; just think Kelly Smith is that good (maybe I should have played with her at Seton Hall!). It could ultimately come to which keeper plays best, though, as all keepers in the tournament have not been playing that great. Oh, Germany is going to beat N Korea quite easily.

--Group C and D games have been postponed due to weather, but my best guess is that China, Brazil, Norway, and Canada all go through to the quarters.

--Final prediction: England vs. Brazil in the finals (Brazil wins 2-1).*

It's too bad about the timing of the World Cup...it seemed to have a bigger presence about 8 years ago when it was held in the US and they had names like Mia Hamm to advertise (along w/ Brandi Chastain taking off her shirt). With the games being held in China, viewers throughout the rest of the world have to view live games mid-day. Even re-televised games are competing with baseball and American football in the US, and certainly The Rugby World Cup, cricket, and football championships throughout the rest of the world. Perhaps FIFA and the hosting country of China should've researched why the Women's World Cup was such a hit in 1999 beforehand. We should be much further with the women's game by now and not struggling for viewership.

*Oh, and my prediction for the final is an honest one, though, I do hope that England wins. The women get no credit here (their team has a good chance at winning, and I have not found one game in a pub so far, as all have been dominated by Rugby World Cup games, cricket, and Premier League games).

We've landed!

Well, Conrad and I arrived in London Thursday afternoon and have been enjoying every minute since. Our feet are a bit sore from all the exploring we've already done, but other than that, things are fantastic!!

I started my new job today (Monday Sep 17) and everyone has been very welcoming--we had beers at lunch already! :)

So, stay tuned...more details and new pix to be added soon...we'll attempt to update this every other week or so to clue everyone in on all of our adventures...