A Wicked Weekend...

Ok, so I sound a bit like my family that lives in New England, but I guess this has double meaning here:

We went to see Wicked at the Apollo Victoria Theatre and had a fabulous time! I can't get the song "Popular" out of my head now, though. That was now the 3rd great show we've seen (we saw both Spamalot and Avenue Q previously) since we've been over here--would recommend them all, though probably not Ave Q with young kids?!



The weather was great this weekend (and has been for the past few weekends actually), and even feels a bit like Spring already today. We've been trying to get back in shape by playing tennis with our friends, Libby and Scott, every Sunday but somehow I think the activity is offset by the awesome Sunday Roasts (which usually consists of either roast beef or pork, potatoes, veggies, and yorkshire pudding) we have immediately after playing! Oh well, I love them--they remind me going to my grandparents for family dinners nearly every Sunday when we were very young. Might have to reinstate that tradition when we move back to the US...the only problem would be getting everyone in the same spot all at once! ;)

Carnival in Cologne!

We barely made our flight there due to rush hour traffic in London, but thank goodness we made it to Cologne in the end last weekend! We went to visit Conrad's friend Christina, her boyfriend Rob, and Christina's family (who Conrad was an exchange student with in high school, as was Christina with Conrad's family in Gig Harbor, WA). It just so happened to also be Carnival there this past week, so we got to partake in all the festivities with everyone.

This was our first view out of the train station--the Koln Dome--pretty impressive to say the least! We went straight out to a few bars as soon as we got into town. Below the Koln Dome picture, is Conrad with (from R to L) Christina, her mom Heike, and sister Sarah:



Heike with Snow White (yes, that is a man!), and C with Rob in full outfitted pirates garb (beer-drinking parrot included). It's a shame we didn't get a picture of the kebabs we had late-night--SO good!



(Top) The gang in costume before Saturday night's parade. (Bottom) Fire throwers at the same parade.



Conrad and I in costume. They weren't too elaborate, but at least I got to use my mask from Carnival in Venice that I bought years ago!



More interesting characters in costume (some of them anyway?) at the parade:



Outside and inside (at least one of the beautiful stained-glass windows) of The Koln Dome during the day when we made our way there again Sunday:



(Top) Conrad in front of the most amazing donut store downtown--the best Berliners (jelly donuts) ever! (Bottom) Us in our Carnival hats (hey, don't knock them; it was freezing and they kept us VERY warm!):



We had a really fun weekend and it was really nice getting to know Conrad's friends and exchange family in Germany better! We're off to Paris at the end of the month, so come back in early March to view pictures and details from that trip...

Go GIANTS!!!

I STILL cannot believe it! We're (and yes, I will say 'we' :) ) XLII SB Champs! Conrad and I got back from spending the weekend in Cologne, Germany with some friends at 10pm on Sunday and then made it back to our flat just in time for the start of the game. We were troopers and lasted all the way through (ok, we fell asleep for a few mins in the 3rd qtr) to see a couple of AMAZING plays in the 4th qtr. I always knew Eli had it in him! ;)





Think it will be a while till Brady shows his face in NY again; maybe Giselle will have to make some trips up to Boston now instead.

Our first football match!

So, we finally made it to watch our first football (soccer) match here in England a few weeks back. Our friends Libby and Scott were able to get their hands on some tickets for us for the Carling Cup where Chelsea was playing Everton at Stamford Bridge (Chelsea's stadium). It was a great game, with Chelsea (our team) pulling ahead to win in the last minute of the match!

New Year's in Mallorca

Happy New Year everyone (albeit a bit late now)...after we came back from the US for Christmas, we flew to Mallorca, Spain and spent a week there. We stayed in a very small beach town called Cala Pi, which was about 30 mins SE of the capital city of Palma. We spent a good amount of time in Cala Pi because we couldn't resist a restaurant there called Cas Busco. We did get to explore the rest of the island in other coastal and mountain towns as well, though.

This was the view from our hotel room balcony, and Conrad about to hop in our tiny little Fiat we had all week long. :)



Prehistoric site remains near Cali Pi:



The Palma Cathedral fountain-side, and a view inside of how ornately it was decorated for holiday worshipping:



Conrad and I outside of Bellver Castle, waterfront-side. Bellver Castle, which sits NW of downtown Palma, once served as the city's fortress:



View from the terraced mountains in the NW of the island, and cross atop a mountain right outside one of the monasteries we visited closer to Cali Pi.



Our favorite restaurant...



where we celebrated on NYE. Conrad ate all of his 12 grapes (a Spanish tradition, apparently) before the stroke of midnight, and I made good use of some of the many props they were handing out.



And most importantly, this was by far the best paella we ever had!



We had a great time and are looking forward to upcoming trips we have planned to 1) Cologne, Germany to celebrate Carnival there with Conrad's high school exchange student 2) Paris and 3) Prague in the next coming months!