Images from Abu Dhabi

Images from my trip to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates

The Check-In counter at Etihad Airlines



Very comfortable on the flight indeed.



Reading Trizophrenia by Jef Mallett on the trip



We stayed in the Shangri La hotel



The view over the pool



The Grand Mosque is just across the river



Returning from a run along the river



We got to visit the stunning Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque



Beautiful from every angle indeed



As most of us wore shorts we were given a Kandura to wear



Stunning colors and artwork everywhere



Lots of Italian marble was used in the creation of the mosque



Our tour guide took us also to Heritage Village



James from 220 Triathlon in the UK makes a friend



The view from Heritage Village to modern Abu Dhabi and all its construction



Amazing local food offerings



We also visited the Abu Dhabi Falcon Hospital



A variety of feathers are available to repair broken wings



Putting this patient from Pakistan to sleep



A broken wing feather had caused imbalance



This Falcon is almost good to go



About 5 minutes after the operation the patient is good to go



A Abu Dhabi Falcon Hospital resident on my arm



The trip to Abu Dhabi was fantastic, but now it is time to go home

Abu Dhabi soon

Next week I am heading to Abu Dhabi for a few days to check out a new race venue. I am super exited as I have never been to that part of the world before. Lots of things to see for sure. Plus my passport will enjoy the exotic stamp.

Poor little fellow

One day when Amy and I walked back to our Condo in Kona we noticed this little fellow who seemed to have had some unfortunate encounters. :-(

Impressive speech

No need for an intro here, this man says it all.

Impressive display

The former Bayer AG headquarters in Leverkusen, Germany was transformed with 5.6 million LED lights into a huge display of colors. Wow

Some Ironman Hawaii 2009 impressions

Defending champion Craig Alexander contemplates the task ahead as the sun is coming up.



Amy volunteered at the 2009 Ford Ironman World Championships in the swim-bike transition.



... as Navy seals parachuted in just before the start.



The Pro men and women awaiting the start signal.



The age group athletes are slowly easing into the water.



Many of the Pro men are lined up like a string of pearls as they come over the horizon. My buddy Luke McKenzie is in the front here.



Andreas Raelert and Craig Alexander just passed Faris Al-Sultan in pursuit of the leaders Chris Lieto and Chris McCormack.



We grabbed dinner at Huggo's on the Rocks to stay strong until midnight.



The view from the restaurant was spectacular



Just like the year before, Amy and I waited for the last person to cross the finish line.



2009 winners Chrissie Wellington and Craig Alexander greet and embrace the last finisher just a few seconds before midnight.

Images from Maui 2009

After an endless trip on Thursday we arrived safely and with all of our bags in Maui late last night. We pretty much passed out when we got into our room and woke up relatively early. 5am Maui time / 11am Eastern Standard Time.

The stunning view in front of our hotel in Wailea



Amy loves the beach



The view from the main hotel pool is just spectacular



A scenic and windy view on our way to our run



At the start of the Waihe'e Ridge Trail run today (Thank you Lauren for that tip)



Up and up and up and up



Not exactly the end of the trail, but the turnaround point to go back down



A quick pic before heading downhill and trying not to squint with all that sunscreen in my eyes



And down the hill we go, yeah



Although mostly downhill, there were a few tiny uphill sections



Mama's Fish House was a highly recommended restaurant choice and we had lunch there after the run



The view from our table is hard to beat



The food looked and tasted fantastic

Milk, it does...

Milk is said to do a body good, but in Germany it appears that milk does a few fields good. Well, we are looking at farmers protesting low milk prices.

Well, well

This might have been the longest break I have taken from this blog. Maybe I have too many things going on. :-)

Julie Bower

Police woman Julie Bower of Broward County, Dog the Bounty Hunter wants his haircut back. :-)

Beautiful spot

This Coca Cola spot won an Emmy for outstanding commercial and deservedly so.

The September 2010 target

On Monday I registered for the 2010 Ironman Wisconsin in Madison, Wisconsin. Race date is September 12, 2010. Below is the list of folks who qualified this year for the Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii. Well, they qualified in this year's race for the 2011 race in Hawaii. But that gives me a rough idea how fast I will have to be next year in Madison if I want to race in Kona in 2012. :-)

Happy Birthday Mama

Ich wuensche dir alles liebe zum Geburtstag.

A nice visit...

Paul and Anita came to visit us this weekend and they arrived Friday evening. Pete was very excited to see them, and they were equally happy to see Pete. After showing them around in the new home we went out for dinner to the Village Tavern in Reynolda Village. We ate outside and the temperatures were perfect indeed. We chatted forever and got home pretty late.

Saturday morning we headed out for a bike ride and did about 45 miles



Are you taking a picture of me?



It was a beautiful day for a bike ride



Cruising along Baltimore Road towards Flint Hill Road



Amy, Paul and Anita in our driveway after the ride



I was wearing an older kit from the Wangener Rad Union



Late lunch at Ollie's bakery and Paul and Anita had tomato soup and focaccia bread



Amy and I had salmon and cream cheese on delicious rolls



I love strawberry tarts with custard. Yum



Paul could not wait digging into that chocolate cake



Everybody looks a bit confused after a light afternoon nap



After dinner at Mozelle's Saturday night we walked back to our house



Sunday morning we did a trail run at Salem Lake and after getting cleaned up we had brunch at 1st Street Draught House. Another place that is in relative easy walking distance from our house. Food was very good and the place itself is quite nice. Anita and Paul both said that this would be their favorite hang out if they lived as close to that place. But commuting there from Chattanooga would be quite a stretch.

Pretty impressive drawing skills

Senator Al Franken showing that he can draw a map of the USA from memory at the Minnesota State Fair.

Jordan Rapp wins Ironman Canada

Wow, my buddy Jordan Rapp won the Ironman Canada last weekend. Overall that is.
Congrats Jordan, that was an amazing win.

Ants, ants and more ants

If you served coffee to a guest in the designer coffee cup below you better be ready that it gets dropped on the table or the floor. After all, who wants "ants" in their coffee?

Ramblin' Rose Tri 2

We have been in Winston-Salem for a bit more than a year now and Amy decided to race the Ramblin'Rose Triathlon again. When she did it last year we had barely been here, and this time Amy actually had planned it a bit longer in prep for a Half Ironman in September. The goal was to be faster than last year and hopefully go sub 1 hour. Amy had an awesome race and finished in 59:07 and 51st out of almost 500 starters. (last year she finished in 1:04:22) Below are a few pics from the race.

Amy sets up her little transition area quite focused



Amy with neighbor Caroline before the race



The transition area with Winston-Salem in the background



The pre race meeting was busy and enthusiastic



The pool looks quite serene



Caroline and Amy in line ready for the swim



Amy about to start her swim



This race has a long run from the pool to the bike transition



Amy and Caroline in transition



A quick transition allowed Amy to get out fast



Heading out for the run after a fast bike ride



Almost home, sub 1 hour and more than 5 minutes faster than last year



The results area was quite popular

The ART piece that stayed at home

I made this mixed media art piece for the recent ARTpARTy but somehow felt that I liked it too much to give it up. I created a second piece and kept the one below. What you see are real flower elements on a black painted canvas with a really thick coat of lacquer on top.

A yard update

The front yard of our home on Clover Street was quite nice when we bought the home earlier this year. It really needed a bit of love though and some expert grooming and now it looks fantastic. Mostly bushes were trimmed back, a small rotten tree removed and some smaller bushes redistributed. Plus lots new mulch added.







This is what the front of the house looked like in April of 09

Nice cufflinks

Made from old payphones, these cufflinks are quite nice.

ARTpARTy on Clover

Last night we had our first ARTpARTy in our new home on Clover Street and it worked out great. There were lots of interesting and beautiful artworks plus a ton of nice people. Below are a few images of the people as they arrived with their creations. A few hours later everyone went home with someone else's art.

Amy finally wanted to create her own art piece



My artwork reflect to much that we had to go outside to not use the flash



Despite being a bit sick the last week, Mary was able to come



Caroline and Matt each worked on an art piece for the party



Art pieces showed up in all kinds of different ways



The older son of Nate and Jenny give them the inspiration for these popular items



Laura and Jared brightened up the party with their painting



An old tourism card print was crafted by Scott and Mitch



Tom and Travis and their candle art



An endless art piece by Laura



Luke and Melissa worked with wood



Ken is a neighbor from up the street and created an interesting Mango



Leanne and Breck worked in cork



Stacy created a 2-piece artwork



Treb ran an errand for us and thus came a bit later with his beautiful rope work

Faded glory

We recently noticed that the dishwasher not only took the coffee stains out from inside this mug, but also the writing on the outside of it. Amy kind of felt bad because she used it a few times, but I think she is not to blame. My award seem to be fading away in conjunction with my fitness. :-)

Coffee and Milk Art

Mona Lisa in coffee and milk? Or should I say an image of Mona Lisa created from over 3,500 coffee cups of various mixtures of milk and coffee? One thing is for sure, someone in Sydney, Australia made quite an effort to create this piece.

Life is a beach

Well, the title should have been Life at the beach, because that is where we were last weekend. Amy, Pete and I went to Litchfield Beach in SC where we met Amy's Dad Ron and his wife Amy. We had a great time and especially enjoyed the delicious shrimp dinner that Amy prepared. Yummy.

Pete seemed somewhat puzzled by the ocean and the sand


Friday night we grabbed dinner on Murrell's Inlet


Saturday morning we went on a 2 hour ride before it got too hot or busy


Happy to be on the bike after a long time off with various injuries


Looking good with a new leash and collar


Trying to be as close as possible to mom and dad during the drive

Little runner girl

Over the weekend my niece Sara Nina ran a 5k race with my younger brother Manfred, and the 2 of them crossed the line in 32:29. That is not shabby for a little girl who just turned 6 in May. She is the little girl on the left with bib# 397. Which one do you think is my younger brother?

Solar eclipse

An interesting shot taken during the solar eclipse in Allahabad, India. Now those are some cool shades dudes.

On the tracks of Andy Griffith

Over the weekend we got a visit of Amy's mom and we had a very nice time with her. Saturday night we cooked dinner at home and our neighbor Mary joined us. During dinner conversation I found out that both Mary and Amy's mom like Andy Griffith, so on Sunday we drove to "Mayberry" and had lunch there. Mayberry of course is a fictional town based on Mount Airy, NC, and that is where we went.

Mom's new ride

Well, my mom didn't get a new bike, but she did get a new car. So here are a couple pics of mom's new silver colored Opel Corsa. Go Frieda.

This ain't a bike water bottle

To avoid injuries from fights and accidents with broken beer bottles, the city of Hamburg, Germany now uses special plastic bottles in the Reeperbahn district. They even have the reminder "weapons prohibited" printed on them. Those crazy Northern Germans. :-)

Chattanooga weekend

Amy and I are going to Chattanooga this weekend to race the Chattanooga Waterfront Triathlon. The way things look right now I might be cheering on Amy as she does the race. :-( During a trail run last weekend I pulled a muscle in my left calf and I have not been able to run or bike since. It feels a bit better now and I will take the bike, but I am a bit worried that it won't have healed in time to deal with the stress. Either way though, we should have a nice time in Chattanooga and I know that Amy will have a great race.

Congratulations Timo

Even though Timo Bracht has won several other Ironman races before, his win today at the Ironman Europe Championships in Frankfurt, Germany was the most impressive one yet.

Timo, I am very proud of you. Congrats.

Baby steps, baby steps

Several pages for the new Guerrilla Communication site are now done, and it is time soon to animate sections of these pages. Baby step, baby steps.

Feldsalat

Feldsalat is something I grew up with in Germany and in our region we often call it Ackersalat. It actually has quite a few different names such as Valerianella, Corn Salad, Lamb's Lettuce and Mache, and it is neither well known nor easily available in the USA. I recently discovered it at Whole Foods, where they sell it as Mache. We had some last night and oh boy, it is so good.

Precision speed skills

Wow, now that is drifting (and unique marketing for DC shoes.)

Liquid gold

I always liked European Fanta and it is stunning to me how much better it is than US Fanta. US Fanta actually tastes very artificial and strange and I barely ever drink it. But European Fanta (notice the yellow versus orange color) is liquid gold to me and we were able to a few bottles from the European Market while in Chattanooga.

Pete

I wish we were all as happy and content as Pete.

New site

My Guerrilla Communication website is a bit more than 2 years old now and I thought it should be time to give the site a new look and feel. The sketch below of the splash page shows what the site is going to look luke, except, it will remain a completely sketched website. All hand drawn and written. Yeah

The Art of Michael Lachowski

Michael Lachowski is an artist from Athens, GA who is involved in a huge variety of art projects. One of my favorite art pieces of his is hanging in the Grit coffee shop in Athens, GA and that coffee artwork inspired me to commission Michael to do a couple artworks for me. Since I don't drink coffee much though, we had to go down a different road.

The original coffee piece on a post card in my office


The Milk artwork currently is in our dining room


The Hot Chocolate artwork graces our living room

36 North Triathlon

Amy and I were racing in the 36 North Triathlon in Clemmons, NC today and we had an absolute blast. The race itself was held in Tanglewood Park and they capped out at 400 starters despite it being a first time event. But it was absolutely done first class and we were both impressed with the organization of the event. A big thumbs up to the crew that organized it and all the folks who volunteered.

Big smiles after the race is behind us


Awaiting the awards and representing slowtwitch


Amy finished third in F30-34 and this is her second podium finish


I finished second in M40-44 and top 15 overall and was very happy with the result.

The hole is "gone"

We kind of had a hole in our kitchen where the winecooler was suposed to go and we finally got it today. So no more "hole" in the kitchen.



On another note, we can now enjoy hanging out in the back. IE lunch today.

Ready for the race

Well, the tri bike is ready for the 36 North Sprint Triathlon in Clemmons, NC tomorrow. We'll find out in the morning around 7:30am how ready I am. I don't think I will do very bad, but I also think that this won't be my best sprint event. But the bike does look fast for sure.

A kitchen in time

When we first saw our new home we pretty much knew that it was it. We especially fell in love with the kitchen but decided to do a few small changes. We wanted more storage and also wanted the kitchen to be open to the dining room. The pics below were pretty much shot from the same point of view at 3 different times.

This is how the kitchen was when we bought the home. No flowers or any other decoration of course.


We took a good section of the wall out and opened it to the dining room. We also painted the walls a very light green color and removed the bench.


The new cabinets and countertop in place, plus the new dishwasher. :-)

Bratwurst

Tonight's dinner was a little homage to Germany and I enjoyed a couple Bratwursts. But just as the Bratwursts were ready to be eaten I discovered that we had no mustard in the house. None whatsoever. Good thing was that we had 2 brands of Curry Ketchup in the fridge and that hit the spot too.

Those were the days

The picture below was taken some time around 1991 and just recently popped up on facebook. It is very old school with the Giro Hammerhead helmet, IRD suspension fork, Campagnolo Record OR components and the trick light Litespeed Titanium frame from the era when there were no Litespeed model names but funky lime green decals. I even had hair at that time. :-)

Chattanooga has stupid ads dot com

Every time when I am in Chattanooga and hear ads for Chattanooga has cars dot com, Chattanooga has health dot com or Chattanooga has jobs dot com etc I think that those are some of the dumbest sounding ads in town. Maybe I should feature all of them on Chattanooga has stupid ads dot com. :-)

We are almost there

last night just before 9pm our dining room table was finally delivered. The chairs in the dining room had been sitting quite lonely for about a month now, but the table is fantastic and was worth waiting for. This morning the honed granite was delivered for the additional cabinets in the kitchen and the new vanity in the master bathroom. That means we are now almost there as we only have to deal with details.

The crew from Bloomsday granite and marble arrived at 8am sharp. (Yes, on memorial day)



With the honed granite in place we can now fill those extra cabinets. The "open" space will be filled with a wine cooler.



The new table has been in place for 14 hours only.



The table was made from an old elm wood door and has some interesting markings.



The vanity granite is in place too, and the faucets will be installed tomorrow. The lower cabinet gets a wooden top and a pillow and will serve as a seat.

Coffee table update

Legs are stained, glass top is in place and the table is now sitting in the den. It still needs a bit of work but it is very close to finished.

New coffee table

I have been working on a coffee table and it is slowly coming together. The metal ring will keep the rust look but the legs still need to be stained. Once the legs are stained they will be knocked all the way "through," leaving about 1/8" exposed on the top. The glass top will rest on these exposed wooden stumps. The whole table is very heavy and we'll have to test the floors to make sure it won't "crash through." :-)

New Gravitas brakes for my bike

My new Ciamillo Gravitas brakes arrived today and they are crazy light. They might be the lightest stoppers out there.

My new office desk

Today my new office desk arrived and it is very nice indeed. It is the crafty work of Roger Dinger of reinbarnation.com and he creates very cool tables from reclaimed barn wood. The pine wood for this desk came from the Barefoot Farm in Lake Waccamaw, NC.

The Aeron office chair is still not here and I'll clean up the cables under the desk, but this is basically what it looks like. The file cabinet is from CB2.


A hole in the back allows the cables to be out of the way.

A day in the park

Here are a few impressions of Pete's day in the dog park in Winston-Salem.

So many rules, so little time



Wow, so many dogs to play with



As long as you just sniff me...



Finally someone to dominate, yeah

Wedding anniversary

Today we celebrated our first wedding anniversary and we had several friends and family members send us warm wishes. We had a very nice weekend and the weather pretty much was great too. Friday night we went out for dinner to Fabian's and that was very good. Saturday morning we ran the 5k in the Race for the Cure and that was very fulfilling both from a physical as well as an emotional point. Saturday afternoon we went to a Kentucky Derby party at the house of someone Amy works with, and Saturday night we chilled and watched Slumdog Millionaire. Today we slept in, had a great brunch at the Village Tavern and then got the house ready for the furniture deliveries this week. Late this afternoon we took Pete to the dog park and that was great fun, but next time we'll give him the bath after the park and not before like we did today. :-)

Hopefully I'll never need one of those:

Athens weekend

Amy and I went to Athens, Ga over the weekend to see the Athens Twilight Criterium on Saturday night and also to spend a bit of relaxing time there.

It was quite warm there and in the afternoon we had time to just wander around



Kyle Wamsley of Colavita-Sutter and John Murphy of Ouch Racing in action



This video (posted by someone else) shows the throngs of spectators and the speed of the athletes



After a run on Sunday morning we went to the Grit for brunch



Behind the counter inside the Grit is one of Michael Lachowski's Coffee paintings. He painted that Coffee one in 1985, and he made both a Hot Chocolate and a Milk artwork for me in 2004

Introducing Pete

This week we adopted Pete from our friends Paul and Anita. I think they planned on having only 2 dogs but ended up with 4. Pete for example was dropped off at their house 2 years ago for a "couple of weeks" and never picked up again. Pete lost his front right leg after an incident with a car, but he gets around just fine.

Exhausted after the 6 hour transfer from Chattanooga



Hanes Park is just down the hill from us and offers lots of things to see



Wow that walk was tiring



Hello world, I am Pete

Seeing daylight

We still have a few moving boxes to unpack, but most of them are empty now and broken down to be picked up by the movers. The first room to be really finished with setting up was the kitchen, even though we are still awaiting the additional cabinets and countertop. But the cabinets and the fridge are filled and we were able to cook our first meal there. :-)

We love the kitchen, and dislike the dishwasher.



This wedding gift (thank you Deano and Angie) looks perfect here.

My thumb is still quite ugly

Saturday afternoon I closed the car door on my right thumb and it hurt like crazy. 5 days later and the thumb is still quite swollen and sore, plus of course ugly too. This is very helpful in the opening process of the moving boxes.

Getting closer to moving in

Tuesday, April 7 is the big moving day from the Piedmont LeafLofts to the home on Clover Street. Amy and I are both excited and ready to move into our first house that is ours (not mine or yours.) Our contractor Rick Stevens has done a great job with the opening of the kitchen to the dining room and the painting and finishing of several rooms.

The house is a bit easier to see with the leaves not yet up



We will need furniture for the living room.



A look from the living room through the dining room into the kitchen. It is all open now.



Only a few more days and we'll be cooking here.



The new cabinets and the counter top is not yet in place. The table won't stay.



A look over the back deck into the yard from the kitchen window



Upstairs now. A look from the master closet into the master bedroom. Master bath is in the background.



The guest bedroom is currently the only room in the house with some furniture in it.



The guest bathroom.



Amy's office is very bright and has unique window closing hardware

Hello Chattanooga

Tuesday through Thursday we went to Chattanooga as Amy was giving a presentation on Wednesday during a Trauma Symposium. Tuesday night Amy was going to a related dinner and I went to an art exhibit and visited friends, and I have pics of that evening below. Wednesday night Amy and I got to see Martin, Janelle and the 3 cutiepies and then we met Paul and Anita at the Meeting place. Thursday after a quick run and a brief shopping stint we drove back to Winston.


Paul and Anita in front of a random cd cover project



I really liked this selection of dolls



This doll even had a tramp stamp on her butt



Sharon's Asian inspired geometric pottery was very beautiful



George, Paul and Anita (Rick and I) were reunited in Big River



Good friends like these are hard to come by

A quick trip to New Orleans

Last weekend Amy and I flew to New Orleans to visit Laura. It was great to see Laura and of course New Orleans is well worth a trip in itself.

Laura picked us up at the airport and interestingly enough best friends Laura and Amy pretty much were dressed alike



We started our dinner at Frankie & Johnny's with crawfish



This monster Muffaletta sandwich was actually only a half size



Laura stumbled across this Banksy artwork



Beautiful architecture is all over the place



Walking through the French Quarters



The tourists were out in force, a good sign for NOLA tourism



Laura with Hank watching over her



Great stuff, but very expensive

The home update

Our contractor Rick Stevens has worked very hard since yesterday morning and the progress is fantastic. The additional cabinets and the new counter top are ordered and will take a little while, but we should be able to move in our home in the next 2 weeks.

The view from the dining room into the kitchen



The view from the kitchen into the dining room

Hey Hey

Don't you go anywhere

Mmm Milka

Our cat Sylvie is 12 years old and to this day has not eaten out of any one's hand, not even her cat food. I have been tempting her for quite a while with various items, and yesterday I finally succeeded. Sylvie loves Milka chocolate apparently and kept licking and licking and licking until the chocolate in my hand melted.

Apple iPhone versus Blackberry Storm

Neither of these ads is an official one, but each shows quite a bit of passion for the brands.

First came "BlackBerry Shows Apple Who Is The Boss."



The response from Apple fans came not much later.
(although they have a little issue too)

Flowers

Amy's birthday flowers looked very nice yesterday and still do today. But we knew that gifts would not stay nicely wrapped for very long so we snapped a quick reminder pic.

It is your birthday

Happy Birthday Amy

Amy

It is your birthday in only a matter of minutes.

Happy Birthday

The miracles of technology

6 months ago my 73 year old mom didn't even have a computer but I had wanted to get her one for the last couple of years. But while curious, she always had resisted. Before Christmas she finally got herself a laptop, went to a computer course and got an internet connection. We have been emailing back and forth on a regular basis now for about 2 months and it has been great. On the phone sometimes it appears that things get lost in translation, and that actually has nothing to do with me calling from overseas. It is also true for my brothers who call her from Germany or even within town. So the emailing has been perfect in terms of getting all information across.

When I went home recently I installed Skype on her computer and today I had my first Skype phone call with her. I could actually give my mom a video tour of the apartment as we talked. :-)

It is a miracle. Mom, you have come a long way.

Snow in Winston-Salem

It started snowing quite heavily last night and by 6am this morning Winston-Salem was covered by a thick blanket of snow.

After a morning of sunshine the snow is starting to melt



My snow covered Cooper S in the foreground, various RJ Reynolds buildings in the background



A look at the Piedmont Leaf Lofts overpass over 4th Street

Chubby cheeks

Before there was Arnold on Different Strokes, there was Herbert Krabel in Ostrach. :-)
This picture was taken the first year in Kindergarten.

Black Mountain Marathon

A few months ago I signed up for the Black Mountain Marathon in Black Mountain, NC because I had not yet done a trail marathon. Luck had it that I not only signed up for one of the most scenic trail marathons, but also one of the hardest. I have been running quite a bit this winter so I felt decently prepared, although here in Winston-Salem we do not have good uphill running available unless you drive. With 5,340 feet of climbing in the Black Mountain Marathon to the 13 mile turnaround point I would get plenty of climbing in during the race and we all know that what goes up, must come down. Lots of rain and cool temps on the top promised an epic day.

The calm before the storm. It is nice and dry in the hotel room.



Trying to stay dry under an awning with Jonathan Kelly (also Winston-Salem)



A few minutes before the start and it looks wet.



Amy was at the turnaround checkpoint and it was great seeing a friendly, familiar face. She caught me sucking down an e-Gel.



I crossed the line in 4:15:05 and was happy with this result in very tough conditions. The puddles in the grass are an indication of what the trails looked like.

The last few days - Germany, February 09

On Sunday morning we had planned to go to Reutlingen to visit Matze, Jutta and Oscar, but the road conditions were crappy.



So we put Amy to work instead :-)



We had lunch in the Alte Muehle in Waldbeuren with my mom, my uncle Fritz and his wife Maria



Our rental car was an Audi A3



After lunch we went on a run in the snow



Running on snow like this is a bit like running on sand



On Sunday afternoon we visited my friend Helmut and Angelika and they have this adorable Podenco dog named Perla.



I love those ears



The Rottweiler Narrensprung starts on Monday morning at 8am with several riders on horses. With the weather being somewhat iffy, I decided to watch with Amy and not make my costume dirty.



A short clip of the Narrensprung



Two Schantle are sharing a story



This Federhannes is smaller than the kids he is approaching



This Fransenkleid and the tiny Gschell are about to pass out some candy



A Schantle reaching out and down, and yes, that is rain on the mask.



My mom and I



A few Federhannes figures scheming



Amy enjoyed a Gluehwein during the parade



Another clip from the Narrensprung



Several Federhannes are seen here working here as a team



My niece Sara Nina loved the experience



This Schantle costume must be quite old. It has a tag from 1930 on it. These yellow and black tag show what years the costume participated.



One of the 7 or 8 Benner Roessle (2 herders with a "horse" and its rider) in action. They are at the beginning and the end of the Narrensprung.



A clip of the Roessle doing what they do best



A complete family of Narren after the Narrensprung



When I pulled out the camera, this young "guys" immediately struck a pose



We had a mellow day on Fat Tuesday and noticed a big herd of sheep on our way to Ravensburg



We had our last lunch in Germany at the Cafe Central in Ravensburg



Amy also enjoyed an Apfelsaft Schorle in the Cafe Central



And just as it started, the Ostracher Fasnet ends with a fire on Fat Tuesday night. But this times the witch gets burned and the other witches are beside themselves.

Witches, baths, Munich and more - Germany 09

After lunch on Wednesday we visited my uncle Fritz and his wife Maria.



On Wednesday night the witches in Ostrach get freed and that is the official start of carnival in my hometown.



More images from the freeing of the witches / Hexenbefreiung in Ostrach



On Thursday we watched how locals and the local carnival groups took over the downtown area of Ostrach.



The mayor's office has been taken over.



The big Narrenbaum / carnival tree is put up by hand



As the tree is almost up, someone tried to sneak into a pic with Amy.



And the tree is up.



Amy surrounded by carnival (Fasnet) figures from Ostrach.



Thursday night we went to the thermal bath in Bad Saulgau. It is called Sonnentherme.



A small video view of one of the Sonnentherme pools with 98 degree water temps, surrounded by snow.



We had dinner in downtown Bad Saulgau after our swim and bands and groups kept coming in to show their joy that carnival has begun.



Amy had trout and potatoes for dinner.



I had pork medallions, mushrooms and Spaetzle.



More bands and groups showed up in the restaurant, including the Fanfarenzug Bad Saulgau.



On Friday, we went to Munich and Maria gave us a small tour in the afternoon.



There was snow and a pretty strong police presence.



That night, Nicolas and Maria introduced us to the Wirtshaus in der Au in Munich and the food and atmosphere was terrific.



We really enjoyed our evening with Nicolas and Maria.



We wanted to see the Kandinsky exhibit in Munich



But a possible 2 hour wait to buy tickets just seemed too long.



Amy, are you sure you don't want to go to Starbucks?



You can't go to Munich without stepping onto the Marienplatz and looking up to the Glockenspiel

Another trip to Germany - the first days

The long escalator to the international terminal in Atlanta



Amy is connected in the airport in Atlanta.



It is now Sunday and the Delta monitor shows us that we are almost there.



On the way from the airport in Stuttgart we stopped to see my sister Sandra in Weinsberg



Early start on Monday morning with a Fleischkaese sandwich in Ostrach



We enjoyed lunch in a cool new restaurant in Ravensburg called Wilderer



In the pedestrian zone in Ravensburg



What a difference a day makes. Lots of fresh snow on Tuesday and Amy worked hard.



Shoveling snow is so much fun



Peaceful, cold and beautiful



Trying to catch Amy



Another run is in the books



A bit later that day, Amy in front of the Narrenbrunnen in Bad Saulgau



After dinner, more snow. Brrr

Germany soon

Amy and I are excited to go to Germany for 10 days to visit my family and enjoy carnival. Yeah