Bamberg Germany

It's pretty fantastic living in a location where you have access to 6 different countries within just a few hours drive. During our winter holidays we decided to get away for a few days to Germany and Luxembourg. Our first stop was in the German city of Bamberg. Bamberg is a beautiful and quaint town with a very classic German style. Up on a hillside is the Bamberg Cathedral. Here's I am (all bundled up as it was FREEZING) standing in the cathedral square.Inside, the cathedral was beautiful...particularly with the way the light was coming through the stained glass windows.
The cathedral was all decorated for Christmas so it was a really lovely time to see it. (You can click on the photos to enlarge them and get a better shot of the details. It looks a little dark in the small view.)
The cathedral also had an incredible pipe organ...definitely one of the most unique we've seen.
Outside the cathedral was a courtyard surrounded by classic German buildings that used to be living quarters.
Down on the river front, more charming German buildings.
We enjoyed a walk through the town.
Stopping frequently for photo opportunities :)
There were quaint, picturesque scenes everywhere we turned.What a beautiful town!

Two Trips to Moscow

One of the benefits of teaching at international schools is the opportunity to travel for school-related events. For example, in November Cisco and I each had a trip to Moscow. I went for the end of season volleyball tournament with these kids... and Cisco went for a HOSIC conference ( a student-led organization focusing on student-related issues) with these kids...Becuase of the package nature of the host school itinerary, we got very similar trips. There were subtle differences, however, despite the fact that they took place 2 weeks apart. Here's a quick journey through our Moscow trip(s):

SAME: We both stayed at the Hotel Sovietsky, a communist palace of bourgeoisie splendor originally built by Stalin's son for Joseph to have an office and home away from home...DIFFERENCE: Cisco got a tour of the apartment that was the office. SAME: We both spent a lot of time at the Anglo American School of Moscow...DIFFERENCE: Cisco was in classrooms with small groups of students while I was in a gymnasium with hundreds. Also, Cisco got a local dance performance from the 3rd grade students at the school.SAME: We both took a few rides on the Metro system... This may not sound like much, but you would not believe the beauty of the Moscow metro stations. Each one is unique and a must-see if offered the chance. Unfortunately we didn't get any of our own photos, but I Googled Moscow Metros and found this one on the web:SAME: We both went to the outdoor market at the Izmailovo Kremlin packed with local products and antiques...DIFFERENCE: I bought things while Cisco refrained :) I know this is hard to imagine.

SAME: We both went to Red Square... And admired St. Basil's Church - very Candy Land, don't you think? DIFFERENCE: Obviously, I was there during the daytime and Cisco had an evening visit.A changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier...

And Cisco's visit was filled with snow. Mine was just cold! I did get to have one extra unique experience. While in Red Square, there was a rally (primarily of elderly people) who want communism back. My colleague, Pete (on the far left), in classic form, got himself involved in the march.And showed his support with this woman.But don't feel bad for Cisco; he got to sample and enjoy a variety of types of the favorite local drink - Vodka. And nothing says Russian vodka like a Kalashnikov gun-shaped bottle!

Baby Walker - 30 Weeks

Last week we had our 30 week check-up for Baby Walker. All is well. Baby is growing right on schedule (Mom is, too!). We got some new ultrasound photos and even a live ultrasound video. This first picture shows Baby as usual - covering his/her face. In fact, the face is covered by both legs and both arms...I think we've got a future gymnast on our hands.We finally got to see the first face picture. Check it out...isn't technology amazing?! It even looks like there's a slight smile on Baby's face :)And here's the video. The Dr. chooses an area to focus on and then the 3-D imaging uses sound waves sent at different angles. As the sound waves return, the computer program creates the image that matches the surface of the baby. It doesn't catch every surface, so sometimes it looks like you're seeing through parts of the baby, but there is about a 5 second stretch when we get great face images.

We're so happy and grateful, as always, that everything continues to go smoothly with the pregnancy. We are excited for the end of February when the baby's due, but in the meantime I'm really enjoying pregnancy. The baby is moving A TON and it's big enough now that I can watch the body parts move across my belly. It's a really incredible experience for both Cisco and me.

Amsterdam Again?

Yep...Amsterdam again. We love that city! And our motto is "Have 3-day weekend, will travel!"We brought two of our friends from our school with us, Lynne and Shack. Neither of them had been to Amsterdam before, so it was fun to get to show them around a bit.

And every time we go to Amsterdam, we find new things to see and do. We stayed in a different area this time. And it was really lovely.
We spent some time just wandering through the neighborhood, checking out the architecture, different shops and restaurants.And one of the nice surprises of our neighborhood was Begijnhof, a closed-in courtyard of houses from the 14th century. The very dark house behind Cisco and Shack here is the oldest house in Amsterdam... and one of only two wood houses in Amsterdam. For the last 400+ years city ordinance says all houses must be built of brick or stone.

We enjoyed a couple of beautiful evening walk-abouts.Oh...and we finally made it to the Anne Frank house during one of these evenings. About time... it is our fourth trip to Amsterdam with this attraction always on our list.

There is always time to stop for a little cheesy tourist activity. :)Cisco and I spent some time in Vondel Park, which is a beautiful getaway from the busy city which surrounds.I loved this heron and how unfazed it was by the big German Shepherd about 20 feet from it.And talk about new experiences... We were introduced to the Dutch holiday tradition of Sinterklaas arriving (direct from Spain - where he lives)... accompanied by hundreds of "Zwarte Piet" (Black Pete) helpers. This tradition has become very controversial (especially to foreigners as you can imagine) but there were still thousands of locals out to welcome the brigade. And many children dressed as Zwarte Piet, too.

We heard sevaral different versions of the story of Sinterklaas and the Zwarte Piets. One version is that the Zwarte Piets are slaves. Another was that they were elf-like helpers who only got black face because they went down so many chimneys to help Sinterklaas get into houses to deliver presents. Either way, it was another unusual experience among many.