Home again, home again, jiggety jig!

Marty and I had a great time in Italy. We visited Florence, Siena, Pisa, and Fiesole. We also saw some of the Chianti countryside and the Clay Hills of Tuscany. And wow! We enjoyed so much great food and wine! Not to mention the sculpture, architecture, and sunshine!

I am very tired so I won't post much now. But here are a few pictures to give you an idea of some of the things we saw. Many more to come!



Click to enlarge photos.

1. Susie and a view of Florence, a cloudy sunset at San Minato
2. Marty on the Ponte Vechhio, Florence's oldest bridge
3. Replica of David at the Piazzale Michelangelo
4. Siena's gorgeous town hall, on Il Campo
5. Pisa's "Field of Miracles" (check out what's peeking out from behind the cathedral)
6. The gardens at Villa Maiano in Fiesole, above Florence

Non è possibile per me cosi.

Vacation time is upon us. Marty was off work yesterday for Ascension (known by at least one Swede of my acquaintance as "Christ Aviator") so we headed down to the Tegernsee and did some hiking around there. It was beautiful weather and perfect for hiking. We walked for about four or five hours, with lunch at a Hütte along the way.

A few pictures from yesterday's outing:



Click to enlarge photos.

Today there is lots to get done before we leave for Italy tomorrow. This trip has been put off for a year -- it was supposed to happen in 2003, but an Italian train strike foiled our plans, and we went to Berlin instead. So this time, we're flying!

We'll spend some time in Tuscany visiting Florence, Pisa, Siena and Fiesole. We will also spend a day touring the Chianti region and tasting wine. I've made all our hotel arrangements and have been reading guidebooks to get ready. Marty has been listening to Michel Thomas's Italian CDs in the car to learn some basic phrases. Today we have to finish up some last-minute errands and pack. Tomorrow, Italy! I can't wait! I haven't been to Italy since 1984, when I was 15 years old!

Ziggy will be in good hands here with his usual catsitter. He is enjoying a reprieve from the thyroid medicine while we go on vacation, since he had a lot of side effects with the first one we tried, and will start on a different treatment after we get back.

So there will be a brief pause here at Raspberry World for vacation, and then I'll return with pictures and stories from Italy. In the meantime, you may want to visit a couple of other sites I've been enjoying recently:

• Some gorgeous lilac pictures were posted at ever so humble. I know that at least a few of my readers will enjoy them.
  
  
• Julie (formerly of Jul of the Day) is back online with some beautiful pendants that she's created and a new weblog. I'm glad she's back!
  
  
• Alexandra Huddleston just finished a graduate degree at Columbia University in photography, and I have been enjoying her pictures and her thoughts on photography. Check out her online portfolio as well.

Troja

Tonight we went to see Troy. Many of my thoughts on the film were summed up in a comment I left in Neil's blog, so I'll just copy them here:

Marty and I saw it tonight, and were speculating on the way home about how much violence was likely edited out for the German version. We've noticed it in other movies (even Harry Potter!) that the American version generally has more violence... I think this could have been a hell of a lot gorier than what I saw tonight. I'm just curious.

Of course, by that token, we should have had more nudity in Germany! I don't think I saw a single (female) nipple! And certainly no frontal nudity for the men or the women.

Okay, this makes my interest in the film sound somewhat prurient, doesn't it? My take on the rest of it: Paris was a prat (Helen not much better), I loved the way Achilles fought but I cringed when he went screaming through the burning castle after his girlfriend, the ships were the coolest, Peter O'Toole is extra-freaky these days, and Hector was, as always, the best man in that whole war.

However, I didn't mention the possibly BEST part of the movie -- at least for us. There was a certain phrase that was repeated over and over in the film, and every time we heard it, we had to laugh. Because of this mini-review we read in a brochure we picked up at the theater before going into the movie:



Hahaha!

In other weekend news, last night the Harmunichs sang as part of the Lange Nacht der Musik (Long Night of Music) here in Munich. This is a night when venues all over town host concerts and one ticket gets you in to any of them. There are hundreds of musical performances between 7pm and 3am! We sang at 9pm on a small stage in the foyer of the Gasteig, Munich's cultural center. Here are a couple of pictures -- one of us on the stage (with yellow lights shining down on us!) and one of us singing a small encore after we came off the stage.


Click to enlarge.

And finally, a couple of days ago we went to see West Side Story at the Deutsches Theater in Munich. It was performed by a touring Broadway company, in English, with German subtitles! Actually, they were on screens at either side of the stage. The subtitles were really interesting, because they didn't translate directly so much as give the meaning of the dialogue, songs, etc. And sometimes there were subtitles during the dances, when there was no singing going on! They were mostly explaining the backstory ("The Sharks are Puerto Ricans, immigrants.") It was a hoot. And a very good production.

I believe we have thoroughly celebrated our anniversary this year!

A few weekend pictures.

Click to see the larger versions.




Key:

1. Burg Eltz, a fantastic old castle that we toured
2. New baby!
3. The Roman-built "Black Gate" in Trier
4. You are now entering Eisenschmitt
5. Bertie
6. Eisenschmitt scene
7. Kati
8. Bitte ein Bit!

Baby's named a bad, bad thing. This site had me laughing out loud. How is it possible that there are so many little boys named d'Artagnan?

We had a super weekend in the Eifel, a region of Germany up around the Rhine and Mosel rivers. Lots of excellent German food (Krautwickel) and Bitburger beer. Yum! I took some pictures, but the weather was not that great. I'm sure we'll have another chance, though. And next time we will do a river cruise, too!

Today is Marty and my eleventh wedding anniversary. It was on a Tuesday in 1993, too, an unseasonably hot day in Central Pennsylvania for early May. We went to the justice of the peace and then had dinner at the Victorian Manor in Lemont. Tonight I cooked dinner, and Friday we're going to see West Side Story here in Munich to celebrate.

"We'll all drink to that!"

I lust for these shoes.

Mmm.

This Timberland Shoe Shop is cool. And it's in Georgia!

And they ship worldwide!

Well, at least they waited for the light to change...

I just saw this group of people crossing the street, carrying a big old cross. What on earth was that about?

Anyway, here's a picture of them:

No need for alarm! These Zugspitze birds are simply here to announce that the Postcards from Europe page is updated. Again. I'm working backwards, so today's update (March 2004) is listed just below yesterday's (April 2004) on the Postcards page.

Enjoy!

I don't want to cause any undue excitement...

but I thought I'd mention that the Postcards from Europe page is updated with an April roundup.

Seriously.

Now really, how difficult was that? Maybe I'll even do another one.

Edit: Look! I updated my page at 10:01 AM and 10:01 PM today! Ha!

Last Sunday we visited the Glenleiten Freilichtmuseum (Open Air Museum), a living museum that shows the way farmers once lived in Oberbayern. There are about 40 buildings (houses, barns, mills) that have been brought to the museum -- along with their entire furnishings -- and recontstructed. It's a great place.

The weather was cold and wet when we there, with a mist hanging low over the Alps, so there weren't very many opportunities for taking scenic photos. However, I did manage to snap a few shots of these chickens. You can click on the small versions to enlarge them.