Kaiser Friedrich Ring 12 (zwölf)

Before I arrived in Germany, Justin began looking for an apartment. He found one that he thought was perfect for us. On my first day in town, we went and looked at the apartment and I loved it too. The tricky thing about this apartment, however, was that the current tenant had not told his landlord he was moving out. Since we couldn't talk to the landlord, we couldn't confirm that the apartment allowed dogs. So we kept looking - while waiting and hoping that everything would work out with the perfect apartment.

We looked at many apartments, but none of them were perfect. Some were too big, others too small. Some were too close to downtown, others too far. I felt a bit like Goldilocks, but nothing measured up to the perfect apartment.

Last week, the tenant of the perfect apartment told his landlord he was leaving and determined that the apartment does allow dogs! We've met with the landlord twice and all seems to be falling into place. I am so excited, even though we won't move in for at least another month.

The apartment is in a great location. It is about a ten-minute walk to Justin's work, a ten-minute walk to the train station, a ten-minute walk to the pedestrian zone (where all the restuarants and shops are), and a ten-minute walk to the pool where I play water polo (with a bunch of German men). There are also grassy strips nearby for Pecos to have his walks on and it's not too far from two parks (for Pecos to play in).

The apartment has two bedrooms, so guests are more than welcome. It also has a big living/dining area, an office, a kitchen, a bathroom, and a balcony. The building is old and the ceilings are so high. The apartment has beautful architectural details like molding, and ceiling medallions. The kitchen and bathroom are both amply large and much better than what we had in Chicago. The apartment also has lots of large windows, which we love.

Ok, here are a few pictures of it. I can't wait to move in and get our stuff back. Who knew I would miss my stuff so much. Ah well, a month isn't too long.















The foyer.












The living area looking into the office.

The master bedroom ceiling.

The bathroom. The tub is to the right.

The kitchen. It's twice as big as it looks here.

The best thing about Florence . . .

PISTACHIO GELATO - Oh-tay!

Strangers in a strange land

Ciao! And welcome to Italy - where people speak the "Romance" language and practice romance at every chance they get. There was so much romance in the air (especially the air waves) that Italian radio DJs cut the songs short just to talk some more. Seriously.

But it's fair to say that the gusto (from the Italian word "gusto") that the Italians have for life gets put into everything: their buildings, their art, and, of course, their food.

We started our trip with a short flight from Frankfurt to Bergamo, about 45 minutes from Milan. Once in our rental car, we headed south through the beautifully craggy mountains of northern Tuscany (Apuan Alps) to Pisa for the too-dorky-to-resist photoshoot of Kate holding up the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

After that gonzo moment (from the Italian word "gonzo"), we drove to Florence and spent the better part of two days taking in the colors, smells, sounds, and tastes of city pollution. Actually, the polution aside, Florence was wonderful - we saw the David, the Birth of Venus, masterpieces by Michelangelo, Rafael, and other ninja turtles and, most importantly, a small town in the outskirts called Fiesole where we had a bottle of wine that must have been laced with lead(because it made us do this):

While in Florence we saw the beautiful Ponte Vecchio, a working market bridge that apparently was very close to being exploded during World War II.

We also saw lots of replicas of statues, including this one which looks surprising lifelike.

We also had a good time gazing facetiously at some old charming towers. (Facetiously, by the way, is the shortest word in English that uses all the vowels (and the letter "y") in a row.) This picture shows Giotto's tower, right next to the magnificient Duomo - the second largest dome in Christiandom.

After that fun fiasco (from the Italian "fiasco"), we went to Sienna, a charming Tuscan town where tourists and torture museums totally tamed the trance my espresso put me in. After a quick stroll around the old piazza (which was swarmed with birds) and some sort of old churchy thing, we headed back up through the Tuscan mountaints for Bergamo, the city with the airport. Delightfully, we found it was more than that. Truly, it's one of the most European towns I've ever seen - perched atop a mountain overlooking Milan on one side and the southern Alps on the other, this cobblestoned town was ripe with narrow pedestrian alleys, churches, and, for some reason, candy stores that stayed open until after 11 p.m. on a Monday night. It is definitely a city that I'd like to see again.

In all, Tuscany was great. Blue skies. Warm weather. Lots of cute vespas dotting the streets. And some great Italian cooking.

Thanks for reading.

Gouda in Gouda

From the culture that brought the world windmills, wooden shoes, and a tulip craze that had some Dutchmen trading their farm or their horses for a single bulb - you can't expect much. What you'd expect is a bunch of good-natured people living on the edge (of liberalism). In fact, to these cheese-loving, bike-riding, gay-marriage-authorizing people, soft drug use and euthenasia are not even things they talk about in their goofy, vowel-heavy language. And it's great.

And so is the cheese. Gouda was the cheese of choice for this weekend's trip, which involved heading to Kinderdijk, Alblasserwaard, for the annual National Windmill Day. On this day, many of the historic windmills are "turned on" and become open to the public. And, in Kinderdijk, where a vast number of Holland's windmills are, there was much to enjoy.

The next stop was Gouda (prounounced HOW-da), where the cheese was easy to find and hard to dislike. We found a Saturday-morning market going on when we were there, which added a bit more charm to an already-charming city.

After that, we went to Delft, home of Delft-ware pottery. This famous blue-and-white earthenware was found in many gift shops around the main market square. The canal-ridden town was where I learned that the Dutch are, by and large, tall, blond, attractive, and well-versed in the ways of the English language. They even speak with a slight British accent.

After that, we tip-toed (by car) through the tulip fields of northwest Holland, including making a stop at Keukenhof, home of the world's most famous tulip gardens. Definitely worth a trip, whether you've got a green thumb or a not.

And capping off the trip was a short pause in Amsterdam, where, after two-and-a-half hours of walking around, sniffing the aroma eminating from the coffeeshops, and reluctantly making eye-contact with the girls in the red-light district, we decided it was time to head home - poorer in our wallets but richer in wooden-shoe-replica slippers.

More pics on shutterfly.com. E-mail us for more info.

Ministry of Shifty Business

We here at the Ministry of Shifty Business would like to make you all aware of a recent incident involving a U.S. government employee working in Europe. At the annual "Bring your pet to work day," this employee was caught taking advantage of the renowned "relaxed" atmosphere present at most government facilities in Europe. In addition to the usual hi-jinx involved in "Bring your pet to work day," including bringing your spouse in, placing your bet on next year's love-litter, and placing fake poop on your co-worker's desk, this indivdual decided to leave his pet alone at his work station, allegedly to show his boss that "even dogs can do this shit."

We advise you to be aware of such shifty business at your next "Bring your pet to work day" function.

Springtime in Germany

The weather has been gorgeous all week. The temperature has been in the mid to high seventies, and the sun has been shinning. All of the trees are getting their leaves and there are blooms everywhere. It really is beautiful.

Justin booked our first trip today! We are flying to Milan on Memorial day weekend and hope to wind our way through Tuscany to Florence. I am very excited. Justin is a bit like a kid in a candy store and had a hard time deciding where we should go. He wants to go everywhere, but he also wants everywhere we go to be perfect. I'm just eager to travel.

Tonight we're planning on heading out to a Mexican restaurant to celebrate Cinco de Mayo. My expectations are not very high, but hopefully I will be surprised.

Have a great weekend!

Settling in

These past few days have been wonderful as Justin, Pecos, and I are settling back into life together. Justin goes off to work everyday while I study German, relax, explore Wiesbaden, and take Pecos on big walks. It's wonderful to have some time to relax after the frenzy of the move. I think Justin is finally convinced that I have adapted to the time change and will now allow me to sleep in.

Wiesbaden is very picturesque with a large walking district and various city parks. We enjoy going out every night, trying new restaurants, and watching people walk by. We're casually looking at apartments and have found one we would be very happy in. It won't be available until the beginning of July, so we have plenty of time to look around. It's nice to be able to see what's out there. For now, we're content in the hotel.

Also, we got a new computer and set it up last night. It is nice, silver, and speedier than my old one. I'm sure with more use, I'll learn more about its wonderfulness.

Due to popular demand, here is a not-so-picturesque picture of the three of us. It was taken in the hotel right before bed last night. Enjoy!

Kate