Germany Vist '09 (part 2)

Continuing on in our Bavarian visit, here is a cute little baby deer in Manuel's backyard!!


All smiles with Ines in the Beer Garden in Passau. BEST. OBATZER. EVER.

At the Greek restaurant in Freyung with Daniel. yum-o

Manuel and Mike in the Kletternwald. They were way braver than I was and did all the courses..

Manuel crossing a swinging stick bridge thing up in the trees..

Mike preparing to walk the tight rope!


Each course takes you higher and higher into the trees.




Back home in Rosa's kitchen enjoying Schweinebraten!!

Once more with Ines in the yummiest cafe in Schwabing! This was our breakfast feast!

Ines and I went on an hour and half bike ride along the Isar to a like on the outskirts of Munich. SUCH a beautiful day in the sun :) (this is Ines's brand new bike!)



This is Tara's vespa. if she lived in Munich....


I visited the Frey family to see how the girls have grown :) They are 5 now! I also got to see them perform a play in the English Garden with their Kinderhaus friends. Here's Ina :



One last coffee with Daniel in Freyung :)


Future football star: Tina! She played and played and played with Manuel in the backyard the day before we left.

Laura and I played a little bit too....but got distracted with other things, like braiding our hair :)

Our time went way way too quickly!!

Germany Vist '09 (part 1)

After being away for a little over a year, Manuel and I made our journey back to Bavaria to visit much-missed family and friends! We were totally booked out the entire time (well, Manuel was at least...I went along for the ride most of the time).... It was so so wonderful to be back in Germany (and I am happy to report that I did not forget all my german!) Our time went by way too quickly! Here are some highlights:

Climbing with the boys. I did not actually climb while we were there...but I was a great watcher. :)

(That's Manuel on the rock)

Lunch with our lovely Ines :) Ines and I ended up being regulars at this Cafe in Schwabing near her flat...so much so that when we walked down the street, the waiters recognized us!

Hanging out in the cemetery...no seriously. Well, it's also a park. We went for a little picnic.
Meeting Dana and Jochen for pizza. GIANT pizzas. They. were. delicious.

Beautiful window boxes in Marienplatz...

Ines and I at my all time favorite: Padu Pizza in Passau. I could write sonnets about this place!

Beach volley ball!
At Mike's Confirmation (the whole reason we came to Germany in the first place...)

Lunch in Hohenau after the Confirmation

Fish lunch in the hut with Ines and her parents. De-Lish

Part 2 will be coming soon!!!

Our new house!

We are finally getting settled into our new place, and really loving it! Here are a few pictures to hopefully allure visitors... :) Above is our gorgeous view on a pretty day!

Here's our outdoor decking area and a little peek at our yard and soon-to-be vegetable garden!

Our living room and new sofa/bed (and Manuel doing computer things...)

Another living room view. The picture on the wall is on a random hook left by the previous people....so yes, it's a little high and off-center....I do have further plans for the wall - don't worry.
This is my cute little Salvation Army bookshelf that I bought for 10 buckaroos :)

Our dining area set for breakfast this morning.



My BRAND NEW refrigerator! It is seriously beautiful :)

This is our little hike up to our house...more stairs ( I know)....but worth it to be up so high for that gorgeous view!
The bathroom with walls that match the colour of my towels. so perfect. AND a heated towel rack :) hello, lap of luxury!

This is the view from the back yard of our house looking down the other side of the hill.

And here are a few pictures I took this evening as the sun was setting behind the hills...SUCH a pretty day!

We're moving!

Manuel and I have been looking casually for a new place to live since about January. We like our little flat in the city, but were looking to get out of town a bit and into the sunshine!! Allow me to introduce you to our new home in Island Bay :) The furniture is not there yet (we move officially on Wednesday), but you can have a few sneak peaks before I decorate....

Here is the kitchen and dining area (much more space than where we are now!)...and a gas stove. yippee!



These are our cute little neighbour dogs: Casper and Mojo :) very sweet and very curious about us.



We now have an extra large deck that wraps around the side of the house...This will be perfect in the summer for BBQ parties!

Our view out over Island Bay suburb and the coast. On a clear day, we can see all the way to the South Island!
This is our view looking out the living room and onto the deck. We are so so excited about having great afternoon sun! This is a hot commodity in Wellington!

So, for those of you thinking "man this place looks great! I sure would like to visit...", you should know that we now have 3 bedrooms and plenty of space for guests!! come one, come all!!

oh, and our new address is:

23 Hudson St.
Island Bay, Wellington 6023
New Zealand

Stay tuned for more house pics as I get the place together!

Tea with Tara

Having a little cup of tea over the internet with tara....

Latest happenings around here.....

Still no real work....which is really crampin' my style. We haven't heard any "official" news from production at all...but the Dominion Post here seems to think that the film will not continue. which is a real shame. seriously. We have built and painted these gorgeous sets and props, which no one will see...

i don't want to talk about it.

ANYWAY, here a few pictures from the weekend. The Cuba St. Carnival was saturday and Manuel and i walked around a bit....interesting sights but a little too crowded and chaotic for my taste.


these flags were cool though!


And so was this giant puppet person. though i'm not sure why he's a skeleton.


And these girls were dancing with drinks on their heads and didn't spill a single drop!


and THIS is the most glorious thing i've ever seen!! I wanted to take it home and name it sasha and ride it everyday....


Also, on the weekend, I finally got around to cleaning up our spare room. Now i have a nice clean tabletop to be creative on! and floor space to do a cartwheel, if i so choose.....

Homemade pizza....

And let me just take a moment to show you how cool this pizza base and sauce are. First of all, totally cool packaging: pink with a crown. (tara...do you have a pizza company in new zealand you haven't told me about?...) Second of all, the wrapper says "proudly supporting NZ poets", and includes a little poem printed on a card in each package! which makes me think i should eat pizza more often...
more updates to come. i still have my trip to brisbane to post about, and that time i met a kangaroo!