Archive for December, 2009
First frost
It finally feels like winter here. The temperatures dropped about 15 degrees last night and we woke up to our first frosty morning. Pretty! We’re supposed to get some light snow on Wednesday. Roxi has exams this week, but gets to stay home from school on Wednesday because she doesn’t have exams on that day. [...]
Padlocks of Love in Koln, Germany
Remember this bridge? It’s the Hohenzollernbrücke Bridge that crosses the Rhine river in Cologne, Germany. Here’s a really cool aerial shot of it. Remember that YouTube video I linked to a couple of days ago showing this bridge destroyed during WWII? Back then it was a railway and street bridge. Anyway, reconstruction of this bridge [...]
Ask an Expat: An interview + Thank Yous!
Hi there! For today’s Ask an Expat, I’m going to send you over to Argentina to visit with Tom Frost, who interviewed me for his blog Expat Alley: True Confessions of Expat Freelancers and Entrepreneurs. Be sure to check out the other interviews, as well as Tom’s excellent and informative articles. By the way, Tom’s wife is [...]
A Tale of Two German Cathedrals, Three Wise Men, and One Roman Emperor
Kölner Dom in Cologne, Germany The Cologne Cathedral sits on the bank of the Rhine river. It was built in stages over 600 years (1248-1880)! According to Wikipedia, it was the tallest structure in the world for four years until the Washington Monument was completed in 1884. Did you know that 95% of Cologne was [...]
Boot weather
Teen boot fashion. The girls/women here love their boots! And speaking of, I got a new pair of black leather ones this weekend. My present from Sinterklaas :-) I did a bit of Christmas shopping today–a lot of online stuff (mostly books… hope my family isn’t reading this LOL!). I need to venture out to [...]
Christmas Market in Aachen, Germany
Dear Aachen, we fell under your medieval spell. Your storybook-perfect Christmas market between Charlemagne’s Cathedral and your 14th century Town Hall made us feel like children again, giddy with the delights of the season. Of course, you were most spectacular after dark. And though some of your Christmas vendors seemed similar to the ones in [...]
Ask an Expat: Wooden shoes, NL popluation, and a little teen fashion advice
We picked up a wooden shoe ship kit at the Zuiderzeemuseum this summer. Think Wynken, Blynken and Nod. Julia asked: Does anyone wear wooden shoes, not for show or for the tourists but maybe in their home? Do you ever see them outside people’s front doors? Julia, in the almost six months I’ve lived in [...]
Wordless Wednesday ~ 21: Upon Reflection-Köln, Germany
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Weihnachtsmarkt (Christmas Market) in Köln (Cologne), Germany
What is more magical than a German Christmas Market? How about one at the foot of Koln’s magnificent cathedral, the Kölner Dom? There are street musicians—this one is playing a saw. And market stalls filled with traditional gifts and delicious food. But as evening falls… … that is when the magic begins. The busy, outside [...]
