We've been back from Europe for a month and certain people are screaming for a new blog entry. Katrin just finished two weeks of overnights and is taking a nap; maybe she'll find time to add to this later in the week.

Paris was a lot of fun. The weather was sub-optimal, as Katrin would say, but it wasn't the height of tourist season - it was nice to have the place to ourselves.

We hit all the usual museums and whatnot, then went to Versailles on the last day. The sun came out and we had a nice time walking around.

The catacombs weren't in our tour guide - the maps didn't even extend that far! Who decided that wasn't interesting enough to include? 

Berlin was one of the most interesting places we've visited. Large parts of the city have been redeveloped since the reunification in 1990, so there are lots of cool new buildings for those of us interested in that sort of thing. My parents haven't been yet - I think Dad would find the architecture very interesting.

We stayed in the former east with Katrin's cousin Ute. The formerly drab (and universally gray) buildings are being restored and repainted, and it's a very young, vibrant place. Flamingos are optional.

The differences between the former east and west are striking; that was one of the interesting aspects of the city.

Of course the reason for our whole visit was (the other) Dr. Saile's birthday. We had a fun time staying with Katrin's parents, and went to a couple of birthday parties, which included music, great food, and all sorts of interesting people. Most of the personal speeches and toasts were in German, so I missed a lot, but a great time was had by all.

Labels: germany, travel

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Jim and I celebrated our wedding yesterday. It was definitely one of the most memorable days of my life. It was so wonderful to see all of our families and so many of our friends, and we were so lucky to have them all come from all over the world to celebrate with us. It was simply amazing! Tomorrow we are leaving for our honeymoon in Rome, and we promise to post and share pictures when we can. For now, here is one of the pictures my very good friend Timo took of us right after the ceremony in the "Room of Mirrors" in the Theater Baden-Baden. I want to especially thank my parents, and of courseeveryone who made this such a memorable and special day for us.

Labels: germany

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It's the big day! Snow has been falling since we got up. Katrin has a lot to do this morning, but I shovelled snow off the sidewalk and am now waiting around at the house for something to happen. I basically just need to show up. :-)

We drove to Rothenburg yesterday to hang out with Cat, Tony, Chris, and Jen. The snow delayed our trip but we went anyway and had a great time, them came back and went to dinner with my parents, my sister Adele and her boyfriend Harlon - the latter were very tired from a combination of jet lag and Mardi Gras in New Orleans, but they were troopers and made it through dinner.

Getting to the hotel later may be an adventure, as we're supposed to have rain and high winds on top of the snow, but other than that we're ready to go. Wish us luck!

Labels: germany, travel

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I've been here in Germany for a couple of days now. I'm still trying to get used to this keyboard, and the blogger website is in German also! This will have to be a short post. We've been shopping and hanging out with Katrin's parents. Her brother is arriving today, and several other guests flew in this morning. Some of the roads were a little icy, and there's still a little snow on the ground now at 10:30, but it should be OK.
We thought we were missing Mardi Gras, but it turns out the Karlsruhe is one of the German cities that has parades. There are many similaries to the Louisiana version, including floats, marching bands, drunk people, and flamboyantly dressed gay guys dancing in the street. It was a lot of fun!

Labels: germany, travel

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