Ben -- we miss you!!!

Today we had to put Ben to sleep. He was almost 15 years old when he got sick. He had the feline leucosis virus, which can*t be cured.
Ben, we send you many treats to wherever you might be....

Read also in John's blog about Ben. Click here

At our favorite cheese city "gruyere"

We just spent a sunny, relaxing weekend in Switzerland staying at John's parents house enjoying their hot tub :-) But we also drove to the city Gruyere famous for its cheese and its picturesque village. The picture below is taken from the Gruyere city wall,




John at a vineyard close to his parents house.

A dream castle in front of our door....

With our guests Bella and David from Armenia we went to Schloss Neuschwanstein again. It is always worth the trip, especially if one hasn't seen it yet. King Ludwigs Castle is impressive!

Back to the past

Shortly áfter our trip in France, I flew to the Alumni Meeting of my fieldhockey team in Radford, Virginia. And it was great! To see everybody again after so many years is very special!

Also, in a surprise ceremony head coach Jeff Woods was recognized for his 20 years of coaching the Highlanders with an endowment fund in his name.




You find more pictures and a link to a news article about the event on this page: www.kiki.info/RUFH_Alumni_2005/

Mont-Saint-Michel -- breathtaking!

We finished our trip to France and drove to MONT-SAINT-MICHEL in the Normandie. Perched on a rocky islet in the midst of vast sandbanks exposed to powerful tides between Normandy and Brittany stand the 'Wonder of the West', a Gothic-style Benedictine abbey dedicated to the archangel St Michael, and the village that grew up in the shadow of its great walls. Built between the 11th and 16th centuries, the abbey is a technical and artistic tour de force, having had to adapt to the problems posed by this unique natural site.

John taking pictures at the bay which is flooded at high tide.

Castle Tour through the Loire Valley

Since we were already in the Loire Valley, we added some days to tour through the beautiful Loire Valley. The castles there are just amazing. We saw 9 castles in 2 days and haven't seen all the castles. It is nearly impossible -- there is a castle at every corner...



The château d'USSE, Sleeping Beauty's castle, is a chateau of dreams... Charles Perrault, visiting in the 17th century, took inspiration from it when writing "Sleeping Beauty".

Wedding in a kilt

Our friends Sophie and John got married! It was a wonderful multicultural wedding: John being scottish wore a kilt, Sophie wore a beautiful wedding dress. The wedding was in the Loire Valley close to Sophies home Paris. Friends and family from Scottland, France and Germany celebrated a beautiful wedding in a chateau, a backpipe player was of course also there ;-)

Boh, why do you wake me up? I was asleep... my brother still is.....

Settlers of Catan World Record

Last weekend John and I drove to Chemnitz, which is about 4 hours away from Munich, to participate in a world record record attempt: Biggest Game of the world! And we made it :-) 806 players in totals played the game "Siedler of Catan" on one board distributed over two floors. Lots of fun!



Below part of the board on the first floor, ready to start!



Klaus Teuber, the author of the Siedler-Game was of course also there to watch this event and sign Siedler boards...



Click here for more info about the Game Siedler of Catan and "our" world record!

Intel inside -- Jerry outside :-)

No further comment needed...

4 Countries in 2 Hours

We just came from a wonderful weekend in Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein and Switzerland. On our way to Liechtenstein, we had to drive through 4 countries within only 2 hours.
The picture above shows a castle in Liechtensein with a vineyard in front.

Floods....

Dozens of people have died and thousands of homes have been destroyed across central Europe after days of torrential rains caused lakes and rivers to flood their banks, prompting some evacuations by helicopter.
Fatalities were also reported in Southern Germany, Switzerland, Bulgaria and Austria.
I took the picture above today. It shows the river "Isar", which is near our house. The photo spot is a about 5 Minute walk away from our house. As you can see, we are lucky, the "Isar" is below our house, so no danger for us.
The picture shows which is normally a peaceful river as a wild stream, that found ways to relieve pressure by spreading out. The water electricity station in the picture is being "ingnored" . The dam normally needs to be open to generate power. Now the water just goes around, no chance to control the water.

A day in Ben and Jerrys life

Tough Life! The daily schedule of Ben and Jerry is as follows: Sleeping 22 hours, eating (Ben 1 hour, Jerry 10 minutes), and toilet, cleaning, puking, playing. Oh, what a simple life...

Following King Ludwig II traces...

Bavaria once used to be a kingdom. One of their kings was Ludwig II, the "Märchenkönig". And all of his castles are not far away from us: Neuschwanstein, Linderhof, and Herrenchiemsee. We have been to all of them.

He is known by many nicknames: the Swan King, the Mad King of Bavaria, the Dream King, and Mad Ludwig. Was “Mad King Ludwig” mad? This is only one of many mysteries that surround the former Bavarian regent to this day. Ludwig II (Ludwig Friedrich Wilhelm) has become one of the most legendary figures in Bavarian and German history, a history full of legendary figures.

He managed to finish only one of them: Linderhof. John and I were there this weekennd. Like all of his castles quite impressive! Especially the artifical grotto near the castle, that was build by Ludwig as his personal opera house, but never used. The Swan boat on the picture shows one kitsch element of it.

Our "trip" around the world

I just visited my sister Heidi, my brother-in-law Uli and my nephew Luca. Main reason for my visit was Lucas birthday! One ofJohns and my gift for him was a puzzle. But not an ordinary one, but the world, round shaped out of many round shaped pieces. And it was lots of fun to see the world develop piece by piece, to discover land, to feel just like Columbus. The picture shows Luca dressed in world-fashion :-)

Lap Cats

Ben develops to also being a lap cat, just like his brother Jerry. So he took over Jerry's spot, "owned" by Jerry for many years. Confused that his spot is taken, Jerry decided to sit on John's leg to be close to "his" lap...
Old age doesn't mean that one cannot change, including cats ;-)

Poisonous Viper in our garden?

Yesterday we were informed by a local official that a poisonous viper might hang out in our garden. A garden worker from our next door neighbor was bit by it! Yikes!
According to an information page about viper poisoning, the so called "Kreuzotter" (Vipera berus) causes real pain, nausea, vomiting, headache, up to collaps and even respiratory paralysis....
Oh, by the way, we plan to have a garden party soon -- everybody is invited ;-) Maybe our special guest also shows up... (don't forget to bring your heavy boots and long trousers)

Cherry Tree Blossoms

Cherry Tree Blossom in Switzerland

In Memory of Sabrina

I just got the very sad message that Sabrina, a very good friend of mine, died Monday evening in a car accidant....
We knew each other for 20 years... I will miss her...
I want to give strength to her family and her little son, who was also in the car accidant but thankfully not injured.
Sabrina, wo auch immer Du jetzt sein magst, ich werde Dich nie vergessen! Deine Freundin Kerstin

Spring in our garden

Only 4 weeks ago they were still covered in snow, now they bloom colorful. Amazing how fast nature moves on :-)