More Ljubljana, Slovenia

Central Ljubljana has a pedestrian zone leading through the historic town, and trails that lead up to the castle overlooking the city. The small town is surprisingly cosmopolitan with a very young and informal edge.

Getting Settled in Munich II ???

Jon & Annie at the famous Augustine Brau, one of many German dinners we had over the weekend
Catch a wave in Munich, with near freezing water. An outlet of the Isar river entering the English Gardens makes for a perfect wave and a wintertime outing.
Sophia getting ready for her big Halloween bash at school. Actually - she can't wait to wear her Cinderella outfit with her sparkly glass slippers.

Getting Settled in Munich???

If you ever want to add spice to your life, consider moving to a new country with a new language and doing a new job. Then be sure to work with a relocation company which proves incapable of finding a temp or permanent apartment (Moya found both of ours). Oh yeah, make sure you move during the busiest time of the year where there are no hotel rooms for 100 KM.

Needless to say, our first month in Munich has been an adventure. The good news is that we have selected a wonderful apartment, and will have a great temp apartment until we move in after Christmas. The other good news is that Sophia is going to the best school, and that Moya just seems to roll with the punches - no matter what.

On the fun side of things, we're taking the All Saints holiday and driving up for the day to Garmish up in the Bavarian Alps. And in a couple of weeks, we will migrate south for the Winter as we pay a visit to our wonderful friends Nick, Ana and their daughter Ida in Vincenza, Italy. It's about a 4.5 hour drive.

To keep our spirits high, two of the coolest people we know from Paris - Jon & Annie joined us in Munich for a few days. We took full advantage of their cancelled Air France flights (strike) to go on a walking tour of Munich, enjoy one of the last days of the year sunny enough to be outside, and became great fans of the Augustiner Brau (which just so happens to be right across the street from us). The famous beer hall is subsidized by the Augustiner brewery, which stands just beyond its entrance.

Munich in the Snow

So it really isn't this bad...yet, but we did wake up to a shower of snowflakes this morning. Small, but continuous.

We had some flakes yesterday when we went to the fruit & vegetable market for our supply, but didn't think too much about it because it is OCTOBER for goodness sake...

Sophia thinks the snow is good. She keeps walking over to the windows & just gazing outside.

It must be ingrained in our subconsciousness that snow = fun!

Sophia Update

Sophia has been so great through out this whole transition, although she is starved for other kids & next week, when she is actually able to play with her school friends the whole week, I think she will be sufficiently socialized.

Anyway, she is fascinated by ages right now. Not how old we are, but how old you have to be in order to do certain activities...

"When I am 4, I can go to the ball room at IKEA"

"When I am 5, I can ice skate by myself"

"When I am 10, I can go to Nana's on my own"

and my personal favorite

"when I am 21 I can stand up on the table"
as long as she is dancing at Oktoberfest, I'm okay with that....

Update on the Zs - Paris to Munich

Its been a while since we've passed on actual news to everyone, and so here you go...

On Sept 30th we completed our move from Paris to Munich. It was almost a week in a hotel in Paris, then into another in Munich (in the middle of Oktoberfest) while we looked for a temporary and permanent apartment. (Apartment hunting is difficult in Munich!!) After a few days we did manage to find a temp apartment, but we can't move in until the 17th, so we tried to extend our stay in the Munich Hotel. Unfortunately there was no room, and after a few more days we decided it would be easier for Troy if Sophia & I flew to Seattle until the 17th. Fortunately, we made it in time for Papa's 65th birthday extravaganza!!

The good news is that Troy has found an apartment for us in Munich, and signed the paperwork today so it is all finished. Unfortunately we can't move in until Jan 1st. So we have a few more months in temp housing. But at least we will have 2 bedrooms!

Sophia is doing great with the transition, although she really misses her Nanny from Paris. She is in a bi-lingual kindergarten, and LOVES it! When I went to pick her up on the second day she started crying! She will be really excited to get back there...

Besides the move, our other big news is that we are going to have another baby. As of yesterday I am 13 weeks along, and the due date is sometime between April 20-28th. (good post-tax season timing) It was quite a relief to go to the doctor in the US. Pre-natal care is wonderful in France, but there is something to be said about talking medical information with someone in both of your native languages... Anyway, baby is healthy & growing & kicking & doing all of the stuff it is suppossed to. Sophia is very excited about being a big sister, and keeps talking about her baby brother... Silly girl.

So that is our latest. We'll be back in Munich on Wednesday and will have lots more adventures to talk about then. In the meantime, Seattle has been wonderful & Sophia is having a great time with Nana & Papa. There is something to be said about escaping life every once in a while...

At some point we are going to have to change the name of the blog - any suggestions?

First Day in Munich

After a bit of a somber flight from Paris to Munich, we checked into our hotel, and immediately (like within 10 min) were out the door and walking along the Isar river, the anchor of Munich in many ways. During the summers you can find hundreds of locals sunbathing on the rocky islands in the middle of the river (some with/some without clothes). This time of year, it makes for a wonderful way to see a bit of nature while you are in the heart of the city. We enjoyed our last tastes of sunshine, as we anticipate the cold days ahead.

Dancing in Munich

Munich: evening dance around the fountain
Video sent by moyamz

Biking at Versailles

Biking at Versailles
Video sent by moyamz

Last day in Paris

Sophia showing off her new gloves (look at my fingers!) and hat... It was a cold day on the bikes...

To make sure that our last day in Paris was fun & not full of tears (sob) we took a drive out to Versailles & spent the day in the gardens, soaking up a little sunshine, a bike ride, and time on the boats...

What an amazing time we have had in Paris, and we can't believe it is over. I know that Munich is wonderful & the lifestyle will be great for a family (green grass that we can run on!), but we'll miss Paris.