Goodbye 2011

Lucy said I must not close the year without another picture of her, so here it is.

Goodbye 2011!

Season's Greetings

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from Martin to all you who read this blog!

It was my nephew Benjamin's first Christmas -- how nice is it to celebrate it with a child in the round. The knitted cap, by the way, is from Iceland.

The other picture is a beautiful quiet evening mood, the crescent moon above the roofs of Fuggerei in Augsburg.

For tonight I'm invited to another Criminal Dinner -- it's costuming time again. Perhaps I'll show you a picture next year...

BMW-Museum

Gestern war ich mit Bart, der aus Holland zu Besuch hier ist, in München im BMW-Museum.

Womit soll Martin demnächst von A nach B kommen?

A)

B)

Cat Ideology

It is good to understand the inner workings of your cat.

Lucy

My little kitten is here! Oh, she is so cute. I gave her the name Lucy.






Lucy is 3 months old and still very playful (verspielt) -- but also very cuddly (verschmust). Right now she explores the whole apartment, which is her playground.




And the mousepad seems especially comfortable. :)

If some of you get e-mails now which look like

writ3333333322222222222222

-- you'll know it was her!

Széchenyi Bath

I must also show you a picture of the Széchenyi thermal bath that I visited yesterday morning. The building itself is truly amazing, like a Sanssouci castle in one way and like an ancient Roman bath in another way.

It has three big pools outdoors and lots of smaller pools indoors. And is open even in winter. Nothing is modern here except the new locker "watches".

Lots of old people go here (the water has therapeutic value), and you can watch the men playing chess in the water, just as they have done for 100 years.

Budapest

I used my new freedom to make a two-day trip (by train) to beautiful Budapest, the capital of Hungary.

It must have been 9 years or so since I last was here. Budapest, "the Paris of the East" lies picturesquely at the Danube that goes from North to South. To the west lies Buda, elevated on a hilly terrain, and to the east lies the "main" part on lower grounds, Pest. To be pronounced "Pesht".

In Buda, the best view is from the arcades and balcony of the Fisherman's Bastion (Fischerbastei) next to Matthias Church and the copper-glassed modern Hilton hotel.




I came to Budapest to see a friend, an old penpal from the Ukraine. We have not met for 15 years and it was lovely to see her again. She is going to Canada tomorrow. Sorry but I'm not allowed to show you a picture of her. So you must be content with a picture of just me.

Nikolausfeier

Auch dieses Jahr kommt wieder der Heilige Nikolaus mit seinem Knecht Ruprecht und bringt den braven Kindern Geschenke!

Free into Christmas time

It's December now and my freelance job has come to an end. So now I'm "really free" again and looking for a new emploment.

I turned down the Zurich offer and decided it's a priority for me to stay in Augsburg. So I'm looking only locally now.

And here's my first success of this year's Christmas cookie production. "Mandelhalbmonde", almond crescents, with Anja's special homemade raspberry jam in it. Yum!

And thanks to Lisa for your help! (Ich bring morgen welche zum Probieren vorbei!)