Bright, Victoria

We drove up to Bright for a few days to stay with Phil's parents. The boys love feeding the fish with Grampa. We have to remind them they are not allowed to throw stones in the fish pond. You are only allowed to throw stones in the river behind Granma and Grampa's house. 

Every morning Granma takes Jasper out for a walk. The boys love crossing over the "wobbly bridge" 

Scooter rides are always fun, and going down the hill is even better fun on the way into Bright on the walking and cycle track!

Watching the rosellas at the bird feeder

Playground in town

Painting rocks from the river

Melbourne, Quilt show at Jeff's Shed

Arrived down in Melbourne, and the first weekend was the Quilt Show! I spent lots of money on bits and pieces that I cannot get in Berlin. My best buy was the Q snaps for cross stitch. The angel pictures that I am working on are too big for the normal tapestry frame I usually use, and I cannot get the tension tight enough. The Japanese quilt exhibition was amazing, but you were not allowed to take photos.

Sydney

We went into the city to visit the regular sights. 

Our ferry friend Charlotte was in Circluar Quay, but the Alexander ferry was out in the harbour somewhere. We went up to the top of Centre Point Tower overlooking all of Sydney as well.

Visiting old haunts

We made a few visits to Gloria Jeans on this trip. Alexander and Cameron have missed Freddo Frogs. 

Funny how we have been gone 11 months, but Cameron remembers all the different colour sprinkles you can put on a baby chino!

Hannah

Karen and Steve had a baby girl last October. This is our first meeting.

 

Such a cutie! Note to self, remember to wash children's faces before taking cherished photos.

Sydney with Briana and Caitlin

After 27 hours of flying and airport stopovers, we arrived in Sydney. 

Staying at Briana and Caitlin's, and catching up with friends was great. 

Keeping Cass up until 12pm (alright for me I am still on Berlin time, but Cass has to get up for work in the morning). 

Phil had a course to do in the city for 5 days, so he stayed in town. Caught up with Douglas and his sisters, Thomas, and other friends...even a quick visit to the old school. Kind of felt like we have hardly left.

Winter in Summer holidays

The boys finished school today, 12 noon. We were on the 8.30pm flight out of Berlin heading back for 6 weeks. Berlin to Frankfurt, Frankfurt to Singapore, Singapore to Sydney.

Breakfast on the Reichstag rooftop

Lots of school families are leaving Berlin at the end of the school year. As a farewell to the friends we have gotten to know and love, we went to the Reichstag for a fancy breakfast. 

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Maureen, Frauke, Sonia, Anne, Michelle, Sarah, Leah, Jude, Jocelyn, Libby Anne, and in front, Nicole, Phoebe and Carol.

Italy wins 2006 World Cup

Photo from the Munich stadium 

ITALY have won the 2006 World Cup, and the incredible party that has been Weltmeisterschaft 2006 is over! Nicole and I were at a friend's birthday bash on Saturday to watch the Germany/Portugal (Germany 3:1) match, and we had a great time. It was a very pleasant evening and the results made everyone very happy! 

On Sunday, we went to Ingrid and Ulf's house to watch the big game - we settled into the garden and had wurst on the barbie, salads and a few beers. Ulf set the TV up outside and we all sat on garden chairs to watch the game. It was another warm evening, so it was great to sit outside.  Italy won on penalties.  

It has been a brilliant four weeks! Germany has had the best party atmosphere, and Berlin with all its live venues and events has been a great place to be. I have been very fortunate to have had the chance to see some games live, and have also enjoyed all of the different venues that were on offer for the public. The event was wonderfully organised, the weather was great and the football, for the most part, was good to watch!

As for the sweeps, Jocelyn and Alexander were the winners! When asked, Alexander still wanted France to win 'because they knocked Australia out'!, but he still takes home 80 Euros from the sweep.

The Modern Language

Alexander went swimming with his friend Isaiah today. They had a great time. They were playing a game where they pretended being eaten by sharks. Alexander was shouting "SMS, SMS, SAVE ME SOUL, SAVE ME SOUL".

I collected Alexander from Isaiah's house, and we found a couple of photo opportunities.  The official World Cup Berlin Bear, in the Kranzler Eck, and the soccer globe on the Ku'damn. 

World Cup #10 France/Portugal 1:0

I was down in Munich for the week on business, running a workshop for a group of countries at a lovely resort about one hour our of Munich. The opportunity came up for a ticket to the game.  It took me less than a nanosecond to say yes! 

So far, all of the live games I had seen had been at the OlympiaStadion in Berlin. I was very excited to be going to the brand new (1year old) Allianz Arena in Munich! This state-of-the art facility was known to be a great stadium to watch football, and it was! The stands are so steep that it took me a minute or two to get used to the height/steepness. After this, it was easy to enjoy the view - and it was clear that our seats near the back would still offer a fantastic view of the game. 

It was hot and humid, and the partly enclosed stadium ensured there was no breeze, so it felt very hot! What a game! The refereeing was the best I had seen all tournament - he didn't blow fouls for cheap diving, and allowed the game to be played in a tough but fair way. 

As soon as the Portugese (serial divers) understood the referees intentions , they stayed on their feet and played great football. The first half was a exciting to watch, and Zidane of France is so skillful he is a pleasure to see. It was open and exciting, with one goal from a penalty to France in the first half. 

The second half was slow paced, but with Portugal going to extra time against England, it was no surprise! The final result was fitting for the game, and now it is France versus Italy in the final in Berlin next weekend. 

 

After the game, I enjoyed the French celebrations, saw heaps of Aussies (there must be at least a 50 strong population of Green and Gold wearers in Munich for the game!), and stayed in Munich city overnight before heading back out of town to the workshop the next morning.