DAY 1 - After the wedding: the reception

The reception was unlike anything we had ever experienced! The setting and the food served were very much royalty-like! There were waves of antipasti consisting of smoked salmon, various fish and meats, salads...there were roasted piglets, salmon filets, and ever more wine and "Champansky"!!!
During a lull in the waves of food, several entertainers consisting of a Vladimir Putin impersonator, a transvestite singer&dancer, and a belly dancer kept us laughing and on our toes. (Literally!) It was an evening I will never forget! I think the pictures say more than a thousand words!

First snow of the season!!!

The first snow has arrived! On Sunday morning we woke to a world in white. It stuck around for a day or so and was beautiful to look at! Today, again, it snowed over night! Oh boy, now it's really time to get those winter clothes out and to buy some heavy boots and a new coat! Carlo and I are travelling to Russia next weekend and it will be just a bit colder than here-so we'll have to bundle up!!!!

Our apartment

Here a few other pics from our recent furniture move and improvements.
Dining room (green), hallway (yellow) & office (brown)

Livingroom switch!

After all guests from Oktoberfest had returned to their homes we put some of their suggestions to good use and switched the livingroom furniture with the office in order to use the layout of our place a bit better. Now when you enter through the front door you step into the living room (blue) instead of the office. It has made a huge difference to have a friendly and inviting room to step into. The former office was just too cold and impersonal. Now Carlo has a room that he can close himself off from all distractions and is able to work and study. (brown room -former living room)
We love our 'new' place! Even though the pics are a few weeks old, you will get the idea of what we've done.

Dinner with friends-Carlo's name day feast

On Nov. 3rd Carlo and I held a dinnerparty in honor of his name day which was the next day. It was a fab night with great company. (Several of Carlo's coworkers, our neighbors, and a friend from London).

Two days of cooking and preparations preceded the big night. It all turned out to be a delicious feast!!!!

The menu included:

Antipasti- Olives, Bresaula, Capponata (typical Sicilian dip made with fried eggplants, kapers and olives, tomato sauce..), marinated artichokes, hummus

Pasta- Pasta Al Forno, with meat and without. (A baked pasta layered with fried eggplants, meat sauce, mozarella cheese and more layers of the same.)

Delicious wine!!!!

Secondi- Chicken Marsala, fresh spinach and portabella mushrooms

Desert- various cakes, ice cream, digestivo....

Carlo really knocked himself out and I surely learned quite a bit about Italian cooking. I'm starting to hold my own! :-)

Hope to have you at our dinnertable soon!

Cheers!

P.S. Sadly we only took one picture during the entire evening. I guess this means we had too good of a time to think about taking pictures! :-)

A walk in the woods.

This weekend I visited my girlfriends Janna and Gesine as they both celebrated their birthdays.
Among my 4 day stay I was able to capture some of the beautiful fall foilage along the way:

Fall weather-snow showers!

Just wanted to share a few pics from our first snow showers here in Munich. The leaves on the trees were still trying to hang onto their branches....

Weekend in Florence-home of Dante, Michelangelo and the Medici

Carlo and I took a quick weekend trip to Florence last weekend. I have to say it is the most beautiful city I have ever laid eyes on! WOW!!! The duomo, cathedral Santa Croce, the sculptures, Ponte Vecchio, the Ufizzi... just breathtaking! Carlo had a business conference on a nearby estate which belonged to NYU. It was an old villa with numerous sub-villas for conferences and business meetings. I spent Friday wandering the city and fighting my way through the crowds of many tourists. They came in swarms, just like grasshoppers! If you weren't careful you were caught in the group and swept along. Nevertheless the many crowds, the weather was great and I decided to climb the bell tower of the duomo. All 414 steps! After a grueling stairmaster-like experience I reached the top and was rewarded with a spectacular view all over Florence.
Later I strolled across Ponte Vecchio and pressed my nose against every jewlery shop on the bridge. Amazing craftsmanship they have on display! At the very end of the bridge I spotted the gelato place with the biggest heap of ice cream. I believe I took a picture. Will have to post it.

Carlo and I spent Saturday walking around the city and visiting Boboli Gardens at Palazzo Pitti. It was a nice stroll through a wonderful park with great views of the city.
The highlight of Saturday (and it seems there were many) was the visit of Cathedral Santa Croce. It is a beautiful church with the same green and pink and white marble facade as the duomo. Inside it houses unbelievable treasures as the tombs of Dante, Galileo and Michelangelo. The many frescos on the interior walls are so detailed and beautiful that I was in complete awe.
I could not believe that inside the marble tombs just a few feet in front of my nose laid such famous Florentinians as Dante and Galileo and Michelangelo. It really was quite special to pay hommage to such great men, who have left such a big legacy behind.
Tired from hours of walking, Carlo and I settled into a small wine bar in an even smaller side street. They served an age-old chianti, prosciutto and cheese and we were able to kick up our feet and realx until dinner.

Dinner was at a small artsy Italian food restaurant (what else!) which specialized in recipes and specialties from Florence.
They served porcini mushroom Tagliatelle, wild boar ragu, a lovely tomato soup and the BIGGEST florentinian steak I have ever seen in my entire life! (Even in Texas this steak would have commanded serious attention). It was as big as my head and almost as thick as my arm!

After our dinner we managed to secure a cab and return to Villa La Pietra, where we were going to stay that night.
It was a very special experience to stay in an ancient house filled with many prized pieces of art as old as the United States and older!

The morning brought a glorious view onto the city. Leaving for Munich seemed like a silly idea, but reality has to catch up with all of us sooner than later....