Merry Christmas

Dear all,



we wish you all a very Happy Christmas and a
joyous holiday season as well as a prosperous New Year!

Presse here and you have fun! :-)

See you soon on our side!

Chicks weekend in Toronto

This weekend Suse and her friends were visiting Toronto ( and me! :-))

Today I made great pictures of Suse on our trip to the Niagra Falls...

Thanks for the great weekend, it was sooooo cool to have you here!!

Suse at the Hardrock Café

Quebec 29-30 November 08

Last weekend we visited Quebec city (& Lac Beauport) and enjoyed a very relaxing weekend with Matthew, Dominique and their kids. But not only that, by accident Kathi and Eike (our German friends in Toronto) were also in the City, so we met them for a late lunch in town.

Quebec is a very nice litte European looking city.The city itself is definitly different in comparison to the rest of Canada (or what we have seen so far...). The language (French), steep, narrow streets, and old buildings leaves a comfy impression. As we learned, the old city is basically divided into two parts – the upper town and the lower town.
After walking around, we headed for the Château Frontenac, the hotel that dominates the city skyline. We decided for a drink inside because it was very cold, but unfortunatly we weren´t allowed because of the kids (they were sleeping in the trolley!). In general one is not allowed to rest in a bar with children....???!!!!!!!
When we stepped outside again Matthew and I had a Maple lolly, They pour hot maple syrup on the snow and you roll it up on a stick like a lolly....see here.

Afterwards we met Eike and Kathi, we all decided for a late lunch in the nearest Restaurant...because of the "freezing factor."

After lunch, we walked down to the old city. while having a snowball-fight :-) we enjoyed nice Christmas lightnings and went back to the parking place to drive home to their house, to enjoy a warm and cozy evening in front of the open fire place.....
On Sunday we had to go back at around lunchtime...before that we went out for a walk and tried the sledge in the snow.
Thanks to Family Kowalczyk for the wonderful weekend in Quebec..!!!!!

NOVEMBER

Okay, long time no post, but today I report about our November...no, you Germans: It didn´t rain a lot, in the beginning of the month I was sitting in a T-Shirt on the patio...but I have to admit, winter came without a warning...last week it was cooooool. (I urgently neeeeeeed a new winterjacket! :-)) but until today it was no comparison to Hamburg. "Schmuddelwetter" arrived...:-(

Okay where do I start?

The first weekend of the month Matthew, Dominique, Sophia and newborn Elsa visited us in Toronto. As always we had a funny weekend...Matthew and I were very excited because of the soccer game on Saturday...during all our friends in Germany are watsching soccer with a drink, we are watching the game with our first coffee :-) The exciting thing was, that another member of the TRUE BLUE HOFFENHEIM FAN CLUB joined us to watch the game (just to mention it: there where times when Matthew and I celebrated in Hoffenheim years ago....) :-)))))))) Kai, you remember that..don´t you??

During Kai was studying we went out for a walk on Sunday. Because of the weather we shortend the walk and enjoyed some drinks at the "Rectory Café "(which we really recommend ) on the Island . Other friends of Matthew joined us. I found it funny that the 3 girls of us are 3 different cultures...and that´s the picture I have of Toronto: Multicultural!!!

Last Week, Saturday 15 November, I was invited to a SatC-Revival! 5 Chicks enjoyed dinner at Kathis (and Eikes) home. In the end it was a tastiness casserol (yes, electricity is tricky here in Canada!!!!!!). Pictures will follow ...I don´t received them yet.

Whenever I have fun, Kai took the chance to study...sorry Kai...hm, should I put in some "financial rules"?!?!

Ok. Last week the winter said "hello", I took the chance to start visiting Toronto´s museums...the first one for know was the AGO (Art Gallary Ontario), it reopened on 14 Nov. after approx. one year. The museum itself is very nice...not only Canadian but also a lot of European Art is exposed there. After 4 hours I was exhausted. To much art&culture for Tanne!

Friday we went to the movies...007 Quantum of solace..I think I have to watch it again. I really was in trouble with Daniel´s accent...! :-(

On Saturday, Kai and I went to Buffalo to meet Frank a colleague and friend.

I decided to look for a new warm jacket and also a toque. (Mütze) As you can see here...we had fun!!

In the evening we had dinner in an very old but traditional restaurant. We was told that they were first serving the famous buffalo chicken wings. (hm, can´t remember the name...)

It only take us 1.5 hours from Buffalo back to Toronto (thanks to the nice border guards that day!!) Kai drove me home while I was sleeping!

This was our November so far....

Now your are all updated! CU soon...

surprise, surprise

Back in Toronto I would like to report about our trip to Seattle...

It all started aprox. 6 weeks ago, the day Sebe (a good friend of us) skyped with Kai talking about a gig in Seattle (he must have forget to mention the gig in Los Angeles...otherwise we would have been flying to LA...). Because Seattle is not sooooo far away Kai proposed to surprise Sebe and the rest of the band "Sylvan" by joining their concert in Seattle. Okay, we sort it out and decided to go to Seattle.

For me it was ...hey we will fly to Seattle...cool and our accountants said, "it´s strange, never heard about going to Seattle for holidays...":-)

So, we did last week. We left on the 13th October...It´s a 4,5 hour flight to Seattle and 3 hour difference in time. (At this time I don´t have to mention that we had a terrific sunny fall when we left, do I? ;-))

When we arrived in Seattle it rained cats and dogs...

But the next day- THE DAY OF OUR SURPRISE! - the sun came up and we prepared ourselves to make a sightseeing tour by walking around. It´s a nice city...from the famous Pike Place Market, to the pioneer square, to shopping...to the concert...!!

Kai and I played hide-and-seek until the concert started, so the band couldn´t see us. During the first song I jumped up and down and took some pictures until Sebe finally saw me ...and Kai.

It was so funny to see his face and the ? on his forehead...because he´d never expected us our surprise worked out successfully!!! :-)

The next day we spent our day with the guys by going shopping. (by the way - I never went shopping with 6 men...that was really a new expierence... !) In the evening it started raining again, but never mind...we enjoyed a very nice dinner at an Italian Restaurant Seattle downtown.

The next few days Kai and I left Seattle to visit Vancouver, THE GREAT CITY on the West coast.

After a rainy day (lovely sunshine in Toronto) in a less nice hotel..., not able to rebook our flights (not under 400 $ - that´s a long story) we left Vancouver (the reason for the quick leaving was the weather and that we were saturated with shopping...WE DEFINETLY HAVE TO and WILL BE BACK!!) to drive all the way back to Seattle. At least it didn´t rain there. We visited the Science fiction museum as well as the EMP-Center and in the evening to the movies to watch "W"...(sorry, Mr. president...I dropped off!! But Kai said it was more "self-critical" than expected!!).

To summerize...nice city, succesful surprise, good to see the guys, rainy days, no shopping anymore..(okay..;-)) and glad to be home again...(when we arrived Saturday night at home we met some people in the elevator...he saw us, tired with lots of bags...his only comment was "home sweet home" - smiling! :-) he could read our minds...!!

And here are some pictures as usual! Take care!

Indian Summer at the Algonquin Provincial Park

Hi everybody,

back from our short trip to the Algonquin park with Kais parents we don´t want to keep our pictures back from you. We enjoyed 3 nice, sunny (but freezing) days right in the middle of the park during the famous indian summer at the killarney lodge, which we can recomment. On the lake it was soooo quiet, Peter said "it hurts"...Our ears which are trained to loudness of cars, voices etc. got a shock ;-)

Here are some information about algonquin: Algonquin Provincial Park? It is a provincial park located between Georgian Bay and the Ottawa River in central Ontario. It is the first provincial park in Canada having been established in 1893. It covers about 7630 sqm. Its size, combined with its proximity to the major urban centres of Toronto and Ottawa make it one of the most popular Provincial parks in the province and moreover the entire country.



And here are the pictures...enjoy!

LAS VEGAS

Kai and I left for Las Vegas on the 20 September and came back late on 26th. (and we are not marriaged!!!) ;-) Our colleagues were very keen to organize a wedding in one of those

"beautiful " chapels, entertained by Elvis and friends, but...sorry....)

It was a great experience even though we had a lot to do for work. Unfortunately we both got a cold because of the chance in temperature of the air con. From 40 to 20 and back to 40 dregrees (Celsius)...But the exhibition and the "Las Vegas expierience" was very good. Even if I feel not to go there again... How can people sit all day and night in one of the 1000 casinos and gamble...?!

On the last day in the afternoon we had a few hours and took the chance to leave for the desert...have a look at the pictures.

guitar hero...

Sorry, I was too busy to update our blogg because I (or we) had to play the guitar...sometime we are losers and sometimes winners...lets see how it looks like playing the guitar...bambambam, bambambabaaam.....you rock!!!

Saturday at Wasaga beach - Boules

What a great day! We spent our Saturday at Wasaga beach again.
Chrisi, Enna, Sascha, Kai and me .
A little bit of everything made our day (frisby, swimming, soccer, Americ. football, kiting and boules! In the meantime we had something to eat, no worries...)

Kai and Sascha, you are great boules player....Chrisi, we have to practice a little bit...;-)

And here are the rules, guys (!):

Bocce is traditionally played on an oyster shell court, but has also been played on decomposed granite, soil, or asphalt courts approximately 20 to 27 metres in length and 2.5 to 4 metres wide, sometimes with wooden boards of approximately 15 centimetres in height surrounding the court. Bocce balls can be made of metal[6], wood, stone, or various kinds of plastic. Unlike lawn bowls, bocce balls are spherical and have no inbuilt bias.

A game can be contested between two players, or two teams of two, three, or four. A court match is started by a randomly chosen side being given the opportunity to throw a smaller ball, the jack (called a pallino or a boccino in some areas), from one end of the court into a zone about 5 metres in length, ending 2 metres from the far end of the court. If they miss twice, the other team is awarded the opportunity to place the jack anywhere they choose within the prescribed zone. At this time the team that attempted to put the jack into play first gets to roll the first ball.
The side that places the jack is given the opportunity to bowl first. Once the first bowl has taken place, the other side has the opportunity to bowl. From then on, the side which does not have the ball closest to the jack has a chance to bowl, up until one side or the other has used their four balls. At that point, the other side bowls its remaining bocce balls. The team with the closest bocce ball to the jack is the only team that can score points in any frame. The scoring team receives one point for each of their balls that is closer to the jack than the closest ball of the other team. The length of a game varies by region, but is typically played to 11, 12, or 13 points.
Players are permitted to throw the ball in the air using an underarm action. This is generally used to knock either the jack or another ball away to attain a more favourable position. Tactics can get quite complex when players have sufficient control over the bocce ball to throw or roll it accurately.

Window washer - profession of your dreams?

During my work at home suddenly a window washer appeared ...no worries, its just the 33rd floor ;-) Unfortunately he was wearing a shirt and didn´t have a coke light in his hands...but...respect!!

Hair cut experience

Hi there,

yesterday I had a hair-do. It was - after 6 years at the same hairdresser in Germany (greetings to Maike) - my first experience with a hairdresser in Canada. I felt like a little kid, when she was cutting my hair....Ahhhhh......but in the end, I am ok with it and it was not the first time one told me that I have an "egghead", I am comfortable with it....;-)

Friday evening - enjoy our view ...

Weekend on the island!

P.S. I was the photographer, sorry ;-)

Summer is back!

Hi there!

since the weekend the summer in Toronto is back. (it wasn´t really gone but a lot of thunderstorms went through...)

Our "neighbor" (next condominum, approx. floor 25) enjoys every single sunny day IN HER APPARTMENT behind the window - nude!!!! (why nobody tell her that she doesn´t get a tan across glass ;-)) (we will see if we can make a shot....)

Because of the nice weather I went to the beaches again, this time I chose me blades, it was fantastic and I thought by myself, how wonderful life can be...(if one doesn´t have to work in the afternoon...) I enjoyed some time reading a book an took that picture while I put off my blades to lie down on the beach.....enjoy!

"I-Tanne"

There were times I was not interested in technical things...until I arrived in Canada (and to be honest - I am not really interested in them now, but...) Staying with Kai makes it necessary to study at least some of those little things...! I never thought that I wouldn´t be able to switch on the TV, or the DVD, or....but it´s not so easy...:-)

When I started working it became necessary to search for a new cellphone (it was more a doctorial theses...) In Canada you are not getting a contract and a cellphone...no. You have to pay for everything. And if you are not paying attention, you are unable to call people because "it´s not in the package"...but make a long story short...I bought an I-PHONE 3 G!!! Tataaaa!!!

I can tell you...it was the best decision (as a non-interested person in technical things) because it makes life easier!!! (you are welcome, apple!!!)

Since than I have a new nickname: I-Tanne! ;-)

Have a good one!

Changes???

Some of you might wonder how we arrange our relationship here in Toronto?

Maybe you get a better idea, now??? :-)