From Europe to Africa in America - A Sisters' Expedition

[lovealldisney]

These three years are coming to an end on August 31 and I will return to Nuremberg. I now got assigned working for the district court of Nuremberg as a judge and will start there on September 1, hearing civil cases. This might sound much more important to you than it really is. The judicial system in Germany is quite different from the one in the US and judges here aren't elected. It is a career as a civil servant which you chose directly after getting your law degree and completing two years of professional training.

Oh I really do hope we get to meet. I told my DH about you being a judge and he really is excited to talk to you about this! He is a police officer and is in court often and really wants to learn more about Germany's judical system.

Good luck with the move I hope everything goes smoothly.

And I do plan on getting to an Aldi in the North and the South! For some reason this has me so excited! (as you can see it doesn't take much to excite me!)

We have this little stuffed creature I don't know what it is, I saw it at a Target store clearanced after Valentines day it was so funny looking I had to buy it. My DH thought I was crazy I never laughed so hard. But it has these huge eyes and lips and it's shaped like the letter H. So I said I was buying him and we are taking him on our trip to take pictures with. So he may end up in a few pictures if we meet. I should post a picture of it. It's crazy looking.

 

[Lady Lallie]

I love the look of the Boardwalk area. I can't wait to stay there in January.

I'm looking forward to hearing how you liked Flying Fish.

Congrats on your new job.

 

[brookelizabeth]

I am loving all your BW pictures! They are making me even more excited!!! I love the detail shots you got, I've been in that lobby a couple times and haven't had the time to soak in those little things. I look forward to seeing it all!

I didn't like the Swolphin at all when I first saw them, and I'm still not terribly fond of the mix of colors and architecture, but the hotels inside are very nice. It's more of a typical hotel decor versus a theme, but it's still quite pretty. I still prefer the Disney resorts though.

Katharina found a tiny sofa:

This is completely adorable!!!! Katharina looks like a little doll on there!

Thank you for the personal update - I'm glad to hear its all working out well! I'm sure you have mixed emotions this week, it's always a bittersweet moment to leave a job and move on. I hope this week goes very well for you and the move goes smoothly! I look forward to hearing all about the meet.

 

[If U Had Wings]

I love all the pictures from the Boardwalk. I missed that "old time" picture when I was there. Probably because all I was noticing was the Christmas decorations. I'm looking forward to staying at the Beach Club this trip, but part of me was wishing I was going to be back at the Boardwalk again.

 

[Sleepingbooty]

I love the big sofa picture - reminds me of Little Edith Ann (Lily Tomlin) - anyone remember that?

 

[eandesmom]

That sofa picture is a riot! How pretty pretty are those lobby pictures, I'd love to sit in one of those rocking chairs too!

I enjoyed the personal update and hope the move goes well. Enjoy your 2.5 weeks of well deserved vacation and your meet with Liesa! I will look forward to seeing the pictures when I get back!

 

[glennbo123]

Magdalene and Katharina, another nice update. I loved the picture of Katharina on the big sofa! I'm surprised I haven't seen that in a TR before.

Best wishes Magdalene, during your move. Wow, you'll be a judge! I'm sure that it IS just as important as it sounds.

I love the big sofa picture - reminds me of Little Edith Ann (Lily Tomlin) - anyone remember that?

Didn't she always end that bit by saying "And that's the truth! Pfffbbt"?

Nope, don't remember it. I'm not that old.

 

[IBelieveInTheMagic]

Hi there!

I'm here reading along and wanted to wish you all the best with your transition from Berlin back to Nuernberg. I know you'll miss Katharina but you guys are never too far away via an ICE (train) I hope

I can't wait to hear about the meeting with Liesa!

Enjoy your last days in Berlin and I do hope to bump into you in Nuernberg in the future on a return visit.

Oh yeah...that picture of Katharina in the chair is so adorable!!!

Heather

 

[Flossbolna]

Oh I really do hope we get to meet. I told my DH about you being a judge and he really is excited to talk to you about this! He is a police officer and is in court often and really wants to learn more about Germany's judical system.

I am sure that we will be able to work out a meet! I think it would be really interesting to talk with your DH about our professions!

Good luck with the move I hope everything goes smoothly.

Thanks!!

And I do plan on getting to an Aldi in the North and the South! For some reason this has me so excited! (as you can see it doesn't take much to excite me!)

I love checking out foreign supermarkets! I had never seen a Walmart before I was in Florida in 2004 and one of the must do things on my list was visiting a Walmart!

We have this little stuffed creature I don't know what it is, I saw it at a Target store clearanced after Valentines day it was so funny looking I had to buy it. My DH thought I was crazy I never laughed so hard. But it has these huge eyes and lips and it's shaped like the letter H. So I said I was buying him and we are taking him on our trip to take pictures with. So he may end up in a few pictures if we meet. I should post a picture of it. It's crazy looking.

How funny! I think that's a great idea to have for pictures! I will happily pose with him! I think you need to give him a name, though!

I love the look of the Boardwalk area. I can't wait to stay there in January.

I'm looking forward to hearing how you liked Flying Fish.

Congrats on your new job.

I thought that you and Brook might enjoy this update especially! Flying Fish will be up soon!

I am loving all your BW pictures! They are making me even more excited!!! I love the detail shots you got, I've been in that lobby a couple times and haven't had the time to soak in those little things. I look forward to seeing it all!

I thought you would love this update! I am so much looking forward to your TR with your BW photos. I am sure you will get plenty! Some of mine are rather blurry, but we were really running through there...

I didn't like the Swolphin at all when I first saw them, and I'm still not terribly fond of the mix of colors and architecture, but the hotels inside are very nice. It's more of a typical hotel decor versus a theme, but it's still quite pretty. I still prefer the Disney resorts though.

I read somewhere recently about the difference between "themed experience" and "themed decoration" the first one being one that reall immerses you in a different world (think AKL) and the other one that just has a certain theme to the decoration (think All Stars). I think the Swolphin is just themed decoration and that's why we don't like it as much.

This is completely adorable!!!! Katharina looks like a little doll on there!

Yes, that was the look we were going for!

Thank you for the personal update - I'm glad to hear its all working out well! I'm sure you have mixed emotions this week, it's always a bittersweet moment to leave a job and move on. I hope this week goes very well for you and the move goes smoothly! I look forward to hearing all about the meet.

Thank you! It is a strange place to be in at the moment, I don't like these moments in life when everything is set to move to a new situation, but you are still stuck in the old one. But things will change very soon now!

I love all the pictures from the Boardwalk. I missed that "old time" picture when I was there. Probably because all I was noticing was the Christmas decorations. I'm looking forward to staying at the Beach Club this trip, but part of me was wishing I was going to be back at the Boardwalk again.

I thought the old time picture was very funny since they obviously made up a past that never was there... I think if the Boardwalk had the Beach Club pool this would be a very strong contender for my all time favourite hotel at WDW. But AKL still has a very high place for me as well. I am sure you will have fun at the BC, though. Is this your first time staying there?

I love the big sofa picture - reminds me of Little Edith Ann (Lily Tomlin) - anyone remember that?

I have not heard of Little Edith Ann, but I googled her and found out that I know Lily Tomlin - due to her role as presidential secretary Deborah Fiderer on the West Wing.

I love that picture, too!

 

[Flossbolna]

That sofa picture is a riot! How pretty pretty are those lobby pictures, I'd love to sit in one of those rocking chairs too!

We saw that sofa and thought it looked so funny because it was so oversized. I am really glad that we had the idea of adding Katharina into the picture to give it some perspective!

And you will have the chance to sit in one of those rocking chairs soon! The BW is just a stroll from the YC!!

I enjoyed the personal update and hope the move goes well. Enjoy your 2.5 weeks of well deserved vacation and your meet with Liesa! I will look forward to seeing the pictures when I get back!

Thanks! And I intend to not worry about moving all the time during the vacation time I have!

Magdalene and Katharina, another nice update. I loved the picture of Katharina on the big sofa! I'm surprised I haven't seen that in a TR before.

Thanks! I really like that picture as well! It also shows that Katharina is my little sister! Something I like to point out to her now and then...

Best wishes Magdalene, during your move. Wow, you'll be a judge! I'm sure that it IS just as important as it sounds.

Thank you! I did not mean to imply that it isn't a responsible job, but it isn't like in the US where they are elected and such... We also have many more judges in relation to the population than in the US I once read, so it isn't as exclusive.

Hi there!

I'm here reading along and wanted to wish you all the best with your transition from Berlin back to Nuernberg. I know you'll miss Katharina but you guys are never too far away via an ICE (train) I hope

Hi Heather! Yes, it is only 4.5 hours by ICE train and we were pretty good about seeing each other quite regularly even before I moved to Berlin. So I am sure that we will continue that!

I can't wait to hear about the meeting with Liesa!

I hope to post a short update from my parents' computer. Have to remember to pack all my cables for my camera to download the pictures!

Enjoy your last days in Berlin and I do hope to bump into you in Nuernberg in the future on a return visit.

Thanks! And I do very much hope that you will get in touch when you come to Nuremberg. I would love to meet you!

Oh yeah...that picture of Katharina in the chair is so adorable!!!

Thanks! It appears to be the huge hit in this update!

 

[Flossbolna]

I promised you pictures from my England vacation. I have uploaded the London pictures (and added explanatory titles) into an album on photobucket which is accessible HERE

It will require an album password which is: England2010

I did not want to clutter the TR with several off topic picture posts. But if you have any questions about the pictures, please feel free to post them here!

One additional comment: Platform 9 3/4 plays a role in the Harry Potter books and there is actually some additional information about it to be found on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platform_9¾#Platform_Nine_and_Three_Quarters

And I hope to add the pictures from the coast and our hiking tour soon as well!

 

[RachelTori]

Amazing pictures, Magdalene. Thanks for sharing! I especially love the pictures from Buckingham Palace Cafe (yum!) and Regent's Park.

Best of luck in your new job assignment.

 

[Flossbolna]

Amazing pictures, Magdalene. Thanks for sharing! I especially love the pictures from Buckingham Palace Cafe (yum!) and Regent's Park.

Best of luck in your new job assignment.

I am glad you enjoyed them! I thought my DIS friends would love the themed food from the Cafe!

 

[lovealldisney]

All I can say is those pictures were WOW! I LOVE the pictures of Regent Park! My DH and I love to garden (he more than me) we would have spent all day there. Such beautiful flowers. I wish our gardens looked like that!

 

[PNO4TE]

I love the big sofa picture - reminds me of Little Edith Ann (Lily Tomlin) - anyone remember that?

That was the very first thing I thought of!

 

[PNO4TE]

I loved your little sidetrip of photos from England, Magdalene. Thanks! Also, let me add my congratulations to a new beginning! I hope you enjoy your new job.

 

[brookelizabeth]

Thank you so much for sharing your pictures! They are beautiful! The architecture is amazing...I really enjoy skylines with both new and old architecture, for some reason it just makes it all the more beautiful to me. The one bridge (I believe it was a pedestrian bridge), a new one, caught me as well - it was very interesting looking! I liked it. I think the picture of the canal was my favorite!

I read somewhere recently about the difference between "themed experience" and "themed decoration" the first one being one that reall immerses you in a different world (think AKL) and the other one that just has a certain theme to the decoration (think All Stars). I think the Swolphin is just themed decoration and that's why we don't like it as much.

Thank you! It is a strange place to be in at the moment, I don't like these moments in life when everything is set to move to a new situation, but you are still stuck in the old one. But things will change very soon now!

That makes a lot of sense about the "themed experience" versus the "themed decoration". I think the CR is a gray line between the two - perhaps even a bit on the "themed decoration" side, and that might be why a lot of people don't like the look of it as much. I think it's an amazing building - and the rooms are beautiful, so I like it. I'm not so keen on BLT...but Joe is!

I COMPLETELY agree with you about that "spot" in life. We were there for a loooooong time between Minnesota and New York, it was frustrating and almost depressing after a while. I'm SO glad to be IN the new life! Yours will be very, very soon!

Henry's contribution:

 

[klacey1]

Beautiful pictures!! I love England-- London is one of my favorite cities in the world!

 

[All7OfUs]

WoW! Mikki and I sat and enjoyed your London pix today, and were really impressed by the gardens and just calm beauty we saw there.

I thought those cute little souvenirs and cocoa dusting of the crown were simply adorable!! So fun!

Thanks for sharing those with us!

 

[TyRy]

We explored the Swan/Dolphin last time too and fuound that while it was nice, it just didn't have that "Disney" feel to it. We even had a chance to look at a hotel room, and it could have been anywhere in the world. They just really don't seem to be for us. Now if that's the only way we could go was by staying there, then we'd probably do it. But I'd be whiney the whole time being so close to Boardwalk and Beach Club!

I'm glad you were able to have a drink at the BW...we stayed there and did not have that opportunity. I think you are right about early ADR's..ours are always so late and we never can do much afterwards.

I'm excited for your new opportunity as a judge, although I know it will be difficult be a bit farther from Katharina than you have been the past three years. I can't remember if I ever mentioned it, but one of my closest friends in my town is from Nuernberg. She was just home at Christmastime. It's a small world.

Loved the London pictures...especially the 9 3/4 track shot!