London

Over the MLK holiday weekend, Shelly and I went to London with 4 friends from the clinic. We all had a great time, although there is just too much to see to do everything we wanted. We will be going back, hopefully when the dollar is doing a little better.

After arriving on Friday night we got a little taste of home at The Outback Steakhouse. A couple people in our group had been to London before so we all split up on Saturday so that the newbies (us) could go see all the sights. Shelly and I were able to see Big Ben, Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, 10 Downing Street, we walked along the Mall up to Buckingham Palace, took an awesome tour at the Tower of London and pretty much walked all over central London. Saturday night our group met up for a show - The Producers, a funny show in its own right, but was made even more funny due to the fact that we live in Germany. If you've seen the play, you will understand.

On Sunday our group went for a walk through Hyde Park and then made our way to central London and hit a few of the pubs. Sunday night we got another sample of home as we watched the NFL playoffs at a sports bar downtown. Watching the games was like food for the soul. We usually can only stay up for the early NFL games due to the time difference, but this weekend we had Monday off and were able to stay up and enjoy the games. It has been a long time since we have enjoyed the full sports bar atmosphere - huge screens (all dedicated to AMERICAN football), fans cheering and yelling, it was great. Our whole trip was great. We enjoy Germany, but being in London was more like being at home. The Brits are more like us, the sense of humor, courtesy, everything just made us feel more at home.

Next time we go to London we will try to make a trip out to Stonehendge and Windsor Castle, and hit of few of the pubs we missed this time.

--Ed

Steve, Mike and Ed waiting for our flight

A little bit of home at the Outback Steakhouse

Shelly and Ed at the Houses of Parliament

Dr Who's time machine

A double-decker bus!!

Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament

Ed and Shelly at Buckingham Palace

The changing of the horse guard

Pure genius!

Shelly and Ed at the Tower Bridge

The "beefeater" Tower of London tour

Taking a walk through Hyde Park

Our group having lunch and beer(s) at Salisbury pub

Say hello to...

Madison, we think. Dr. Weber said we are at a 95% chance of a girl; in his words we "should start settling on girl names, but we should not start investing in pink just yet." So until the baby becomes less modest and decides to give up the goods, I guess the baby's name is still To Be Determined.

The image below is from Shelly's now monthly check up this past Thursday where she was at 17 weeks, 6 days. All the tests of both mother and baby are perfectly normal, and early ultrasound images provided negative results on the early indicators for Downs Syndrome and Spina Bifida.

Shelly has gained 7 pounds since the deed was done, and did not go through a classic morning sickness period; she did have sort of an all day feeling of motion sickness, but that has passed. To Be Determined is measuring right on average for total size, head size and bone development.

We are working on a baby registry online and I will post that information once we have the items finalized.

--Ed

Madison (?) at 17 weeks, 6 days

New Year 2006

Happy New Year! We hope 2006 finds everyone healthy and happy. Shelly and I spent the New Year weekend in Prague, about a 5 1/2 hour drive from here - 4 1/2 in the BMW :)

Prague is a neat city; it is similar to many cities in Europe with a river, an old bridge, gothic cathedral, and of course a castle. However, Prague has a uniqueness to it that gives the city a different feel. Perhaps it is the fact that Prague was part of the Soviet block less than 20 years ago. Or it could be the abundance of cafes and pubs, and the colorful Baroque architecture throughout the city. Whatever the reason, Prague has a different vibe to it than we've found other places.

It also has very cold weather. The weather slowed us down since we were constantly ducking into a cafe or pub to warm up a bit. Of course, this did offer the opportunity to sample a Budvar; the original Budweiser beer. Budvar is brewed in the pilsner brewing method, which was developed in Czech. The Czech people drink more beer per capita than any other country. This isn't very surprising since the beer is excellent and as it is cold has all hell here in the winter there isn't a whole lot else to do but tilt back a few pints.

The holiday closures and the frequent stops to warm up kept us from seeing all we wanted to see so we are going to plan a second trip - during a warmer time of year.

We actually did not stay for New Years Eve. Our plan was to spend New Years Eve downtown, then leave for home on the 1st. Unfortunately, public transportation to our hotel outside the city did not run past midnight. Our hotel offered to ring a taxi for us if we called two hours ahead, but we had heard that taxi service in Prague was sketchy so we didn't feel this was a reliable option. So for us to get downtown and have a reliable means of returning to the hotel we would have had to drive our new car into Prague, a place known for car vandalism and theft, on New Years Eve. Not-gonna-happen. So we grabbed a late lunch on the 31st, another Budvar then made our way back to the hotel and packed up. We made it home by 10 PM, making the 5 1/2 hour trip in 4 hours - you just have to love unrestricted speed limits and a BMW 330i.

The cold weather puts a damper on your willingness to stop and snap a bunch of pictures, but I have a few below. Prague is full of great photo ops; I'll just have to capture them next time.

We fly to London on the 13th for the MLK weekend with some friends from the dental clinic.

--Ed

Entering Czech

Shelly by the Vltava River

Shelly at the Charles Bridge

Taking a break from the cold with a Budvar

Prague Christmas market at the Old Town Square

The house band at U Fleku

Ed enjoying the home brew at U Fleku