Gutentag

Greetings from Germany, where we are catching friends and family up with this uber-long post. We will be here for one more day before heading back to Taj. We've been serving as staff at a conference, which isn't too conducive to interesting blogging, but here are a few photos from this time...

Ella was our ticket to having a room close to the conference. Here she is showing off her new digs...

We even had our own bathroom this time...

We were asked to do in a simulation where we gave participants the opportunity to experience Central Asian hospitality. Here we ready and waiting for our first guests (no smiling for the camera, please)...

During supper one night, they put Obama's inauguration on the big screen for anyone who wanted to watch. We made sure that Ella didn't miss out on history...

During short breaks, we would go on walks in the area. I don't know if German ducks say "quack", but they still like bread. Ella feeding them from a bridge...

Us during a visit to a the nearby little town. Cool architecture...
Every town should have a dragon in the main square...


We had one day of free time, so we used the famous German train system and went off exploring.

Ellie was very excited about her first train ride (since about 1.5 yrs ago, anyway)...

Lunch in Heidelberg. Funny thing. We went into a kebab place and asked the owner (in Turkish) if she was from Turkey. She answered (in Farsi) that she is from Iran. Then we blew her mind by talking to her in her language. These things just don't happen in Churubusco. Ellie liked the fries...

There is a castle there too...

and bridges...


One difference between Germans and Americans: Germans walk outside in the winter...

"Lets go to a cafe' mommy"...
Taking a break from the walking...

The train from Heidelberg was more anxiously anticipated...

Loved it...

Mommies taking care of their babies...

Stopped at another castle on the way back...

Conquering castles is hard when you have to push a stroller uphill. I'm sure if we had these things in America there would be escalators...


So, we're on the last day of conference, then on Saturday we are going to visit Jen's long lost cousin Lisa, who lives around these parts somewhere. Then back to Taj. See you then.