Happy Holidays DC Style

Feliz Navi Reindeer

Chris-Moose

Our Christmas Palm

Since we'll be in TO for Christmas there is no real tree in our apartment, but, don't worry some old friends have made appearances...

 I got an invite to the White House Christmas Tree Lighting - too bad my camera was out of batteries from my Germany trip - but Obama and family were only 50 yards away! B.B. King, Maroon 5 performed, Common hosted and I froze... I think this event was the closest I am ever getting to The President....

Munich Hightlights!

I had a fabulous 2 weeks in Munich.
My trip also included an afternoon in Montreal - walking along St. Catherine Street, eating at Amelio's and ordering my Tim Horton's in French, and an overnight in Toronto - catching up with my family over Monday night spaghetti!

Here are some pics of a truly beautiful holiday.

Marienplatz

First of many cups of Gluhwein!

The opening of the Christmas Markets

Yes - that is a man surfing on a wave...crazy...

English Garden Walk

Riding the Christmas Tram with my wonderful hosts!

Yes - this is the Christmas Tram - they serve booze!

My favourite Christmas Market

This is where we had lunch...seriously....

Yup - this is what it looks like - ugly eh?

The Holt Renfrew of Munich - Elise and I had complimentary Gluhwein 

at their private Christmas Market.

One of the 4 gates into the heart of the city.

Other highlights include:

• Multiple games of Settlers of Catan ... and yes I have now finally WON!!!!
• Excellent German Beer - my favourite is Tegernsee - delish!
• Bavarian Food - hazelnut stew, bratwurst (as long as there is no mustard)
• Surprisingly excellent Spanish, Greek and Italian food when we got tired of Bavarian Food
• The daily ritual of coffee and cake at 4 PM
• Shopping at MUJI - I know a Japanese store?
• In fact all shopping in general
• A meaningful trip to the Concentration Camp at Dachau
• Exploring all the foods Germans consume out of a tube
• Lots of crisp wintery walks in beautiful places - every time I looked around me I saw something beautiful
• The honour system on the metro, when paying for newspapers and the unwritten no jay walking policy even if there are no cars for miles....seriously....
• Wonderful laughs and tears with two dear friends Elise and Julian
• Coming HOME to Marcius in our new home town

Munich!

Sorry for the long pause...I am in Munich enjoying wonderful friends and the Christmas Markets. Looking forward to posting lots of pictures soon.

Basketball NCAA vs. NBA

I have actually been missing basketball like crazy - I found myself watching a pick up game at the high school near our house and I yelled at some kid to swing the ball wide - seriously? I have also been shooting by myself at the gym - at my gym there is a real court. I usually shoot around for 10 minutes and then feel like I have embarrassed myself sufficiently (there are windows that look on to the court) and call it a day. It is also football season here so no games are televised on regular channels and we don't have cable....BUT we have made it to 2 games.

Game #1 NCAA: Maryland vs. Seattle
Game #2 NBA: Wizards vs. Raptors

This is a Terrapin - ooh...scary!

The college game was way better. 1st of all there was a band! They played the TMNT theme song...if you don't know what TMNT are then you weren't watching Saturday morning cartoons in the 80s. They play that song because the mascot for the University of Maryland is a Terrapin - some sort of vicious turtle. See pic.

2nd of all, the college student fans are amazing...if not a bit mean. When the opposing team starting 5 was being called out they would yell, in unison, sucks after the name...

Scene: All fans are reading the newspaper and flapping it around.

Fans being disinterested.

Announcer (calmly) : Starting at point guard from so and so high school  is so and so...

Every fan in the stadium (yelling) : SUCKS
They did this for the starting 5 and the coaching staff!!

A few other points of interest:
- College games are dry - most students aren't yet 21
- The passing was terrible, but at least they tried!

This is the mascot G-Wiz - SUCKS!

 So then we move on to the Raptors  vs. Wizards game. Marcius and I wore our shirts - thank to you the Mackenzie people for one of our going away presents! We all know the Raptors aren't great this year but neither is Washington. And...John Wall, the number 1 NBA draft pick was not playing. The Raptors played so badly that in the 4th quarter I took off my Raptor t-shirt.... What did Chris Bosh do to us?

The Zoo

Well - we finally made it to the happiest place in DC - and it's FREE and only a 10 minute walk from our house. Hope these pics make you smile...

A Prairie Dog - I think it saw its shadow.

Embarassingly that is us.

Proud Papa of 7 cubs (2 moms...lucky guy and they are sistas)

They literally walk above your head between their two houses!

Babies don't get much cuter!

She's laughing at my joke!

All it does is eat...

The most non-threatening bear ever - the sloth bear.

Sanity vs Fear

The big hype in DC this past weekend was the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear and of course Marcius and I were there. They anticipate 30 000 people but it was likely closer to 150 000.  Some highlights of the rally include...

1. Awesome musical performances by The Roots, John Legend, Ossie Osbourne, Yusuf (you know him as Cat Stevens), Cheryl Crow and others.
2. Watching Steven Colbert meet NBA Superstar and Muslim, Kareem Abdul Jabbar - there was like a 3 foot height differential! Let alone the obvious religious and political ones!

3. A giant Steven Colbert Puppet.
4. The Wave - the guys from Myth Busters had the everyone on The National Mall do the wave...pretty cool.

5. Lots of laughter and a good time had by all.
Here are a few pics from me but there are better ones The Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear website.

Cate came from TO for the occasion!

Street Race???

An annual tradition in DC is the Tuesday before Halloween Transvestite Street Race. Men dress up in drag and sprint to the finish line in high heels.
A very cool and very positive experience.

That is a Barbie Doll still in the package behind!

If you watch the video, check out how fast the first guy was!
High Heel Drag Queen Street Race

Here is a pic of outgoing Mayor and Grand Marshall Adrian Fenty - for those who know me well, know that I love local celebrity sitings!

A Few Field Trips

So in the past week I have had time to do some really nice things.

First was Marcius and I were taken to a DC United MLS game and they were actually playing Toronto FC. TFC won but a good time was had by all. We also had our first semi-tail gating experience. Let's just say we didn't need any more drinks inside and the experience reminded me of  Thursday night pre-drink at the University of Guelph.

Secondly I took a friend, yes I finally have a real friend, to Great Falls park in Virginia - about 25 minutes out of the city. It is a series of waterfalls where the Potomac river drops 1000 ft quickly. At the park you can see remnants of a canal/lock system that was to help early settlers as a passage to Chesapeake Bay and hence the Atlantic. Fall has finally hit DC so the colours are at their peak now.

Service Wars Round 2

So I spent my day at a Honda dealership in Arlington, Virginia having the car serviced and I learned a few things.
1. There are no car dealerships in DC proper - some by-law passed a long time ago.
2. Lube, Oil & Filters in Canada (at least in TO) are way over priced...here only $25!!! Seriously!
3. When they service your car they also detail it. It was so nice to get into a clean car...my rims looked awesome!

In the battle of US Service vs. CA Service, US leads 2-0.


PS - Are the Leafs seriously undefeated?

Upcoming Events

Just to note on your calendars what we will be doing in the next few weeks...

Marcius is one of the planners of this year's national conference and he will be in Montreal this week. Check out this link for more info.

This weekend I will be volunteering at the USA Science & Engineering Festival. I am hoping to meet Bill Nye and Jo Schwarcz.

On October 30th Jon Stewart will be hosting "Rally to Restore Sanity"
and Steven Colbert will be hosting  "Rally to Keep Fear Alive"
Not to worry Marcius and I will be there to report back!

Cool Art

My mother-in-law was here this week and together we discovered some cool new DC things.
First was the National Museum of Women in the Arts. The outdoor sculpture project by Niki de Saint Phalle was awesome, playful and empowering. Here are a few pics.

That is Michael Jordan, #23!

Secondly we laughed our heads off to Modern Family Season #1...I know I am a bit behind.
Thank you Doris for all of the talks, walks and laughter.
Have I sold the rest of you yet on coming to DC?

Thanksgiving in Kawartha Lakes!

A final day at the dock! See you next summer!

Happy belated Canadian Thanksgiving!
Marcius and I had a fabulous time heading to Toronto and then up to the Kawartha's for a beautiful family weekend. Special thanks to my sister-in-law for her vacant apartment, my father-in-law for breakfasts, my sister for her cottage, my mom for the excellent turkey, my brother for the laughs and my nieces for the wake-up calls in the cabin! We couldn't have asked for better company, weather or fall colours! Fall hasn't hit DC yet...but if it is anything like Ontario this year I can't wait.

Also a special shout-out to my girlfriends who always make time for a glass of wine, pizza and steak! And to all the teachers and staff at Mac who made me feel like a million bucks just for walking in the door. I am surrounded by awesome friends and family.

A view into Thanksgiving dinner preparations.

West Virginia...Mountain Mama...Take Me Home...

You know the rest of the song....
We spent last weekend camping and hiking in Seneca Rocks, West Virginia. It is only 3 hours away from DC but a whole other world. We were invited by some former fellows who graciously planned the whole trip and we just showed up. The people, secenary and food were great. It was a little cold (I know all I have been doing is complaining about the heat...smile...) but we still had a great time. Hopefully these photos will tell the story.

View of Seneca Rocks from Campsite

Seneca Rocks

East Scenic View near Trail Head

That is me giving a plant reproduction lesson on milkweed.

Our Campsite - Super Deluxe!

Having another great experience together!