If April showers bring May flowers...

...what does January snow bring?

That's right folks, snow, and lots of it (by Floridian standards anyway!) The Germans tend to agree that this winter has seen unprecedentedly large amounts of the white stuff. We've not had more than about 4 inches on the ground at once, but we've had that amount regularly for practically every week of the winter so far! Pretty until it all turns to dirty snow mud ("Schnee Mansch" in German!)

In addition to walking/slipping/falling through the snow/Schnee Manch/ice, I'm also studying for my German driving test. Because I'm an official German resident and have been for more than a year, I have to get a German license to continue driving for my company. Thankfully, I can take the test in English (technical German is beyond my speech level at this point!) The test, however, seems to have been translated by a German who did well in English class, and not by a native speaker...let's just say that sometimes I look at my study book and tilt my head, wondering what in the world they could have intended to say... :D I hope to be ready to take the test at the end of this week...I'm working very hard to get all the info in my head - you can only miss 2 of 30 questions on the test and the questions that are not FITB have between 3 and 9 possible answers - one of which incorrect causes the entire question to be counted wrong! PRAY! I'll keep you posted on how it goes after I take it.

In addition, I'm in the process of preparing for the open call for Stage Entertainment (the company that produces Sidonie's show.) An open call (for those non-actors out there) is an opportunity to audition for the entire range of shows produced by the company. The auditionees will be considered for open roles in all the shows Stage Entertainment produces, nationwide. I'm excited about it, and am preparing a new song that I've never done before (there's a particular role I'm interested in, so I'm singing a similar song to the one he sings.) I've wanted to sing "I (Who Have Nothing)" from Smokey Joe's Cafe since doing the show seven years ago, so I'm excited to be working on it! My audition is on the 12th in Berlin (we'll be performing near there at that time.) I'll keep you posted on how that goes as well!

In other fun news, we just had a wonderful week with a good friend from FL! Julie May came over and got to spend the entire week with Sidonie! I got to see her a bit last Sunday when she came in, and spent this past weekend with her and Sidonie. We had loads of fun! YAY for American friends visiting!!! We'd welcome more visitors...hint, hint! ;P

OK, now for the random smattering of photos from this past month...

The owner of a small woodwinds shop I found in Köln - very cool shop!

A whole case of handmade wooden flutes of all different types - I wanted to play them so badly, but he was just about to close...:( At least I got pictures!

I thought these Clarinets were beautiful!

Holzblasinstrumente: Woodwind Instruments.

Also while in Köln, I found a beautiful little chapel called Groß St. Martin - literally "Big St. Martin!" They had a brief history translated into English, so here you go!

Groß St. Martin

Groß St. Martin

A pretty and quaint little side street in Köln.

On the side street, I found this really nifty little English Book and Tea store! They had both new and used books in the English language. I could have stayed in there for hours!

But, I need to go see this! This is a window of the Kölner Dom (Köln's Cathedral.) This is the most famous attraction in Köln, and it is HUGE, and quite impressively beautiful!

I think my favorite part was the stained glass casting colors on the walls inside the cathedral. Absolutely gorgeous!

This is the main hall of the Cathedral.

Artsy fartzy picture I took while sitting down to pray. The kneeling benches were made of wood - not the soft padded ones I've seen in Catholic churches in the states!

Look - it's me at the Kölner Dom!

I think my favorite aspect of the exterior were the gargoyles! It reminded me of Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dam! These gargozles were "drooling" icicles!!! SO funny!

Exterior view of the Dom.

More of the same from a different side.

They had the list of services in German and English.

I'll give you one guess as to who the statue on the right represents! ;)

A pretty frozen lake! Woohoo!

More of the lake!

The musical Hairspray plays in Köln!

A couple more parting shots of the Kölner Dom.

Love and Hugs to you all!

This and That

Hi folks!

There's not really a whole lot to share, as things are in a bit of a groove at the moment! I don't really have many new pictures since last time because we've been in central Germany which was bombed pretty badly during the war, so there aren't really any cool old buildings to take pictures of ;) But never fear, I'll find more beautiful photo-ops before then end of this tour!

My company and I have been in Duisburg for the entire month of January, and we'll be there through February 8th. After that, we'll be heading to Essen for a couple weeks. This is good news because Duisburg is a short train ride home to Essen, and when we're here I'll just have to take local transport to come home! It's been very nice to get to see Sidonie every weekend! We really miss each other when I'm on the road. We're praying that next year God will bless us with great jobs IN THE SAME CITY (preferably in the same show!)

Speaking of next year, we have auditions coming up for several different things. You can keep us in your prayers that we'll both get great offers from these auditions, and that we'll be able to get into the same show for next year! I have auditions on the 12th of February in Berlin. These are "open auditions" which means that the company is considering auditionees for all the shows they produce. This includes shows like Wicked, Sister Act, Tarzan, and many others. Sidonie is going to audition later in the month (the 24th I believe) as they are bringing the auditions to her theatre here in Essen (unfortunately, I'll be in a different city at that point!) Sidonie also has an audition earlier in the month for the lead in another show, and I'm waiting to hear about an audition for a new German translation of Into the Woods.

We're both steadily working on our German language skills, developing relationships with our colleagues and other German friends, and enjoying every moment we havetogether. One thing that being in different cities certainly teaches you is to appreciate the time you have together! We miss all of you and look forward to hearing how things are with you!

Love and Hugs!

And To All a Good Night (Part 2)

So, here are the additional London pictures, as promised. Enjoy!

There were lots of memorials on our way to Trafalger Sq. This was one of them for women involved in WWII.

Trafalger Sq!

False advertising! No such thing exists!

One of the famous London double-decker busses!

Sidonie laughed at my ability to capture the moon, Big Ben, and the London Eye all in one night shot!

Big Ben at night!

Westminster Abby from the rear.

Houses of Parliament.

Although I'm not at all interested in going into politics, this is a pretty swank building on the list of "buildings to work in as a politician!"

Outside the Houses Of Parliament was this statue of Winston Churchill! Cool, huh?

On our way to St. Paul's Cathedreal (where Charles and Diana got married.)

St. Paul's!

Behind St. Paul's was a cool statue of John Wesley.

The front of St. Paul's.

In case you can't tell, we walked all the way around St. Paul's ;)

Some pretty architecture near St. Paul's.

Sidonie on London Bridge (which, thankfully, didn't fall down!)

Me on London Bridge with Tower Bridge in the background!

The famous Tower Bridge!

The Tower of London.

When we got to the Tower Bridge itself... :D

"Mind the Gap" is a phrase one hears quite frequently when taking the London metro (or Tube as they call it.) They don't really mean that there's a gap at all, but simply that there's a slight step down from the train to the platform. Then again, I suppose "Mind the Slight Step Down as You Exit the Train" doesn't have the same ring...

Another funny (but very helpful) sign. This "Look Right" and "Look Left" is painted all over intersections downtown for tourists from the rest of the world where we drive on the other side of the road (and, hence, look in the other direction first before we cross the street!)

Sidonie got to go shopping for some new winter clothes as part of her Christmas - here is most of the outfit she got! Very cute, huh? I'm in love with her!

Guess which musical theatre character I am...

Now? (David Hasselhoff was not harmed in the taking of these photos.)

I think I could use a shave. Maybe I'll get one here at this Barber's Shop on...

FLEET STREET! OK, maybe not...


Here we are on Fleet Street!

For those non-musical theatre enthusiasts, Fleet Street is the real life place where the fictional story of Sweeny Todd takes place, and look what we found on Fleet Street...that's right! A barber shop on the second floor above a cafe called EAT! Just like in Sweeny (Yes, we know we're musical theatre nerds for taking/posting these photos, but we're OK with that! ;)

Hope you enjoyed the second installment in my series. Until next time (which will hopefully be sooner than later!)