Time to squeeze in a mini Hamburg photo-dump between my daily divisions of work, theater, and sleep. With nine+ shows down and two to go, we've made it to the Frankenstein Endspurt, and oh my, it has been exhausting and utterly delightful. Check out the University Players' website for production photos (or if you're in Hamburg, go see it already!). Hanging out with hungry actors every night (plus the holidays before) has somehow led to extreme quantities of baked goods, primarily COOKIES COOKIES COOKIES! Few of which survived long enough to be photographed.
A new Baumhaus record: 7 types of cookie dough in the freezer, plus cookies, homemade pizza crusts and pumpkin butter... Bring on the apocalypse.
Took this picture on an xmas stroll in the Stadtpark, glowing in all its green, non-wintery glory. It did actually snow in the night of Christmas Eve (or was it 1st Christmas?), but was gone by dawn.
Here are some HafenCity scenes taken on a weekend stroll. It was quite literally freezing in the golden afternoon, but ah, sometimes you've got to risk the frostbite for a good dose of fresh air. Due to my Thanksgiving away, I was one of the few people in the office over the holidays and needed refreshing moments like this to keep the ole spirits up.
Due to the fact that so many potential fellow revellers were out of town or working night shifts, I brought in the New Year sitting cross-legged on my stove, banana mug cake in hand and telephoning with friends and family still in 2014, all while watching a magnificent fireworks display over the city, both far away and very, very near.
Winter really has been trying to make an impression the last few weeks, but the short snows we have from time to time are generally gone by the next day. There are also quite sporadic in their falling. With an inch or so in one area and nothing a few streets later. It snowed quite prettily in the night and looks quite quaint, though it probably won't stick. Bottom line -- hey Boston, wanna share?
Last weekend Jules and I celebrated 1 year in the Baumhaus with creamy mugs of spicy hot chocolate. It has turned out to be a wonderful home, though it does have its share of mysteries. Aaand by mysteries, I clearly mean fungus, like J's overachieving megashroom that tried to push the cover off of its little box, or more recently the mold cozied up in our walls. Won't get started on that here, though, as it wouldn't help anyone and might ruin your teatime and mine.
Instead, here's another view from the ole kitchen window, this time exhibiting the great German tradition of Treppenfegen. When a man turns thirty and is not yet married (regardless of whether or not there is a romantic interest), he may be required to sweep some prominent steps in the city, usually at the Rathaus or a church. In this case, the gentleman in question was made to sweep up many hundreds of bottle caps outside the post office at its busiest time (see that line coming out the door?), while his compadres stood around drinking beer, casually walking through the pile whenever he made any progress. Wearing a hot pink wig and hat, naturally.
And we'll stick in this fun picture at the end here, as a tribute to good times in the Baumhaus.
To be realistic, there probably won't be any new posts anytime soon. I'm flying back to New Mexico the day after tomorrow, the morning after our show closes. Certainly wasn't planning on another USA trip so soon after the last two, but I want to be with my family to celebrate the life of an amazing woman.
