Easter

Last week was Easter weekend. Good Friday and Monday is a holiday here, and we also took off Thursday. It was nice, except we had white Easter (i.e. it snowed) and thus were couped up at home. Anyway, we did not have a white Christmas, and actually this was the only snow that we had here all winter. On Sunday we went to church in Tubingen. It was a nice drive through the snow covered Schoenbuch forest, but it melted off the trees by the time we were coming back. Mass was quite nice with a full Baroque orchestra, organ and choir playing and singing beautiful music. The kids liked it too, and nobody complained that mass as a result lasted about one and a half hours.

I almost forgot. Our little Mark turned 11 this week. He now enjoys his present, a computer game (Age of Empires). Next week we are going to hook up with my brother and his family in Luxemburg. It should be fun. Let's hope the weather will be good.

Apassionata, Gala Night of the Horse

Last weekend we saw a colorful horse show that told the story of the relationship between horse and man. As a result it took the audience from Asia to North Africa and South America. One of our most favorite act was a cowboy from New Zealand doing his tricks with a lasso, including twirling it around his horse and himself on the horse while riding. Another of our favorite was this guy from France who was standing on the backs of two horses and jumping with them while standing, as well as leading as many as six horses at once. Victoria, as you can imagine, really enjoyed the show. We were lucky that all four of us could attend, since the days before Mark was ill.

Swan Lake, Chinese Acrobatic Ballet

Last night our family went to the Porsche Arena in Stuttgart and saw Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake". This version was a mixture of classical ballet and Chinese acrobatics with some changes in the plot. The kids both loved it. The costumes and some of the acrobatics reminded us of Cirque Du Soleil. The most advertised image of the performance is when Odette performs a piruette on prince Siegfried's head. However, all of us liked the four little frogs doing hand stands and dancing upside down. This was the famous piece when in the original version the prince meets the four swans that dance in unison.

Seville, Spain

Andras spent four days at an HP fun offsite in Seville. The weather was beautiful, the town clean and relaxing. One of my favorite spot was the promenade along the river, which also served as my early morning running route. Next to our hotel (by the river) was also an international training camp for water sports (mostly rowing). Walking along the river one could hear coaches shouting instructions in English, German and other languages that I could not identify. Were they preparing for the Olympics I wondered? On my first day, I was lucky enough to see a religious procession that carried Jesus on the cross from one church to the main cathedral. It was strange because the whole procession was in complete silence.