Erste Weihnachten in Deutschland!

and what a lovely Christmas it was. Unfortunately the lovely snow that was covering the ground only a few days before had vanished after a warm snap (4 degrees). Charmaine, Timmy and I spent the 24th at home listening to Christmas Carols, eating Schnitzels and drinking Kölsch. On Christmas day we went to a nice party at Joe and Kathleen (American singers working in Köln - I am working with Joe in the Kinderoper at the moment).On the 26th I had my final performance of The tales of Hoffmann and after that we went to a Cocktail bar around the corner from home and also visited a cool little bar for a nightcap after that.

The only bummer was when we realised (a day too late) that the day we thought the shops would re-open, the 27th, happened to be a Sunday this year which meant everything was still shut! GRRRR! So we had to eat a Döner kebab for lunch (which served as a bit of a hangover cure as well)

Tomorrow after the Kinderopera we are all going to Berlin to celebrate NYE and spend a few days seeing the sights and drinking some beer other than Kölsch (not that I'm complaining as Kölsch is quite yummy). Before I go, here are a couple of photos of Köln in the Snow.

Pure as the driven snow

Its quite amazing how the first snow of the season transforms so many people into children. On thursday afternoon we got our first snow fall. I was riding my bike to the gym when it started falling and rode past many people gazing out their windows watching the snow falling. When I'd finished at the gym I exited the building to discover a fine white dust covering everything. Char spent a bit of time sitting on our windowsill with a cup of tea watching the snow fall through the light of the street lamps.

The next morning we woke to discover that about 2 inches of snow had fallen during the night, covering everything in a beautiful blanket of white. The park 30 meters from our house was quite pretty.

It is now starting to get seriously cold (well at least for someone has spent the last 4 winters living in Sydney) we have had quite a few days now that have had a top of -1 or 0 and yesterday was -9 for most of the day before dropping to -14.

A few days ago our friends Chris and Adam came to visit and we had a great time at the Christmas markets drinking Glühwein (mulled wine) and eating the sort of food that i'm pretty sure are well out of the running for a heart foundation tick of approval!

I also love the fact that hey serve the Glühwein (or hot chocolate with rum) in real mugs! After paying the 2 euro deposit with the first order you just bring the mugs back everytime you want a refill and when you've had your fill of warm red wine they give you the deposit back (or you let them keep the deposit and throw the mug in your handbag). Imagine how many plastic cups get saved from the landfill! Also, the fact that you have to take them back to get your deposit means that there aren't empty cups and rubbish lying around!

As I write this it is snowing again and I am looking out our bedroom window at a view that has been dramatically improved with the addition of some snow...

Aladdin und die Wunderlampe

A couple of weeks ago I found out through the grapevine that I will be appearing topless (albeit with blue and green body paint) in the upcoming "Childrens" opera Aladdin. Had I known a little earlier I would probably have curtailed my love affair with Wurst, Bread, and Beer (well at least a little!) As it is I have joined a gym and have 6 weeks to whip this body into something that the children wont recoil from in horror. For added proof (in case anyone needed more) that there is NO god, I have to do this in the middle of the Christmas period, the time when I traditionally gain a few kilos from all the merry making. ARGH!

If I don't manage to lose the kilos and tone up a bit I will have to convince the makeup department to paint on some muscles or something! Oh yeah - I forgot to add that I will probably have to wax or shave my chest so that they can do the paint.

The glamour of life in the theater never ends!