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.