Dresden in pictures!

I finally found my camera, so I can post pictures from last weekend. Some more pictures are on my phone, so that will take a little more time to get them here. But for the meantime, here's one of the most beautiful cities I've visited:
We came up from the parking garage to find a Radeburger beer fest in the Altmarkt (old market.) It was so cute and German, what a great greeting!


And here's what we saw when we turned to the right to head out of the Altmarkt:

Beautiful!
We made our way towards the River Elbe, and on our way, found ourselves at the Frauenkirche (Women's Church). The church is beautiful! It was rebuilt after being completely destroyed in bombing during WWII. Amazingly, the rebuilding began in 1993, the ruins remaining for over 40 years. It really makes you think about what Dresden looked like when it was part of East Germany.
Okay, most of these pictures are on my phone, so please click on the link so you can actually see what the church looks like!

From here, we made our way to the Elbe, here's what we found:



I'm already hoping to make a trip back, to relax, enjoy the sights and visit a few museums!

Let the countdown begin!!

Obviously, this will be a ridiculously quick post on a Friday morning, right before I leave for work. But, I was on one of my favorite websites two days ago: the Nest, and you would not believe what I saw- 100 days until Christmas!!!! Oh my gosh! This means that I have the following things coming up:
-finish teaching program (hopefully)
-go to the Krautfest this year
-take three teaching tests, one to two of which will be completed in FLORIDA during my October break! Wahoo!
-after October break, start planning IMMEDIATELY for what will be hopefully, our final Thanksgiving party in our apartment!
-figure out travel dates for Christmas
-shop, shop, shop!

All very exciting things on this list, some a bit stress-inducing, but all, well worth it!
Now, I'm looking forward to 100 days from now, looking back on yet another crazy and fun fall and pre-holiday season!

Dresden without pictures

My camera is downstairs, so I can't post pictures right now. But, we were in Dresden this past weekend. We had two reasons for our visit: 1.meet up with a friend who recently built a house, 2.meet up with Joern's old boss who lives in the area.
We left on Friday night at 7:45. Yes, we knew it was going to be a long trip, but Joern would rather leave late and not sit in traffic. We arrived at our hotel at 12:30. Our hotel turned out to be so great! It was really inexpensive, and very clean and new. We were so pleased!
On Saturday morning, after our incredible 5 Euro breakfast at the hotel, we headed out for Dresden center. It turns out that Dresden is an amazingly beautiful city that rebuilt incredibly after the wall came down 20 years ago. We spent a few hours just strolling around. I'm in love, and can't wait to get back one day!
In the early afternoon, we headed out to my friend Lelia's house. She lives about 15 minutes outside of the city, in a wonderful neighborhood. The house was beautiful! We learned so much and had a wonderful chat! Plus, she made really yummy Hostess-esque cupcakes! Hooray for good American bakers living in Germany :)
We had lots of fun hanging out with Lelia and her husband, but had to leave around 5:00 for Aue, which is about an hour southwest of Dresden. It is still firmly entrenched in the former East Germany, but it is a beautiful area as well. Aue lies in the Erzgiberge, Ore Mountains. Sadly, I don't think I got any pictures of the area, but it is incredibly gorgeous!
We made our way to Mr. Marx's house, which is at the end of a street, a huge, very private property. We got to say hi to "Dusty" his Bernese Mountain Dog. We also met the many rabbits that his children keep. It was so cool! After getting his daughter and wife, we headed for our B&B, which was on a farm, and overlooking the mountains. It was quite beautiful! Once we checked in, we headed out to the International Brass and Wind Band Festival. It is a weekend event, where bands from mostly Europe, but sometimes other continents, assemble to highlight their music. When we arrived, it was easy to tell that this was set up with a party atmosphere, taking place in a huge fest tent. The food was typical "fest food," and Joern and I both had Thüringer Bratwursts, because they are "native" to the area. We enjoyed some good beer and enjoyed the music. My favorite band was the Bielefeld Pipes and Drums from Scotland. But, I also really enjoyed the Police Music from Zurich. It made me laugh to see how band music could be treated with such a party feeling. Leave it to the Germans!
We set out early on Sunday morning, and made it home by noon. I went sraight to bed, because I was feeling so icky! Overall though, it was a really great weekend!

A word about work

Two and a half weeks ago, the ISS began a new schoolyear. Its been an interesting ride so far, and I am kind of excited to look back at this year already. I'm learning so much!
I feel like the Incredible Moving Allison, as my third year at ISS, and I am again, in a new classroom. This year, I'm back with Junior Kindergarten, the 4 year-olds. Wow. You forget how tiny they are when you move up. Of course, you quickly remember though, as soon as they walk through the classroom door. We have a fabulous class this year. So far, 15, with room for 3 more. We have 3 Japanese kids who are new to the school, with no English. We also have 1 German girl who is also new, again, no English, at least I can communicate with her though. The rest of the class is an interesting mix: Mexican, German and American, American, German, Japanese, Swedish and Bosnian, Korean, and American and South African.
I'm already learning Korean from the Korean mother-tongue teacher. She taught me our "Good Morning" song in Korean, and taught me how to say, "hello" and "thank you" in Korean. I also learned from my friend Iris how to say, "sit down" in Japanese, which has definately proved invaluable this year!
We're out in portable classrooms this year. It is depressing to think that Germans refer to portables as "containers," as I always feel like I'm headed into a shipping container. Actually, they are connected, so that we have our own little building outside of the school, with rather large classrooms. The biggest drawback is the sound of the rain on the metal roof. We're all in a huge learning process this year, but the good news is that I will really end the year in a different position with much stronger abilities in the teaching field.
The teacher I work with this year is very nice. She is German, and only recently returned to teaching from being a stay-at-home mom. I give her credit, it can't be easy.
Of course, this year will be filled with ups and downs. There is a lot of stress, but hopefully, as we get more into a routine, the kids will as well. The kids are adorable though, and that's what is really most important!

ABC's of Me

I've been so bad at blogging lately. I just want to get back in the swing of things. So, here's the beginning of my attempt at more regular blogging!

A- Age: 30
B- Bed size: double, but hopefully soon, king
C- Chore you hate: cleaning the bathroom
D- Dog's name: we don't have one right now, and I won't tell our planned name for the
puppy we get when we build our house. Chloe and Sox were my last dogs.
E- Essential starts to your day: coffee and a lovely shower
F- Favorite color: pink
G- Gold, silver, or platinum- white gold
H- Height: 5'2"
I- Instruments you play: none in the past long time, but I played flute and bass clarinet through high school
J- Job: teaching assistant/ student teacher
K- Kids: hopefully in the not-too-distant futre
L- Living arrangements: soon to be changing. Right now, a 650 sq.ft, one bedroom apartment.
M- Mom's name: Kathy
N- Nicknames: Schemer, Angel(ina), Sweet Potato
O- Overnight stay in the hospital other than birth: 5 years old when I had pneumonia
P- Pet peeve: right now is the healthcare debate in the US. How on earth can people not support universal coverage???
Q- "I'm throwing seven different kinds of smoke." You, Me, and Dupree
R- Right handed or left: Right
S- Siblings: 1 12 year-old sister, Ginia, 1 stepbrother, no siblings-in-law, lots of friends who have served as my siblings
T- Time you wake up: 5:30 on weekdays, 7:00 on weekends
U- Underwear: most often, bikinis
V- Vegetable you dislike: Okra
W- Ways you run late: what ways do I not run late? Usually, it involves looking for my glasses
X- X-Rays you've had: Oy! Knees, fingers, feet, wrists, chest, ankle, teeth
Y- Yummy food you make: pies, cakes, and fresh basil, tomato, and garlc pasta
z- Zoo favorite: Sloths, penguins

Cooking

When we visited Italy a few weeks ago, we stopped at a wonderful farmer's market in Jesolo. We had lots of fun shopping there, and it was pretty hard to turn away from so many beautiful, delicious smelling, fresh fruits and vegetables. We ended up buying a crate of peaches and a crate of sauce tomatoes, as well as many other items. But, these crates were a great deal, and my mind was already abuzz with ideas for how to use these amazing fruits.
The day after we got home, I busily searched the internet to find a recipe for peach pie. I found one on Suite101.com
Fresh Peach Pie Recipe

* Double pie crust (9 inch size)
* 5 cups of fresh ripe peaches (sliced)
* 1 tsp lemon juice
* 1 cup sugar
* ¼ cup regular flour
* ¼ tsp cinnamon
* 2 TBS butter

Directions:

1. You can make your own pie crust or get a frozen double crust of refrigerator crusts. If you’re not making your own, the pie crusts in the refrigerator section taste more like homemade than the freezer types.
2. If using prepared crusts, let them thaw out or warm up.
3. Mix the lemon juice with the fresh peaches. Stir a little bit to get the lemon juice mixed in.
4. In a separate bowl, mix together the sugar, flour, and cinnamon. Mix well.
5. Stir the sugar/flour mix in with the peaches.
6. Pour the peach mixture in a pie crust.
7. Dot the butter evenly around on top of the peach mix in the crust.
8. Top with the second crust.
9. Use a knife to make slits in the top pie crust.
10. Flute the edges of the crust. In other words, mash the edges together and then use your fingers to make little ridges like you see on pie crusts in the store.
11. Bake in a preheated 425 degree F oven for around 40 minutes. Check often near the end of the baking time as ovens can vary. The middle of the pie should be a pretty buttery brown, and you’ll see bubbles in the knife slits.
12. You’ll probably need to put strips of tin foil or a pie edge protector around the outside edge of the pie the last 15 minutes or so. Fluted edges tend to get darker than the center on homemade pies.

I used Martha Stewart's recipe for Pate Brisee, which is delicious, and a pretty fail-proof pie crust. It worked fabulously with the peach pie.

It was a sweet and delicious way to prolong our vacation memories!

I also made a really yummy pasta sauce with all those many sauce tomatoes. It was really easy to make a delicious homemade tomato sauce.
I first washed and removed the stem and seeds from the many, many tomatoes.

Then, I chopped them.

Pureed them in the food processor.


Sauteed lots of garlic and onions in olive oil in the stock pot.

Then, I added the tomato sauce, basil, salt, and some italian seasoning. Simmer for a few hours, and that's all! Delicious, wonderful tomato sauce! I froze it in portions. This way, we'll be able to enjoy yummy sauce made from farmer's market tomatoes for months to come!

My time at home

I got back from my trip home about two weeks ago. The trip was entirely too quick, I was only there 2 1/2 weeks, but at least it was fun.
It was so great to hang out with my dad, and my time at home makes me always realize how much I miss him. It was also great to see my sister, who is getting so grown up, and my stepmom. I also spent tons of time with my aunt and my cousin, Elizabeth. I even got to spend more time with my cousin Katie, who came to pick me up at the airport.
I spent lots and lots of time looking at furniture with my cousin Elizabeth, who happens to be a very talented interior design student. We had so much fun. We even started out our shopping extravaganza by going to a Pottery Barn class on using color and patterns in decorating. I was so impressed that for the most part, the attendees had gotten to know each other through attending multiple classes. I wish I was able to attend more classes, it was fun, and we did learn quite a bit about decorating. We even got 10% off of all items that were used in the class.
Elizabeth and I had lots of fun in Crate and Barrel, Restoration Hardware, and vising the Riverhead outlet center in Long Island. We even had a funny experience in Milford at Ethan Allen, mom's absolute dream store- we got locked in! As we were drooling over the things in Ethan Allen, we noticed that it was raining pretty heavily, so we decided to stay in the store to let the storm pass. It was then that the wind started blowing super heavily, and the rain was coming down in buckets. All of a sudden, the door blew open, so one of the designers decided to lock the doors during the storm. As we sat at a table, looking at catalogs, Elizabeth brought up a good point- my mom must have had something to do with us getting locked in! What a funny coincidence that we were locked in my mom's favorite store!
Elizabeth and I also saw two great movies, one with my aunt too. We saw, Public Enemies and Julie & Julia. Both very good. I particularly loved Julie & Julia, despite the poor reviews, I thought it was adorable!
Elizabeth and I joined my dad to go see a Bridgeport Bluefish game! I love the Bluefish!





I also had lots of fun hanging out with dad, my sister Ginia, and my stepmother, Cheryl. My first weekend home, we all headed up to Massachusetts to see Cheryl's mom and then head out to the races at Seekonk Speedway. We stopped at a uniquely New England treat for lunch, Chad's Chowderhouse. YUM! It's pretty much a greasy spoon, but they only serve fish and amazing chowder! A good clam chowder is something I most certainly miss here in Germany. I also had a delicious stuffed quahog- something that is not only pretty much uniquely New England, it is especially uniquely Rhode Island and Massachusetts. My godparents drove up too for the races. We all had a fun night!




My dad and I also went to the Waterford Speedbowl the following week. We were really lucky to have great weather two weekends in a row, for great Saturday night racing!
Of course, the big surprise was that the feature of the night was a make up for a rain delayed race in June. It was a 75 lap World East Series race, meaning the drivers are slightly more professional than those who normally race at the Speedbowl.



I cooked a German dinner for my dad too. I made beef rouladen, rolled beef with bacon and mustard- yummy! I was most excited that it came out so tasty, and it was my first attempt at rouladen.

Besides all the fun outings, there was also some excellent get-togethers. We went to my godparent's house for a lobster and corn dinner. They picked up the lobster at Galilee, Rhode Island, a major commercial fishing port. The lobster was delicious and the company was great!
We had another lobster and corn dinner at dad's house a few days before I left. We had dinner with Lorraine and her daughter. I feel so lucky to have been able to have so much lobster and corn, I miss it!
I also got together for lunch with a few friends from high school, Emily, Dana, and Virginia. It was so great to see them! It is amazing to see the different paths our lives have taken since high school. We chatted about our lives and dished about other friends. I met up with another friend from high school, Colleen. She just bought a house, so we had lots of fun chatting about houses and friends. Again, it was great to spend time with an old friend!
Besides all this catching up, I took some time for myself as well. I went for some nice drives, and spent lots of time at the beach. Again, something I miss! Relaxing at the beach was just what the doctor ordered after the stress of last year.


All in all, it was a great time at home! I was so happy to see everyone and to be back in my comfort zone! Even though the trip was short, I got lots done and spent lots of time with people I miss.