On Monday Katy and I flew to Berlin for the day for a doctor's appointment. While killing time before the appointment, we stumbled on a Dunkin' Donuts!
The ruin on the right is what remains of the Kaiser Wilhelm church after bombing in WWII. City planners chose to leave the building as it was and to build a new church next to it. The original church is disintegrating due to traffic and construction and the new church is often mocked for its appearance.
After the appointment, we had six hours to explore the city before our return flight. First stop, the Berlin Zoo. Katy is standing at the elephant entrance.
The most famous resident of the Berlin Zoo is Knut, the polar bear abandoned by its mother and raised by a human zoo keeper.
After hours of walking, dark clouds rolled in and the rain started. Katy and I found a dry bench under some trees on the edge of the Tiergarten park, across from the Brandenburg Gate.
The Berlin Wall is gone and Berlin's most iconic symbol, the Brandenburg Gate, has been fully restored.
Evidently all the construction across the city has depleted the country of building materials, hence the use of Legos on this wall!!
I was first the parent of an elementary school student in 1989 which was 20 years ago but as of last week, I am finished! Michael "graduated" from elementary school so my days as room mother, holiday parties, cupcakes on birthdays, and teacher gifts are behind me. Believe me when I say that only a tiny, tiny part of me is sad about this. Katy is not nearly as thrilled as I am about this because she realizes that this means her little brother will be at the next middle school dance with her!
Yeah, I know the video overlaps onto the side bar but embedding a YouTube video is already stretching the limit of my computer skills. If anyone has a way to shrink the video, please share. Anyway, I think the video is hysterical. There are a whole series of them (a new sport combining golf and running, ultramarathoning, etc.), if you are interested.
As for this week's running- except for getting rained on and having to skirt a thunder storm, I have been able to follow the schedule, which is a repeat of last week. One minor glitch- the Forerunner is broken so I'm not sure of my paces.
edit- thanks to Kyle for shrinking the video for me!
When I asked Katy to blog her birthday trip to Paris, she declined because she was embarrassed. So, on her behalf, here are some pictures of her four-day adventure in the city of love with her Dad.
Notre Dame
Waiting for sunset at the Eiffel Tower because there will be a light show. Our hat girl added a beret to her collection. Notice the Kimball's sweatshirt?!
Here she is, my mysterious Russian beauty, my new/old piano. I got a great deal ($350) from Krzysztof, a Pole that works at the embassy warehouse. I'm working my way through my old piano books and it's amazing how long muscle memory lasts; some music I haven't played in 30 years (groan) still feels familiar to my fingers. The kids are deciding if they want to begin lessons after the summer break.
I think that's Tchaikovsky written in Cyrillic. I found the Russian piano company that manufactures this model but I have no idea how old it is. Maybe I can find a label inside. I'm sure it's just a low-end instrument but she still seems pretty exotic to me.
We start training officially at the end of June. Anyone want to run Amsterdam with us? Our goal is 4 hours (3:59:59 would be cool) which means shaving 19 minutes off our PR from Athens. I think I'll blog our weekly mileage in an effort to motivate myself to stay on track. This week we continue building a base- Tues- 1 mi warm-up, 3 x 1 mi at 8:30, 1 mi cool down Wed- 60 minutes easy Thurs- 1 mi warm-up, 2 mi at 9:00, 2 mi at 8:40, 2 mi at 9:00, 1 mi cool down Sat- 60 min easy Sun- 10 miles slow (10:00 pace)
Think about joining us because it would be a lot of fun.
At the end of May, the middle school had a semi-formal dance at The Hyatt. Katy and I went shopping for her first LBD (little black dress) at the mall. We found the perfect dress- spaghetti straps, lots of ruffles- in a woman's clothing store. I can't believe she's old enough to shop in the same stores I do! Katy already had a black velvet sweater and black velvet flats from her band concert outfit and they matched perfectly.
On Monday Katy and I flew to Berlin for the day for a doctor's appointment. While killing time before the appointment, we stumbled on a Dunkin' Donuts!
The ruin on the right is what remains of the Kaiser Wilhelm church after bombing in WWII. City planners chose to leave the building as it was and to build a new church next to it. The original church is disintegrating due to traffic and construction and the new church is often mocked for its appearance.
After the appointment, we had six hours to explore the city before our return flight. First stop, the Berlin Zoo. Katy is standing at the elephant entrance.
The most famous resident of the Berlin Zoo is Knut, the polar bear abandoned by its mother and raised by a human zoo keeper.
After hours of walking, dark clouds rolled in and the rain started. Katy and I found a dry bench under some trees on the edge of the Tiergarten park, across from the Brandenburg Gate.
The Berlin Wall is gone and Berlin's most iconic symbol, the Brandenburg Gate, has been fully restored.
Evidently all the construction across the city has depleted the country of building materials, hence the use of Legos on this wall!!
