some duesseldorf pix

so, here's a few photos
old and new

1 - our street! Liebfrauenstrasse ("Virgin Street"). our house is on the left in one of the brick apartment buildings up on the top floor. i think the ikea delivery guys have come to dread visiting us.

2 - ... yes, i love cobblestones, especially overgrown ones

3 - this is the courtyard of Schloss Eller, an old, overgrown castle near our house.

4 - the Schloss itself. it has a great moat and pond. no alligators though, just lots of ducks. and they were pretty ferocious, what with their eyeing my sandwich and all...

5 - wacky modern architecture in the Media Harbour

6 - we ran into some marching bands in the Altstadt on my first day

8 - closely followed by these dudes on horses

7 - on Koenigs Allee, a big boulevard in the city centre

more photos to come soon! must introduce y'all to german bread and beer, and our pink, candy-striped foyer. this is all made possible by our new, at home, *internet connection*. we also have a PHONE now, too - yay! i'll send out a group email with the number.

this weekend tony and i are off to anseremme, belgium to meet up with al, my roomate from sydney way back in 1999. we're going to do a bit of kayaking and get better acquainted with belgian beer.

signing off for now - much love to all you lovelies!

:) kate :)

colour my world

testing, testing... can i upload photos??

ah, here's a lovely one from muneera wallace and james hussain's wedding, may 7, 2006.

setting down roots

we've officially moved into the neighbourhood - protect your children! we are now living in a part of düsseldorf called wersten: close to the university, downtown and ikea: all the most important things in life.

the apartment: we no longer live in a thimble. yay! our place is 72 square meters with lovely laminate floors and has 1 1/2 bedrooms and a big living room and kitchen. you are all cordially invited to come and visit now that we can put you up in our pad properly! not that that ever stopped anyone before. it's on the third floor, which translantes to 4th floor for you non-europeans out there. the landlords live there, as well as their son and daughter and granddaughter. people seem really friendly and welcoming so far - the girl below us offered us the services of her washing machine, and the guy across the hall moved in the same day. he is a language teacher who speaks impeccable english and a variety of other languages.

the stuff in it: we are now the proud owners of a fridge! and sink and stove and cupboards and a bed! i never thought it would happen.

the hood: we're on a lovely street called Liebfrauenstrasse. 'Lieb' means love, as in 'ich liebe dich', and 'frauen' means women. i'm not entirely sure how that translates... street of beloved women... street of women who love... street of loving too many women at one time will get tony in trouble... *NB: ever-wise father informs me that actually 'Liebfrau' means 'virgin'... hmm.*** there are gorgeous, enormous trees in a boulevard out the front, higher than the 5 storey house itself. at the end of the block is an old church which gongs its bell every quarter hour. 24 hours a day. it's quite charming actually, but thank god for the double-glazed windows at 3am. shops and tram and chinese, greek, japanese restaurants and german pubs are all 5 mins away. there are also really pretty green spaces nearby with little rhein river tributaries running through them, and bike and walking paths along side.

more to come, along with photos, soon. email us and we'll send you our mailing address. we'll also have phone and internet hook up in 2 weeks, so will send out a big email then so you can contact us.

muchos love to you all! come drink beer with us soon!