The German Wedding on 20th August 2011 - the Church bit. It was a great day - the sun was shining; no Volcanoes or air-traffic controller strikes prevented the the international guests from Japan, Sweden, Switzerland, Australia, Singapore, England and France from arriving; the food was great; the beer and wine flowed freely into clay goblets, the band rocked and even the jetlagged parents could keep dancing until 3.30 am.
Ruth, Christina's mum making the wedding cake
Night before the wedding, greeting some of our international guests with the internationally recognized pinnacle of German cuisine: Schnitzel! Guests came from Australia, Singapore, Japan, England, Switzerland, Sweden, & France.
The vows: in St. Katharina church in Wallerfangen
Sekt empfang - drinks after the service in front of the church while the Musikverein Konkordia (Chistina's home-town orchestra) played.
Balloon boys and girls
Our first married act together - conducting the orchestra. And it was defintely an "act"; our conducting might not have been great, but the orchestra didn't even pretend to follow us - none of the players even looked in our direction while we were waving the pointy sticks around.
More champagne at the Roman Villa in Borg (Perl) where we had the reception.
Serving staff pouring the popular Römersud beer into the clay goblets.
The Wedding (very basic) Foxtrot
The married life quiz: to this question we both agreed Christina cooked better than me...
The finished wedding cake - decorated with Christina's favourite Margareta flowers
Cutting the cake
About to throw the bouquet
With the moose theme taking on a life of it's own, we provided a space for everyone to paint their own.
Last year was an unusually snowy year, leading to a white Christmas and beautiful snowscapes reminding me of Sweden. This year there's only been a couple of days of snow in the town which didn't stay around for very long. After the driest November since records began the headlines are like they were in Aus a couple of years ago - drought, increasing fruit and veg prices, cracked and dry fields, lakes without water, delayed start to the ski season... things arent looking good. But last year it was glorious! 
The view from the telecommunications tower in Winterthur - with the Alps in the background
The Edmar Castaneda Trio at the Blue Note. Very cool music - amazing to watch the physicality of Edmar's harp playing, and trombonist Marshall Gilkes can do things on the horn that are amazing. Great toe-tapping music with latino flair. I I hope I get Latino jazz harp playing angels if/when I go to Heaven!
Paquito D'rivera. He was joined at one point on stage by a bandoneon player (tango accordion) who was amazingly expressive and melancholic. 
Something else blue that I'd never seen before. And couldn't eat because they were horrible. Maybe some things just shouldn't be blue.
Times Square
Empire State Building
View of the south and Wall St.
The "Seinfeld" Diner - a definite landmark on my to-see list! Unfortunately I didn't have enough time for a sit-down meal, but I would have loved to eat a Mars Bar with a knife and fork in there...
Debbie and Andrew Carman (the best man), Us, and Christina's Witness (they dont have bridesmaids in Germany), with Ralf
Bubbles!
Hee hee!
the Bling
Snapshot out the back at the BBQ on the 15th
Keeping the kids entertained with Tom and Jerry, which meant our pre-prepared photo slideshow showing our life in Europe had to be sidelined.
Ralf - earning his trip by working at the spit roast
Detlef also earning his ticket, and desperately trying to tan by deliberately not wearing a hat
A successful introduction to the world of Cheezels!
Ruth, Christina's mum making the wedding cake
