Saturday 23rd November, 2019
Today I will be watching the Matinee of Nutcracker which is a short excerpt of the ballet which will premiere next Saturday. I am looking forward to it.
It was wonderful to watch the dances do their warmup class. For anyone else that would be it for the day, worn out. But they do this class for 1 hour and then perform. I have enjoyed a great day with Benny afterwards. I am a loser in Scrabble though, I am down by 4 games now. Ouch!!
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- A picture perfect day. Petrikirche – A little cool but lovely.
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- Museum
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- Museum, Opera House and Petrikirche
Friday 22nd November, 2019
Today was a beautiful sunny day with a light breeze and very fresh air temperature. A nice 6-8°C. I had a pleasant 6km walk, 2km swim and 4km walk before lunch. A chat and a fun game of Scrabble with Benny, he is getting too good. We are even on the tally at the moment. Then tonight I have been to watch the first dress rehearsal of Nutcracker. I love watching the ballet develop from the first stage rehearsal until I see the final moments in the Premiere. A great week ahead before the Premiere next Saturday night. I love every stage!
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- Some more autumn colours of the Schlossteich
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- Statues at the Pool.
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- Benny having his makeup done for the Nutcracker performance..
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- ..as Mr Drosselmeier. Can’t wait for the Premiere.
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- My favourite plaza as I walk home from the Opera House tonight
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- Lisa’s new santa made it home in one piece.
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- We have progress at home..
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- ..our deck is finally finished, 20 years later hehehe!
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- DB has been looking after himself well whilst I have been away, along with a few meals with family and friends. This is one of his creations, very late dinner but yummy all the same.
Thursday 21st November, 2019
Well, I start each day with exactly the same word. So today I had a nice day. I walked to Sachsen-Allee (Shopping Centre) and bought some of Benny’s Christmas present. Then headed back home for a quick lunch and then went for an exercise walk around Schlossteich, then headed to the pool. After swimming 2000m slow, finishing at about 4.15pm I came outside to darkness. I so can’t get used to how early it gets dark here in the winter, especially as it only gets light at about 8am as well. I met Benny and we went to the Galleria to have a look at Christmas things. Another day has gone by now and it is only 10 days until I start my long journey home.
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- The Christmas decorations have appeared in the shops this week. They are quite extravagant
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- Tonights dinner extravaganza. Benny has exotic taste. Melted fancy cheese and garlic in a fancy cob loaf. It was very yummy. Not so good for gluten and dairy intolerance but that’s tomorrows problem.
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- David’s project with the grandchildren….
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- ..watching the developing..
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- ..silk worms spin their cocoons..
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- ..and finally at last an adult butterfly..
Wednesday 20th November, 2019
Well it is cold and gloomy today. Top of 4°C today. Eeekkk!! And I have to go out to see Benny’s performance of Winterreise. I am looking forward to it, just not the cold. We had a quiet morning inside out of the cold. The performance was amazing. A contemporary piece with a pianist and singer. It was quite dramatic with dynamic movement. I loved it!!
Head to the link below if you want to have a look at the Winterreise pictures
https://www.theater-chemnitz.de/spielplan/winterreise-1/8962
Tuesday 19th November 2019
Well in two weeks time I will have had my first sleep at home in my own bed. Can’t believe 4 weeks has passed so fast. Maybe not so fast for DB but it won’t be long now. Today is a lovely, bright sunny day, cold at only 3-7°C today. I head out for a walk at about 11am and it is only 4°. At home you would hesitate to go outside but as this is the best it will get for the winter. Off I go. I am going for a long walk to explore the Küchwald forest today. I will walk past the Schlossteich, and then towards Benny’s old apartment to the forest. It is a beautiful day for it and the autumn colours in the forest are beautiful. I head into the forest and just meander through it, coming across an ice skating rink. wanting to see the ice I tried to walk around the rink but was unable to get any closer. I reached the Botanical Gardens but will leave that for another day. Back into the forest and I thought i the correct direction for home, but alas, my fantastic sense of direction has failed me yet again. I end up behind the colourful energy stack that you can see from the lake. I decide it is time to let technology to the work for me to get e back on track. Oops, heading the wrong way, I turn around and have about a 25 minute walk back to the lake. It has been a lovely walk. I return home 11km in total over about 2.5 hours. Well that takes care of today as Benny will be home at 2.30pm. Just enough time to do some groceries for dinner and a quick shower. I few nice hours with Benny and I thought I would go for a swim, but as always the early dark (about 4.30pm) and the cold deters me again.
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- The Küchwald station. A mini train that takes you through the forest…
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- ..beautiful with autumn colours..
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- The tennis court is being prepared for the snow I think!!
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- Play equipment along the way..
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- ..beautiful wide avenues to stroll along..
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- A mushroom stool for a rest.
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- The ice rink I came across that contributed to me losing my way. Oh well. Thank goodness for technology..
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- Not sure what this building wa sfor but very modern and colourful.
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- Back in to the forest, I thought I knew the way..
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- ..I was enjoying the peacefulness of the forest in the middle of Chemnitz city..
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- ..but when I exited the forest I headed in the wrong direction and ended up at the colourful energy stack. (A lignite-fired power station in the northern parts of Chemnitz with a power capacity of 120 megawatts. It has a 301.8 metre tall chimney.)
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- ..then heading in the right direction now I passed the cemetery..
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- ..then finally back to the castle church..
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- ..a beautiful old building. I tried to go inside but the door was locked again today..
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- ..down to the Schlossteich and on me way home. Only 15 minutes to go now.
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- A lovely walk. 11km over 2.5 hours exploring the area.
Monday 18th November 2019
Another drizzly day with single figure temperatures. Maximum of 8°C. Final day of deliveries, Benny’s table arrived at about midday. Benny only had to work this morning today, so after he built his new table we headed out to TK Max. A discount department store, Benny thought I would like to go shopping, not sure that he knows me very well. Anyway, he picked up a few things for his house and I looked through another shopping centre. They are just starting o put up there Christmas decorations. The shopping centre looked lovely. I still can’t get used to the darkness at 4.30pm but I still have a couple of weeks to adapt before coming home to daylight savings time and the heat. That will be a big shock to the system.
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- Dinner time on Benny’s new table as always the ambience is important. Love it.
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- Benny loves his ambience
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- The new addition….only about 15 years overdue.
Sunday 17th November, 2019
Well we went out for a lovely brunch this morning of traditional German food. A buffet of sausages of many different kinds, scrambled eggs, has browns, boiled eggs, chicken nuggets, soup, hams, cheeses, salami, salads, smoked salmon, breads, cereals, croissants, dried fruit, pannacotta and that is just the breakfast menu, then as we were leaving at about 11am they started to bring out the lunch buffet of fish and more. We were heading home to prepare for Benny’s little house warming gathering with his closest friends – Jean-Blaise, Isabel, Alejandro and Soomi. It was a lovely afternoon.
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- Brunch at Turm-Brauhaus.
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- Alejandro, Soomi, Isabel, Benny and I
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- Alejandro, Soomi, Me, Benny and Jean-Blaise at Benny’s house warming