White Bear Lake Resort, Saskatchewan, CA

O and I went up to Saskatchewan, Canada for a few meetings and a lot of R & R. The prairies can be so beautiful.

Kickass

Cool comic but I only wish.

Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill

I can't take seeing yet another heart wrenching and stomach turning image anymore. What world are we living in, with what people do we live with in this world when so much harm is done to animals, amphibians and fish who have nothing to do with our values? I won't even mention the human loss.

Sadness quickly gave way to anger when I considered how weak our President has been as a leader in such a crisis. So I wrote President Obama via the White House website:

Dear Mr. President:
I write with a deeply saddened and heavy heart after seeing photos how wild animals like birds and amphibians are suffering and dying from being drowned in oil sludge. It was like seeing humans torturing and killing the animals with their own hands. The
It's now 1-1/2 months since the start of the oil spill and it appears that you have stood by and done very little too late. Your constant trust of so called experts has put more in harms way than to save what precious living resource we have.
I understand that you are not an oil spill expert. I understand that we are all at the mercy of the very people who created the disaster. However, I do not understand why you are not leading. You are the guardian of our nation. You have the power and the leadership to demand immediate action.
We should not have waited a month before the first form of action was taken to quell the leak. Watching your inaction and trust in BP and their experts was like watching the 7 minutes of George W Bush's silence and inaction when he heard the 911 news.
I refuse to let things appear to be doomed. So please Mr. President, please take the lead and make powerful and consequential decisions to help save the suffering nature of the gulf. Please demand with conviction, BP's responsibility.
Please make immediate and decisive decisions. Please don't drag your feet just because maybe, just maybe someone might have a better idea. You can wait forever.
Please take the lead as our President and I will give you all of my support. Thank you. Sincerely, Elizabeth

Largest Flash Mob Dance @ Eurovision

O and I watched the Eurovision Song Contest Saturday night. Hooray for Germany/Lena's win!

But what caught my spirit was the largest flash mob dance the broadcasters did live in many countries simultaneously. It was touching to hear the lyrics about love and getting the world connected by Madcon (Norwiegian Group) while people of all nations shared a moment of happiness and dance together.

I hope they do this again next year. This time it's Europe but wouldn't it be great if it included all races, color and religion?

Marionette Theater Munich

    

This cool marionette theater just happens to be in our neighborhood.

Buergerspital Vineyard

A couple weeks ago, O and I visited his daughter, H, at the Buergerspital Vinyard in Wuerzburg, where she is interning for the summer. What a treat! Not only did we get to see her, but she was in her element.

The Burgerspital vineyard is one of the most established vineyards in the Franken region. It dominates a large hill overlooking the town of Wuerzburg on the Main river (same river Frankfurt is on about one hour north west). It has the charge of not only making wines but to rehabilitate older citizens through their nursing facility. So it's social program is quite impressive.

Our timing was perfect. When we arrived, we landed right in the middle of a wine tasting. It was fun to learn  the etiquette of wine tasting. Funny enough after a while, if you don't succumb to the call of the wine gods and swallow every slurp, you start to taste the different flavors.

In between tests, H took us on a personal guided tour. It was cool to see all what it takes to produce wine. Some of the places are truly beautiful like their collection of fine vintages which have to be rotated. There they have statues as center pieces.

While some production areas deep in the basement give you the heebie geevies.

The vineyard also boasts owning one of the older bottles of wine in existence. The oldest bottle they have is dated around 1540 A.D.

Later on, we had a great time walking through the vineyards.

The best was when we walked it at night without any light. There was something so earthy and deeply satisfying when our eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness and we hiked around the hillside, through the grapevines.

Buergerspital, Wuerzberg, Germany (near Frankfurt)

Rainy Day in Munich

Rain can be so romantic when you're visiting Munich.

Although, anyone who lives here can kill you for thinking that. No amount of beautiful sunny days can make up for the endless gray and rain they had all winter and spring.

But I like to think it's romantic since I've had a couple weeks of great weather here.