USA, USA, USA - An Expat Return home

We're back!

Back in the land of big coffees, big American breakfasts, big cars, vast lands, Mexican food, livestock, childhood friends, homesteads, driving, BBQs, Oscars, TV, and FREEDOM. We are back in American & couldn't be happier.

747!

Our visit to the Museums of Paris

During our trip to Paris in December, we got all cultured. We did this (primarily) through buying the Museum Pass and going museum crazy.

We are museum lovers and prefer to visit a museum over & over, slowly absorbing the incomprehensible displays of grace and beauty BUT a week long trip to Paris only affords a precious hour or two in each place. Even then we missed some must-sees. We're sorry. This action packed museum itinerary was exhaustively carried out over 2 days and was so incredibly worth it.

Foucault pendulum

A glimpse at some greatness.

First stop:

Panthéon

This was the major landmark by our airbnb apartment. Located in the Latin Quarter in Paris, it is a secular mausoleum containing the remains of distinguished French citizens such as Marie Curie, Victor Hugo, Voltaire, Rousseau, etc. Modeled on the Pantheon in Rome, the building is known for Foucault's pendulum a simple device conceived as an experiment to demonstrate the rotation of the Earth. While it had long been known that the Earth rotated, the introduction of the Foucault pendulum in 1851 was the first simple proof of the rotation in an easy-to-see experiment.

"Germans sure know how to Blow Shit Up"

My dad recently joined Facebook (which is all kinds of funny) and the title of this post is the comment he left on this video of Berlin's New Years. Well played Daddio.

It's true, Berlin's Silvester celebration is not only like nothing I've ever seen before, but like nothing I've ever even seen in my dreams. It's madness. It's excitement incarnate. It's magic. I've written about it 1, 2, 3 times before, but this year was the best of them all.

This year we hurried back from Paris on December 31st to enjoy our 3rd New Years in Berlin, this time with our Berlin friends that actually stayed in town. We ended up on a rooftop for midnight and I can say - without hesitation - this was the best New Years celebration I have ever enjoyed.