(I wrote this post last Tuesday {May 20} but am just now getting around to publishing it.)

Par for the course...

Greetings from a hospital near Disneyland. Guess which one of our kids broke an arm. That’s right: Emily.

Our first day at Disneyland Paris actually got off to a good start: we left Heidelberg at around 8:30 and made exceptionally good time, reaching our hotel a little before 13:00. By the way, our hotel, the MyTravel Explorer, puts the pathetic Disney hotel we stayed at last year to shame. It’s a little further from the park, but I would estimate that this adds at most 10 minutes to the commute -- a small price to pay to avoid another few days in Walt’s French ghetto (the Sante Fé Hotel).

We checked in and managed to get a room immediately. The girls changed clothes and we headed downstairs to grab the shuttle to the park. As I was leaving the hotel, I heard Emily scream. It was obvious that something had gone really wrong. She had climbed on top of a wall that had about a three foot fall on one side. She somehow managed to lose her balance and, as our flawed reflexes would have us do, used her hands to break the fall. When she got up she was holding her right forearm, which was noticeably crooked with an big indentation right above the wrist. I hate it when that happens.
The hotel quickly called the paramedics, who whisked B and Emily to the hospital while Marina and I took Robert and Sophia to the park. These two had a great time although we were all worried about Emily. After a few quick cell calls, we all calmed down: she would have to stay in the hospital but would be able to keep her arm.
Unfortunately, Emily broke both bones in her forearm pretty badly. At about 20:00, I made it to the hospital for Emily’s “surgery”. Actually, they just put her under general anesthetic so they could set the bones – it took less than half an hour. She emerged with a nice plaster cast that goes half-way up her upper arm. I shutter to think what we’ll find inside it when she has it removed.

Anyway, I stayed with Emily so B could go back to the hotel and take the others to the park this morning (Tuesday, May 20th). The chair in Emily’s room reclines a bit so I managed to get some sleep. The hospital said they’ll do another X-ray this morning and then Emily (and I!) will be free to go. We managed to reschedule Sophia’s birthday party for today, so it looks like we’ll all make it for the big celebration.

Back to our hotel: it is big, clean, has three restaurants and an indoor pool that really looks like a blast. I guess Emily won’t be spending much time in the pool. Anyway, I’m looking forward to getting this train back on track...

Marina is in the house...

Marina just arrived after a delayed flight in Portugal made her miss the last shuttle to Heidelberg. Her luggage heavy-laden with a few clothes and tons of gifts for our clan, she sat dejected at the airport until B zipped up to Frankfurt to rescue her.

Violating a non-trivial number of customs laws, she brought with her a delicacy known to few who haven't visited South America (maybe just Brazil?): count fruit or fruta do conde.

Although it looks like an alien seed pod, it has the a remarkably sweet, delicate flavor that I can't really compare to anything. I'm crying in my keyboard from saudade...

The gift that keeps on giving...

The trip to the palace today reminded me of a bunch of HDRs I took a couple of weeks ago that I still hadn't posted. Enjoy.

Why don't you move to Schwetzingen already?

A perfectly reasonable question given the regularity with which I have visited this fine burg of late. Today, I took Radost, a Bulgarian coworker, to the palace. Although not in top form after a late night in Heidelberg, I think she tolerated the excursion quite well.

Today,we went inside the mosque -- a first for the both of us. It is quite impressive. Unfortunately, I left my tripod mount at home so the panoramics I took (one of them HDR) suffered somewhat. At least Radost didn't while I took pictures (this onus being reserved for my better half). Trivially quoting McCarthur, "I shall return".

The one below was taken in an arc above my head. Interesting effect, no?

We also entered the Orangerie. There's a room there full of copies of the statuary you see throughout the gardens. Most cool in my opinion.

What caught my attention today was the number, variety and activity of the animals on the premises (particularly foul). To wit:

Later, I took the kids to the park while B ran errands in preparation of the arrival of her sister Marina. After giving her a day to recover from the trip from Brazil, we'll head to Euro Disney then Paris.

Although I wasn't actually attacked, virtually all the birds in these pictures met my interest with menacing stares and squawks. I asked Radost to remain at the ready to take a picture should one of them assault me as I can think of nothing that would make the Mrs. laugh harder. Sorry B, no dice this time.

If loving beer is wrong...

I have no intention of ever being right. While in Orlando, Thomas and I had a customer meeting at the Peabody Hotel. Although it was nice to see how the other half lives, I'm shocked they command such absurd daily rates with the obvious duck infestation they seem powerless to curb. Even the most annoying Muzak imaginable was unable to deter these foul pests from bathing themselves in a wholly indecent manner in the lobby fountain.
I took an HDR on a whim and was quite happy with the results (see two versions below). Make your mouth water too? Not sure if it's obvious at first glance, but the reflections are most interesting...
Thomas had a Sam Adams. There's no accounting for taste (although when it's ice cold, you don't suffer much). If someone from the Newcastle Brewery would like to compensate me for this endorsement or these wonderful, mouthwatering images, I can easily be bought with three words: free lifetime supply.

Sun day...

We spent Sunday with friends in Mannheim; Luisenpark to be exact. We had gone last February soon after arriving in Germany. Obviously, a botanical garden/park is much more inviting in Spring. The storks walking around were pretty cool.
We arrived around 3 to meet Ana, her husband Berndt and their kids Jasmine and David. We ended up staying until the place closed. We weren't the last folks to leave, but were close to it. The day was absolutely perfect. This park is immense, so I think we didn't even see half of it. The Chinese "city" is truly beautiful.
The kids loved the trampolines. The famous tower has a restaurant we plan to check out soon sans kids. By the way, we'll be travelling to Disneyland Paris next week then spend a couple of days in the City of Lights itself. Don't imagine I'll blog while we're gone, but you can count on my snapping pictures compulsively and posting them here soon thereafter.