Our 2013

January

It was was an exciting start to the year for Dave and his family as they went to Middlesborough to see Hastings play in the FA cup third round.

March

In March we spent flew to Israel for a week. We spent 2 days in Tel-Aviv and then moved onto Jerusalem. It was a fascinating experience and we could have spent a months in Jerusalem alone and still would not have seen everything there is to see.

Our trip also included a trip to Bethlehem in the West Bank, a journey to Masada and a swim in the Dead Sea.

April

April was the month of paperwork for us. Marita’s parents and her sister Eva came from Germany to first of all attend David’s baptism, (you need to be baptised to get married in a church) and secondly to attend our legal ceremony in the Marylebone Registry Office in London.

June

The preparations for the weddings were in their final stages. Marita went on a hendo with 16 of her friends to a place near Brighton; which included a ready stead cook and long walk in the countryside.

Dave went to Belgrade!

Before the wedding we had a Polterabend in the German Beerhouse in London. A Polterabend is  a German traditional and is the last big party before the wedding.

July

Finally all the long preparations came to frutrition. More than half of our guests flew in from England. The festivities started with a vineyard walk in Rüdesheim on the Friday. Our church ceremony took place in a medieval church in Eltville and our reception took place in a vineyard restaurant nearby.

We were very lucky with the weather as it was cloudy the week before but on the day it was a very nice 27 degrees.

After the wedding we went on a mini honeymoon – a minimoon – to Camargue in the South of France to unwind for five days.  Marita went horseriding and Dave was bitten by a dog!

August

Marita flew home to join her family for her mother’s 60ths birthday celebration. Thankfully it was a warm summer day in the family garden. Marita’s mother invited 60 women to her 60th birthday party, so it was a year of big celebrations for the Jünemann family.

October

At Marita’s birthday party in May, Dave promised to run the Franfurt marathon in October, and come the 27 October was stood at the start line of a wet and windy marathon course! Three hours and six minutes later it was over! The marathon was tough but the near constant training was more demanding.

November

We went to Riga. It was a very cold but interesting weekend break with its Art Noveau Architecture and fascinating history. Highlights included a visit to the Riga National Opera to see Verdi’s Nabucco and watching the festivities of the Latvian Independence day.

December

Back in Germany (again) for Christmas. This is David’s first experience of a German Christmas and it started with a visit to the Christmas Market in Frankfurt. It is also the first time that he opened his presents on Christmas Eve. On the 25th Marita’s family is planning a visit to the Opera.