Here we go again...WE'RE MOVING!

And this time, it's to GERMANY!  I know, I know, we just moved to London a year ago and into a new flat about six weeks ago, but we can explain.  An entirely unexpected opportunity came along for me with a company that was in need of an in-house anti-bribery counsel.  It's a new position for the company, and I'll be able to build the company's compliance program from the ground up.  We thought about it long and hard, and we decided that this was a career opportunity we couldn't pass up.

But enough about the job:  we're really excited for this new chapter in our family's life.  We'll be living in a small village - Schlonkopf - about two hours from Munich.  It's a really lovely little place.

The village is charming, with plenty of old buildings and open squares.

I wish I could say more about what life is like in Schlonkopf, but I'm sure there will be plenty of that in future posts.  I love this little-known fact, though:  the guy who played Bernie in Weekend at Bernie's was born in Schlonkopf.  Weird, I know, but hey, every town has its claim to fame.

One thing we're really looking forward to is the food.  You know, the beer, the chocolate cake...and even though there's no 1000-year old monastery brewing beer in Schlonkopf like in some other German villages, there is a convent that is known for its brined fish and other delicacies.  The convent is a major shareholder in the company that manufactures Transitions eyeglass lenses.

Even though Charlotte won't start school for another couple of years, we already have our eye on a local school.  It's a bilingual Chinese-German early music academy.  The learning curve may be steep at first, but she's a smart cookie, and we expect her to be playing some of those famous theorbo suites from the late Ming dynasty in no time!

And, of course, the more experienced musician in our family won't be starved for gigs.  Bethie's contacts in London will continue to provide good work, and we'll be in the centre of the Continent and all of the music  that's going on there.  Perhaps best yet, there's a small-but-impressive music scene in Schlonkopf, and Bethie's got an audition with one group next week.  It goes without saying, but Hans and the Dorbengorfers has been a mainstay of the Volkstümliche Musik world since its formation in 1983.  We've got our fingers crossed! 

We certainly aren't looking forward to leaving London so soon, but our new home is one that we hope to keep for a long time to come.  So, come visit!  We'll have plenty of space for guests, and we'd love to show you around.  Perhaps come for next year's April Fools Day festival?