I've not blogged for two weeks! This is for the week of February 9-15:
February 9-11 were spent normally. Heather didn't have to work, so we cleaned up around the house while the kids were at school, which they promptly UNcleaned upon arriving at home.
Brady continued working on potty training, Keira continued learning how to read and write. Heather has been having problems with a sore throat, and saw 2 doctors who didn't help at all!
February 12- Peter arrived! We picked him up at the airport, and then showed him the fantastic... wait for it... German DMV! Heather's license came in, and needed to be picked up. Peter was a good sport about the drive to Heinsberg, and even showed interest in seeing the house in GK where Heather lived when she was younger. After that was a drive back to Neuss to get the kids, then to Wegberg for dinner: Heather made tacos!
February 13- Chris took the kids to school, dropping Heather and Peter off at the train station on the way. Peter and Heather took a train to Koln, stopping by starbucks before venturing out into the city. First we went to the cathedral,and learned so many wonderful things about it. Started in the 1200s and finished in the 1800s (except for the renovations still going on), it has some amazing stained glass and historical altars. We even trekked up to the viewpoint at the top of a spire- 100 meters and 509 steps high! Heather was lucky Peter (the paramedic) was there.. that was a very long walk up a completely circular staircase. Luckily we even got to see/hear the bells ringing at noon. That was quite loud. The view from the top was gorgeous, even on a drizzly day. It was snowing in the belfry as we walked up the last flights of stairs. The trip down was much easier, but still dizzying. At least we can say "we did it!" (And we got the post card to prove it!)
After the cathedral, we walked down to the Koln Schokolade (chocolate) Museum. This shows a history of the making, trading and consumption of chocolate over the last 3000 years. There, we also learned about the Olmec civilizations, which we'd never heard about! Apparently it was situated between the mayans and Aztecs, and a big cocoa bean producing culture. We also learned that chocolate used to be consumed by drinking it hot, mostly in private parties by rich people, and it wasn't until the 1800's (when Rodolpho Lindt created the conching process) that chocolate was mixed with milk and sugar and made into the bars we eat today!
Part of the museum is also a Lindt factory, so you can see all the machines that go into making chocolates, from the cocoa bean shelling process to the melting, molding, wrapping and packaging of chocolates. There's even a HUGE chocolate fountain where you can get samples! We also had sandwiches and hot chocolate mixed with bailey's at the museum's restaurant, it was delicious.
After the museum, we rode the most touristy "train" from the museum back to the cathedral. I might say this is the BEST way to travel the city! We got a tour (though in German, which I quickly translated to Peter) through major sights, got a ride and had the whole train to ourselves, for only 3 Euros per person!
We then took the ICE back up to Dusseldorf, and met Chris for dinner and drinks in the Altstadt. The kids were spending the night at Stuart and Gabriella's, which is a very special thing to them. Chris, Heather and Peter ate at a steak house, and headed home around 11pm.
We got to sleep in the next morning, picked the kids up around 1030, and had a nice day in Roermond, Netherlands. We went shopping for some household items, hen showed Peter the city and had lunch at the designer outlets. Early evening, we grabbed some fresh made belgium waffles and drove out to a harbor. We saw birds and bunnies and boats, which the kids loved. We sat on a dock eating the waffles and watching the sunset over the water, and Chris got a taste of what it would be like to live on a boat. It was a nice, peaceful, relaxing Saturday.
Saturday night, Chris graciously stayed home with the kids, playing rock band, while Peter and Heather went to Duesseldorf again. This time to meet Heather's friend Ty and his friend James for dinner. Being that Peter had an early flight, we only stayed out until 1am. Ty and James also fell asleep at our house, though James got up around 8 to head off to England.
Heather dropped Peter at the airport Sunday morning, and then spent the day with Ty in Duesseldorf. We went to the Rhein Tower, which is a tv and radio antennae with a restaurant and great view of the city and Rhein. After the view, we had lunch at a great brewery in Oberkassel. We had a traditional German meal of Jager Schnitzel with noodles, and Ty tried the steak tartar on toast. (EWW) After lunch, we caught a 5pm movie, The curious case of Benjamin Button (in English). I have mixed feelings on that movie, because there are so many similarities to Forrest Gump, but I felt like it lasted 3 hours! Oh wait, it DID! In fact, we barely made it to the airport on time for Ty's flight!
Chris was such a sport, taking care of the kids and the house and letting me run around with friends. The kids were quite excited to have different people around the house, and really loved Peter. (They even fought over who could sit with him) For Chris and the kids, the week was mostly normal, but for Heather, it was a LOT of fun!
Winter 2014
12 years ago
