Day 32 (July 10th)

Woke up and went to our usual corner bakery and picked up the kids' breakfasts. By the time I got back the kids were up and they eat their food/drinks. Spent the morning in the apartment and we played some card games and hung out. Met Al for lunch and went to Maredo which is a "southwestern" restaurant. The weather had cleared up so we eat outside. I was in the mood for something healthy so I decided to have the salad bar. Besides the typical salad bar items (e.g. lettuce, carrots, etc...) they had two types of sauerkraut (white and purple), a strange beef dish that was pretty good and a few other German style foods. The salad bar was exactly what I was looking for. Hannah had the tomato soup (which she has quite often in restaurants) and Zach had Nachos. We had a very nice lunch. The kids desperately wanted to go to GameWorks and buy some figures to paint so we headed over to the store. We started talking to the guy at the store and told him that we were totally new to the whole warhammer game. He gave the kids a figure each to paint so they sat down at the painting area and painted away. They were so focused and loved working with the small paint brushes. After they finished painting their figures we walked around the store and then purchased a starter kit that included 10 figures and paints. The kids were pumped. On the way back home we stopped at a bakery and the kids bought some pretzels and Zach bought a strange black and white cookie. It was not the usual black and white you get in the States. He only ate half and chewed off the chocolate outside of the other half. Each day I typically give them each a certain amount of money for them to buy what they want. They are responsible for asking for the item they want, paying for it and getting the proper amount of change. Sometimes they pool their money together to buy something they both want.
Al came home later and we (saffrans and YH) went over to a Moroccan restaurant called Marrakesh. We had passed this place many times and noticed the large comfortable chairs with big pillows set up outside and wanted to try it out. At first we planted ourselves outside but it got a little too cold for us so we moved inside. They had the big chairs and pillows inside also. It took awhile before we got out drinks. I had a large Heiferweizen, Al had a white wine and the kids had a cherry drink that was too sour for them (until they put sugar in it). For dinner we got Zach plain grilled chicken (that he didn't eat) and we split another chicken dish, a couscous dish and a vegetable dish. The food was different and nothing special. Since Zach was still hungry we went over to our outdoor crepe place and we all ended up getting crepes. Everybody had a chocolate crepe except for me who had a cherry crepe. This, everybody enjoyed. We walked around the Alstadt a little and then headed home. Again, by the time we got home, got the kids settled in bed it was after 12:00 AM.

Day 33 (July 11th)

Woke up and went to our usual corner bakery and I brought the kids back breakfast. This seems to be our standard routine since the kids don't want to motivate out of bed in the morning. I knew today was going to be nice outside so I had planned a road trip to a castle. I had a listing of castles in the area and this one looked pretty good so I figured we give it a try. The kids were not very excited about going to a castle because "they don't want to see anything old". We left around 9:30 AM and drove for about 25 minutes north of Dusseldorf to a city called Krefeld. Arrived to the destination with no problems thanks to the Nav system. After we parked, we walked about 50 feet and came upon a fun park with the Castle (see middle picture; note kids by entrance when you click on the picture) in the background. It was a nice setting. Now the kids were excited. There were a few other kids there and we played for a couple of hours. I finally was able to motivate the kids to walk over to the Castle. Of course the kids had to go to the restroom so I found them a bathroom (without having to pay). We walked around the castle and Hannah "played" the tour guide. There were many different types of flowers all around and Zach was picking some of them and Hannah would explain what type of flowers they were. We took a bunch of pictures trying to get a good one of a bee on the flower (see top picture). We finished up at the Castle and started walking around the rest of the town. We came upon a small cafe and stopped to have a drink. The town was very quiet with not many people walking around. From the map it seemed as though the town was an old medieval town surrounded by a wall. It was around lunch time and tried to find a restaurant but nothing was open. We finally came upon a small pizzeria that was perfect for the kids and went in and sat down. The inside walls of the restaurant were very cool (see bottom right picture). They were decorated art deco with little mirrors, rocks and other materials all around. We ordered a couple of pizzas, sodas and ice cream for dessert. The kids loved it. Luckily, 10 minutes after we went inside it started raining and by the time we finished lunch the rain cleared. Perfect timing. After lunch we continued our journey and stopped at an interesting fountain to take some pictures. We then found a path that meandered by ponds and fields with horses. Hannah has this passion for horses lately and every time she saw a horse in a field she would say "when I get older I want a big open field and a bunch of horses so I can ride them all the time". The path continued for a while and we made it back to the playground. The kids wanted to play some more so we hung out there for a while. Then, we all heard some "playful music" that we knew was THE ICE CREAM MAN. The kids had eaten ice cream not long ago and they wanted another cone each. Hannah had offered not to have sweets for 5 days if she could have ice cream. Zach was cringing at the idea. After further negotiations, we settled on 3 days of no sweets. This was good for them since they were drinking a lot of soda and eating a lot of chocolate/ice cream. They savored every lick of their gelato ice cream. We played for a little longer and then went to the car and drove home. We had not even got home before they said they wanted to go back to the park tomorrow. They had a very long and fun day.
We met Al at home and went out to the Lebanese restaurant for Basam's departure. Basim is one of Al's colleagues from Citibank who is Syrian but lives in London. Besides Basim, YH and Rajina joined us. We ordered the prix fixe menu just like the last time we came but this time it was only for 4 people. It didn't matter, we started with about 8 or so different appetizers and then two meat dishes. We were all stuffed and then they brought out the main meat entree with chicken and lamb. There was a collective chuckle when it came out since everybody was already full. Of course this didn't stop us from eating more. Then the desserts came out and we were sucking wind. We packed up a doggy bag and Rajina had a full meal for the next couple of days. Hannah liked the food but of course Zach didn't. He ended up taking a nap during dinner and then I took the kids home early since they were both exhausted from running around all day. Al came back soon after and we all relaxed together and watched Gilmore Girls. Went to bed around 12:00 AM.

Day 34 (July 12th)

Woke up and went to our corner bakery. Al and I eat there while I brought back food for the kids. We hung out in the apartment in the morning. The kids painted their warhammer figures and I updated the blog and got my pictures organized. We met Al for lunch and went down to the Carisch Haus and had Thai food. The kids had plain grilled chicken with rice while I had a good size soup bowl of Tom Yum Guan (spicy soup with shrimp) along with a Thai beer. All day the kids were asking to go to GameWorks so they could buy more warhammer figures and paint them. After lunch we ventured towards Avis rental to see if I could swap cars. We had rented a Volvo XC 90 and didn't love the car (sorry to anybody who owns a Volvo). It was way to big for the tight European streets and it guzzles gas. When we arrived at Avis they informed me that a BMW X3 would be available at 5:00 PM tonight and if I came back later I could swap the cars. I told them "I'll be back". We made our way to GameWorks and the kids looked around and found a box of figures that included over 100 figures to paint. I knew this would keep them busy for a while. We bought that box as well as another set of better paints. The kids sat down at the painting area and hung out and painted for a few hours. They were totally absorbed with the painting. We cleaned up and left around 4:15PM so we could make it back to the apartment and give me time to get the car. We got back to the apartment and I let the kids stay there while I went and swapped out the cars at Avis. Everything worked very well. Avis had the BMW all ready for me and it was a pretty quick turnaround. I was actually able to drive home without using the Nav system.
Al came home later and we decided that we rather go and get some food to bring back to the room. The kids stayed home and Al and I walked over to Lupo’s and picked up some pizzas. On the way back we stopped at Fritz and Friends (French Fry store) and bought a package of fries with ketchup. Everybody eats these things in Dusseldorf (most of the times as lunch) and we wanted to try them out. They were good but nothing special. We got back to the room and chowed on our pizzas while we watched Gilmore Girls. It was the first time since we had been here that we eat dinner in the room. We watched TV for a couple of hours and had a nice relaxing evening. Of course, it was after 12:00 AM before we went to bed.

Day 35 (July 13th): Paris

Woke up and went to our usual corner bakery for breakfast. Came back to the apartment and gave the kids their food. Hannah had the salami sandwich and ruby red orangina, while Zach had a cheese sandwich with a ruby red orangina. Since the kids love the orangina, I looked in the supermarket for a large bottle of the red orangina but they do not carry it. We spent the morning in the apartment. The kids started playing their own version of warhammer on the coffee table and they love it. They play it for hours. This gave me time to do some research on Paris since we are heading their tonight. I found out that this weekend is Bastille Day in France and there is a big parade and fireworks tomorrow in Paris.
Around 12:00 PM we headed out and met Al for lunch. We went to a new place today that is part bakery and part restaurant. I ordered one of the specials and wasn’t totally sure what I ordered but it ended up being very good. It was a nice size salad with marinated mushrooms along with a baked potato drenched in sour cream. Zach had a pretzel cut in half with a couple of pieces of cheese. Hannah had a potato soup in a bread bowl. Everybody enjoyed their food. We then dropped Al off at work and got some ice cream. This weekend Dusseldorf was having a special French festival in celebration of Bastille Day. We walked around and looked at some of the booths that were being set up, but the festival didn’t start for a few hours. On the way home I noticed some swords in an antique store so we went inside and checked them out (I collect antique swords). The owner spoke a little English and we talked about the swords he had (about 10 of them). He had some nice ones but they were extremely overpriced (7,000 Euros). He was trying to convince me that these were good prices. I thanked him and we continued on our way. We stopped at a park near the apartment and the kids played for a while until it started raining. It was a slow drizzle at first but then the skies opened up. Luckily we were not to far from home. We hung out in the apartment until the storm passed and then we headed over to the supermarket to stock up on necessary items for our road trip tonight, i.e. water, chips, cookies, etc… When we got back to the apartment I had the kids shower up and I packed up our bags so we would be ready to go when Al came home. We had just finished up when Al arrived. The kids love salami now and we made a few sandwiches for the car so we could avoid any unnecessary stops on the road. The trip from Dusseldorf to Paris is 500 KM (about 4.5 hrs). We hit the road around 7:00 PM (see picture above of our X3 in the Schaper garage) and had a great night for driving. Skies were clear and there was no traffic. I averaged between 90 to 95 most of the way. We only had to stop one time for a bathroom break (I think it was in Belgium). It was around 11:00PM when we arrived in Paris. The name of our hotel was Hotel Residence Foch that was about a 15-minute walk west of the Arc de Triomphe. The room was nice. Al and I had two beds put together and the kids slept in a pull out sofa bed. By the time we got settled in and everybody was lying down it was about 12:00 AM. We had a big day ahead of us.

Day 36 (July 14th): Paris

Woke up around 8:00 AM and everybody else was sleeping. I decided to motivate since we had a busy day ahead of us and I needed to move the car off the street before 9:00 AM. Al woke up and showered after me. We left the kids in the room to get ready while Al and I took the car over to the parking lot closest to our hotel. Because of Bastille Day access to the parking lot was difficult and the police would not let us make the turn we needed. Instead we had to go around the block and ask another policeman (who did speak English) and he told us the proper direction. At first the entrance to the lot was closed off but the policeman luckily let us thru. We were definitely not in the mood to drive around the crazy Paris streets especially on Bastille Day. We parked the car and walked back to the hotel. The kids were dressed and we headed out towards the Arc de Triomphe where the parade was starting. There was a restaurant right on the corner across from the Arc where we stopped and had breakfast. The waiter brought us a couple of baskets of croissants and we started eating them until our breakfast came. We ordered some crepes and orange juice and watched all the people start to congregate around the Arc. In addition to the people, there were numerous military personnel all around. We finished breakfast and got the check. To our surprise, they charged us for all the croissants we ate (8 of them at 1.80 Euros each). The parade started and we headed over to the Champs Elysses where the parade was going down. Many of the streets were blocked off around the Arc with soldiers and their heavy equipment (tanks, jeeps, etc…). We stopped and took some pictures with the kids standing next to the soldiers (see picture on left). The only way to get to the Champs was to follow the massive crowds walking north of the Arc and then head back east. We finally got to the Champs and it was packed with people (some of which were there for hours before the parade started to get a good spot). We decided it would be best to head east on the Champs and not stay in one place so we could cover more ground. About 15 minutes later, jet fighters soared over our heads streaming red, white and blue smoke. This was followed by repeated “fly bys” of jet fighters in formation (see picture on top middle). In certain spots on the Champs it was so packed with people that you literally could not move at all through the crowd. One 15 foot section of sidewalk took us over 10 minutes to traverse while “stinky sweaty” people pushed in all directions. Are we having fun yet? Zach needed sneakers so we pulled over and stopped at an Addidas store. Not only was it air-conditioned but also it had two stories so you were able to view the parade from the upper floor. I planted myself in front of one of the windows and watched the parade. It was not a typical parade because there were many lags in the procession. You would watch some soldiers walk by and then you would wait 10 to 15 minutes before anything else went by. We hung out at Addidas for a while and cooled off then hit the streets again. We tried to head down to the Place de la Concorde but many of the streets were closed off due to the French President and we ended up doing another big round about to get down there. By the time we got to the Place de la Concorde (12:00 PM) the parade finally ended. The Tuilerie gardens are right next to the Place de la Concorde and we walked in and found a restaurant to have lunch at. Zach and I had a chicken sandwich (and I had a cold beer). After lunch the kids played with the pigeons while Al and I relaxed a little longer. We then headed over to a little festival in the Tuilerie gardens that had rides and Zach did a bungee ride with the Louvre Museum in the background (cool setting). It was very hot out and we got some cold drinks in front of the Louvre. We debated whether we wanted to do the Louvre but decided against it due to our limited time in Paris, and knew that the Louvre can take hours to go thru. The Seine was across the street and we stopped and got some ice cream and hung out near the water. We continued eastward and went to the Notre Dame Cathedral (see picture on right). We walked around instead the church but did not go to the top since you can only walk the 400+ stairs and there was no elevator. By this time, Hannah was completely exhausted and she needed to rest. We found a little café across the street from the church and had some drinks and used the restrooms. After resting for 20 minutes we went behind the church and visited a Holocaust memorial that was a little “odd” and nothing special. We walked over the Pont de Sully and stopped to watch a bicycle street performer who was very good. We then got some more ice cream and drinks and checked out some of the small quaint shops. One of shops was air-conditioned and Hannah bought a horse bookmark for her friend while we cooled off (good stop). We continued on and found a playground where we let the kids play for a while. I thought it would be appropriate on Bastille Day to go over to the Place de la Bastille thinking that something might be happening there. Nothing special was going on but we stopped and took some pictures. It was getting late and we had no energy to walk back to the hotel so we took the Metro instead. We got back to the hotel and washed up to change for dinner. Fireworks were starting at 10:30 PM at the Trocadero so we headed in that direction. We found a French restaurant along the way and had to eat inside since all the outdoor seating was taken. It was a little hot inside with no AC. We endured and I had a nice shrimp and scallop salad along with a cold Belgium beer. Al had a steak that was ok, Zach had a cheeseburger with fries and Hannah had a chicken salad. We finished dinner and headed down to the Trocadero to get a spot for the fireworks. I was hoping to get a good unobstructed view of the Eiffel tower during the fireworks but the best we could do was see the top quarter of the tower. The place was packed with people all with the same intentions. The fireworks started at 10:35 PM and lasted for 30 minutes (see picture on middle left). They were good but not great. After the fireworks finished the massive crowd dispersed and we moved with the flow. As we were walking a small dog to the side of us did a “#2” right on the street while hundreds of people were walking behind it. Hannah was watching the whole thing and it wasn’t 10 seconds after the dog finished that someone step right in it. Note: There are no leash laws in France (and for that matter Germany) so you need to watch every step. We finally made it back to the apartment around 12:00 AM and hit the sack after a very long busy day.

Day 37 (July 15th): Paris

We finally motivated out of bed around 9:00 AM and showered. We had to pack up our stuff since we needed to check out at 12:00 PM and we were not planning to come back to the hotel in time. We got our stuff together and brought it downstairs. We asked them to hold our luggage for the day and we would come back for it later. It was strange but they didn’t have a luggage storage area and we ended up leaving our stuff in the lobby next to one of the couches. We felt odd leaving our stuff there but they said people do it all the time. Today was Eiffel Tower day so we headed in that direction. We stopped at a nice restaurant in the Trocadero (same place we saw the fireworks last night) that looked out at the Eiffel Tower. It was a beautiful day and we sat outside. The kids had eggs, croissants and hot chocolate while I had a Camembert sandwich. Everybody enjoyed their meal. After breakfast we walked around the Trocadero and stopped for a great view of the Tower and took pictures. We then headed across the Seine and came upon the Tower itself (see picture on left). Due to Bastille Day the crowds were much larger than usual and we ended up waiting on line for over 2.5 hrs. The kids spent a good amount of that time chasing pigeons. We finally made it to the elevator and you have the option of going to the 1st, 2nd or 3rd floor (the 3rd floor is the top observation deck). Although we paid to go to the 3rd floor, the elevator stops at the 2nd floor and you need to go on another line to take a different elevator to the top. It was over 3 hours before we walked the final staircase and got to the top observation deck. It was a nice clear day and you were able to see for miles. The kids enjoyed it and we took a bunch of pictures (see middle picture on left). We made a few trips around the top deck and then took the elevator back to the 2nd floor. There was a small shop and Hannah bought a couple of post cards and Zach bought a small Eiffel Tower. By the time we got back down to the bottom it was around 2:00 PM. We stopped and bought some ice cream and drinks before walking over to the Metro. Our next stop was an old Jewish section of Paris. We got there and looked for a specific falafel place that supposedly had “the best falafel in the world”. It wasn’t hard to find this place since there were four guys outside the restaurant wearing yomikahs screaming out for you to come over. We ordered three falafels and drinks since Zach wouldn’t eat one. We grabbed some chairs outside and enjoyed our world famous falafels. These falafels had eggplant, lettuce, humus, two types of cabbage (white and purple) and a bunch of falafel balls. After eating we went to a kosher pizza place right down the block and got Zach his pizza. I walked into the pizza store with my falafel and the guy behind the counter kicked me out since my falafel was made in a non-kosher place. After lunch we checked out the stores and then stopped at a bakery that Al had read about. We got a chocolate cake, apple strudel and cheesecake to snack on while we sat in the back of the store. There was no AC and we sweated it out while the kids used the bathroom. Our next stop was a playground where the kids played in the sandbox for a while as Al and I rested on a park bench. It was getting late and we needed to head back to the hotel so we could hit the road. We took the Metro back to the Arc du Triomphe so we could walk around and get a good view of it since we didn’t get a good chance yesterday due to the parade. To access the Arc you need to go under the street and take a staircase up since it is impossible to cross the street due to the traffic. The Arc is impressive especially with the big French flag flying for Bastille Day (see top middle picture). We hung for a while (the kids chased some more pigeons) and then walked over to the parking garage to get our car. In the garage it was interesting to note that we noticed at least four cars that had “boots” on them. We drove back to the hotel, packed the car and made one stop at a convenience store around the corner since Zach was starving. We bought some bread, salami, cheese and drinks that ended up being our dinner since we didn’t want to stop on the road. We finally left Paris around 8:30 PM and got back to our apartment in Dusseldorf after 1:00 AM. It was a fun weekend and we were all exhausted.

Day 38 (July 16th)

Woke up and went to our usual corner bakery for breakfast. The kids were still sleeping since we got home late the night before, so I brought them back their food. We played in the apartment in the morning and then met Al at her office for lunch. It was one of the hotter days in Dusseldorf in a long time so we looked for a restaurant with AC. We ended up going to the Maredo Mexican restaurant since it was the only one with AC that we could find in limited time. Al and I had the salad bar, Hannah had the chicken wings and Zach had the nachos. We then dropped Al off at work and the kids got ice cream. The kids wanted to go back to the Hofgarten, so we walked up there and found a cool playground. We weren’t there five minutes before Zach had to go to the bathroom. Luckily I found a drugstore across the street and they allowed the kids to use the restroom. We bought some water there and headed back to the playground. At the playground there was a fun rope spider that the kids could climb on. I set up different obstacle courses for them and they had races. There was also a sandbox area there where you can pump water and it flows through the drains into the sand. It was a nice warm day out and the kids had so much fun being outdoors. I finally was able to motivate them after hours of playing. We walked back to the apartment and waited for Al to come home. For dinner, YH wanted authenticate German food so we ate at Zum Shiffel. He had the big pork knuckle, Al had the sauerbraten, Hannah had tomato soup, Zach had grilled chicken and I had a shrimp dish. Al enjoyed it but the rest of us weren’t totally thrilled with German food. We walked over to our crepe place around the corner and had dessert. It was a nice night out so we continued to walk around the Alstadt and then headed home. We watched some Gilmore Girls and then hit the sack after 12:00 AM.

Day 39 (July 17th): Solingen

Woke up and went to our usual corner bakery for breakfast and brought the kids back their food. Today was road trip day so I got the kids dressed and motivated so we could have a full day of adventure. We drove to Solingen, which is about 30 minutes from Dusseldorf. I wanted to go there because the city has a history of making knives and swords, as well as a medieval castle that I thought the kids would enjoy. The Nav system in the car couldn’t find the castle so I plugged in a different location in Solingen. It took us to the historic district and we walked around and found a metal works museum (see bottom picture). The kids didn’t want to walk around the museum but we were able to get a map and directions around town. There was a little zoo 15 minutes north of where we were so we walked through a pleasant park and found the zoo. Our first stop was at the concession stand and got ice cream. The zoo was small relative to other typical zoos but it was nice all the same. You could feed the horses (see top picture on left), goats, deer and alpaca while they also had some monkeys, kangaroos, birds, rabbits and pigs. The kids loved it. They bought some feeding bags for the animals and one of the horses grabbed the whole bag out of Zach’s hand, so we bought him another bag. There was also a very interesting bird with a cool plume that we took some pictures of (see picture on right). We were there over 2 hours and then headed back to the historic area. The kids were hungry so we got a snack at a bakery in town and then walked over to the car. Our next destination was the Boker knife factory. Boker is one of the oldest knife produces in Germany. On the way to Boker, I noticed a large yellow bear on the side of a building that looked familiar with the words Haribo. It didn’t take long before I realized that this was a candy factory. I parked the car and told the kids “I might have found a cool place”. As we approached the front of the building they too realized that this was a candy store and their faces lit up. They were like kids in a candy store (sorry, I couldn’t resist). Haribo is known mainly for gummi bears and other sugar candies of this nature. We walked inside and all you can smell was candy. From what I could tell they had every type of candy they make. The kids grabbed a shopping basket and went to town. I had to limit them or else they would have bought cases of candy. The kids could have spent the whole day there but we needed to move on to our next venue. We found the Boker factory and went into the retail store since they only give tours once a month. The kids, especially Zach, were very interested in the many different types of knives, i.e. ones with forks, salt and peppershakers and other strange blades. Zach loved looking at the throwing knives. Zach wanted a knife but he is obviously too young. I did however buy a nice Boker pocketknife and plan to give it to him when he gets older (maybe for his Bar Mitzvah). I asked if they had any antique swords (for my collection) but the owner explained to me that sword making had stopped a long time ago and all they had were knives. I also asked if there were any other knife manufacturers around and they said, Puma, Wustoff and Henckel. Henckel was close by and he gave me the address there. We drove a few minutes and arrived at the Henckel factory. They too have tours but only once a month. I ended up getting Al a nice Henckel tweezer. It was getting late and we needed to head home.
Tonight the apartment complex was sponsoring a party down in the lobby. I went down with the kids around 6:30 PM and they had wine, cheese, bread and a couple of other appetizers. YH, Al, and Rajani showed up about 30 minutes later and we all hung out together. We played some games and YH introduced us to a new one called connect five that the kids liked. The party lasted a few hours and then we headed over to the Rewe (supermarket) to get some water and desserts. We came back to the apartment and I took Zach upstairs to feed him while Hannah stayed downstairs with Al. Soon afterwards Al and Hannah came up and the kids showered. We relaxed together watching Gilmore Girls and everybody went to bed after 12:00 AM.

Day 40 (July 18th)

Woke up and went to our usual corner bakery for breakfast and brought the kids back their food. In the morning the kids played their own version of warhammer in the apartment (Zach is totally into it) while I updated my Blog. We met Al for lunch and went to Lupo’s for Italian food. Zach and Hannah had pizzas, while Al and I split a lasagna (too much cheese) and gnocchi. We walked Al back to her office and got ice cream at the store across the street. The kids wanted to go back to the park we played at the other day, so we headed up to the Hofgarten. We settled in and five minutes later Hannah had to go to the bathroom badly. This was the same thing that happened when we came to the park on Monday. Instead of going to the drugstore and use their bathrooms we found a public WC next to the park. We got back to the playground and the kids played on the rope spider for a while before shifting over to the water pump by the sand box. At first the park was relatively empty but then it slowly filled up with children. It was another beautiful day and the kids played for hours. We all had a great time. Around 5:30 PM we motivated and walked back to the hotel and waited for Al to come home.
YH joined us for dinner and we went to the Shila Korean restaurant that we had eaten at a few times before. Since YH is Korean we let him order and we had another good meal. Zach had the Bogogi (thin sliced beef) but didn’t like it this time. There was another beef dish that we had ordered that Zach liked better. Besides the two beef dishes, I had a spicy soup for an appetizer with a Heferweizen and we ordered a noodle dish and chicken soup dish also. Everything was good and I ate way too much food. We walked around after dinner and stopped at the Rewe to see if they received another shipment of Volvic flavored water. There are many types of water but we all like the Volvic flavored ones the best (e.g. apple, orange, lemon and berry). We bought some water and went back to the apartment. It was still early enough to relax and watch the Gilmore Girls for a while before going to bed. Of course it was after 12:00 AM before it was lights out.

Day 41 (July 19th): Solingen

Woke up and went to our usual corner bakery for breakfast and brought the kids back their food. Since we have adopted Tuesday and Thursday as road trip days, today we were hitting the road. I wanted to go back to Solingen and try to see the castle this time. Now that I had a map of Solingen it was much easier to plug in accurate addresses into the Nav system. The map also identified interesting sites to visit, one of which was the tallest train bridge in Germany. I followed the Nav route to the bridge but there wasn’t parking close enough and the kids had no desire to walk. Instead, I tried following the map and take my own path. This proved to be an interesting off road adventure. I was about to give up and saw a man with his bike on the bridge and pulled over. I asked him if he spoke English and luckily enough he did. He said that I just needed to turn around and follow the path down the street near the train station. We parked in front of a house with a loud barking dog and followed a footpath along side the house. We walked for a couple of hundred feet and came upon a big slide in the middle of the forest. The kids were psyched. The base of the bridge was not far away and a path meandered down the hill. Besides the slide, there were wooden beams you could walk across, a rope obstacle course and wobbly sheep figures you can sit on. We played there for a while and then headed down the hill. At the base of the hill we were excited to see a park with a river and the bridge spanning across it. We walked down to the water and the kids took off their shoes and went in (see picture on left). The kids tried catching the little fish in the river while the ducks swam by. They were having a fun time. A little down stream we found a concession stand and bought some ice cream. Near the concession stand there were these interesting chairs. We sat down and realized that if you spun one chair the other two would spin also. I started spinning the chairs while the kids tried holding on. These chairs spun very quickly. Zach almost flew off and Hannah was hanging on for dear life. They loved them. There was another fun chair that angled back and forth (see bottom picture) while another one bounced up and down. We were there for a while and it was time to head back up the hill. We got in the car and drove towards the castle. I followed the Nav system that directed me up the mountain but we hit a dead end. The roads were very narrow and there was a group of people watching me make a u-turn and maneuver back down the mountain. We found a parking lot and grabbed lunch at a local café. Zach and I had a salami sandwich and Hannah had a tomato soup. We then bought a couple of desserts and sat outside on a park bench. To get to the castle, there was a chair lift that went to the top of the mountain. When we got near the top we saw a couple of mountain goats walking around. This was a fun ride and the kids enjoyed it a lot. The name of the castle is Schloss Burg an der Wupper that dates back to the 12th century. There was a nice view from the top and we walked around checking out the shops near the castle (see picture on right). Hannah bought a post card for her collection and we made a pit stop at the bathroom before walking back down the mountain. Instead of following the path, the kids decided to climb down sections of the small hills. We made it back to the car and ventured off to find the Balkhauser Kotten (old gristmill). It was a nice old building but nothing special. Our next destination was the Wipper Kotten. This one was much better with a working mill situated right on the river. Also, there was a little stream that flowed below the Kotten and we saw some good-sized trout in the water. We started following the walking path and all of a sudden Zach needed to do a #2. I was prepared with toilet paper in the car so I ran back and got the toilet paper. He did his business on the side of the path and we kept walking. Around the bend I took some nice pictures of the Kotten on the river. The kids were into hiking and we walked for about 1 hour. It was getting late so we went to the car and drove home arriving back around 6:30 PM. The kids had a great day.
For dinner, YH and Rajani joined us and we walked over to the MediaHafen area (renovated warehouse district). We found a nice Italian restaurant and I had a Zuppe di Pesce (fish soup) with a cold beer. Hannah had a tomato soup and Zach had a pizza (big surprise). The food was good. After dinner we walked next door and had some ice cream for dessert. We then headed over to the building with the sculptures climbing up the façade. Near the Rheinturn there is an open grass field and lots of rabbits. The kids loved this and start running after them in hopes of catching them (highly unlikely). We made it to the promenade by the Rhine and looked at the colorful lights on the rides at the festival across the river. We made it home after a solid walk and got ready for bed. It was our usual bed-time (12:00 AM) before lights out.

Day 42 (July 20th): Rhine Festival

Woke up and went to our usual corner bakery for breakfast and brought the kids back their food. Zach no longer wants his cheese sandwich but only his ruby red orangina. Zach woke up after 9:30 AM and Hannah slept until 10:00 AM. We planned to go to Game workshop (warhammer) in the morning but it was too late before everybody motivate. We met Al and she was in the mood for a quick lunch at Burger King. I got a chicken wrap, country potatoes and a sprite. It was a typical BK lunch. After lunch we headed over to Game workshop and sat down to paint the figures we purchased last week. It started pouring outside and it was lucky that we were situated inside, where we were dry. We all painted together and then the kids wanted to play their version of warhammer. At Game workshop they have about 15 tables set up each with a different scenario. The kids picked a winter scene and played for a while before they started fighting with each other. One of the guys who worked there came over and taught us some of the rules. Zach wanted to learn, but Hannah didn’t want to listen. The skies cleared up and we cleaned up our stuff. We started walking back to the apartment and stopped to get some pretzels and PowerAde (new flavor: mango). We sat outside and ate at one of the picnic tables. Then we walked over to the skateboard park around the corner and watched some of the skate boarders and a couple of guys on trick bikes. We made it home and it started to pour again.
Al came home later after the rain stopped and we went over to the festival in Oberkassel that is across the Rhine from Dusseldorf. On the other side of the river we found an Italian restaurant for dinner. Zach had a bowl of spaghetti with butter (that he complained about), Hannah had a tomato soup and I had a bowl of pasta with shrimp and garlic along with a Heferweizen. We finished dinner around 10:15PM and walked a few hundred feet back to the bridge to get prepared for the fireworks that were scheduled for a 10:30 PM start. The fireworks started pretty much on time and we had a great spot to watch them. They lasted for about 20 minutes and then we headed down to the festival (See picture on left). The festival was packed with people. It was larger than the typical local festival and you couldn’t walk 20 feet before hitting a beer stand. We went on a few rides but the best one was the fun house (see picture on bottom right). In this ride there was a large tube that spun fairly quickly and you needed to traverse it while it was moving. Al had a difficult time getting through it but finally made it across on all fours (see picture on top right). We all had a good laugh. By the time we walked from end to end it was 1:00 AM and the place was still packed. We walked back across the bridge and made it to the apartment by 1:30 AM. Needless to say everybody passed out.

Day 43 (July 21st): Cochem/Koblenz

Since we had all gone to bed so late the night before we all woke up late. I was the first to motivate around 9:30AM to shower. During the next hour Al and then the kids woke up. We ate breakfast in the room before hitting the road. Our plan was to cover a couple of cities not that far away and then head home later. The first stop was Cochem (about 1 hr 45 mins away). It was a beautiful day out for driving but we hit some traffic that slowed us down. We made it to Cochem around 1:30PM and found a parking lot. This lot was different then other lots since you have to pay for an automatic ticket upfront. Thus, you need to determine how long you plan to be there and buy the appropriate amount of time. We bought a two-hour ticket.
Since it was lunchtime we stopped at a Mexican restaurant for a meal. Although the food was good it took way too long and cut into our day. We determined that days where we need to cover a lot of ground, we cannot sit down at a restaurant for a long drawn out meal. Zach and Hannah each had a cheese burrito with chicken. Zach had a few bites of his chicken and then found something wrong with the rest of his food. Hannah also had chicken wings with fries. Al had an enchilada and I had three tacos. We finished up lunch and headed into town. There were a bunch of little stores and we stopped for ice cream. It is a very nice town situated right on the Mosel River surrounded by vineyards. The main focal point is the Castle at the top of the hill. We started hiking up the hill and took occasional breaks to catch our breath (see bottom picture). When we made it to the top we got a wonderful view of the city and the Mosel valley below. We then worked our way back down the hill and stopped at a little wine store so Al could sample a local Mosel wine. The wine store looked like an old rock cellar that you stepped down into. After finishing up, we walked through the small curvy streets down to the river where there was a great view of the castle above. By this time we were already past our two-hour mark for the parking garage and hoped nobody was checking. We continued along the river walk and headed back to our car (luckily no ticket). The second we got to the car both the kids had to use the bathroom. Zach did his business in front of the car but Hannah felt uncomfortable, so we headed over to the restaurant where we ate lunch and Hannah used their bathroom.
Our next stop was Burg Eltz. This is a castle about 30 minutes from Cochem. To drive there you head along the Mosel River and then work your way through the curvy mountain roads. When we got to the top there were a parking lot and a woman in a camper who collected money for the parking. She told us that in order to see the castle you need to park here and walk for 1.5km (about 20 mins). The kids didn’t want to walk that far so we decided to blow it off and drive to Koblenz. We got to Koblenz within 30 minutes and found a parking spot in the Alstadt by the river. We started walking along the water and again both kids had to use the bathroom so we headed back to an outdoor café (on the water) we had passed and used the facilities. There was also a small playground there so we let the kids play while Al and I had a drink/snack (wine and beer with a pretzel). We walked back along the water to the point where the Rhine River and Mosel River meet (Mosel River also ends here). Here there is a huge sculpture of a man on horseback that you can climb up the stairs to the top and get a nice view of the surrounding area (see picture on right). Across the river from this point is a rock fortress that we didn’t have time to visit, but is impressive nonetheless. As the kids came out of the horse sculpture they looked up and noticed that the horse’s balls were very large and they started laughing (see picture on left).
It was getting late and we decided to head into the Alstadt and look for a restaurant for dinner. Before we could start our journey the kids had to go to the bathroom again so we went back to the restroom by the playground. If you haven’t noticed we spend half our time and money on bathrooms and ice cream. We started walking again and found an interesting courtyard with a flower garden and odd sculptures. The kids loved the sculptures and we took pictures of the kids next to many them. We finally left that area and walked towards one of the populated Platz’s (squares) that had an interesting sculpture that depicted the history of Koblenz from Roman times thru WWII to the present. Al checked the menus of the restaurants but nothing was good for Zach. We then came upon the Rathaus (city hall) and found the famous “Spitting Boy” sculpture that is a symbol of Koblenz. When we looked at the sculpture it wasn’t spitting so we walked away. We walked about 50 feet and noticed that sculpture was now spitting. We realized that the sculpture doesn’t constantly spit but does it every few minutes, so we came back and watched a full spit. After all that excitement we found a restaurant in the square in front of the Rathaus and ate inside since the weather was cooling off. Hannah and I each had a pizza with a very thin crust and crème fraiche instead of tomato sauce on it. Al had a turkey breast with mango sauce and Zach had a plain turkey breast on baguette (that he had issues with). The food was ok. After dinner we walked around town a little looking for a bakery where we could buy some cakes for tomorrow night (we were going to Al’s colleague’s house for dinner). We had no luck finding an open bakery and worked our way back to the car. It was close to 10:00 PM and we had a 1.5 hr drive ahead of us. We got back to the apartment around 11:30PM after a good long day and got ready for bed. Lights out around 12:30AM.

Day 44 (July 22nd): Aachen

We woke around 9:00 AM and had breakfast in the room before hitting the road for Aachen. Aachen is a very old town made famous by Charlemagne. It took about 1 hr to drive there and we parked at a parking garage not far from the Alstadt (old town). There isn’t a whole lot to do in Aachen, but thought it would be a good half-day trip before heading to dinner at Al’s colleague’s house. After parking we walked towards the famous cathedral (see bottom picture) but services were in session and we weren’t allowed in. Around the corner from the cathedral we found a bakery to eat at and get some desserts for this evening. Hannah and I each had a vegetable wrap along with a chocolate croissant. Zach had a pretzel and chocolate croissant (no complaints from him). After eating we found some cool sculptures of people. One of them had a big belly just like Daddy so the kids took a picture of me (see picture on left). We continued walking through town and went to the Rathaus (city hall) (see picture on right). This Rathaus was much older and nicer than most other Rathaus’ we have been to so far, and the kids wanted to walk around inside. Unfortunately it was 12:55PM and they close at 1:00PM so we moved along. I saw a sign for a Casino so we headed in that direction. Along the way we came upon a small playground with a large slide that we let the kids go down a couple of times. It started drizzling so we went inside an old church to dry off. By the time we finished in the church, the rain cleared and we continued on our journey. Our next stop was the Treasury that housed some very interesting relics including; a fore arm bone and cranium (yes, cranium) of Charlemagne, a belt of the Virgin Mary and a belt and the flagellation rope of Christ. I didn’t realize someone actually kept the rope that someone used to whip Christ (pretty cool!). There were many other religious relics but nothing as impressive (at least in my mine) as the ones listed above. After the Treasury, we went inside the cathedral since services were completed. It was nice inside with its large stain glass windows and extensive architecture. The kids could care less. We then got the car and drove over to a synagogue highlighted on the map. It was more of a modern building not the old historical type that we were hoping to see. It was closed so we didn’t even get out of the car. Our next stop was the Casino Aachen so I could get a poker chip. Even though I was wearing shorts and the casino didn’t open for another 10 minutes, the man at the front hooked me up and I was able to get a chip (number 5). We were running late since we needed to be at Al’s colleague’s house (Randee) so we called her on the cell and told her we were on our way. Randee lived about 45 minutes from Aachen in a small development about 20 minutes from our Dusseldorf apartment. We spent most of the day under their covered porch eating and drinking. I played soccer with the kids and Randee’s son Nicholas (14 years old) for a while. Then the kids went swimming in the above ground pool even though the water was only 22 degrees Celsius (about 74 degrees). For dinner we had a barbeque with hamburgers, salad, a couple of different types of sausages and bacon wrapped on a stick. Hannah loved the bacon and probably ate 5 or 6 of them. Randee’s husband had some nice beers in the fridge so I was able to sample a few different types. One that was very good was the Paulander Salvatore. This was a dark beer with 7.9% alcohol. Too bad he only had one of these left. After dinner it started to rain so we shifted inside. The kids went up to Nicholas’ room to play playstation (FIFA soccer) while the adults had a drink downstairs and talked. We then had desserts and called it a night. We ended up staying for over 6 hours. Everybody had a good time and it was very nice to relax at someone’s house and have a barbeque instead of eating in a restaurant. Al drove home since I had sampled too many beers. We got home within 20 minutes and the kids showered and got in bed. Another fun weekend came to an end.

Day 45 (July 23rd)

Our day started at 4:15AM when Hannah and Zach both had to go to the bathroom at the same time. Hannah said, “I don’t feel good, I think I’m going to vomit”. At that point, I got out of bed and went into the bathroom with Hannah and she was coughing over the toilet. One minute later she was puking up dinner. Al and I think it was the bacon wraps she ate the night before, but we don’t know for sure. I cleaned up the toilet and gave Hannah some mouthwash before heading back to bed. Zach couldn’t sleep so he joined us in bed. It was a rough night, I don’t think I fell back to sleep until 5:30 AM. Al went to work later than usual and I blew off the corner bakery. The kids slept late and Hannah was not feeling so great when she finally woke up. We hung out in the apartment until we met Al for lunch. It was raining out so we went downstairs to the Carsch Haus. I had a turkey sandwich on bagel, Zach had a pretzel and Hannah had some Coke. Hannah drank a few sips of Coke and sat there with her head in her arms just wanting to go back home. Lunch was quick and we headed back to the apartment. The kids rested a lot and Hannah started feeling much better by late afternoon. We decided to have Korean food with YH at Shilla for dinner. Hannah had some plain rice, Zach had some thin sliced beef (which he complained about because “it was different from last time”). YH and I split a very good spicy soup and we ordered a few other good dishes. Hannah was definitely feeling better since she started annoying/fighting with her brother. After dinner we went to the supermarket and picked up a few items and then headed home. At home we watched Gilmore Girls and relaxed since everybody was exhausted from a difficult night before.

Day 46 (July 24th)

Woke up and went to the corner bakery for breakfast. I brought food back to the room and the kids were still sleeping. They finally got up around 10:30 AM. It was rainy and cold out so I did some blogging in the morning until lunchtime. We met Al at the office at 12:30 PM and decided to go for sandwiches at Space Burger. Al and I had chicken sandwiches, Hannah had a burger and Zach had a plain chicken sandwich. We all split a large serving of fries and country potatoes. Al had to get back to the office so the kids and I hung out at the restaurant for a while before leaving. After lunch we decided to walk around and check out the stores. First we went to Game Stop and played some games and then went to another handful of stores. Since this is our last week in Dusseldorf, I let the kids go to a souvenir shop and pick up some stuff. Hannah bought a couple of postcards for her collection and Zach ended up getting a nail clipper with a Dusseldorf emblem on it (that’s what he wanted). On the way home we stopped at a couple of stores that we pass everyday but never went into. One was an American clothes store and the other was a Horse store (Hannah is into horses lately). We finally got back to the room after 5:30 PM. For dinner we decided to have Italian food at a restaurant we had been to before since Zach liked the lasagna he ate there last time. Besides YH and Rajina, Rich (Al’s colleague) joined for dinner. We ate outside and I had the escargot for an appetizer and a salmon in pepper sauce with an Alt beer for the entree. Hannah had a tomato soup and Zach had the lasagna. Dinner was good. After dinner we walked over to our crepe place for dessert and then walked around the Alstadt before heading home. We all watched an episode or two of Gilmore Girls before hitting the sack after 12:30 AM.

Day 47 (July 25th): Duisburg & Cologne

Woke up and went to our usual corner bakery for breakfast. I brought food back for the kids and they didn’t get out of bed until 9:30 AM. Since yesterday was our usual road trip day and it was raining out we decided to shift it to today. We motivated out of the room around 11:00 AM and drove 30 minutes north to Duisburg. In Duisburg, there was a huge old industrial facility that was converted into a park. At the information booth at the park, we were told there was a playground and rock climbing area. We started walking around and the place was very unusual. It felt as though we were in an industrial ghost town. As we kept following the path we finally came upon the playground area. There was a huge enclosed slide that the kids (and dad) loved going down (see bottom picture). They played there for a while until we walked over to the slides and rock climbing area. The rock climbing was built right into the old concrete walls of the facility. There were a few walls with easy climbing for kids and then others which were much more difficult for experienced climbers. The kids then laid down together on a black plastic concave toy and looked up at the sky admiring the clouds. After relaxing for about 30 minutes we headed back over to the big slide and played some more. It was way past lunchtime and we were all getting hungry. We went to the one restaurant in the park. The menu was limited and not “Zach friendly”. Zach ended up eating bread and French fries, Hannah ordered the tomato soup and I had the barley stew (all you can eat). The food was actually not bad. After lunch we walked over to another park and that had a strange spinning disc that you stand on and spin (see top left picture). We played some other games in the park and then walked back to the car (after going to the restroom for the 4th time). I knew there was a casino in Duisburg so we headed in that direction. At the casino they had a difficult time understanding exactly what I was looking for, but they were very nice and let me go inside even though I had shorts on. Everything worked out and I got my 6th poker chip. We then headed home and arrived around 6:30 PM.
Al had not been to Cologne yet and she wanted to see the big cathedral so we decided to road trip there for dinner. It was about a 30-minute drive and YH joined us. We parked the car at 8:30PM and went over to the cathedral. This was my second trip there but enjoyed it again. In front of the cathedral there were a couple of artist drawing with chalk. One of them was drawing the Mona Lisa and doing a wonderful job at it. The kids were thoroughly impressed (see top right picture). The walked around the cathedral and took some pictures then headed down to the Alstadt by the Rhine. Everybody was hungry so we headed back up to the cathedral and found a restaurant to eat dinner at. Al and Zach had a burger (not served with a bun), Hannah didn’t order anything since she wasn’t hungry and I had a “teriyaki” steak that tasted good but didn’t have any teriyaki flavor at all. After dinner we got some ice cream and did one last lap around the cathedral before heading back to the car. We drove 30 minutes back home and arrived around 11:15PM. We did our dose our Gilmore Girls before going to sleep around 12:30 AM.

Day 48 (July 26th): Monchengladbach

Woke up and went to our usual corner bakery for breakfast and brought food back for the kids. The kids must have been really tired since they didn’t get out of bed until 10:45AM. This gave me ample time to crank out a bunch of blogs and catch up. The kids ate their food and relaxed for a while before we decided to do another road trip. I have a listing of all the local castles and chose one that was close by and had a park. If the kids know there is a playground they can be more easily motivated to go. We packed up our water and hit the road. Our destination was Schloss (palace) Monchengladbach located about 25 minutes away. It’s a pleasure having the car parked downstairs at our apartment so we can travel whenever and wherever we like. We found the Schloss and parked the car at a lot two minutes away. We walked over and there was a bridge that crossed a moat that had ducks and fish in it so the kids were excited. They went down to the water and tried pulling the lily plants, not realizing that they were attached to the bottom of the pond. After walking across the bridge we then saw a big mother peacock strolling along with her three babies (see bottom picture). The kids were psyched and demanded I give them my camera to take some pictures. They played for a while and then we made our way into the gift shop (entrance to the park) and walked out through a double glass door to the main grounds. At that point, the kids were amazed to see more peacocks strolling around. Hannah exclaimed, “It’s a peacock palooza”. There were at least seven peacocks just walking around doing their thing. We noted that some of them, probably the males, had pretty colors on them while the females were just one color (see top left picture). The Schloss was painted a salmon color and was nice, but nothing special compared to some of the other Schloss’ we have seen (see second picture from the bottom). The grounds were interesting and we stopped down at the river to look for more fish. I’m not sure how it started, but all of a sudden the kids and I were in an all out berry war. We found a tree that had these little hard berries on it and we started throwing them at each other (see top right picture). I stood behind a concrete wall for protection as the kids made numerous attacks against me. We finished our little battle and exited to the surrounding park that had many trails. We followed one trail and found a strange plant that grew these small red hard tomato type things. The kids wanted to dissect them so we sat down at a bench with a picnic table and the kids went to work. Hannah cut hers open and there were hard seeds inside of it. When Zach cut his open there was a small red inchworm inside, Zach freaked. Hannah picked up the inchworm and started playing with it and made it a little “home”. Zach calmed down and started getting interested in the inchworm also. This kept the kids preoccupied for a while before we decided to hit the trail again in search of a playground. We didn’t find the playground but the kids enjoyed the hike anyway. It was getting late in the afternoon and I wanted to try and find another park that was supposedly not far away. I programmed the address in the Nav system and drove over to the location but could not find the park. We were right next to the entrance to the highway and the kids were tired so we decided to head home. It took about 25 minutes to get home and the kids relaxed until Al came home from work. Rajani and YH joined us for dinner and we ran into Rich (Al’s colleague from work) on the way to dinner. We explored a different part of town that we don’t typically go to and found an Indian restaurant. Rajani is Indian and we let him order the food. We asked for plain grilled chicken for Zach and they tried twice, but both times they put some sauce/seasoning on it that Zach didn’t like it. We ordered some Nam (flat bread) and Nam with butter and Zach ended up eating this as his meal. The rest of us had an assortment of dishes including two different types of rice and a few types of chicken/shrimp dishes in a flavorful sauce. Instead of my usual Heiferwezen, I had an Indian beer called Himalaya beer (ok lager). The meal was fine and we headed next door for our ice cream dessert. Then we went across the street to the Rewe supermarket since Al needed to buy champagne and snacks for her going away party tomorrow. We walked home, said goodnight to everybody and went upstairs to watch Gilmore Girls. For those of you who forgot, one of Al’s colleagues lent us four seasons of Gilmore Girls on DVD. It is the only TV that we have that is in English. The kids showered and everybody went to bed between 12:00 and 12:30 AM.

Day 49 (July 27th)

Woke up and went to our usual corner bakery for the last time. It was an emotional experience as I ate my fruitcake with chocolate milk. I was waiting for the goodbye banners and streamers but there was no celebration. I’m sure they are going to miss the guy who wakes up five minutes before coming in wearing docksiders and a NYPD hat everyday. I walked Al to her office since it was the last time and because she had extra bags with her today. Went I got home Zach was sitting up in bed waiting for his chocolate milk but Hannah was still sleeping. Zach came into bed with me and played his DS until Hannah woke up. We got organized in the morning and packed up some stuff in anticipation of leaving tomorrow morning. For lunch we met Al at her office and went to Zach’s favorite place, Lupo’s for pizza. Rajina joined us since he wouldn’t be available for dinner tonight. Zach and Al had the margarita pizza, Hannah had the gnocchi and I had the mushroom pizza. Lupo’s was good like always. After lunch we got some ice cream and said goodbye to Rajani for the last time. We then walked over to Avis to change out the contract and put the car under my name since Citigroup won’t cover us during our vacation time. We kept the same BMW X3 because we liked it and now I’m used to driving it. We got back to the apartment and did a couple of loads of laundry to hold us over until we made it back to Atlanta. While the laundry was running, the kids painted their warhammer figures and then we played in “the cave” in the basement. When the laundry finished everybody folded their clothes and we relaxed until Al came home. For dinner, YH joined us for our last meal in Dusseldorf. We stopped at the two man sculpture and took some pictures before going to the restaurant (see bottom and middle picture). We ate our last meal at a place called Block House (see top picture; YH is on the right side). I had a salmon with a beer, Zach had a cheeseburger that he didn't like and then we ordered him a baked potato. Hannah had a baked potato and some of my salmon. The food was ok. For dessert, we went to our crepe place and I actually had a waffle with cherry jam. Not bad. Hannah went for ice cream around the corner. We did our last lap around the Alstadt and then headed home. YH came up to our room for a few minutes and then we said our goodbyes. The kids liked YH a lot and will definitely miss him. I ran out and got the car filled up with gas so we are all ready for tomorrow. It is almost 12:00 AM and we have barely begun packing. Looks like another late nighter. Goodbye for now.

Day 50 (July 28th): Hanover, Potsdam, Berlin

We woke up around 9:30 AM and packed up the remainder of our stuff. Since we had a long road trip ahead of us we ate breakfast in the room. We said our last goodbyes to the Schaper Apartment after spending two months there and left Dusseldorf around 11:15 AM. Dusseldorf was a great city for us and we all agreed that we would miss it.
Our plan for the day was to drive 580km to Berlin. We hit some bad traffic about 1 hr outside of Dusseldorf and decided to stop in Hanover for lunch. There was a brewhouse that the Frommer's book recommended so we parked in a garage right next to the restaurant and ate lunch. The food was nothing special but we had a very difficult time ordering Zach's burger. We asked the waitress to bring out a burger with cheese on a bun without anything else on it. The first time she brought it out it had tomatoes, mayo and other green stuff on it. The second time it still had random condiments on it and even the third time it was still wrong. We decided not to deal with the burger any more and paid the bill and left. We walked around the Alstadt looking for something for Zach to eat and finally found a pizza place. Zach ate his food and Al ordered a cappuccino. The Alstadt in Hanover was ok, but overall the city was not very nice. We got our car and continued the journey.
Our next stop was Potsdam which is a nice city just outside of Berlin. During most of the ride it was raining and we stopped to get gas in Potsdam when luckily the rain stopped. We parked the car by Sans Souci Park and walked around. The park is filled with beautiful gardens (see picture on left) and palaces. The most famous one is Sans Souci (see picture on top and right). The kids had fun looking for these huge brown slugs on the path that came out after the rains (see picture on bottom). We spent over an hour walking around and then headed back to the car so we could arrive in Berlin before dark. The drive from Potsdam to our hotel (Swissotel) in Berlin took about 30 minutes. We unpacked our stuff from the car and went to the room. Since it was late, we went across the street for dinner. The restaurant we ate at was a fancy "made to order" pasta place where you go up to the counter and request what type of pasta or pizza you would like to eat. I had a spicy pasta with a big cold beer, Hannah had a pasta Bolognese and Zach had a pizza. After dinner we walked back across the street to our room and passed out around 12:45 AM.

Day 51 (July 29th): Berlin

We woke up at 9:30 AM and were very slow to motivate. We finally got out of the room by 11:00 AM. It was drizzling out so we were prepared with umbrellas and rain coats. Our first stop was breakfast at a "Starbucks" type place. I had a Thai chicken sandwich and the kids split some muffins and croissants. We ate outside under a big umbrella. Across the way from us was a large triangular bird cage with birds in it that we looked at after breakfast. We then walked over to the bus stop for the #100 bus that went to the major tourist attractions. Close to the bus stop was a church that had the top blown off during the war but was intentionally not repaired to "remind us of the devastation of war". Two new churchs were built right next to it (see picture on bottom left).
The bus went through Tierpark that contains the zoo and the victory monument. We got out at the Reichstag which is the government building where the Nazi party started a fire in the '30's and started their reign of terror. We then walked down the block and came to the Brandenburg gate (see bottom picture). It was here that we first saw the place where the Berlin wall used to be. Currently there is only a different colored brick in the ground along with an occasional plaque that reminds you that the wall was here. We had walked into East Berlin. When you look at the postcards in the souvenir shops you get a much better sense of what the wall looked like and how it impacted the various sites. Prior to 1989 you couldn't walk up to the Gate but now there are street performers and tourists all over the place. The kids were fascinated by a mime that we called Silverman. He was actually very good and could stay still for a long time. Fact: When Napoleon was in power he took the Brandenburg gate to France but later on it was brought back to Berlin. After spending some time at the gate and taking some pictures we continued around the bend and came across the Holocaust Memorial (see top middle picture). This is a place that has over 2700 rectangular blocks of stone in various sizes spread out over a city block. It represents the graves of people that passed away during the Holocaust. Downstairs, underneath the stones is a museum that covers many aspects of the Holocaust. There were a couple of difficult pictures that the kids saw and we discussed them as a family. This was the first time the kids were exposed to the true horrors of the holocaust and they handled it very well. The museum is very informative but very somber at the same time. We spent a number of hours there and the kids were losing their patience. After we finished up at the museum we ascended back to the street level where it was raining again. Since it was past lunch time we walked down the street and found a Mexican restaurant to eat at. Hannah had nachos, Zach had mozzarella sticks, Al had a quesadilla and I had a corn soup with a Berliner Pils (ok). We finished up lunch and walked down to Potsdam Platz that is now a big shopping area. In the mall there was a great ice cream shop and we had some dessert. Past Potsdam Platz you come across one of the last areas that still has a section of the Berlin Wall still intact. This was something that I had always wanted to see and it was strange to realize that the city was separated in half less than 20 years ago. At this location there was an open air exhibit set up called the Topography of Terror that was the original site for the SS and Nazi Headquarters (see picture on right). Nothing remains now except a few sections of the basement walls, but pictures are posted throughout the exhibit to give you a sense of what it looked like. Plans are underway to build a permanent museum at this site. We kept walking along the path of the Berlin Wall and made our way to Checkpoint Charlie. This is the location of the main entrance between where America and Soviet guards protected the East and West side of Berlin. It was also the location of a major confrontation between the two super powers during the cold war. Throughout this area there are postings describing the Berlin wall and its history. It was getting late so we headed north thru the old East Berlin and stopped at a few sites along the way. One place was an interesting courtyard with a couple of old churches and a museum. The museum was having a party and playing music. Hannah danced around for a while and we took some pictures while Zach used the outdoor bathroom. Our next stop was Bebelplatz which was the site of the historic Nazi book burning that took place in 1933. In the middle of the Platz there is a couple of plaques and a window in the ground that you look through to see empty book shelves. We made it back to the main road and caught the bus that goes to the hotel area. It began raining harder and decided to look for a restaurant to eat dinner at. Zach wanted to go to the Hard Rock Cafe for a real burger but there was a 20 minute wait so we looked elsewhere. Right up the street from our hotel we found a nice restaurant where Zach got chicken fingers and fries (top 5 meal for him), Hannah had a mixed salad and I had a spicy chicken and vegetable dish (gypsy chicken) along with a dark beer (good). After dinner we walked back to the hotel and dropped our stuff off at the room before heading to the lobby bar for a couple of drinks. The kids played on the internet while Al and I relaxed in the bar. We then went back up to the room, showered the kids and went to bed around 12:30 AM.