Day 1 (June 4th into June 5th)

In laws picked us up at the house and drove us to the airport along with Fuzzy. We had a 4:30 PM flight to Frankfurt, Germany (seats 1a and 1c). I watched Rocky Balboa which was better than I expected. Both Al and I didn't sleep well. Flight was a little bumpy but the food was good. I had a Bloody Mary and two Warsteiner beers. We arrived in Frankfurt at 8:00 AM local time on June 5th. We then had connecting flight to Dusseldorf at 8:40 AM. Flight time from Frankfurt to Dusseldorf was 35 minutes. Total flight time from Atlanta to Dusseldorf was 10 hrs and 18 minutes. We looked for a cab at the airport that took credit cards and it took about 30 minutes to get to the Schaper Apartment. Our apartment is about 400 square feet with a separate bathroom and a little kitchenette area (see above picture). There is no AC so you have to open up the windows and use fans. We walked near Al's office and found a restaurant to have lunch at. This was our first German meal. We looked at the menu and had no clue what it said. We asked the waitress for chicken or beef dishes. I ended up having warm sliced chicken over sliced potatoes with vinegar and pumpkin oil. Al had asparagus with melted cheese on a toasted rye bread. Al then went to work and I walked around for 4.5 hours. I went to the Hofgarden and all over the east side of town. I started to price out prepaid cell phones since our US phones didn't work in Germany. I met Al back at the apartment and we ate dinner down the block at Casa Luigi. It was a good meal and Luigi came over and said hello. I had a tuna dish with a sweet and spicy sauce along with a salad and Veltin Beer (beer was just ok). We walked around the promenade on the Rhine and then went back to the room and passed out.

Day 2 (June 6th)

Tough night sleeping because we had to leave the windows open to get some cool air into the room. Early in the morning we heard cars on the street and loud garbage trucks (recall.com trucks). We walked down the street and found a little cafe to have breakfast at which consisted on camambert cheese on a nutty roll with an orangina drink. I walked Al to her office and then went food shopping. I had no clue what anything was unless the picture on the product was pretty clear. I paid for everything but didn't realize then didn't give me bags for my groceries. I ended up paying for a brown paper bag (.25 euros). After dropping the groceries off, I walked south of the apartment and went to the Standehauspark. It was a nice park with a bunch of ducks walking around. I took some pictures here. There was also a museum nearby called the K21. I went inside to see that it was a contempary museum and that tonight was "free" night from 6:00 PM to 10:00 PM. This was for both K21 and K20 (Picasso exhibit). I continued south and then went to the RheinTurn which is a tall skinny observation building with a restaurant on top. I continued walking and went to the Medienhafen area which is a converted old wharf section with very interesting buildings some of them designed by Frank Gehry. There was one very interesting building with large plastic people with webbed hands and feet that were crawling up the building (see above picture). This area looked like an inlet off the Rhine river. There was also a park along side this area that was nice. I then followed this up to the promenade on the Rhine and stopped for lunch at the Gosch Syct restaurant. I had a cold shrimp in creme sause on a roll with a beer (Frankenheim Alt; very good). It was a beautiful day along the Rhine as I sat and ate lunch. The sun was out and there was a nice cool breeze as I watched the boats and people go by. The restaurant played good American music. I needed to use the restroom at the restaurant but it cost .30 euros. I only had .25 euros and the attendant took it. The mug I was drinking from was pretty nice and would go well with the collection at home. I asked the waiter if I could pay for the mug but he said "no, you can just take it". It was cracked so I took the ash tray instead. I finally motivated and got up and walked around the rest of the promenade. I asked about the boat rides from Dusseldorf to Cologne and they said it would take from 5-7 hours and I could drive there in 30 minutes. It was long day of walking from 10 AM to 6 PM. Al met me back at the apartment at 6:45 PM. Since it was the 1st Wednesday of the month it was free night at the K20 and K21 museums which were open late until 10:00 PM. We decided to go to the K20 since they were having a Picasso exhibit. The exhibit was good but it was Picasso's late years of art and very strange. We checked out the rest of the museum, but nothing spectatular. We then walked around the old town looking for a restaurant. There are 100's of restaurants and bars to choose from with huge numbers of people walking around. Alot of people were out tonight probably because tomorrow was a Catholic holiday and businesses were closed. We ended up going to a Tapa's restaurant expecting to have Tapas but since we didn't understand any of the items on the menu we ended up each picking an entree from the menu. I got a seafood platter with salmon, 2 big prawns and 2 white fish (I didn't know what they were). I asked for a beer and in the translation the waiter brought me two beers. One was a small one (.2 ml) of Gatz beer (ok amber beer) and the other one was a large beer (.5 ml) of Altstat which tasted strange (like lemonade and beer). I ended up finding out that they mix sprite with the beer. Neither beer was great but of course I drank them both. All through dinner we watched hundred's of people walk on the street (no cars allowed). There was a German soccer game on so that probably helped add to the choas in the streets. We aslo noticed groups of people all wearing the same shirt and/or wearing strange clothing, i.e. Bee antenae or a guy holding a ball and chain. We found out that they were bachelor(ette) parties. People from all over come to Dusseldorf to party (both young and old). Everybody drinks beer and it is legal to walk around with an open beer. We headed home after dinner

Day 3 (June 7th)

We slept late until 11:00 AM and had breakfast in (cereal for me and a cheese sandwich for Al). W put our walking shoes on and went to the main train station (Hauptbonhauf) to look into some weekend trips. We were thinking about going to Amsterdam this weekend but the tickets were over 200 Euros for 2nd class tickets. They had a special for the next weekend for 104 Euros on 1st class to Amsterdam so we got them. We also looked into getting tickets to Berlin but there was a late return train and we decided that we would rather drive. The we decided to walk to a park a few miles south of the train station. We got a little lost but ended up there. At first we were in a cemetery (actually very nice) but saw that the park was connected to the cemetery (a little strange). On the map it actually showed little "crosses" on the park to distinguish the cemetery. When we finally made it to the park section we got an ice cream cone and saw a little animal petting zoo. They had goats, sheep, ducks and a big schwein (pig). We hung over there for a while then walked around the park. We came upon an interesting area that had little "cottages" with beautiful gardens. We didn't know if they were permanent or vacation homes. We meandered through the rest of the park and finally came out after walking for a long time. We then walked over to the Rheinturn (tall building) area and ate dinner at an Italian restaurant. The waiter didn't speak English so again we "winged" it and ordered something safe. I had a nice black pasta with shrimp in a creamy spicy sauce and a couple of beers (called Deisel; pretty good) and a bruschetta. Al had the risotto and a Chardonnay. We were both exhausted after dinnner so we headed back to the apartment after a long day. At the apartment, Al did some research on spa's and I flipped thru the tv channels and fell asleep. Another tough night of sleeping (noise and heat).

Day 4 (June 8th)

Woke up and went to our "usual" place for breakfast. I had the Camembert cheese on a nut roll, chocolate milk and I tried the apple flugel (it was ok). Dropped Al off at work and went to the supermarket. This time I was prepared with my grocery bag. I bought some flavored water for Al, cheese, paper towels and laundry detergent. Went back to the apartment and asked Sarah (office manager) to show me the exercise room, sauna and washing machines in the building. My goal for the day was to figure our transportation for the weekend. I went to the backyard of the apartment since I couldn't get a good wireless connection from the room. The backyard is very nice with a couple of chairs, a table and flowers. I researched rental cars. We were thinking about going to Belgium or Luxembourg tomorrow. The best rental company seemed to be Avis which has an office not that far from the apartment. I needed to find a car with automatic transmission and A/C (not all cars have it). I met Al for lunch and 12:30 PM at her office. She invited a friend, JT who works with her and is from Dallas originally but who has been here for approximately a year. We went to a Chinese restaurant and had chicken in a red curry paste with vegetables and white rice. I drank a Frankenheim Alt beer (nice). Actually this was the 1st time we went to a restaurant that had an English menu. I walked Al back to the office and then went to the Avis store. At Avis, I asked for a car with automatic transmission but he didn't have any. I haven't driven a stick in 25 years and never practiced enough to be good. He told me I could check back later and maybe an automatic would be available. I then walked over to the train station to find out prices to go to Brugge (225 Euros), Luxembourg (237 Euros), Koln (23 Euros) and Aachen (31.50 Euros). The trains are pricey if you don't reserve one a number of days in advance. I then walked back to Avis to see if an automatic was available but no luck. I still needed a cell phone so I found the cell phone store that had quoted me the lowest price for a prepaid phone. I bought a new phone with 5 Euros of talk time for 14.99 Euros (.29 Euros per minute). They even threw in a camouflage carrying case. Came back to the apartment to update my travel log and then called Avis. I asked for an automatic and she told me a Mercedes was available (c class, nice!!!!). She quoted me 197 Euros. When I told her I was able to get a price of 166 Euros on the Internet she said ok, let me see if there is a special price. She came back with 134 Euros. I said "Book it". She gave me a reservation number and hopefully it will work out all right tomorrow. Now we need to figure out where we are going. Al came home at 5:45 PM and I told her about the car. After doing some research in my Europe book it looked like there was more to do in Belgium than Luxembourg. Al agreed with my decision so we thought it would be best to drive to Brugge first and stay overnight, then try to hit Ghent and Brussels on the way back. We looked on line and found a nice hotel in Brugge (called Romantik Pandhotel). We called and they had a room available for 180 Euros. We were all set with a room now. We then researched a place for dinner in Dusseldorf and found an authentic German restaurant called Hausbrauerei Zum Schlussel. As we went to the restaurant the street were packed with thousands of people partying. The restaurant was sort of like a brew pub with the brewery vats in the back. They served two types of beers (full strength and half and half) from a real keg at the bar. We sat down and luckily the waiter brought us English menus. Al chose the saurbraten (roast beef in a sauce with potatoes and cabbage) and I picked the meat loaf. The waiter didn't speak English and he was a grumpy big dude. He started talking to me in German and both he and I knew I had no clue what he was saying. He brought out Al's white wine and my beer (.20 ml) along with an applesauce bowl for Al and a salad for me. My salad was more like a coleslaw than a salad. When the main course came out Al got her saurbratern but he screwed mine up and I got a big pancake/crepe with bacon on it. I wasn't about to send it back and deal with that hassle so bon apetit. It actually wasn't bad. We hung out and had a few more drinks and watched the people in the streets. After dinner we walked around a little and then headed home.

Day 5 (June 9th): Belgium

We got ready and packed up for our weekend trip to Belgium. We walked over to Avis and got our car. It wasn't the Mercedes but instead a BMW X3 (2007) automatic with navigation system. I drove back to the apratment to get our bags and then hit the road. Driving was definitely strange. The signs and streets were difficult to manuever through. Thank G-d for the Nav system. We listed to the German CD during our ride to Brugge which took about 2 hr 45 mins. We made it there by 11:30 AM. Parking on the street was a pain so we had to put it in the private garage for the hotel. We stayed at the Pand Hotel and got upgraded to a bigger room (the room was not that big but it had a nice jacuzzi bathtub). It was too early to check in so we dropped our bags off and started to walk the streets. The location of the hotel was great and close to everything. We got some recommendations for lunch and walked around until we found one we liked. The restaurant we ate at was called Carpe Diem. I had a seafood crepe (very good) with a white Belgian beer. Al had a "vegetarian" lasagne that ended up having ham (schwein breath) in it. After lunch we walked around to a nice park with a lake and then went to the half moon brewery. This is the only local beer (Bruge Zut). The tour was interesting and the guide told us that tourism is the main source of income for the city. Hundreds of years ago (1400's - 1500's) the wealthy lived in Brugge but then ended up leaving and the city hasn't changed much since then and now it is their claim to fame. After the one hour tour we had a couple of beers (or at least I did). We spent the next few hours walking around the city and marveling at the beautiful old architecture. We saw some windmills along the canal and a number of churches and museums. We headed back to the main market area and had dinner at one of the local restaurants. I had a pot of mussels with a big beer (liter). Al had my cheese croquette and a steak. For dessert we had a chocolate mousse. On the way back to the hotel after dinner we found a nice bar with a bunch of beers on tap. I started talkinig to the waiter and owner about the beers while Al went to the restroom. I tried a cherry beer that was very sour and ended up having a Duivel beer which was very nice. After that we headed back to the room and I took a relaxing jacuzzi bath. Al was excited that they had Law and Order on TV in English.

Day 6 (June 10th): Belgium

We woke up at the hotel and walked to the main square to have breakfast. We both had waffles and a bottle of water (the bottle of water cost $10). We then got some Belgium chocolate and checked out. Since the parking garage was so small getting the car out big challenge. We drove to Ghent which took about 40 minutes. Ghent was similar to Brugge in that it had canals but it was not as nice/clean. There were many old, interesting buildings and one castle. We walked around and got some chocolate truffles and checked out the old city. After a while we stopped and had lunch on the canal. Al had a "true" vegetarian lasagne and I had a seafound pasta and a chocolate milkshake (I had to drive). Lunch was ok and then we headed back to the car. We had parked in a lot and I had no idea how to pay. Luckily I saw someone and she explained where to pay and how to do it. Even the simpliest things are difficult in another language. We headed out of Ghent around 3:30 PM and drove to Brussels which took 40 minutes. The Nav system was great and we took it to the center of the city where we parked in a parking garage. Brussels is the largest city in Belgium and a lot of people speak French. It was a little dirty and there were lots of people walking around the old city. There was a nice shopping gallery, a lots of streets with many restaurants of all types of on them (waiters try to solicit you to come eat at their restaurant). We walked around and checked out the interesting sites and stores (lots of chocolate stores). We went to the Grand' Place which is a big square with very intricate old buildings surrounding it. This is the main site in Brussels. It was time to eat again and we found a restaurant on the Grand' Place. Al had an onion soup and salad and I had a bowl of mussells. I wasn't that hungry since we had eaten lunch not that long ago. Food was ok. The mussells are a common delicacy in Belgium. We walked around after dinner looking for a Belgium waffle which Al was craving. She got one with chocolate and whipped cream. It was hot and the center was soft. Pretty tasty. We then walked around and found the Brussells Grand Casino. I had to stop in and get a chip. They wouldn't let me in because I had shorts on (I would return). When we got our car and tried to leave the parking garage we had a difficult time. What we didn't know was that you had to pay at a machine that wasn't next to the exit. We found this out the hard way. then as we were sitting in the car by exit baracade the reverse buzzer on the car started going off but I wasn't moving. I looked in the rear view mirror and there was a guy with his face right up against the back of the car. I had no idea what the heck he was doing. We finally got out of the garage and the worked our way around the tight streets and found the infamous Petit Julien. This is a small black sculpture of a child peeing. I took a picture from the car. We then found our way back to the casino. I had already changed into long pants back in the parking garage. Before I could enter the casino I had to show them my passport so I can be signed up as a member. This took 10 minutes and then I walked into the main casino. It was pretty small with slots, blackjack and roulette. I didn't see any craps tables eventhough I didn't have time to play since Al was waiting back in the car. I went over to the cashier and paid for a 2 Euro chip. I was a nice orange one with Brussells Casino stamped on it. My first European one for the collection. I hustled back to the car and we headed back to Dusseldorf. It was about a 2 1/4 hour drive and the rain didn't help. In Dusseldorf we dropped our bags back at our apartment and returned the car to Avis. We had to park illegally because there was no place to leave the car. We walked back to the apartment and got there around 11:15 PM. Solid weekend. Breakfast in Brugge, lunch in Ghent and dinner in Brussells. No way we could have accomplished all that driving without the Nav system.

Day 7 (June 11th)

Woke up and had breakfast at our usual spot on the corner but today we were joined by Rajni (Al's colleague). After breakfast I walked around town during the day and went over to Avis to make sure everything worked out with the car and got a receipt. I also found out that they have a standard weekend offer to rent a G class (luxury) car for 132 Euros. You get to pick up the car on Friday after 12:00 PM and return it by 9:00 AM on Monday. I reserved a car for June 22 to go to Berlin. I then walked over to the cellphone place and found out that my cell wasn't working because I didn't have a SIM card in it. I had lunch with Al, Rajni and a new guy from Seoul, Korea named YH. They all worked for Citibank and staying in Dusseldorf for a couple of months. We went to a restaurant near work and sat outside. I had beef and pasta with a beer. Walked around after lunch and headed back to the apartment. Met Al back at our room later on and had dinner with Rajni and YH. We walked to the promenade on the Rhine and ate dinner on the river. I had a shrimp dish and a couple of big beers (nice Heifweizens). The shrimp were large but still in their shells (doesn't seem like any of the restaurants remove the shell for you). Food was nothing special. Rajni was still hungry since he had a funky fish dish that looked like it was barely cooked. We walked around and stopped at a Lebanese restaurant and had ice cream and baklava (very tasty). We then headed back to the apartment.

Day 8 (June 12th)

Met YH for breakfast. Changed it up a little and had the sliced chicken sandwich with lettuce, tomato and mayo on a roll (not bad) with chocolate milk. Decided to head over the bridge to Oberkassel. This is the section of Dusseldorf west of the main city. It took about 30 minutes to walk to the other side. Mostly residential houses with lots of moms walking/strolling with their kids. Took some pictures of the buildings. There were a few stores but nothing unique. Definitely cheaper then the main section of Dusseldorf. I had packed a turkey sandwich with cheese so I stopped at a little store and picked up an Oscar Maxxum alt beer (ok) and headed to a park bench on the Rhine. Very relaxing but a little cool out and overcast. Finished lunch and continued to walk around. Found another store and picked up a chocolate bar to snack on. Continued on my way and found a Buddha temple in a Japanese garden. Very nice place to chill out and take some pics. Headed back down to the Oberkasseln Brucke bridge and into the Alstadt (old city) of Dusseldorf. There was a group of young adults playing German rock music. There was a bunch of young adults (some punked out) dancing around (almost like a marsh pit dance) in front of the truck where the band was playing. Watched them for a little while and headed back to the room. Met Al and had dinner with Renee and Rich from Citibank (both from NY). Actually Rich lives in Great Neck now so we spoke about that for a while. We ate at a fancy restaurant called the Monkey Bar. I had a scallop with savoy cabbage as an appetizer and fried turbot fish for the entree along with a Monkey Alt beer. For dessert, I had a strawberry and Sichuan pepper sorbet. The food was expensive and nothing extaordinary. Dinner was long and lasted for 3 hours and 15 minutes. Headed back to the apartment after dinner.

Day 9 (June 13th)

Went to breakfast at our corner bakery and walked Al to work. Went back to the room and called Hilton Hotels to use my Hilton points to reserve a room in Amsteram. I did some research on Solingen and other surrounding areas near Dusseldorf. Found out most of the castles were driving distance away. Met Al for lunch and went to a pizza place called Lupos. I had a mushroom pizza that was probably 13-14 inchs in diameter with a cold beer. I asked for some crushed hot red pepper and instead he brought two different containers. One was garlic and oil and the other was picante with oil. Both were very tasty on the pizza. We agreed that we would be back again. Note: the prices for the pizza are different if you take out vs sit down. On the way back to the office we saw an interesting restaurant called space burgers. Al later asked and found out that they have good burgers (we will try this place out another time). I went back to the apartment and hung out in the backyard garden most of the afternoon doing research on Amsterdam. It was a beautiful day outside. Al came home later and we went to dinner with YH, Rajni and another called from Citibank, Basim. Basim was from Syria but lives in London before coming to Dusseldorf. We decided to eat at the Lebanese restaurant that we had dessert at the other day. The place was packed and we were lucky to get a table downstairs. The place was decorated very authentically. After a little bit a belly dance came out and started doing her thing. She then came over and grabbed YH and I to go up and dance with her. We reluctantly went and looked like fools. Basim spoke Arabic and took care of ordering food for us. A little later the waiter came back with eight or so different dishes. They were all tasty and everybody "dung" in literally because there were no serving utensils. People were using their fingers or their used forks to serve themselves (Al was not pleased). I was somewhat considerate and used my knife to serve myself. I had a few Almazda beers (Lebanese beers) with dinner that complemented the food nicely. The belly dancer came back again and pulled some other suckers from their table to dance. We ended the meal with some baklava. The food was good but it was a long meal especially since they had a problem splitting the check (Citibank expense issue). Got back to the room around 11:35 PM and laid down with a full stomach.

Day 10 (June 14th)

Went to breakfast and met YH at our corner restaurant. Changed it up and had a creamy yogurt with fruit (Quark mit Friten) along with an apricot pound cake w/chocolate milk. Not bad. Walked Al to work and then headed back to the room to start the day. Decided I would walk north of Dusseldorf and see what was up there. Ran into a couple of nice sculptures in town and took some pictures. Continued on my way along the Rhine and saw a strange monument on the other side of the street. As I walked closer I noticed a German cross and carved German soldiers on the wall. There was a gate and what looked like a concrete casket behind it. There was an inscription above it "Fuer Des Deutschen volkes ehre und Freiheit". Not sure what it means. Took some pictures and continued on my way. Made it up to the Aquazoo which is in Nordpark. I believe this is an aquarium of some sort. Walked around the grounds which had fountains and large flower beds. Found a great spot under a tree and had my picnic lunch (turkey sandwich with cheese and chocolate for dessert). Hung out for a while since it was so relaxing. Walked around some more after lunch and found a small Japanese garden at the park. Started heading out of the park and the sky started getting very dark. Then it started to drizzle and I saw the lightening get closer. I had remembered passing a cafe on the water earlier on and started to step it up now that the rain was falling. Made it to the cafe called Haus am Rhein and sat at the bar and had a nice Paulaner Weiber beer. I updated my journal and waited for the rain to pass. Finished by beer and was on my way. Headed back to the apartment and met Al for dinner. We (Al, Rajni, YH and myself) went to a Korean restaurant for dinner since YH is from Seoul. He ordered the meal since he knew the dishes and can speak the language. We had a typical Korean drink call Sonjul. It was rice wine that was clear and didn't have a strong alcohol flavor. Not bad. I ordered a maltztrunk, thinking it was a dark beer but instead it was a non-alcoholic malt drink that didn't taste good. Rajni liked it so he finished it off. I ordered a weizen beer instead. Food was very good. We had all sorts of dishes with different sauces and great flavor. We finished dinner and walked around town. Rajni got a crepe with nutella and we walked around all the bars and then headed home.

Day 11 (June 15th)

Woke up and went to our corner bakery for breakfast and then walked Al to work. I went back to the apartment and hung out in the backyard and did research on Amsterdam and wrote some emails. Met Al for lunch and went to a pizza place that we had passed walking around. I had a seafood pizza with a lot of calamari on it. It was good but not as good as the other pizza place (Lupo) across the street. Both places served pizza that has a thin crust not the thick type you get in the States. Walked around the Alstadt to walk lunch off a little and then headed back to the room. I spent the afternoon working on putting my pictures onto the computer and burning them to cd. Al met me back at the room and then we had dinner at Zum Schiffen. This is the oldest restaurant in Dusseldorf. Their claim to fame is that Napolean ate there. I had a sauerkraut soup with sour cream and chives as an appetizer. For dinner I had the sauerbraten with cabbage and potato. The potato was a single dense ball that sticks to the fork. I had a couple of beers to wash it down. The speciality in these German restaurants is the Pork Knuckle which is the size of a bowling ball. Although this restaurant had the best German food we had eaten so far, it was still German food. We walked around and then got some ice cream and headed home.

Day 12 (June 16th): Amsterdam

Woke up and ate breakfast in the apartment (Museli cereal with fiber; that's the way to start the day) then packed up to get the 9:14 AM train to Amsterdam. We walked about 20 minutes to the train station and found our train track. The train was an ICE which is a nicer train then the standard ones. We had reserved seats so we found our "wagon" and got comfortable. They had a tv monitor on the seat in front of you but there only seemed to be one channel. We took a 1st class train so an attendant walked around and rolled a cart with drinks and snacks on it. We got a water for the 2.5 hr train ride. At the first Holland train stop, the police came on board and checked our passports. It was a pleasant ride and we saw a few windmills along the way. We finally arrived at the central station in Amsterdam around 11:45 AM. The station and the immediate area outside the station was packed with people. We were staying at the Hilton Hotel which was in the southern section of the city. We didn't know exactly how to get there and found a Marriott hotel where they gave us a map of Amsterdam and showed us the directions. We walked from the station to the hotel and it took about 1 1/2 hours. The hotel was nice and our room very pleasant. We definitely liked the big bed and AC even though it wasn't that hot out. By the time we motivated from the room it was around 1:45 PM and we needed some food. We went to the concierge and got the names of a couple of places for lunch and a place for dinner. We walked about 10-15 minutes to a nice area for lunch. The restaurant was called Van Damme and they served mostly sandwiches. We were admiring all the well dressed people. I had a smoke beef sandwich with horseradish sauce and lettuce/tomato along with a Heineken beer. Al had an old Dutch cheese sandwich with a white wine. Lunch was very tasty. After lunch we headed north and walked past the Van Gogh and Rijksmuseum. I saw the Holland casino and had to stop and get a chip since I wasn't able to get one the last time I came to Amsterdam. We entered the building and they wanted a registration fee to go into the casino. I told them that I only wanted to go in and get a chip. They said no but the woman at the front desk went to the back and hooked me up with one (1 Euro chip). Chip was nothing special but it's from Amsterdam. We continued heading north passed the Leidesplein and went to the DampKring. It started to rain so we decided to hang out for awhile. I had been to this bar before and remembered having a beer but now they only served water, soda and fruit drinks. I asked the waitress and she said they recently changed the law on April 1, 2007 that these bars couldn't serve alcohol anymore. A very strange man sat down at our table and I started talking to him. Soon a bunch of his other buddies were there with him from England on a Bachelor party. They were cool and we spoke to them for a while. When the rain stopped, Al and I started walking back to the hotel but took the scenic route but the flower market and through some interesting streets. We finally got to the hotel and I showered to get a second wind. Got dressed and walked to the dinner restaurant up near Leidesplein called Mas Puri. This was an authentic Indonesian restaurant that the concierge recommended. In Amsterdam, Indonesian is very popular. If it was not recommended by the concierge we would never have gone in. From the outside it was a little "interesting". You go up a staircase to get to the restaurant. At first they said they didn't have any more tables and then I told them that the "Hilton said we would be able to get a table". All of a sudden she came back and we had a table. They had a prix fixe menu that looked great except for one pork dish. We asked if they could swap it out and they said "no problem". Service was great and the price was very reasonable. They brought out about 8 different "sampling" dishes that ended up being a perfect amount. I washed it down with a big Heineken and enjoyed a very good meal. After dinner we made a pit stop at the Kadinsky bar. We had a pound cake for dessert which we split and relaxed for a while. We then headed over to the Red Light District which was packed. It was a very surreal place with women offering themselves to the people walking by. It was fun watching guys negotiate with the women and then head inside. There were all types of women (black, white, Asian, trans) offering themselves. Some of the windows had just red lights others had a blue/purple light. Not sure exactly the difference. I can definitely speculate. We roamed around for a while and finally made it out of the Red Light District. The street names and canals make Amsterdam a very difficult city to maneuver around. We decided to go to the Leidesplein area for a last drink for the evening. We hung out at an outdoor cafe and I had a nice cold Heineken. We started walking back and decided we were tired and grabbed a cab. When we got back to the room we had no idea that it was already 1:45 AM. It was a long fun day.

Day 13 (June 17th): Amsterdam

Woke up and hung out in the hotel bed for awhile. Finally motivated around 10:00 AM. It was raining outside and we decided to pack our stuff up since we didn't want to go back to the hotel later on. We went down and asked the concierge for a good breakfast place near the Anne Frank House. He said the best one in the city was right there called the Pancake House. We took the tram north and walked a little bit to the Pancake house. Luckily the rain had stopped while we were walking but started again once we got inside the restaurant. We ordered pancakes (which were like big crepes) and an order of Proffjes. These things were great. They were round pieces of dough that are light and fluffy on the inside and buttery and sugary on the outside. For the pancakes they had this special molasses to put on it. The molasses was in a small open vat with a spatula in it on every table. The molasses was good but very strong tasting. When breakfast ended the rain pretty much stopped and we walked up the street to the Anne Frank House which was less than 5 minutes away. We waited on line for about 20 minutes and started talking to a guy in front of us who worked at the New Belgium (Fat Tire) Brewery in Colorado. He was with the company for a certain amount of time and they sent him to Amsterdam. We finally made it in and it took about an hour or so to see everything. It is a very moving experience when you think about the living conditions she and her family endured. Fact: Anne Frank died in a concentration camp one month before the camp was liberated. Around the corner from the Anne Frank House was an outside photography exhibit of animals. Very cool stuff. Afterwards we picked up some drinks and made a pit stop at the Blackstar bar. We finished up and started to walk down to the Van Gogh. Since we were getting a little tight on time we decided to grab a cab. The Van Gogh museum has some wonderful pieces. We moved somewhat quickly thru the museum because we needed to make our 6:34 PM train back to Dusseldorf. After the museum we grabbed a tram and took it up to the Central station area. Since we had a little time to kill we walked around the side streets and stopped for some Chinese food at a place call Wok and Walk. Good stuff. Grabbed a piece of chocolate cake afterwards and went to the train. We hung out on the platform in the sun until they opened the train doors. We had reserved seats and they happened to be the same exact seats we had coming to Amsterdam. Funny enough we saw the same father/son right across from us who was on the train going to Amsterdam. They were Canadian staying in Bonn. The train ride was pleasant and we got back to the train station in Dusseldorf around 8:45 PM and walked back to the apartment. We were too tired to go out so we had some snacks in the room and went to bed. Great weekend.

Day 14 (June 18th)

Woke up and had breakfast at our usual place and then walked Al to work. I headed back to the room since the weather wasn't so great. Caught up on some emails and wrote some notes to the kids. Met Al for lunch along with YH and went to the market near us for a meal. We found an Italian restaurant where we sat outside. It was little cool but nice. I had a pasta with prosciutto and tomatoes. It was ok. Since the weather cleared after lunch I walked around for a few hours. I went to the big local department store to check things out and a bunch of other small shops along the way. Prices were very expensive and I couldn't find anything really unique. Headed back to the room and met Al for dinner. It was raining outside so we (YH, Al, Rajni and myself) decided to try out an Italian restaurant down the block. I had a salad and some sort of fish with a couple of Jever beers for dinner. The ambiance was nice but the food and portions could have been better. We went back to the room after dinner and watched some crappy German tv.

Day 15 (June 19th): My 40th Birthday

Woke up and went to our usual place for breakfast. Walked Al to work and headed back to the apartment. It was very nice out so I hung out in the backyard and wrote some emails. I met Al for lunch and we went to the Space Burger restaurant. They have all these weird toppings you can get on either a chicken sandwich or hamburger. I had a teriyaki burger which had teriyaki sauce, bean sprouts, lettuce and some other type mayo sauce along with a Becks beer. Al had the Mexican chicken sandwich with a slightly spicy sauce, lettuce and avocado. Solid sandwiches. I walked Al back to the office and I went off exploring with my camera. I brought my camera to take pictures of some of the cool buildings and of people on bicycles. I got into the bicycle thing while I was in Amsterdam. I found a park bench to set up shop which was a good vantage point for bikers to go by with the Rhine in the background. I took a bunch of pictures waiting for interesting people on basic bikes (similar to the ones in Amsterdam; a frame and two wheels). I hung out there for a while until a bunch of old people squeezed me out of my position. I grabbed another park bench on the Rhine and updated my journal. The sun was beating down and it was hot out. I actually had to shift benches to get in the shade. After working up a sweat I walked around the Alstadt and made my way home. Since it was my birthday Al had made reservations at a special place called the Rheinturn. This is the tallest building (the elevator goes up 176 meters) in Dusseldorf and you get spectacular 360 views up at the top. As you sit at the dinner table the view rotates and you get to see everything. It does a full rotation about every one hour. I had Al's shrimp appetizer and a white fish with a Konig Pilsner beer for dinner. It was an extremely clear night and you could see for miles. The timing was perfect and we got the sunset right in front of us. It was a nice experience. After dinner we went to the elevator to go down to the observation deck. There was an attendant in the elevator who was the old German guy. I decided to press the button for the observation deck since I had no way to communicate that to the old guy and he freaked on me because I touched "his buttons". We did a 360 walk around the observation floor but it wasn't' as good as where we had just come from. We finished up and left the Rheinturn. We walked past the Roncalli Apollo theater and asked a guy their what the deal was with this place. He explained that it was a variety show similar to the Cirque du Soleil. We thought it might be a good place to go with the kids. We continued walking down the promenade and saw some fireworks in the distance. After walking for awhile we headed back to the room. It was a wonderful day and a great birthday.

Day 16 (June 20th): Cologne

Woke up and had breakfast at our usual place. I was thinking about taking the train to Cologne if the weather held up. I walked Al to work and came back to the room to check the weather on the Internet. It said warm and a chance of rain. I decided to go for it, so I packed up my backpack and headed over to the train station. I was not totally sure which train to take but looked up at the master board at the station and saw a train going to cologne. I went up to the track and waited for the train. I ended up taking an S bahn which is like a subway that makes multiple stops. I didn't care as long as it took me to the city center at Cologne. The ride ended up being over an hour which should have been 25 minutes if it was direct. When I walked out of the train station at Cologne the Dom (big church) is right in front of you. The Dom is one of the largest churches in Europe and is a national landmark. I took a bunch of pictures outside and then headed inside to check it out. It was extremely impressive. Between the high cathedral ceilings and decorative stained glass windows the place is massive. I walked around for a while really trying to absorb it all in. After a while I headed out and walked over to the Tourist Information building to get a map and ask where to go. I got the information I needed and hit the streets. At first I walked down the main shopping street with many of the typical retail stores (made a pit stop at Burger King to use the free facilities; I hate having to pay to use the restrooms). I kept walking and started getting hungry, so I found a sandwich shop on the street. I bought a large salami sandwich with coleslaw and then went to a Kiosk and bought a Reissdorf Kolsch beer (local brew). I found a park bench in a little square and sat down and enjoyed my meal. The guy next to me was a tourist also and we spoke for a little bit. After finishing lunch I walked by numerous churches. Nothing like the main Dom but old churches none the less. There was also a few random Roman ruins throughout the city. Walked through another shopping area and bought a little pretzel knot to snack on. Headed over to their Alstadt (old city) and walked through all the little winding roads with some cool shops and old bars. I stopped in an old store that was also the Eau du Cologne museum (thus the name Cologne). I spoke to the woman there and she spread some Cologne on me. They had a nice strip of restaurants along the Rhine that you can hang out at and relax. I walked along the water for a little bit and took some pictures of some cool colorful buildings with a nice church in the background. I made it up to a bridge that crossed over the Rhine and overlooked the Alstadt area. I didn't realize that I had circled back around all the way up to the Dom. I passed a number of souvenir shops and looked at the postcards. They had some very interesting postcards that were black and white pictures of Cologne right after WWII. Basically, the whole city was leveled by American and British bombers except for the Dom. I read somewhere that the pilots used the Dom as a marker but did not want to destroy it. One postcard had a picture of a couple sitting on the Rhine in 1945 looking at the demolished city and the caption on the card said "Glad to be Alive". I kept walking but had pretty much covered all the major sites so I bought a different Kolsch beer (Dom Kolsch) and headed over to the Dom Square. The sun came out and I sat on a concrete bench and enjoyed my beverage while looking up at the impressive Dom and watching people go by. There was a homeless man walking around with no shoes who had a piece of paper stuck between his toes. He was talking to a group of girls and freaking them out. He started yelling some German and making a scene. I finished my beer and walked around the Dom one last time to take some pictures. When I was done I headed over to the train station that was next door and found a couple of trains going to Dusseldorf. Both of them were on tracks next to each other so I went up to the track and waited for the train. I grabbed the S6 which was another S bahn (subway) but got me back 10 minutes quicker. Everything worked out well and I made it back to Dusseldorf in time for dinner. Met Al, YH and Rajni for dinner and went to a Louisiana restaurant in the Alstadt. The waiter was nice and spoke descent English. We had a couple of appetizers (nachos and poppers) to start out with and then I had a gumbo and beer for dinner. It wasn't the typical cajun food you would expect in the States but it was ok. They did have a good kids menu so we will probably take the kids there when they come. We finished dinner and then walked around little before heading back to the room.

Day 17 (June 21st)

Woke up and went to our corner bakery for breakfast and then walked Al to the office. Since it was a rainy overcast day, I decided to hang in and do some emails and work on my puzzle. Met Al for lunch and went down to the Carisch Haus which has a bunch of restaurants. Al had been to the Japanese restaurant there so we decided to check it out. I had a tempura rice soup bowl for lunch that wasn't bad. Headed back to the room after lunch and started working on my blog. Met Al, YH and Rajni for dinner and went to the restaurant down the block called Casa Luigi since the weather wasn't so great. I had the seared tuna with sweet and spicy sauce along with a salad and a couple of beers. For dessert, Al order the sampling plate so I snacked on that. After dinner the weather cleared up and there was an English speaking party at one of the local Irish pubs. We went over and had a beer and watched some European Basketball. We hung out for awhile and talked with Al's friend JT for a little bit and then hit the road. We headed back to the room and watched Gilmore Girls that Al got on dvd from a friend at work. Since it was a real American show I was happy and we watched a couple of episodes.

Day 18 (June 22nd)

Woke up and had breakfast at our usual place and then walked Al to her office. We had decided to go to Luxembourg this weekend instead of Berlin so I spent the morning doing some research on Luxembourg and the surrounding area. I found out that it was a National Holiday and there were some festivities going on. There wasn't a lot of information about Luxembourg but it seemed like there were some random castles throughout the country. Fact: Luxembourg is only about 51 miles long by 32 miles wide. Met Al for lunch who was craving something simple. We ended up eating at Burger King and having a "long chicken sandwich" with fries and a coke. I definitely don't miss fast food. After lunch I went over to get the rental car for the weekend. When I got there they had an automatic but it didn't have a Nav system. I knew from prior experience that it was mandatory to have the Nav system in order to navigate the crazy roads. I asked them to check if there was a vehicle at any of the other locations that had a Nav. After a few calls they located one up at the airport. At first they wanted me to drive up there and get it and I told them that I prefer them to get it for me. They said ok and that it would take about an hour. I walked around town during that time and checked out a different section of Dusseldorf. Nothing special, mostly bakeries, clothing stores, jewelry stores and hair stylists. I passed an Alamo car rental place and priced out a car for July 6th to August 8th while the kids are here and they quoted me 1300 Euros. When I returned to Avis they said the car was there and that they would upgrade me a class. They ended up getting me a Mercedes E220 CDI Diesel. Nice car. I had already arranged the parking garage at the apartment so I went back and parked the car. Met Al, YH and Rajni for dinner. We first met another one of Al's colleagues at a bar called Siam for some drinks. They made some very interesting fruity drinks. We hung out for a while and had a couple of beverages with peanuts (no food). We then decided we should get some food and headed back to the Irish pub we went to the other night. The waiter spoke English and was a very nice guy. I had the Irish stew and a couple of Guinness while we watched Gaelic football on tv. Gaelic football is somewhat similar to Australian rules football. We had a nice dinner and then headed back to the room to watch some more Gilmore Girls.

Day 19 (June 23rd): Luxembourg

We woke up and had breakfast. My usual weekend breakfast of Museli and fiber. This time I also had a yogurt. Since the car was in the parking garage downstairs it was nice since we didn't have to head over to Avis and kill time. From my research, I found out that Bastogne, Belgium was not far from Luxembourg so we put it into the Nav and hit the road. It took a little over two hours to get there. Bastogne is home to one of the most infamous battles of WWII called the Battle of the Bulge. We got the Bastogne Historical Center and luckily the weather cleared up. We used the bathrooms first where they were charging .40 Euros (damn, I hate that). The woman there was blabbing something in French and there was an old guy sitting in a chair in front of the bathrooms. We had no idea what she was saying or who he was. We think he got lost and couldn't find his tour bus but we weren't sure. After the bathroom experience we walked over to a war memorial that was close by. The inscription for the memorial was not in very good English but basically said that it praised America for fighting valiantly and helping to free Belgium from the enemy. The memorial was in the shape of a five point star and had the names of every american state on it as well as every american military division that fought at the Battle of the Bulge. There was also a serpentine staircase that took you to the top of the memorial and you could look out at the surrounding fields. We walked around the memorial for a while and then headed over the the Bastogne museum around the corner. It was a nice memorial especially reading the nice words that a European country had to say about the US. We went back to the car and drove to Luxembourg which was 15 minutes away. The roads were mostly abandoned and we drove through the countryside. We reached our first destination in Luxembourg which was the Bourchaid castle. This was an old castle/chateau on the side of the hill that was restored. We walked around and took some pictures and enjoyed the beautiful scenery. We then headed to our next castle in Vianden. This city was more populated and we decided to grab a lite lunch. I had a vegetable soup, fries and a chocolate milkshake. Very tasty and a perfect amount of food. We then walked up the hill to the Vianden castle. This place was very impressive and much bigger than the other castle we went to earlier. We walked around inside and looked at the artifacts and again enjoyed the wonderful views. We spent about an hour there and then went back to the car. As we drove away there was a great view of the castle and I stopped to take some pictures. There also happened to be a war memorial celebrating the American victory in Vianden over the Germans. Fact: Vianden was the last city in Luxembourg to be liberated in WWII. We then drove to the capital of Luxembourg, Luxembourg city. It took about one hour from Vianden to get to our hotel called the Novotel. This was a newer hotel that just opened in May and had AC and nice rooms. We checked in and parked the car in the lot downstairs. The weather was overcast so we brought our jackets and hit the road. The hotel was located just outside the city center and it took about a 10-15 minute walk to get there. All the stores were closed and when we got to one of the main squares a band was playing in celebration of the National Holiday. We had a map and walked around looking at all the sights. We ran into Bunny Man (see above picture - left side) who was a man dressed in a bunny suit walking around with his buddies in celebration of his Bachelor party. We did our best to avoid Bunny Man. Luxembourg has an old Roman history and you can view some of the old ruins throughout the city. The main Roman historical area is called the Casemates. After walking around for a while we headed over to the Grand Duchy Palace. There was a big reception going on and dignitaries from all over were there. We stood outside and watched the guards do their systematic patrol. Then all of a sudden another bachelor party was on the outskirts but this time it was Chicken Man (see above picture - right side). You could see the guards were checking him out but it was all in good fun. We then walked around looking for a place for dinner. It started to drizzle so we found a place to eat inside (Cafe Francais or Cafe Paris; can't remember). I had a fish soup appetizer and a shrimp scampi for the main entree along with a couple of different Luxembourg beers (beers were nothing special). The waiter apologized for the service since it was so crazy with the Holiday that he gave us a free coffee. After dinner we walked to the other big square where a concert was going on. They had a large stage setup and they were playing jazz music and Patti Austin came out and sang. People were hanging out drinking mostly beers. We stayed for a while and then went back to the room.

Day 20 (June 24th): Luxembourg

We woke up at the hotel and went downstairs for breakfast. They had a nice buffet setup with fruits, rolls, meats, eggs, bacon, hash browns and juices. I chowed. We finished up and went back to the room to pack up and then check out. Since we had seen most of Luxembourg already, Al just wanted to check out the Synagogue before we left. We drove by but it wasn't anything special. I had found out the Luxembourg had one casino in the south and I wanted to get a chip. We drove down to a city call Les Bains and found the casino. We saw a lot of people very dressed up so I took off my sneakers and put shoes on. Al waited in the car as I went in. At first I couldn't find the casino because there is a hotel inside also. After a couple of minutes of searching I found the cashier and asked for a chip. The smallest denomination was 5 Euros. The chip was smaller than normal but interesting. We then hit the road again to head to Trier, Germany. Before we went there, Al wanted to check out the vineyards along the Moussel valley so we cut south and found the Moussel river. The first vineyard we stopped at wasn't open to we continued north and found another one in the town of Matchum. Al had a sampling of three wines for 3 Euros as we sat outside and looked at the beautiful scenario along the Moussel River. Luxembourg is on one side of the river and Germany is on the other side. We hung out for a while and then hit the road again. We finally made it to Trier. At first it looked like a dump and we couldn't find anything. Then we reprogrammed the Nav and found the old city in Trier. Fact: Trier is the first city in Germany and has a lot of Roman ruins. We parked the car and walked over to the Porta Nigra (old black Roman gate) which is the main entrance to the old city. The place was packed with people. There was a dance competition going on and they were blasting the music. We got a map and found out the points of interest. The main street was extremely busy with numerous vendors selling food and beer. We walked to the old Jewish section of town that wasn't very big at all. We saw some other old Churches and Roman buildings and then came to the birthplace of Karl Marks. Took some pictures and continued on. We sampled a potato pancake with apple sauce. Pretty tasty. We then went over to an old Roman Basilica and walked in and checked it out. Not far away was another old church with some very interesting stained glass windows, organ pipes and carved sculptures. Outside the church a stage was set up and a band was playing Pink Floyd (another brick in the wall). It was late afternoon and we decided to head back to the car and start driving to Dusseldorf. I knew that Trier had a casino and I wanted to see if I could get a chip. We found the casino and when I went to speak to the cashier he wouldn't give me a chip because the tables were not open for another hour. I told him all I wanted was a chip but he didn't understand, so I used their bathrooms and went back to the car. We were about 2 1/4 hours from Dusseldorf and we discussed stopping in a city before heading home to grab dinner but we decided to go home instead. We dropped out things off at the apartment and then returned the car to Avis. Parking at Avis was much easier this time. As we walked back from Avis we stopped at an Italian restaurant and had dinner. I had a mixed grilled seafood platter with a couple of beers. Pretty good meal. After dinner we were tired and headed back to the room. Another good weekend.