Here is my disclaimer: I am here on a work trip, but the work we are doing is not fun and exciting. As a result of that I do not have any photos of work, okay actually there IS one picture of a parking lot at the show- enough said. Robert told me before we came on this trip that he is a work hard play hard type of guy. That being said, I have posted pictures from the trip thus far, see the link in the right column labeled "Europe on Business" and just believe me when I say that we really are working in between doing all the fun things you see in the pictures and read about in the blog. There, got that off my chest.
After Dusseldorf, which actually was just where the show was (we stayed in a small town called Ratingen which turned out to be a really lovely little German town), we headed to Köln, or Cologne, for the weekend. It felt good to be a tourist again (it's been a year, too long!), I even went inside the Cathedral, though I sort of think they all look the same and they all make me feel funny because I'm not Catholic. Anyway we toured the H&M's-- err uh, the city, and met a friend of Robert's for dinner at a traditional Kölsch brewpub for some meat and brews. Cologne has a very unique culture and serves its beers in very small glasses in these old brewpubs that if they were any larger would really resemble Oktoberfest. I recommend the experience! Cologne definitely has a good vibe. It also has the "most visited museum in Europe" the Lindt Chocolate Museum! So of course we had to go to that, learn all about how chocolate is made, and then consume some ourselves, yum! I might have to say though that the highlight of our stay in Cologne was our last dinner, at an Italian restaurant, where the staff only spoke German and Italian! It felt SO good to open my mouth and have words just come spilling out, and such pretty words that don't hurt my throat to pronounce! And of course the food and wine was good, and the tiramisu was excellent!
The REAL fun of the weekend, however, started when we got to Oktoberfest!!!! We couldn't possibly be in Germany while the fest was going on and not go, so we took a special trip down to Munich just for one day. I was surprised to see no lines at the tents at midday on the last Sunday, but very happy about it! We ate platefuls of food in Paulaner tent, and then went to Hofbrau tent (the best one) to meet new friends and drink more beer, both of which we succeeded in. We met awesome people from Switzerland and hung out with them in the tent until 9pm or so before venturing outside to go on the roller coaster, the drop ride, the zipper, and the beanbag slides! Oktoberfest really is a different experience every time, this was my third year in a row (I still can't believe that) and seriously I love it.
After Munich Robert had some appointments he didn't need me for, so I skipped up to Berlin for a couple days to visit my German sister Lydia who just had a baby in April. So I met my little nephew Joni (Jonathan) and Lydia's boyfriend Jens for the first time, they are all doing so well! It was such a bonus to be able to see her again so soon (after last year's Europe trip). I have been to Berlin a few times, which made it easy to just spend time with them instead of wanting to go sightseeing, although I did have a few hours one of the days so I went on my favorite walking tour again, SO GOOD every time! I was lucky enough to get to go to a concert with them too- The Cat Empire! They are an Aussie band, and thanks to Nate I love those guys. It was strange to suddenly feel like I was traveling on my own again, and after those couple days I was ready to go "back to work" so I met back up with Robert in Frankfurt.
We left Germany this morning and are now in Brussels, Belgium, where they speak French! I had struggled with French before I came here, German was much more fun to learn, but after a week and a half in Germany I was finally starting to understand a lot more German, and now here we are in Belgium, and I understand a LOT more French. It's relieving in a way, and I sort of saw that coming. We had a meeting today, actually it was at the American Embassy, I've never been in one before.. but tomorrow is Saturday so it's back to being tourists! We will stay in Brussels until Monday when we leave for the Netherlands, until then we plan to do some sightseeing (go to Brugge) and eat a lot of French cuisine, yum!
The sun is setting over Brussels outside my hotel window, and it's time to go to dinner, au revoir!
J
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