The first week has been great. I spent the first 4 days by myself until Melinda came staying in a little village near the Belgian border called Monschau. A nice little old village with houses and buildings dating back to the 1400's. There are nice little uneven coblestone streets everywhere and I know this because I twisted my ankle going for a walk up to an old castle on the hill overlooking the village. Never mind, you get that on the big jobs! I just dont think that walking around in thongs (flip flops, jandles or whatever else people want to call them) is necessarily the best choice of footwear around.
Monschau with Castle over looking the village
The first pub Adam went to in Germany
Creek running through Monschau
On the Thursday I took off from work at lunchtime to go and pick up Melinda from Dusseldorf. It was her first experience on a German autobahn (no speed limits!!!) and I think she enjoyed me whizzing her back to the hotel at 180km/h down the autobahn! (I would have gone for more but the car is governed and wont go any faster). Stories I have heard from people in the past are true; here I am, full concentration, hands at 10 and 2 on the steering wheel doing 180km/h and a Porsche or Mercedes comes flying past you!
We spent the weekend checking out the former West German capital Bonn and stayed in Cologne on the weekend. We were lucky enough to turn up in town on the night of a big fireworks display along the Rheine! They had a funny band that was playing with a singer who looked, dressed and acted like Bob Downe (an Australian comedian), but I think he was serious. Also a few other band members sporting dodgy moustaches and singing songs that you would have expected to hear on 'Hey Hey its Saturday' (a variety show that used to be on for 20 odd years in Australia). Good wholesome family entertainment...
View of Cologne from the top of the Cathedral
Inside Dom Köln - the 'Mt Everest' of cathedrals
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