Gary is here!!

Finally my guy is here! I've missed him so much even though we've talked regularly. Things are more fun with him around.

G was arriving at 7:30am on Friday so I decided to do what the locals do and go to the airport by train. It's much cheaper than taxi and just as fast. Stefan who I now call my personal travel agent showed me exactly how to get there so I did ok.

I still had to go into work for a few important meetings so I left G at the apartment to unpack and get some rest. We went into the Altstaedt (Old Town) that night. I couldn't wait to show him the the Dusseldorf he saw last year when they dropped me off at hkl for a meeting was the ugliest part of the city. We walked around old town which had over 250 restaurants/bars in a very condensed area. I've only been here about 4-5 times but still discovering new things. We discovered a small alley that were lined with what must have been a dozen spanish restaurants. There was some live music and the heaters were out so that people could still dine outside in the cool weather. We chose a restaurant along the busier row and sat outside to people watch. It turned out to be a Chilean restaurant and our dinner was delicious. Gary got the salmon which was the one dish that he liked that I could not make ahead of time and freeze for him at home. It just wouldn't taste good to freeze and microwave. I had some yummy pork fillets on mustard sauce. I liked that they had a menu that was in german/spanish/english. Gary couldn't believe how lively the area was and I assured him it was quiet compared to a Saturday night. As we ate we watched people parade up and down the narrow alley. Sometimes you would see a group of revelers wearing themed clothes with party hats and holding a bottle of beer in their hand.

After dinner we walked along the Rhein River. It was a very different scene from last Friday when I was out with Juliana. At that time it was 80 degrees so all of the bars & restaurants that lined the riverfront were filled with poeple. Tonight it was in the low 60's so it was much more subdued.

I took G to the famous Urige brewery in old town. The brewery was on one side of the street with tables out on the sidewalk. However there were also the same set up on the other side with a narrow cobblestone street in between. On the edges there were small metal trays for people to set their beers. The waiters weave through the crowds with trays of Alt beers. The alt beer come in a small glass and only cost about $2.6 Euros. Rather than sit on one of the picnic tables G & I sat on the steps facing the street so we could people watch. We were lucky with the rain even though it was a cool night. After the beer I felt a little cold so we decided to look for a little cafe for some hot chocolate.

Close to Urige brewery we found a very cool cafe. G refers to it as the "pimp bar" because of the different rooms/lairs with couches and big pillows. The cafe is sunken a few feet below. Inside there were cushioned benches and comfy pillow all along the glass windows. It was called the Kas Bah and they serve alcohol along with coffees and teas. I got my latte machiano and G ordered a Baileys hot chocolate which was SO yummy! The place was so cozy and romantic. I told G the next time I wanted to sit upstairs in the room that looked like a harem. There were exotic looking furniture and pillows and it looked really cool. It was such a nice place to hang out and talk. After 12 years of being together we don't bother much with romance, but this place really brings it out. We will definitely come back.

It was midnight before we left old town. It's late for us but people are just starting their night out. The place was buzzing but we were glad to leave the partying to them. On the way out we passed a bar with some sexy girl pole dancing on a stage. What the heck?! The other bars were now turning into dance club. I've found that the later it is the louder the music. What a great place.

Things I miss (besides Gary)

In no particular order.....

Air conditioning - on the days it's humid
Ice in my drinks
A strong hairdryer - have to plan twice the time with the weak voltage
Watching tv with english speaking channels - my only choice is CNN
Soft toilet paper
Being in a country with a language that I understand
My car
My bathroom with all my things around me
Wearing heels at work
My closet of clothes - wearing only 5 pair of pants over and over again really sucks
Cooking in my kitchen
My mac computer

Meant to go to Belgium but ended up in Netherlands

Come on, how many chances will I have to say that I went to the wrong country by accident?! Actually, I hope this will be the first and last time!


My niece Angela who was in London was going to meet me in Bruges for the wknd. My train from dd was leaving at 8am Saturday with two stops (Cologne and then Brussels). I got to Cologne ok and went to the right platform for the connecting train to Brussels. What I didn't realize was that there were 2 trains on the same platform and ofcourse I got on the wrong train! I was expecting to be in Brussels at 10:30 and when that time came and passed I started to get nervous. Maybe the train was just running behind schedule. I didn't see a conductor anywhere to ask. When it was 11 I got up and found all 3 conductor in the bar part of the train. Nice work ethics. I showed them my ticket and said "Brussels"? They started laughing and said I was on the wrong train! This train was heading to Amsterdam which was way north of where I needed to go! The bartender said that I'll have to take a cab in amsterdam back to Brussels and it would cost about $3,000 euros. After my mouth dropped open he said just kidding! Bastard, I'm glad somebody thought it was funny. Fortunately one of the conductor felt sorry for the stupid american and looked up the schedules and wrote out what I needed to do. I basically had to backtrack and take another 2 connections before I can get to Brussels south station 1 1/2 hours later. I would have been so lost if they didn't help me. I tried to reach Angela but couldn't get through for a good 15 minutes. I was panicking thinking that I wasn't dialing the international code correctly. I think it was because she was underground in the train station in brussels. When I got a hold of her Angie decided to wait for me in brussels and we would take the train to Bruges together. She took a cab and went to see the Grand Palace in Brussels. I only told Angie I was running behind. I didn't want other people to hear about my incredibly stupid move. The crazy thing was the conductor did one point scanned my ticket and he didn't notice I was on the wrong train! At one of the stop I looked on the map and saw I traveled almost all the way through the Netherlands! I totally missed Belgium! This gave Angie a good laugh. She couldn't believe her well traveled auntie could have made such a blunder. Well, nobody's perfect. I can just see Gary shaking his head again. I have to say this was not a bonehead american move, it was a bonehead anh move!

Bruges is a beautifully preserved medieval town with cobble stone streets. The centerpiece of the old town is the Market Square with the Post Office on one side and the Bell Tower (built in the year 1200). You can climb the 366 steps up the Bell Tower which we did on Sunday. The town is 12km from the north sea and is known for its lace, chocolates, frites (fries), mussels and ofcourse the belgian waffles. Angie & I were so excited to eat our way through the city, screw our diets! To start our weekend properly we had waffles with ice cream topped with warm chocolate sauce for lunch. It was sooooo good. After lunch we had to try the fries from the stands in front of the bell tower, only because the tour book said we had to! The fries here are fried twice, once to cook it and second time to brown. I don't know if this made it different but it was the best fries EVER! I got Angie turned on to curry ketchup with the fries. It was the same sauce as my Curry Wurst in germany. When we bought it I asked for an order of "french fries". The vendor looked at me and said "what"? I said "french fries" and again he said "what"? Suddenly it clicked and I asked for "belgian fries"?! He nodded in approval and took my order. Whew!



We took a 20 minute boat tour in the canals and got a little history of the city. Because of the canals this town is referred to as the Venice of the north. Angie said she liked this place better than Venice.

We then rented bikes from the shop next to our hotel and rode through the town for 4 hours for $5 euros. What a great way to see the city. We rode through quiet narrow cobblestone streets away from the busy market square, along the pretty canals, and then onto a nice bike path that has 4 windmills along the way. There are dozens of cafes or bars that you can stop at along the way to take a break. One point I stopped to take a picture of a house and was too lazy to put the kickstand down and park the bike. The bike slipped away from me and I was too slow to react. As a result the metal petal scraped along the top of my bare foot. Luckily no heavy bleeding, just a big bruise a little blood and some missing skin! Oi vay, I am sure Gary is shaking his head again.

Throughout the weekend the market square had a big stage for music. There were alternating bands playing traditional or classical music. Restaurants & bars that bordered the squares had tables and chairs that overflowed into the big square. All were filled with happy tourists. I don't think we sat inside any restaurants the whole time. The weather was perfect, it was warm and mostly sunny. Angie was so happy to get a break from the depressing London weather. We agreed that so far this is one of our favorite european town. It was the perfect size and perfect blend of charm, history, architectural significance, cuisine and culture. I guess we were there during the peak season so it was very lively.

We loved the mussels so much we had it both days! On Sunday I did try the traditional peasant style beef stew which came in a miniature copper pot. You pour the beef stew over fries. At first we asked for ketchup to eat with our fries, but after dipping our fries with the gravy we ditched the ketchup, yeah that is SO american! The restaurant (called The Flemish Pot) had its own cookbook so we found the recipe to see how the beef stew was made. They put beer in it! I'm going to try it when I get home! It was such a charming place with red & white checkered curtains and flower pots, we sat outside on the patio which was in a quiet alleyway.

Even though the book said that the dutch do not eat belgian waffles or pancakes (which is really our version of crepes) for breakfast, Angie & I were determined to find a place to eat waffles for breakfast. The book did not lie. It took us a good half hour before we found a place. Actually we went back to the same place from the day before because we couldn't find anything else! Angie ended up getting apple struedel with ice cream and I got the pancake with warm apples and caramel sauce. It was so good! We were moaning our delight pretty loudly. I wish we had more time for more meals here!

A small note of our hotel (Hotel Heritage). Since it was just for one night I decided to splurge on this small boutique hotel, $215 for the night. It was so luxurious! After going up a spiral marble staircase we get to our room (only 24 rooms). There was a huge king size bed with a chandelier on the ceiling and beautiful 18th century furniture. It had airconditioning! There were robes & slippers for us and the toiletries were from Hermes (ofcourse I took them home with me!) The soap smelled so good!! I made Angela take one home for her mom! The hotel had Turkish steam bath & sauna but unfortunately we did not have time to enjoy it. Best of all it was located right behind the main market square so we were walking distance to everything.

It was lucky for me that the clothing shops were closed on Sunday because I could have done some serious damage! I wish we had enough time for another leisurely bike ride but we had to leave for the train station at 5pm on Sunday. Even worse, I wish we had more time (and stomach space) for another belgian waffle! At least we had some ice cream before leaving.

This town is perfect for 2-3 day weekend. The people are very nice and it was much easier to communicate since most could speak german, french, english and ofcourse the native tongue which is dutch. Gary has been here before otherwise I would seriously consider going back with him.

Friday night in DD

Today it finally warmed up again. After a week of cool and rainy weather everyone was very happy to see the sun. At 3pm Guido says "ice cream after work?" Enough said, I told him about the nice ice cream parlor by the guesthouse in Holtausen plaza. Juliana & I stumbled upon it the day before on our way to the market the day before. Emrah joined us at 5 since he had a 6:30 train to Salzburg for the wknd. It was 80 degrees and sunny. I was starting to sweat with the walk. The ice cream parlor was a sit down place with dozens of types of sundaes. I ordered a sundae with walnuts and cherries which also came with a little cup of cherries on the side. Emrah got a belgian waffle with a scoop of icecream. And Guido ordered spagheti frozen yogurt which threw me off! It turned out that they use a special dispenser so that his ice cream looked like spagheti strands. Ofcourse all these were served in fancy glass cups and dishes cute little spoons. I swear I don't remember the last time I've seen a paper plate or cup! Anyway, I taught the guys some more american slang while they shared stories of how they met their girlfriends. I thought it was funny when Guido said his girlfriend couldn't stand him when they first met. We had a fun time and declared that from now on Friday will be ice cream day! I can't wait to take Gary who is an ice cream monster. He is going to love this place.

I had just enough time to buy some fruit at the farmers market out front and run home to get cleaned up before meeting Juliana for shopping and dinner in Alsteadt. J is another colleague from my department. She is a young lady from Nairobi Africa doing an expat assignment in germany. She has been here 7 months and has admitted that it has not been an easy adjustment. She even commented on how quickly I seem to blend into the work environment as well as in Germany overall. I think it's just my many years of traveling that makes it easier for me to acclimate. She was amazed at my german and how good I was after only one week. Ha, my trick is that I might only know a handful of words but I can say it pretty well.


We window shopped along Konigsalle which is a famous street lined with high end shops. Konigsalle means kings' alley which was named as compensation to king Frederik (the II?) when he got horse poop thrown at him when he visited dd. The street reminded me of Champs Elysees in Paris or 5th Ave NYC. My sisters would like this shopping street I think. All along one side of the wide sidewalk there were endless outside cafes with tables full of patrons who were there for the purpose of people watching. I knew this because all their chairs were placed facing one way so that they can watch people walking by! I felt out of place because I wasn't dressed up like everyone else.


J was in the mood for seafood so we walked into the Alteadt (Old Town) in search for the right restaurant. There were so many to choose from. Finally we stumbed upon one with outdoor seating. I noticed a bowl of mussels on someone's table and said this must be a seafood place. We sat down and quickly realized that this place was literally a mussels place. They serve mussels in a dozen different ways. I ordered mussels steamed in cream, garlic, butter and white wine. J did the same and declared that she has never had mussels before. Back home I was used to ordering clams or mussels as an appetizer. I was a little worried that this would not be enough to be a meal even thought the waiter assured me it would be. Just to be safe i ordered the large portion. Well, J and I could have shared a small portion! It was so much food we barely ate half of our meal. I was relieved that J really enjoyed her first experience with mussels. She was very excited to have tried something new.


I was so interested to learn about Africa and the way of life there. J does not care for some of the food here because it's processed. SHe says at home the food is fresh and simple. Chicken tastes like chicken, beef tastes like beef. The meat on your table comes from the farm nearby and has not been treated with chemical. J has a sister that lives in Michigan but she has never been to the states. She knew enough to say that the winter in Michigan is very cold and the sun rarely shines there! She asked me about president Obama and my opinion of him. It seemed to her that he has not been too active and Michelle has been more quiet than expected.

We went for a very long walk along the Rhine. It was a very warm day (about 80 degree) so it seemed like the whole city was out enjoying the weather. I love the Altsteadt. It's a place for tourists and locals. There's live music, lots of restaurants with outdoor seating and over 300 bars in a very condense area. Next to the river there are wide walkways that invites a leisurely stroll.
I had to call it an early night since I was meeting Angela in Brugge (Belgium) the next morning and still needed to pack. Glad to have a chance to get to know J a little better. We will be doing an assignment together in France in october. I thought it was important to get to know her before we started working closely together for 3 weeks. I think we will do ok together.

It's a different work culture here....

It's been a week in the DD office now and I'm getting the hang of it. Around 7:30 each morning I do my 20 minute brisk walk to the office. The campus is not so intimidating now and I'm finding my way around. I get there in time to make a quick call to Gary to say good night since it's 11pm phx time. People start to come into the office between 8:30 and 9. At noon we start to gather the troop and walk to the cafeteria which ranges from 5 to 15 minute walk depending on which of the 4 you go to. I love the salad bar but they have other good food as well. During lunch we don't linger over the meal. It's a quick half hour meal or less. Sometimes someone will say, "coffee?" and we all proceed to another section of the cafe where there is a machine that will make you whatever kind of coffee you want. You just scan your card, put a cup under the spout and push a button. You can get expresso, cappucino or regular coffee. I have become addicted to the Latte Mochiano. Part of the fun is watching the process starting with hot milk being foamed out of two spouts and when the glass is full there's final squirt of espresso. I'm told that if it's done right you will see separate layers of milk and espresso. There's a separate section that you hang out to drink your coffees. Very cool. Very few people bring their lunch but instead use the lunch time to network with colleagues either within or outside of their department. Also, I found out the hkl gives each employee $55 a month for meals in the cafes so there's incentive for them to eat there.

Guido is a good office mate. Most of the time we are working but sometimes would take a break to chat. I am learning more about the german culture everyday. Today we talked about the lower level of service and Guido explained that it's only been recent (as in the last 20 years) that Germany has gotten into privatization. There has been little competition so there's little incentive for customer service. Nevertheless, I am so impressed with the germans and their forward thinking. They are so high tech and efficient. Yesterday I learned that when I buy my train ticket on line for destinations within or outside of germany, I can enter my address and the computer will tell me which local tram to take to the main train station at what time, how long it will take to walk from the tram stop to the platform of my train. Damn if I knew about this when Megan & I went to Aachen we wouldn't have missed our tram!

It's funny to see so many people getting around work on their bikes. I no longer do a double take when I see someone riding the bike in their business suit. The other day I saw a girl in a pant suit and heels riding her bike. She had some kind of tape around the ankle to prevent the pants from getting caught in the chains, very strange!

Another strange sight is people walking around with a bottle of beer in their hands. I guess there are no rules around glass bottles. In the Altstaedt (old town) it gets a little rowdy on the weekends so there's broken glass in the street but it's cleaned up by the next day. Today I passed a guy waiting at the bus stop with a big bottle of Becks beer in his hand. So strange!

Curry Wurst in Media Harbour

Last night was our much anticipated appointment for Curry Wurst, a special local dish. It's a favorite of Guido and Stefan and was the first time for Emrah. After work we picked up Stefan's wife Andrea. She was shy with her english which was not as good as Stefan who throughout the night kept nudging me to talk to her in english. He even told me to ask her open ended questions instead of yes/no questions to force her to use her english. They were a very cute couple.

We went to a restaurant specializing in this dish. It was very intimidating in the beginning. The place was bustling and it's up to you to find a table. We had to sit at the bar for our meal since all were too hungry to wait. Remember that the european can linger pretty long over their meals so you never know. The menu was simple enough although I didn't figure this out until later. Our waitress was rude and impatient (or so Emrah thought), when we didn't look like we knew what we wanted she just walked away! Anyway, all they have is the curry wurst or bratwurst, french fries, cole slaw and many different sauces on the side. What it looked like was a really fat hot dog with a nice gravy type sauce in which you dip the wurst and fries. Andrea ordered the satay sauce as her extra sauce which was a peanut base sauce. I thought that sounded too strange but when she let me taste it with the fries it was fantastic! Can't wait to bring Gary here. Definitely not a touristy place and I was happy to have a local experience. It was a very modern looking restaurant with uncomfortable furniture. They only had stools for chairs so by the end of the meal I had to stand up to straighten out my posture. The fries (pommes) tasted so good I ate it all. Guido finished his dinner and then ordered an extra plate of fries. Looking into the open kitchen you can see a mountain of french fries and dozens of wurst on the grill. Guido channeling our job observed how efficient and profitable this operation is. Simple ingredients - wurst and fries and some sauces, simple menu, and fast turnover.

After dinner we walked along the harbour which had some pretty awesome architectural buildings. All very funky and modern - one exterior looked like it was made out of aluminum foil and the others were crooked or were very oddly shaped. I think Gary would enjoy seeing this area. It's very different from the atmosphere of Old Town which can be seen in the distance north of the Rhine. We stopped in a bar to have a beer and I ordered the alt beer with coke. Yes, it's beer mixed with coke. They also do this with Fanta and Sprite.

We then got in the car to drive to Ratinger St. which was the crazy party street I went to a week ago. I learned that this street was also referred to as "the longest bar in the world". Apparently this street is at its craziest on Wednesday and on weekends. It was a very lively scene with people packed and overflowing into the street. There are many bars/restaurant lined up right next to each other on both sides. You can basically stop at any of the many bars and hang out along the sidewalk. The waiters go back and forth with platters full of small glasses of alt beer (a nice dark beer local to Dusseldorf). You just wave to the waiter as he passes through and pay him $1.6 euros for a beer. Ofcourse you can order other drinks but it seemed like beer was the popular drink and plentiful. Ofcourse we ran into other hkl people, how can you not when it felt like the whole city was compacted into this one block area! There were also dance clubs along this street so people usually venture into these as it gets later. How can these people stay up so late on a work night?! Ofcourse it was a younger crowd so maybe that's why! I'm not sure if Gary will like this place but at the very least it will be interesting for him to see. To be honest it was fun to see it but not my favorite place. I felt claustrophobic at times. It's a great place for anyone who enjoys the bar scene. It's more of a local place. The tourisy places in Old Town is only a couple of blocks over.

Day trip to Aachen

On the recco of my colleagues I did a day trip to Aachen with Megan on Sunday. It's the most western town in germany and 1 hour 20 minute train ride from DD. only $46 USD. It's famous for its cathedral and thermal bath house. The bath house was off the list since Megan did not have her swimsuit.

We bought tickets for the 8:40 train and thought that leaving our guesthouse at 8 would be plently of time to take the tram that will get us to DD train station. Well, as we were walking to the tram stop we saw it go right by us. Ok, we'll catch the next one. When we got to the stop it said the next tram was 25 minutes away! Note to self, trams on the weekends run less frequently than weekdays. Then Megan saw tram #701 and thought that we should just hop on. We did and about 5 minutes later realize it might not take us to the train station. We decided to hop off and take a taxi. OK, second note to self - there are hardly any taxis on Sunday. Any taxi we saw had a passenger in it. I quickly concluded that any taxis on the road is only there if they have been called. Crap, it was now 8:30 and there was no way in hell we are going to make it. We ended up wating for the next tram to come along. It was 8:50 by the time we got to the train station which meant we had to figure out how to get on the next train which according to Megan was not so easy. I asked Megan if there's any chance the 8:40 train might be late and she said there's zero chance. The german trains are always on time, to the minute. Well, wouldn't you know it, we happened to look and our train was running late!! Megan was flaberghasted saying that this has never happened. I was feeling a little smug myself.

It was forecasted to rain on Sunday and I was hoping our luck would continue. Nope. It was drizzling lightly when we got to Aachen. It was such a cute town. We walked the whole day. We booked the english speaking tour of the cathedral. Meanwhile we walked around the small cobblestone streets, ducked into cafes to buy sweets and to eat lunch. I love the sandwiches here, the bread is fresh baked. I got an open face sandwich with fresh salmon, it was so yummy. Gave some of my quiche to Megan when she discovered that her wrap had some huge slices of pineapple, not expected! After lunch we checked out the city hall. OK, just picture a typical city hall and think the opposite! The building was built in the 14th century and more of a palace. It was incredibly ornate, inside and out.

The cathedral was so pretty. It was a mix of baroque and gothic architecture. The town itself suffered a lot of damages in WWII but luckily the church was unscathed except for the windows. It was built in the year 798 during the reign of Charlemagne and the oldest cathedral in northern europe. For 600 years it was the coronation place for 30 german kings and 12 queens. On the tour we got to see Charlemagne's throne which was place high above so he could look down and see the church activities. The throne was also used for the coronations. The choir hall was incredible, all 3 sides in colorful stain glass windows that were 100ft high. Even my wide lense cameras couldn't quite take it all in. I was amazed that they allowed flash pictures of the frescoes since they were over 1,000 years old and fading. The cathedral also held the St.Mary treasury which contained 4 relics that included the Virgin Mary's cloak & Christ's loin cloth. It has been tradition since the 14th century that these relics are taken out of the sealed treasury every 7 years for the pilgrims to see. The last time was 2007. This was when we found it hard to believe that something that was 2000 years old could be taken out and exposed to the environment and not be damaged! Ofcourse we couldn't offend the guide by expressing our doubts. Megan is going to ask her dad the scientist if this is even possible!

By now it has been raining steadily. We had our umbrella but it still sucked! This called for a nice leisurely dinner. The old town had dozens of restaurants and we eventually chose this very charming mediteranean restaurant (called Aix Mediterano). The front had a huge green and white strip awning that covered some tables and chairs and a profusion of potted flowers. The inside was just as cute. It reminded me of a small restaurant on a greek island, stucco and ceramic tile floors and with more fresh flowers. The restaurant owner/waiter/cook was a very charming little man with a big black mustache. When we asked if he had an english menu he shook his head but asked if we spoke spanish or french. Great! Now I can converse with him in spanish and cut back on the sign language! We were able to order in spanish. The place had two stories . Downstairs where we were there was a little brick oven where he grills the tomatoes and zuchinis. After taking our order he went to his counter and pressed into an intercom on the wall, apparently to place the order with the cook! I pictured the computerized way they place our orders in the states and thought this was much more entertaining. It was really funny to see him do this throughout our time there. You can hear the cook talk back to him as well. The hummus was freshly made and the pita bread was thick and grilled, we were in heaven. Megan's main course came with fries so she asked our waiter for ketchup. He looked at us strange but brought it anyway. Finally he spoke up and said that on our plates were little saucers of ketchup that he made fresh from his tomatoes, much better than the ketchup from the bottle! We made a quick recovery and said we wanted to save his special "ketchup" for our meats!

We ended our day with some great dessert and hot chocolate at the bakery/cafe. OMG they know how to make hot chocolate here! They give you a cup of hot foamy milk and you add the chocolate powder. Both of us were moaning with delight over our desserts and hot coco, good thing we sat upstairs away from the crowd. We were SO full afterwards, even with the walk back to the train station. I made Megan walk back and forth on the train platform in the hopes of burning off some calories. Wishful thinking on my part. Great day, inspite of the rain. My memory of this place will be the beautiful cathedral and our food fest......