Friday afternoon we were heading north to visit our Moms. As usual we stayed with Sonja's mom where we got a three-course meal on our arrival at 9PM, and a breakfast buffet the next morning before visiting Roland's mom. After this we were supposed to go to a double-feature party (a friendly couple turned fifty in May) in Cologne. And when in Rome... or better: Cologne, do as the locals do... and go shopping. Above is the famous landmark: Cologne Cathedral, but much more attractive to us was this coffee shop, with a Vespa in front of it.
Cologne is also famous for 4711, the eau de cologne, produced since 1799, and honestly, one of the most terrible perfumes you could probably purchase. But the flagship store is busy, and tourists are standing in line to buy this stuff. For us Globetrotter Shop was much more interesting. It's a huge mall for outdoor gear. It includes an aquatic area, a dip tank, a cold chamber and a climbing area, and it definitely is the urban adventurer's paradise.
After finishing up our shopping orgy (Roland got specific hiking gear, and Sonja a new pair of runners), we were headed to a beach bar, where friends of ours celebrated their big birthdays.
Needless to say that it got late, or better early... we had a lot of fun, and got to reconnect with many friends we hadn't seen in a long time.
A birthday couple, a bottle of Kölsch (light blonde beer), and a hideous Hawaiian shirt.
Sunday we were invited to another big birthday, again it involved food, this time breakfast, to celebrate Sonja's friends birthdays. Another 5-0.
Alas, the visit was short, as we had made further plans for the day. We blasted down the Autobahn (well speeding was limited due to the occasional traffic jam), in order to meet with Dom, Martha, Patrick and Miles, a.k.a. the Chang-Gang, who were on their last leg of their journey through Europe.
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| Heidelberg Castle |
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| The Chang Gang |
A road-trip, visits of family and (international) friends, good food, shopping and sight-seeing. All in one weekend. Life is good.
4th photo- the mall scene- is bizarre! It looks like a Renaissance painting! Colors and composition. Perfect modern cathedral.
ReplyDeleteMartha, definitely a temple... of capitalism mostly ;-)
DeleteLots of driving and socializing! Thanks for meeting with us!
ReplyDeleteDom, thanks to you and Martha for making the time, and your boys for the patience ;-)
DeleteI am jealous you found a Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf. They are based in California and we don't even have one in Oregon.
ReplyDeletethe mall looks pretty nice and big :-), Globetrotter was one of our favourite stores in Germany too. Although you had a busy weekend, it seemed quite nice meeting family and a lot of friends. Heidelberg is still on my list, Andreas was lucky last year to pay a visit there when he was with SAP in Walldorf.
ReplyDeleteThat Hawaiian shirt reminds me on Tommy Bahamas :-).
Oh, that Globetrotter store in Cologne! Great one, especially with the pool in the center to test-ride kayaks. Yes, we had left some of our money there, too! :-) All in all it sounds like some great partying and friends-meeting time you guys had!
ReplyDeleteIt's so nice that you got to visit with Dom and family. :-)
ReplyDelete