One of the best days of the trip

We are at the Pau house in Hoerstgen, Germany now. It was great to see Simon and his Dad out the window of the train as we pulled into the Duisburg station Thursday night. Yesterday we went for a bike ride and then after dinner went for a little car trip with Simon... to the Netherlands!

In Venlo, NL, just like everywhere else we've been, World Cup fever was in full swing. Only one thing filled the streets as much as football fans: bicycles. After Venlo, we went to a little town called Arcen, where there is a little castle with a moat. That was pretty cool. When we got back into Germany we went to a town called Kevelaer (VERY Catholic) that served to demonstrate how much prettier the average nice town in Germany is than anywhere in Canada.

Today we saw the ultimate, though. We drove to Bonn this morning (Beethoven's birthplace, former capital of West Germany) and caught a cruise ship on the Rhine, and rode it to a little place called Konigswinter. There we took a tram up to the highest point to a lookoff in the hills, where there was a ruin of an old castle tower and an old castle being repaired. It was a beautiful view and a really cool town.

Then we headed for Cologne. I think it's the third biggest city in Germany (after Berlin and Munich) and it was AWESOME. We went to the Dom (cathedral), which was easily the biggest church we had ever seen, and then walked the 509 steps to the top of one of its towers, 97 metres, and could look out over quite a long distance. After we got down, we wandered through the city, which was jumping with football fans. We have great pictures of it that we'll post later. THe atmosphere here is so festive and fun, nothing like what we thought it would be during World Cup time. You feel like you're walking in a theme park most of the time, this dreamworld where football makes everyone happy and friends with everyone else. By the edge of the Rhine we saw a one-man-band that was unbelievably good and ridiculous-looking, and these two Iranian boys (about six or seven) who wouldn't stop dancing, in a very suggestive way, the whole time he played. We got loads of pictures of them. It was hilarious, and one of the high points of the whole trip so far.

The Pau family are great. They are so hospitable and get along so well. Watching Simon and his Dad inspect with great intensity any mechanical curiosity (especially the one man band with his weird set-up and generator running in the back) is so refreshing and enjoyable. Along with SImon and his Dad, we were accompanied today by the Paus' friend Mary, who is from Texas but has been working here for the last year or so.

It was an unforgettable day.