Europe

This is our second night in Germany. I'm not big on sausages.
So, we ate a Spanish tapas bar. I had grilled salmon and
David choose the baked rigatoni. The food was amazing.
We found it interesting that a large beer is 1 euro (around 2 dollars)
and a tiny soda is 3 euros (about 6 dollars).
They don't drink flat water in the restaurants in Germany only
sparkling. So, we drank a lot of pellegrino.

This is the cathedral in Koln which is about an hour
away from Dusseldorf where we were staying.
It's absolutely beautiful. I tried to get a shot of the
whole thing but it was too big. I went up to the
top of the spire. David was in his print conference.


An artist was out front of the cathedral making
chalk paintings.

Beautiful apartments on the Rhein River.

I'm not sure if you've seen the Bucket List in
which the protagonists find out they don't have much
time to live. So, they set out to do the things they
like to do before they kick the bucket. Well, having
a Belgium waffle in Belgium waffle on the streets
of Brussels was one of mine. I had one with strawberries
and cream for lunch. I ate every last morsel of it and
didn't think twice about it. I was so happy I had
tears in my eyes.

I was told that this little boy peeing was a must
see in Belguim. I thought it was so funny because
when I got there there was a teacher from the U.K.
with a group of his students. He asked if anyone
knew the meaning of anti climatic. Then went on
to say that this statue was precisely the meaning
of the word. I have to say I agree.



Amsterdam is a beautiful city. David was still in
his trade show when I went. The town has water in
between most of the streets. I hopped on a boat and
went past the Anne Frank house. I didn't have the
time to wait in line and go inside. I hopped off the boat
at the Van Gogh museum. Then, had lunch in a
small restaurant. It was a tomato, basil and fresh
mozzarella. That's my newfound favorite sandwich.


On the tourist boat in Amsterdam.

Flowers in a market.

David and I took a train to Paris after his conference
was over. The first day we went to the Arc de
Triomphe. I guess we got there at the perfect time
because they were having a ceremony fit for a king to
honor deceased French soldiers. Apparently, they've
done this everyday for decades.

I took this picture from a distance. Mainly, because
I like the man with the red and blue tie and the
baseball cap. :) These men are former soldiers with
their wifes.



I enjoyed watching the traffic on this main street.
Can you imagine if San Francisco was like this?

David and I went to the top of the Eiffel Tour in an
elevator. It reminded me a lot of the Drop
Zone at Great America. I can't say I enjoyed that ride
even a little. The Eiffel Tour is taller though. I thought a
I made it to the top shirt would be appropriate.
Unfortunately, they didn't have
one.

This guy made the best crepes or craps as they
call them in Paris. Mine had nutella, bananas and
coconut.

A painter duplicating a famous painting in the
Louvre.

Sainte-Chapelle

A Degas painting in the D'orsay museum. I actually
enjoyed this museum better than the Louvre because
I love the impressionists. They have a room full of
Van Gogh, Renoir and Monet. I couldn't believe I
was seeing the originals of so many paintings I had
only studied about. This was definitely another check
off my bucket list.