our families, friends, loved ones and supporters. Hold Nov. 12th. We’re throwing a party.
Europe. And Flights. And Car Rentals. And Airports. And Euros.
Just like the line in “Pulp Fiction. They got the same stuff there, it’s just a l-i-t-t-l-e different.
The bathrooms and the heaviness of all the doors is odd. Not many people smile. (I’m not the first to point that out!) Frankfurt was kinda sleazy, dirty, dodgy. Cologne was far more beautiful than we could’ve imagined. Absolutely loved that place!
But the U.S. dollar is quite strong in Germany and virtually everything we purchased – other than gasoline – was inexpensive. The efficiency of it was a little less than I kind of remembered Germany being on our previous trip.
Like everywhere else, it had pros and cons. But, we’re certainly planning on going back and hoping to spend more time with Niels in Europe on some rock and roll adventures in the coming years.
Visiting the office that helped save Jenn’s life
On Friday, we visited the DKMS office in Cologne (or Koln on the Deutschland signage) early in the morning and wound up having a fabulous three hours with an amazing bunch of really friendly, sensitive and caring group of miracle workers.
Their press office included a man who worked for NFL Europe and knew Brian Baldinger and former Ravens tackle Tony Pashos well from their time with the involvement of the Frankfurt Galaxy. It’s clear that “failed” league in Germany that has left a whole culture of fans who go to bars on Sunday night to watch the NFL.
This video was on the local newscast in Cologne on Monday and Tuesday: http://www.rtl-west.de/beitrag/artikel/staebchen-rein-spender-sein/
At some point we’ll figure out what they said…
Ah, the smell of Cologne…
Before last week I had spent parts of three days in Germany but really was more intent on getting “in and out” while we stayed in Amsterdam and Zurich on the 2006 World Cup adventure.
I knew what the neatly tucked freeways of Germany and the autobahn looked like at 100 mph but I never saw what the neighborhoods looked like and it was awesome. Despite various disturbances with my wife (and the lady with the British voice) over the efficiency of the GPS vs. my more Clark Griswold approach with reading a map and preparation, we persevered.
(I’m a guy who truly views every wrong turn as an opportunity for a new, untold adventure. And my wife would admit that it’s been far and away a benefit on these journeys abroad, which we so adore!)
With Google Maps and Earth you can really get a feel ahead of time and we knew Bochum would be an awesome village. We toured a beautiful park in Witten, which is Niels’ hometown and a local newspaper wanted to tell our story.
We saw all the side roads and went through Essen and Dortmund while cranking up some good music. Cafes. Great food. Sandwiches that you can only sorta get in Europe.
At midnight in the train station, these were my choices. And check out the prices!
With the recent death of Gene Wilder it made me think about the scenes from Willy Wonka shot in Munich and the beauty of the German villages. And when the beautiful German woman was doing her television standups for our DKMS, it also reminded me of when Augustus…
