Cologne: The Food

Our first meal in Cologne was at Peter's Brauhaus and was oustanding.  After poor service at the beer garden we moved inside and had a fantastic waiter. In the foreground is haxenfleisch (pork leg) in a beer sauce and fried potatoes.  The background is brined pork over mashed potatoes and sauer kraut.  Behind the handle of the plate is a Kolsch the traditional beer brewed in Cologne.



The pork was very tender.

And we left stuffed.

JFK's famous line in Berlin was "Ich ben ein berliner" or "I am a Jelly Donut".  Below are two berliners

Lots of places had warm pretzels and various breads.

Couldn't go to Germany without enjoying a bratwurst.

We also enjoyed a few ice creams and this building with "Dropped Cone"



Rotterdam

We spent a nice Sunday afternoon in Rotterdam.  Rotterdam is about a 30 minute train ride from The Hague and is a more modern Dutch city as it was bombarded by the Germans during World War II.

Below you can see modern day Rotterdam and its skyline.  The only "true" skyline in the Netherlands.

The Erasmus bridge

The daughter getting ready for our boat tour of Rotterdam and its harbor.



Going under the bridge

We are never to far from a windmill here :)



The Port of Rotterdam was the busiest port in the world from 1962 to 2004 but has since been taken over by Shanghai and Singapore.  Over 36,000 ships and 430 million tons of cargo pass through each year. 

Heading back into city

On the walk back to train station we came across the European "Caesars".  What happens in Rotterdam stays in Rotterdam.



And finally we came across this interesting piece, only to find out later what the locals thought of it.  A tidbit by the San Fransico Chronicle can be found here. LINK



Expat Friendships

The nature of the expat comunity is that there is always someone coming or going. As an expat you make friends quickly (and lose friends quickly). We have been here three months and have all started to make some good friends. Our daughter has become very fond of two little girls living across the street. Daily she will run over to their house yelling their names and waiting for them to come out to play. The girls are a few years older than her and don't speak English but she loves playing with them and they in turn love playing with her. Their mother and I chat, while the kids are playing, and are becoming good friends as well. They are also expats and are coming to the end of their stay here. In October they will move back to Germany. This is one of those friendships made quickly and lost quickly. It seems that expat friendships are quite unique. As a new expat you need friends to keep you from being lonley or homesick and a bond can form quickly. I wonder how we will feel at the end of our stay. When leaving our friends and family back home we knew we would return but most of the friendships we will leave here will be forever.

A side note about the girls... they speak Russian with their mother, German with their father, Dutch with the Dutch, and a mix of all three when speaking to me and my daughter (with a few English words they have heard thrown in). I feel a little inadequate!

Big Ben?, Parliament....

Okay so it isn't Big Ben, but it is the Grote Kerk (great church) which dates back to the 15th and 16th century.

And this is Parliament, the Dutch Parliament.  It is called Binnenhoff (inner court) and has been home to Parliament since 1446 and is where many decisions about New Amsterdam (New York) were made during the 17th century.

The Hague under the Heavens ... Giant Man

100 years ago the first Chinese immigrant moved to The Hague.  To mark the occasion there is series of sculptures throughout the city by contemporary Chinese artists.

It is a working lamp

The bag is bursting at the sames with people

The remains of a lizard with Chinese letters embedded

And finally we leave you with Giant Man .....

The 4th on the 3rd

Due to the 4th of July falling on a Monday and the fact it is a work day, we celebrated the 4th on the 3rd of July at a gathering of expats hosted by the embassy.  It was a very nice time with burgers and hotdogs from back home and a speech by the Ambassdor. 

 The picture below is of the Marines presenting the colors.  Uncle Sam in the picture is a graduate of Iowa State (true story), apparently it is tough to find good work with an ISU degree :) I keed, I keed

 A reading of the Declaration of Indepedence

Vintage World War II vehicles, the bikes are Harleys.

And a little fun in the bouncy house