Ugly American

Am coming to you from the Ugly American Cafe in Dusseldorf where the air is smoke free and the wireless internet access is free as well. But tomorrow, we SHOULD have a phone, internet access and television in our very own home.

Sunday we will be moving a table and chairs along with light fixtures from the home of Trudy Arrigo who will soon be returning to North Carolina with her husband. We will have SIX places to sit down.

Things continue to run less than smoothly here in Dusseldorf. The trip to see Tante Rosel this weekend was longer than thought. It took us eight, rather than the expected 5, to get there because of bad traffic for the holiday weekend (yesterday was unification day). The rental car (because we still can't lease a car until all of Skip's work visa stuff comes through) broke a belt and had to be repaired. But Tante Rosel and Maddie really hit it off even though neither speaks the language of the other. No telling what all was actually said this weekend.

Tante Rosel lives down in Southern Germany in an area east of the Black Forest known as Scwabenland. It is really beautiful. And we found a great playground for Maddie. I came to the realization that the reason playgrounds are so much better here than they are in the US is that you can't sue the park's service here if your kid busts a lip or breaks an arm. So the elements on the grounds let kids climb higher, swing bigger and let the parents bear the responsibility.

Once we get Internet Access we can begin to plan some good day and overnight trips. Dusseldorf is kind of like Boston in that there's lots of stuff to do and see right in the immediate area. An hour's drive can take you to the Netherlands, Belgium and a whole handful of other German cities.

Have been out of the news loops but just read today about all the violence that has been happening in the US in schools again. Am really saddened by that.

Hope to get some pictures up soon.

Anne