6 Mar 2017

WEEKEND REVIEW MARCH 4

My friend is living near Leverkusen where Bayer, a multinational chemical, pharmaceutical and life sciences company has its headquarthers. My friend's husband had worked there too, that's why they are living there. I didn't know this area at all only Cologne so she showed me around.



First we saw from outside the Morsbroich Castle formerly a Baroque castle, which is now a municipal museum for the exhibition of modern and contemporary art. It also provides the setting for theatrical productions and other cultural events under the title "Morsbroich Summer".



There is also a restaurant inside and when we were there new weds just had their wedding picture taken. A nice background !

Then we went to the "Wacht am Rhein" a very modern restaurant serving typical local German food.



The view over the Rhein is beautiful, unfortunately we had grey and cold weather. It must be very nice in summer.



We had lunch there and a huge beer, but alcohol free, there is an unbelievable choice of alcohol free beer in Germany, which is much better than the sweet sodas. I forgot to take a picture of my meal, it was delicious it was an enormous pancake with bacon and onions.



The next little town was Schlebusch which belongs to Leverkusen. It's a nice old little town and certainly worthwhile to be visited when the sun is shining ! I liked the poster "Real Belgian chips", but  didn't try them I was still full from my pancake.

Unfortunately I must have caught a cold when standing in front of the Dom in Cologne when the strong wind whistled around and didn't feel well at all. I decided to drive home before it got worse. What a pity. But I did well, I had no problems and arrived safely home, where I just fell into my bed !

3 Mar 2017

FRIDAY's FAVE FIVE - FIVE ON FRIDAY

1.


Now as usual the week starts with our Scrabble group. This time it was Nicole's turn. Charlie was happy to have so many ladies around who petted him. But then a thunderstorm came and the poor dog got hysterical. He is so afraid ! He found a nice hide away. Suddenly between 10 legs under the table Charlie was in the middle and shook like a leaf ! We all comforted him and when the thunderstorm was over he came out and collapsed on the carpet. Meanwhile Mireille despite her handicap of being half blind won again and had started with a scrabble which meant 50 points. I was the looser for once but that doesn't bother me at all ! We had our laughing session too without paying for it.

2. I had to do some shopping for my trip to Cologne not exactly the town but in a small village outside. I bought some Belgian specialities for my friend. She was alone her husband was in wintersport with friends.

3. My suitcase was quickly packed, but then a disaster happened, our micro wave had troubles ! For once Mr. G. panicked because I went away and how should he heat up his meals ? We decided that we had to buy a new one. The next morning my eyes not yet open he asked me if I had found a suitable model. I pushed aside my murderous wish to strangle him, and said yes. I had to print out the model and then he hurried away to buy that thing. This was the first time in 48 years of marriage that Mr. G. bought a household appliance ! I have to note down the date.

4. The microwave problem solved, he still uses the old one because it still heats up because he has to study the notice, I loaded my car for my trip to Cologne and in pouring rain drove away. The whole way was terrible sometimes I could hardly see, fortunately there was not a lot of traffic on the highway and 3 hours later with a stop to have a coffee and something to eat I arrived.



The house from the outside looks small but is huge inside It has 8 bedrooms, a snug, a living room, and 3 bathrooms and a sauna. I had a nice room with a Korean bed and ensuite. As always we had a lot to chat, only this time it wasn't me but her, she speaks like a waterfall and jumps from one theme to the other. It's fun.

5. The weather got even worse, there was a very strong wind and that made the temperature feeling very cold. But we didn't want to sit inside the whole day so we went to Cologne.








I know Cologne quite well, at least the city center, but it had changed so much that I didn't recognize anything. So many new glass boxes like in all big cities.

We had lunch in a typical brewery and ate a typical plate from Cologne



This was big green beans in a sauce, with bacon and boiled potatoes. It was delicious.

I was  surprised about the choice of alcohol free beer, there were so many brand marks nearly like the real beer. I bought 20 bottles for us, as we don't drink any alcohol.

We returned home because it started to rain and we were frozen. But still it had been a nice day.

In the evening we watched crime story in the snug and had a beer !






more participants at Susanne at Living to tell the Story.


more participants here at FIVE ON FRIDAY