My Aunt Grace and her family live in Burscheid. When we arrived in Dusseldorf, she was waiting at the train station. She had wanted us to get off at Köln, but when I had tried calling her that morning in Stüttgart, I hadn't dialed her number correctly.
So, we took the train back to Leverkusen, where my uncle and cousin Martin worked. I hadn't seen them for many years, especially my Uncle Gerhard whom I remembered being much taller, but then I was much shorter. We saw them briefly and then went to Bayer's Japanese Gardens, which was very nice. Afterwards, we went to her home where we got settled down and rested.
In the afternoon we picked up my cousin Erik, who was still in school. I had seen Erik almost 2 years before, so he hadn't changed too much. Whereas his brother Martin was much taller and broader than I remembered from 8 years before. In the evening when everyone was home, Martin, Erik, Suhad, and I went to Köln, to see the cathedral. It was getting dark when we arrived and many of the stores were closing soon, so we decided to go shopping and then eat dinner.
After dinner we walked along the Rhine River and listened to the live music that was playing. There are alot of restaurants in that area, and many stores along the main pedestrian walkway near the cathedral. Unfortunately, most stores close early by American standards. However, the walking was very pleasant as the weather was nice, although a little cool.
The next day we again visited Köln and did some shopping. We went inside the cathedral and viewed the incredible stained glass windows, which had been preserved during World War II by some local people who had removed the windows when the bombing began. The building has only recently been completely restored from the damage done during the war.
We then walked throughout the central area, looking at stores and eating some bratwurst. This was during the Oktoberfest season, and despite the fact we were in northern Germany, many of the stores were in the Bavarian celebration motif.
So, we walked and walked. We also spent alot of time looking for Suhad's closed-toe Birkenstocks, which every wannabe surgeon in America wears in the operating room. Interestingly enough, they're not so popular in Germany and many people wear them to garden.
Well, we headed back to home and had a proper German dinner, cooked wonderfully by my aunt. She had packed for us probably a few kilos of different types of chocolate, to take back to America. I think I probably gained 1 or 2 kilos of weight from all that chocolate, but it lasted for about 3 months.
The next day was an important day in Germany. It was election day, and it was also the day we were leaving for Münich. We took photographs of the house in Burscheid and packed into the car to drive to Cologne, which if you haven't figured it out is the French/English spelling of Köln.
We drove to the polling booth in Burscheid, with one family member voting for Kohl and the other voting for Schröder. We were witnessing a momentous day in German politics.
We finally reached Köln and got to the train station. We said our goodbyes and promised to return to visit. We both had a great time with my family and were thankful that we could rest there after the stress of backpacking for 2 1/2 weeks. Thank you for everything Auntie Grace, Uncle Gerhard, Martin, and Erik!
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