Germany

After nearly a week in Germany, it has proven to be a country of contrasts.

Despite the incredible speed of the train from Paris, we were late arriving in Cologne and missed our connection to Dusseldorf. No problem though, because when we walked up to the platform we were supposed to catch our connector on, there was another train there also going to Dusseldorf. We hopped on. Unfortunately it was the milk run and stopped at every station between Cologne and Dusseldorf, including about five called Dusseldorf in some form or another. We even got off at one Dusseldorf (the first) and realized that there was no city there, so we hopped back on the train (barely). We finally met a fellow who spoke some English and told us we should get off at the Dusseldorf Hautbahnhof (main train station) in about fifteen minutes time.

Fifteen minutes later we pulled into the Dusseldorf Hbf and alighted..., right into the middle of a riot! We literally stepped off the train, and there were five polizei in full riot gear clubbing some football hooligans. There were people running towards the altercation and youth throwing all kinds of things at the cops. I was immediately gripped by a strange need to run in the opposite direction, paused for a sec, decided that I should take Nancy with me, then bolted. We nipped down a staircase where everyone else was coming up. Fortunately Moira and Nigel were there waiting for us and wondering if the train had dumped us off in the riot. We had arrived in Dusseldorf... safely.

Our new hosts took us to their home near Monchengladbach. It is an old British Army and NATO base that is slowly being closed. It has gone from a population of 30,000 (during the cold war) to a population of about 2000 today. Their home (a married quarter) is on a street with many other houses, all empty. The base is a bit of a cold war ghost town. We spent one afternoon twelve pin bowling, and we were the only ones in the building except for the guy who takes the money. We had dozens of bowling balls to choose from, but I still couldn't find one that went straight. The Exchange had a couple people in it when we went for a look. The base is a very quiet and relaxing place, probably quite different than in the past.

On our second day we were invited to go sailing in Roermond, Holland by a British Signals Officer who had helped arrange our upcoming charter out of Keil. He had a Jeanneau Flirt, a 20 foot sloop, on a lake (a pond really), in Roermond. The lake had several huge marinas and Yacht Clubs, and it had hundreds of boats moored around it. It does provide access to the Dutch canal system and eventually the sea. I was surprised to see large racing yachts short tacking up to one end and then doing five minute spin runs back to the other end. It was a right-of-way challenge. We thoroughly enjoyed the sail and picnic on the beach, watching the other boats.

We spent a few hours at a local spa that was wonderful. There were four pools of very warm water. Each pool had various rivers, jets bubble beds and other things to ease the aches and pains of daily life. In typical teutonic orderliness, there was an electronic beep every minute or so to urge you to move on to some other jet so that everyone would get a squirt. We loved the 'no kissing' signs posted everywhere.
We also spent a day in Cologne where we climbed the spire of the famous Koln Dom. It is about 157 meters straight up, 533 steps. The staircase is a narrow, twisting stone set of steps that has been there for hundreds of years. I was a bit claustrophobic. It definitely was not built for people my size. The view from the top was breath-taking, so was the climb.

While in Cologne we saw another couple examples of polizei efficiency. One was a yobbo with a knife being arrested at the Dom and the other looked like a group of shoplifters. No question about it, the polizei are on the job.

Finally, we spent today cycling through the quiet scenic German countryside on bike paths that seem to run everywhere. We went for a walk around another pond with fishermen shoulder to shoulder, angling for that famous sport fish, the mighty carp. We stopped for lunch and a beer at a classic little gasthaus that was packed the whole time we were there. I was quite pleased with my German speaking ability until I ordered a decaf coffee with cream and got a coffee with a bowl of whipped cream on the side. I thought the fraulein was looking at me kinda funny when I ordered it. Oh well, they didn't charge us for the cream.