That sounds just like us!
New York is a bit far for us for a weekend, although it wouldn’t be the first time. But with cities such as London, Paris, København, Berlin, Vienna, Prague, Budapest, Zürich, Barcelona, Stockholm, etc. being a one-to-two hour flight away, it’s not like we lack for destinations to choose from.
One of my grandfathers was born in New York City, and lived there until he was 102. While he was alive, I made it a point that no matter how inconvenient it may have been, I would visit him with my family at least once a year. He adored his little blonde great granddaughters. One of them was completely captivated by New York City, and said very early on, “I am going to live here some day. This is home.” That seemed like a rather ambitious statement from a 12 year old girl from Düsseldorf, but she is now 43, living with her husband and two young sons on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.
Last Friday, for our 44th anniversary, we had a slightly less ambitious schedule than you did.
We got up, made breakfast, went briefly into town, came back, met a colleague who had driven over from my Dutch office, and then drove to the airport train station to park my wife’s car. We got a train up to Oberhausen, less than half an hour away, and took in the multi-media light and sound exhibit on the world’s forests and their inhabitants. It was put up inside the “Gasometer,” which looked from the outside like an enlarged grain silo made out of old scrap metal. We got there two hours before closing, expecting to stay an hour. Instead, they ended up kicking us out.
Baby blm take note for when you visit in June!!
We walked a mile to a bus stop, got a bus back to the Oberhausen train station, and hopped a train back down to Dūsseldorf, past the airport, into the center. We got the U-Bahn to the old town, and walked to our favorite Lebanese restaurant. They had heard that it was our anniversary, and so brought us mini fireworks to the table.
Barely able to walk, we made it back to the U-Bahn to get back to the Düsseldorf central station, got a commuter train back to the airport, and drove home. I did my last minute packing, and we finally got to bed at 2. We got up again at 4 because I had to catch a 6:20 flight to Madrid to get my flight to Washington. I had never taken Iberia to the USA before, but they were very good. I had flown with them from Madrid to Quito and back, but that was 20 years ago.
It was one of our more fun anniversaries, but I kept nodding off during the flights, which is what happens when you average two to three hours of sleep for four days in a row. It’s now Monday morning, so I’m catching up.
Never a dull moment is there? Still, as I’m sure you’ll agree, better no dull moments than too many of them, ¿si?
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