Mercure Am Kurpark Bad Oeynhausen

... state of mind as she has done countless times...

So it feels safe to let this mystrerious voice take over the trip and guide me back to Amsterdam, back to my life as a working stiff, rushing through the city on a mad rush for other people`s projects, a bicyle messenger with lungs full of mariuana smoke mixed with dark grey clouds of smelly exhaust fumes...worries about my rent, my addictions and bad food intake.

Is this really the life you wanna guide me back to Nong?

... coal mine inside, that was actually more like a dark playground. We really got an appreciation of how things were done in the mining field during that time period. Sometimes, I love homeschooling! Upon leaving, we encountered a bridal party, and nearly crashed another reception, when we took a wrong turn in one of the buildings! Continuing on our way, we were amazed at the number of large windmills....and nuclear energy plants that dotted the countryside.
We ...

... is about 30 minutes north of Bielefeld by train, and I actually just went by it again on my way to Berlin, and saw the famous statue again. Just before Minden is the Porta Westfallica, which is where two large ridges are divided by a river, the Weser. On top of one of the ridges is a huge monument to Kaiser Wilhelm I. There is a statue, which was 7m tall, and there was a brick house like structure around it, so you could see it for miles. It was incredible seeing it ...

... is poor, and we don't stay too long. We climbed up one of the pillars and I snapped a couple of shots, and we were off to beat the rain. From there we drove through Detmold and saw some of the architecture. Once through Detmold, we went up to the Hermann statue, which was so socked in with rain and clouds we didn't even walk up to it - someone walked past and said ...

... Melanie and Andy, so it was a short drive. We arrived and I met Claudia's parents - they don't speak too much English and as we will see shortly my German is non-existent, so the best thing about the situation is that I cannot completely make an idiot of myself (at least I think so). Well, I probably could - but I didn't. We came in and we started playing with the kids and their train set that they had ...

... north of Paderborn where Claudia's family lives. Her parents live there, as well as her sister, brother-in-law, and their two children. We stopped at the grocery store on the way and there was beer and chocolate everywhere. "Sigh of happiness." I entertained (or was it annoyed?) Claudia by attempting to pronounce most of the different foods. Of course every time I pronounced something it sounded like a question - kar-toff ...

After not much sleep on the plane, and another late night last night (up talking), together with jet lag, I wandered downstairs at 11.30am!! Thought it was about 8 oclock - couldn't believe it! I raced back upstairs and woke up the rest of the whanau. Settled down to coffee and catch up with Inga, another friend of ours (and former aupair), who had set the whole day aside to come and visit us. (It was so good to see her, as she lives in ...

... to pick us up, with a van (thanks to their church) that we all comfortably fitted into, including our 11 bags! What we didn't realise is that they live 2 hours from the airport, (and that was going at 150km/hr on the autobahn), so with a carload of tired individuals it was a very quiet trip, as everyone slept. For me, I was in the front seat and couldn't have slept if I ...

... of the castle included: the Marble Passage, the White Hall, the Banquetting Hall, the Green Hall, the Smoking Room and Hunting Room; then the Gobelin Hall and Golden Hall. The last, left to the end of the tour was the most opulent and wondrous. The decoration was performed at the beginning of the 17th Century. A state portal exists in the luxurious form of the late Renaissance in the mannerism of great splendour. On each side of the door is a ...

... like a pattern missing by 1/32nd of an inch in one spot, then - they would throw the whole outfit into a care package for defeated presidents in the USA, or resigned Prime Ministers in Britain. I came out with only pair of pants restrained by some unusual urge to be prudent for one time in my life; Ingrid made up for it by purchasing three items of clothing. The other two exceeded both of us. Perhaps one hinderance to shopping there which extends its halting hand to many ...