Out and about in Cologne, Germany

Located approximately 200KM (125 miles) away from our home in Brussels lies the picturesque city of Cologne, Germany. Located along the banks of the Rhine river, Cologne (or Koln, as it is known to the Germans) is the 4th largest city in Germany, offers a great mix of things to do and is an easy weekend destination from Brussels.

I briefly visited Cologne on a business trip with Toyota earlier this year. But, after seeing the Cologne Cathedral for the first time, I knew that Jo Ann would really enjoy it. It really is an awesome site!

Besides being home to the largest bell in the world ("Big Pete" at over 24 tons!), Cologne Cathedral has a spiral staircase that visitors can climb up to the top of the cathedral towers.

I was perfectly willing to believe the signs that said there were 509 steps, but Jo Ann decided that our trip would not be complete unless we confirmed it. So after paying the admission, we headed up the narrow staircase, with me holding DS' hand and PS being handled by mommy. But, after about a dozen steps, PS decides that she would rather be carried by daddy. Holy crap! (oh sorry, I forgot we are in a church!)

After countless revolutions around the staircase, the girls and their "sweat-drenched" daddy made it up 3/4 of the way up, all the way to the bell platform, where I decide to "throw in the towel". Jo Ann figures that she has come this far and presses on to the summit. After reaching the top, she stopped to take some pictures and came back down to meet us at the bell platform.

Next to the towers, the next best view of the city is from the skyway that carries passengers across the river. The skyway lets off at a park across the river bank, where DS and PS enjoyed the greenery of the park and the vast playground. Which reminds me, the playgrounds in Europe are typically much nicer than those in the US. The play areas are much more challenging and the equipment seems to be very well kept. And they are huge. Space doesn't seem to be at a premium when it comes to parks in Europe...

During our visit to Cologne, we had heard that the ice cream in Germany was excellent, and we were not disappointed. The flavors were rich and creamy and even the cones were light and flaky. All this for the rock-bottom price of 1 EUR ($1.50)

It's just the thing after climbing 500 steps up a spiral tower. (Well, almost 500).

Click here for Christmas Markets in Cologne...

My work week in Cyprus

Those "slave-drivers" at Toyota just keep on pushing us harder and harder...

Last week, my Toyota Europe colleagues and I had to endure a week on the Mediterranean resort of Cyprus, for a conference among all of the Toyota distributors in Europe...


Cyprus is the third-largest island in the Mediterranean, just behind Sicily and Sardinia. Geographically, it is located just south of Turkey, west of Lebanon, a little southeast of Greece and north of Egypt. ( I just learned all of this prior to my departure...)

Besides being a popular resort destination for Russian and British tourists, Cyprus has such a fascinating history, both real and mythical. Egyptians, Persians, Greeks and the British have all had their turns ruling Cyprus. Alexander the Great was said to have conquered Cyprus, because he enjoyed spending his summers there...

But, probably Cyprus' claim to fame is being the mythological birthplace of Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love! (Although Adonis and Pygmalion were also born here, they don't get top billing...) And recently, there has been strong speculation that the lost city of Atlantis lies underneath where Cyprus is now.


But today, visitors are attracted to not only Cyprus' beaches and resorts, but to ancient attractions such as Kourion, the Greco-Roman amphitheater overlooking the ocean. And also to the adjoining bath houses, that are said to go back over 8,000 years!


If I have learned anything during this week, it is that Cypriots (yup, that's what they call themselves) love to party! Here is shot of our group enjoying a nice meal at a traditional Cyprus restaurant, followed by live local entertainment.


And, here is our waiter bringing all of the drinks that we ordered! (actually, he was the star of the dinner show and could pretty much balance everything we threw at him)


Toyota people hate to be outdone, so here is my Norwegian buddy Erik, taking on the challenge! Go Erik!


Cyprus is a beautiful island resort with nice beaches, warm waters and friendly people. If you ever get the chance to visit (even for work!), you owe it to yourself to do so...

Just around the corner...

Yet again, we discovered what a small world this is, when we found out that one of Ray's colleagues at Toyota Motor Europe, whom he met at a dinner party, lives "just around the corner" from our home. As such, we were delighted when we were invited over to their home this past Saturday for a lovely home-cooked dinner.

Zbig and Iza, originally from Poland, introduced us to Ambrosia's, which Iza calls "the drink of the Gods". It's a simple mixture of 1/4 cup beer mixed with tonic and topped off with a slice of lemon. A lot of the beer here in Belgium have a high alcohol content, so it made for a nice cocktail. We enjoyed the wonderful company while the girls played with Zbig and Iza's two children.

Dinner was lovely. Iza prepared a Polish/Russian soup called "Borscht", which consisted of beet roots, herbs, bacon, hard-boiled eggs and potatoes. She also prepared her version of a pork meat loaf, served along with cucumbers, cabbage and mashed potatoes.

We finished with a home-made strawberry cake accompanied by cappucinos. Needless to say, we were stuffed by the end of our meal. We enjoyed the wonderful company, the talks about travel and listening to Zbig play heavy metal on his guitar!

As the hour was getting late (and with PS obviously getting tired), we thanked our hosts for a wonderful evening and made the 50 meter trek back home, just around the corner...

Discovering the Caves of Han

This past Monday, DS and I went to check out the Caves of Han, located on the outskirts of the village of Hans-sur-Lesse in the province of Luxembourg.

Discovered about 200 years ago and extending for some 8 kilometers (5 miles), the caves are a series of limestone galleries, carved out by the river Lesse millions of years ago.

A bit hesitant after my last outing with DS ended with my wallet being stolen! I had to "get-over-it" in order to continue our adventure of gaining more memories of Europe...

The day was looking up when we arrived at the Caves and the parking meter was out of order so we got free parking -- yeah! After a large group of school children let us pass in front of them, we were able to buy our tickets and immediately board the train which departed within minutes after boarding. We got to sit in the front seats of the front car to boot!

This panoramic train ride is actually a vintage streetcar which was a part of the country's once extensive vicinal tramway system. The train took us to the foot of the caves where we waited for our guide to take us on the 90-minute walk through the grottoes. The chambers of the caves were interesting and beautiful, especially the chambers with the lakes and the flowing underground river Lisse. There was a sound and light show in one of the largest chambers (62 metres high, 145 metres measured diagonally) and a boat ride was our exit out of the grottoes. During this boat ride, a "cannon" was shot to demonstrate the caves acoustic properties.

DS got to play in yet another playground and we visited ponies and goats on our walk back to our car.

I was quite happy to learn that DS enjoyed her day at the caves. That evening, she raved to her daddy on the phone (Daddy in Cyprus) that she saw "really neat stalagmites and stalactites in a REAL cave!" I was also a bit sad knowing that DS and I may not be having so many outings (just the 2 of us) since the school year is almost at an end and Kindergarten starts in September. This time with her has been exhausting, but oh-so-precious!

Look out Summer, here we come!

"I've Never Seen That Before", The Sequel

Back in March, I wrote a little post regarding some things that I thought were new and unusual here in Belgium. I have been meaning to add a few new things that I have found since then, that has struck me as unique, unusual or just plain weird...

Fresh Bread Vending Machines












All over Belgium (usually adjoined to a bakery), you will see these cool vending machines that dispense fresh bread.

The "Mother" of all vending machines












The local Esso station has, what has got to be, one of the most complete vending machines I ever saw. This one is basically a 7-11 store, without the attendant...

For the soccer mom who has everything...












Being a car-guy, I see alot of unique and different vehicles out here in Europe. But none has caught my eye as much as this Rolls Royce Station Wagon - in Pink pearl, no less...

A few other interesting customs in the workplace:

Birthday Email Announcements:
Almost every week, I get an email at work from someone (most of the time, someone I don't know) that is announcing his/her birthday to all of their colleagues in the company. Usually the e-mail announces that today is their special day, states the age they have reached, and invites everyone to stop by their desk/department for cake or sweets that they have brought in themselves! I guess in Belgium, besides having to endure being another year older, you have to buy your own birthday treats!!!

New Colleague Welcome Lunch:
When a new colleague joins the department, someone will send an invitation to everyone to join in on a "welcome" lunch for the new member. However, the newbie must pay for all the drinks for the group, which can amount to a substantial amount. (In Belgium, it's perfectly acceptable to order beers, wine, cocktails, etc. for lunch) A nice way to blow your first paycheck on your new "freeloading" workmates...

Ray

Disneyland Paris

For those of you that know the Shinozaki girls, you are probably surprised that it has taken over 2 months after arriving in Europe, to finally make it to Disneyland Paris! After all, these are the same girls that have enjoyed Disneyland USA and California Adventure countless times while back home in the US.

Well, it did take a while, but we finally made the three-hour drive from Brussels to the Magic Kingdom! And, although Disneyland USA is such a familiar place for DS and PS, the Parisian version of the "Happiest Place on Earth" is a unique blend of new and old that makes exploring the park quite an adventure...



Disneyland Paris (formerly Euro-Disney) opened in 1992 to a rather lukewarm European reception. It was the second Disneyland theme park to open outside of the United States (behind Tokyo Disneyland in 1983). This year, Disneyland Paris is celebrating their 15th anniversary.



Today, Disneyland Paris is one of the top tourist destinations in Europe! And contrary to popular opinion, all of the Disney parks are NOT the same. However, they do have something in common - they are all expensive!!!



The girls and I decided to drive up on a Saturday afternoon, have dinner at the adjoining Disney Village entertainment center and stay overnight at a hotel in nearby Torcy.



In the morning, we got up early, purchased our annual passports (as a part of the 15th anniversary, DS' and PS' annual pp's were free!), and headed inside to explore the park. Many of the attractions made famous at Disneyland USA are here, but just different enough to seem "new". I noticed that English was spoken by most Disney cast members and all of the signs and menus included English, as well as French. An interesting observation was that many of the live stage shows were performed alternately in French and English. You just had to make sure that you were lining up for the right one!

As it is in all Disneyland parks, the time flies by and soon it was time to call it a day. Plus, we had a three hour drive home ahead of us (next time, we may take the high-speed train that goes directly from Brussels to the Disneyland station in a little over an hour)

The annual passports that we bought ensures that we will be returning again to the park for future visits. And, Disneyland Paris gave DS and PS a little taste of something familiar that they can enjoy while experiencing all that is new for them in Europe...

Ray