Two Old Friends

BONN
Drew and I visited Matt in Bonn, Germany two weekends ago. Matt's working in a lab at the University there and wanted us to come see his nice little town. So Drew and I hopped a train Friday after work to Cologne where Matt met us and got us to Bonn. We ate a fantastic dinner of pizza and then headed to Matt's home to catch up and drink a little wine : )

After a glorious morning of sleeping in, we finally got up around 10 and took a ferry down the Rhine to a cute little town at the foot of a 'hill.' I say hill b/c after climbing it, I felt like I'd hiked a mountain. Anyway, we went up this steep hill to see two castles. Halfway up was a gorgeous home built but I don't think it was always occupied. Then at the top were the ruins of another castle. What an accomplishment to make it to the top. The views were worth it! We made our way back down and explored the town a little. I had a brotwurst as a snack. yum : ) We took the ferry back. This was such a wonderful ride. It was pretty cheap round trip and so enjoyable. Back in Bonn, we walked around and explored some. Matt showed us Beethoven's birthplace. We had a wonderful, traditional German meal at a cute little place in a square. Then we had apple streudle for dessert. OMG...experiencing different countries' desserts has been the best part of my time here. We stopped in a little bar for some German beer. Drew and I usually don't like beer but this wheat beer was pretty good.

The next day, we slept in even later and packed up. Matt showed us where he worked (aww) and the gorgeous botanical gardens. Then we hopped a train to Cologne. We wandered there to find me the Hardrock. I am collecting workout shirts from my travels: Dublin, Berlin, Amsterdam, and now Cologne. It was so cool, they had the German spelling version also: Koln (with two dots over the o). So I bought that one : ) Yes, I will also buy one in Rome next week! On our wanderings, we saw a beer bike go by. That was hilarious. So then Drew and I had to leave Matt :'( But good news!! He decided to come visit us the next weekend (this past weekend). So it wasn't goodbye.

DISNEY
So the Thursday of last week, Drew did something he never does. He got sick :-/ He stayed home from work on Friday hoping to recover but alas, I had to break the bad news to Matt when I met him at the train station...Drew probably won't be going to Disney with us. Saturday morning, Drew got up and got ready but at the RER station, decided to go back home. So Matt, Emily, and I went to Disney without Drew. I was so sad! But the three of us had a great time!!! It was pretty much all the same rides but the park was smiler and neater. We rode Peter Pan, Pinnochio, It's a Small World, Pirates of the Caribbean, Star Tours (my favorite-though this one was more painful), the haunted house , and the Mad Hatter's teacups. OMG...it was just like being a kid : ) I love Peter Pan b/c you're in a flying ship and you look over London before you're taken to Neverland. Pinnochio is scary :-/ I LOVE It's a small world....that ride rocks. Pirates was so great...it was more thrilling than I remembered with uphills and splashes. Star Tours is so awesome, but this one was a lot jerkier. The haunted mansion is so great. And Matt drove the teacups as crazy as dad used to! I kinda looked at the ground and waited for that one to be over. In addition to the classes, we rode Big Thunder Mountain, the run away mine train. This one was awesome because we went underground in the dark and most of the ride was on an island in the lake. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril was a sweet little roller coaster. Before getting on, I asked Emily and Matt if it went upside down cuz I didn't know what to do with my purse. They didn't think so. Of course, half way through was a loop. Haha. Something new was Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast. THIS RIDE IS AWESOME. It's really silly and for kids, but we got to blast at the bad guys the whole ride. Emily dominated over me but it was great. And last but not least, Space Mountain. Except this was Mission 2. It was incredible. Roller coasters are a lot more enjoyable in the dark. We got off and I couldn't stop giggling...we did that ride again before leaving. We had a blast!!!! I was sad Drew wasn't there but he would've been miserable.

TOUR DE FRANCE
The next day though, Drew felt well enough to camp out on the Champs Elysees with us to see the end of the TdF. We got out there by 11 and parked along the barrier by the Mercedes Benz dealership across the street from Louis Vuitton. It rained off an on for a bit but was cleared up by one. Eventually Emily, Tara, Nanda, and Rick joined us, one by one. We were expecting the riders 4ish based on the tour website but they didn't arrive till 5ish.

















I felt bad cuz Matt's train was 5:52 and he had to leave at 5:15 but at least he got to see a couple of laps. It was exhilirating to be there again. I saw the tour end in 2004 when Lance won his 6th, but this was just as awesome. The man in yellow was a Discovery guy so we still had plenty to cheer about. After the laps, we headed down the CE to try to find the podium. We were behind it but Drew got some amazing photos for me : )


















Then we found a semi-good spot to see the team laps after. It was a long but great day!!!







photos:
bonn
http://scarolina.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2151371&l=77f11&id=12600427

bonn bonn
http://scarolina.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2151375&l=1aa98&id=12600427

Disney
http://scarolina.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2152185&l=84b3b&id=12600427

Tour de France 1
http://scarolina.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2152221&l=c42b7&id=12600427

Tour de France 2
http://scarolina.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2152241&l=569c5&id=12600427