Cologne, Birthdays, and Swimming

Starbucks in Cologne: Sebastian doesn't understand my joy...

Sebastian waiting for his Kölsch beer; what do you think of his t-shirt's message?

Sebastian and I at lunch on Saturday by the Rhein River.

Here I am for a kodak moment at the Rhein River in Cologne... Like my new shirt? I had just bought it a few minutes before the photo.

I'm thinking about you as I wait for my Kölsch beer....

Here I am in front of one of Cologne's many romanesque churches.

In front of the Cologne Cathedral. My only worry and ambition: to be this big....

The bar where we attended the jazz concert Sunday evening - you like?

And the music rolls....

Frank - in the middle - at his birthday party - we are toasting with Champagne.

Matthias critically assesses the quality of this white wine....

Here I am finally updating my blog after too many weeks. No, Chris, I am not brooding over your comments on certain racial groups –lol. What have I been up to? Two weeks I was in Schipkau, a village in Brandenburg, for a golden wedding anniversary, and then for a Jugendweihe, as I mentioned in my last post. Then, on Pentecost weekend I visited Sebastian in Cologne. An interesting city on the Rhein River. We were on the go all day long. Friday evening I arrived, and on Monday afternoon I left. From Leipzig to Cologne the one-way train trip takes 5.5 hours, and that is with high speed trains! Cologne has a lot of interesting action – lots of cafes, bars, clubs, shops, and lots of Starbucks, which we visited often, because Leipzig has no Starbucks at all. Sunday evening we went to a jazz concert in a bar – see the pic. It was good, but after an hour we left, because we both are not big fans of jazz.
But most of all it was good to see Sebastian. He is one of the best friends of my entire life, so we had a lot of catching up to do. He will return to Leipzig at the end of this month. I am also looking forward to having someone to help me with the cooking and house cleaning! Haha.

Then, a week ago on Saturday, I was at Frank and Sylvia’s garden for Frank’s birthday party. I took my bike, because I wanted to drink a little more – a beer and 3 glasses of wine – a lot for me – lol. So at 1:30 a.m. I was back in my apartment. And now we are in the heat of summer, with highs in the low 90s every day – too much for this place, since no one has air conditioning. So I have been swimming at the lake – see my pics from last summer – to keep cool, and you see why I have not updated you earlier – I was up to my ears in water – literally! Lol. And finally, I am teaching more these days, which is good for the bank account. May was a good month, and June will probably also be a good month. But I have less time as a result. And, my activity in the internet keeps me writing emails to friends and nurturing those friendships, because I am not satisfied with a friendship staying virtual forever – I want these relationships to take on flesh and bone.

Sorry that this post meanders in the train of thought. But I hope you enjoy the pictures. I have been having a good time, and I hope you are too!