Germany 2014

We set off on Saturday afternoon, it's always the same; you have to wear or carry a heavy coat and sweater to go somewhere cold and it's 90 degrees when you leave home.












We got on the plane on time, and it seemed like it was good to go but then we got the "We have a slight problem" comment, fortunately it was a short delay.

Off we went in the big aluminum tube.









Oh, look at that there must be another bike nut sitting over there, I wonder who that could be.








We got to fly over all the exclusive places, British West Hartlepool to name but a few.

Then on into Frankfurt; after walking about five miles we met up with our luggage. The luggage was intended to be carry on but an over zealous check in clerk was being pedantic.
So we waited and we waited, eventually we got the bags and set off on another monumental trek to get the rental car.
That was an experience in itself, it has all kinds of ECO shit on board, it turns the engine off at stop lights, it has a nine speed transmission and is diesel!
Go Figure.
Off we went to Duseldorf, not much traffic to start but it got busy as we got closer.
The GPS was totally confused by the road closures in the center of Dusseldorf, fortunately I wasn't.
We made it to the hotel OK and of course they only had one room ready.

The luggage was deposited in one room and we decided to walk around until the second one was available.

Man was it cold!









It was so cold that this outdoor restaurant had a giant video screen with a blazing fire. I swear you could feel the heat.
Of course it begs the question "Why eat outside when it is so cold"

On we went and took a couple of pictures in the old city hall square.











I wonder if we know anyone who has ridden on this Carousel?


Or

Been in this cozy little bar?











When we got back to the hotel it was time to unpack, that's when I found my Ukulele babes waiting.









Work on Monday, more soon from the road when we get back.

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Germany

Germany 2014

This trip will be almost a repeat of the trip we took in 2008 for my 60th birthday.

There are a couple of notable exceptions.

This time it will be only my friend and colleague James Wilbourn and me taking the trip.

We will not be going to Belgium.

There will be GPS in the vehicle.

No more driving down the street the wrong way and meeting the tram!

The timing is almost exactly the same.

We leave on November 29th and return on December 5th.

During the trip we will celebrate my 66th birthday!

I remember when we first met Barb and Leon, Barb had a helmet sticker that said:

Damn, I Got Old Quick

How right that was!

Some changes, this time we have a different pilot.

I'm not taking the Rolls after what happened last time.

Gretchen is staying home.

It probably will not snow.

The best ever Ambassador to Europe will be enjoying the Arizona sun.

A few of the gang will be missing.

I will add a few more candles to the birthday cake!
Erik, Thank you for the one in the picture.

Check the blog for updates as the trip progresses.

And,

Yes we will be working.

More of the never ending birthday!

More Parties

Friday night we re-celebrated Ms Annie's birthday along with the birthday of our good friend and neighbor Charles.

As usual, the celebration was arranged by the birthday gal, and I must say in retrospect, a great job she did too.

The crew assembled at a local Italian restaurant we all love, Que Pasta, not a truly Italian name but...

At least the waiter is really Italian, Luca is our favorite server in this place, a great guy with a beguiling scar on one cheek, gained in a duel perhaps?

As you can see Ms Monroe graced the event with her presence, OK it's not really the late Marilyn but at least she was late.

Put another candle on your birthday cake you are... well you know how it goes.

The things you see when you don't have your gun.

Thank you Fiona for the cake, it really raised some eyebrows, way to go girl.

The birthday duo together.

Just kids behaving badly. (With a combined age of 135 years)

The entire crew.

Brent gives Anne a twirl.

Doesn't he look like Bryan Ferry?

Moving on to Saturday Night

We had dinner on Saturday night with our friend Cherie and her family in Cerritos, more birthday celebrations.

This time even I made it on to one of the pictures.

See that grin, that's what happens when you are at the end of an extreme party season.

Thank you to you for sharing these great experiences with Anne and me.

We love you all.

The Never Ending Birthday

We seem to have been celebrating Anne's birthday for a month now!

Really it's just because she has had all kinds of different events going on.

I gave her my gifts on Wednesday, the day before her birthday.

 All in all they were very well received, several books, DVD, a map of Madrid and a guide to the Prado museum. (We plan to go to Madrid next year and a visit to the Prado is on the list).  She had to explain to her girlfriends that it was Prado, not Prada, as some of them were wondering if she would be buying any new dresses!

There was another small gift,

 A champagne stopper in the form of a leopard high heel shoe.  This last item is more for novelty value than anything else because she can usually polish off a bottle of champagne before it needs a cork to stop it from going flat!


On Friday we went to Long Beach in the afternoon and checked into the Westin Hotel on Ocean Blvd.

We planned ahead  to spend the night there and walk across to the Sky Room where we were having dinner.

This was the view from the room looking across to the Queen Mary.

The outdoor area next to the hotel (AKA smokers hangout)

Ready for the party, OK one of the parties.

The picture was taken in the hotel elevator by a BA flight attendant.

She was on her way to the airport for a flight back to London; best of luck with that airport.

Finally we were in the Sky Room.

We clean up pretty well for a couple of oldsters.

The whole experience was wonderful.

Good food, live music and dancing, what more could you ask for?

Well here is a good start.

Then the festivities were over and the check arrived.

Really! 

I expected it to be more.

To be continued.