Dusseldorf and Amsterdam

I feel like I have to put these photos up because there is so much other news to share!

Dusseldorf

Here we were able to meet our friends Keiko, Ryo and Aru for a second time.  It was so good to spend time with them and we had a great time exploring a nearby park with Keiko and Aru-chan.  We’ve visited before, so I won’t waste time in explaining that this is a great city in Germany: it is walkable, has a great park, has a great shopping/city center and although it was raining we still enjoyed being back here.

Zoya and Aru

Zoya and Aru

Keiko and Verena

Keiko and Verena

Family

Aru, Ryo and Keiko

Cow bike

For the person who has everything (I guess): A cow hide covered bike

River

In the old part of town, walking along the river

Amsterdam

And we ended our journey with a visit to Alison and Josh in Amsterdam.  We were worried it would be so similar to Brugge that the appeal would be lacking but that was not the case.  The canal ride, chocolate shop and the bicycle culture helped us fall in love with this city.  Zoya and Verena were pretty tired from traveling over a month, so we may not have lived up to Alison’s “this is what every good tourist needs to do in Amsterdam” plan! (kidding!).  We did go the flower market, Anne Frank Museum and take a canal boat tour.

Burger

Burger Miester

Josh

Josh playing and singing for Zoya

Alion

Alison on the rooftop

food

Verena dragged us to an artsy concept restaurant/kitchen. Table hockey with a lime ensued. I do not think that was part of the concept!

food

So here is one of the dishes. We probably should have documented this better, but I think this represented the beginning of the government housing projects in a suburb of Amsterdam

playground

And of course we found a playground to visit

Back from our Extended Vacation

We went down to Philadelphia for our friend’s wedding and had a great time seeing her after 5 whole years.  We were very happy to get the invitation and we were glad we had the chance to see her, her new husband and visit with her family who hosted us before we left for Ukraine.

We then spent a few days in Manhattan, visiting the Met, Central Park, some stores and doing our usual people watching at coffee shops.

Unfortunately we had car trouble on the way home, about 2 hours outside of Manhattan in Pennsylvania.  We ended up staying in Clarks Summit, PA for 3 days until our car was fixed.  That area is very beautiful, with green rolling hills.  And, thankfully, we hit the perfect trifecta: an auto shop, Starbuck’s, and a Wendy’s.

Here are some pic’s from the trip:

Z getting her first professional haircut before the wedding

Getting something to eat at Reading Market in Philly

Wandering a bit between the ceremony and reception

Z enjoying the park

At the reception; Z saying "cheeeeeeese"

The happy couple, Alison and Josh

Z's musical tastes clash with the reception band

Waiting out the band in a different room

Walking around Central Park

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