Where the heck is "Bottrop"?

What a busy week!   We have managed to cram lots in and have the pictures to prove it...

The highlight of the week was getting a message from son Scott saying he "might" be coming to Germany for a day to do some flying in a wind tunnel in Bottrop.  It would depend on if he got on the airplane because he was flying space available.  Of course, I quickly google mapped "Bottrop" to see if we could drive to see him.  No sweat...just head north past Trier, past Köln, go through Düsseldorf and three hours later you end up in Bottrop!   

We finally got word that he and his friend, Brian made the flight and would be at the train station at 8 p.m. Thursday.   Timing was perfect and we got there just as their train pulled in to the station.  It was SO good to see him and he looked so handsome (as usual)( I'm not prejudiced) Sorry to embarrass you, Scott...not really :)   It's just what mom's do! 

We found a very nice restaurant to have dinner in.  I am just loving the german people!  Our host/waiter/manager of the restaurant was so funny.  When Mike asked "sprechen sie English"  He immediately and firmly said "Nein!"  But he was so happy to talk to us when I told him "it's o.k....I speak a little bit of Deutsch"  in german.  We got along just great and the food was delicious!  I wish I had taken a picture of the Jägerschnitzel!


After dinner we took the guys to the wind tunnel.  They had tunnel time at midnight but of course wanted to get there early and see who was there and check it out.   We were able to stay long enough to watch Scott do some flying.  He is amazingly talented.  Those guys can make it look so easy and it's NOT!!  But it sure looks fun!

We are so happy we got a chance to see Scott.  It was such a nice surprise.  We left Bottrop around 10 pm and then drove back to Düsseldorft  to spend the night at a very nice Marriott hotel located right downtown.  We got up at 6:00 am and headed back home.  Mike had to go to an important meeting at work and TJ got to go back to school.  He was thrilled :)    


Other highlights of the week were:
Another German cooking class....Yummo!
This time we were taught how to make a very good noodle soup called "Nudeleintopf".

"Lauchrisotto mit Stienpilzen"  which is a mushroom risotto.  It had chopped plums on top and boy was it tasty!

 "Schweinfilet mit Schafskäse Gratiniert"  which was a pork tenderloin and tomato casserole with feta cheese.

And to top it all off,  was a dessert that I will make for all of  you when I come home..

"Aprikosen-Kokos-Tiramisu"  It's an apricot, coconut layered dessert.


March is coming in like a lion.  We had a crazy wind storm all day yesterday.  Trees down, trampolines blown into other people's yards, run away garbage cans and I felt like the mini was going to blow away on the autobahn when I was coming home from church yesteday!  Our internet was having problems as well and that is why the blog is a day late.  The good news is now you only have to wait 6 days for another one, instead of a whole week!!

But....this week I saw a couple of sure signs that spring is on it's way.  On Saturday the weather was so nice, everyone was outside sweeping, working in their yards and as you can see in this picture...airing out the bedding.  They open their windows and neatly stack the pillows, blankets and quilts on the window sill for an hour or two.
And we have had some absolutely beautiful sunsets to enjoy from the kitchen window.

We are thinking of all of you...especially  Vella.  Hope you are feeling better very soon.
We love and miss you all,
-corri