Sparrenberg

It's 5:00 am and I'm watching a cooking show on RTL Living. 

First I learned how to make a pineapple egg salad with a light dressing and now they're showing me how to make pastries with oranges and green beans.

I wasn't up late because I wanted to learn these tasty dishes. 

I'm talking to Becky through Facebook.

After I woke up and got ready Roland and I drove into the city to have some Quark Brötchen at Café Dingwerth, get some Tim and Struppi books and exchange money at the bank.

This made me laugh because this truck driver stopped to ask these people for directions and held up traffic.
This is the church in the Alter Markt seen from the other side. I was here Monday with my Dad, Jamie and Axel. I had a Quark Brötchen that day too, they're my favorite.

This is where I found one of the Tim und Struppi books I was looking for. I bought Das Geheimnis der Einhorn and had to order part 2, Der Schatz Rackhams des Roten, that will be here tomorrow.
Then we walked across the street to the Commerzbank.

This is the same guy I saw on Monday.

These are the stairs that my friend André and I would hang out on. We would sometimes go walking through the city after school to get something to eat and then just sit on these stairs and eat and talk. 

This is the Sparrenburg.

This is the view from behind the castle. I love the "Psycho" house on the upper right. 

A Strassenbahn. We have Germany to thank for the Trax idea.

This is where I went to school. It's the Wichernschule.

This is the back of the Wichernschule and the school yard. They've added an elevator.

This was my class room, except that when I was here we sat on wooden chairs and had wooden tables and a chalk board.

This is Jibi! Jamie, Hagen and I think about this store and laugh. There's a big story about this store that we have never forgotten. It was the 80s and kids were always stealing. I remember it seemed to be the fun thing to do. I had a friend who would come over occasionally and then he would empty his jacket that was usually filled with candy and CDs. Jamie and Hagen got sucked into the criminal world and decided to give it a try at Jibi, the little grocery store down the street from where we lived. 
They stole some chocolate Kinder eggs. They were caught.

I was at home playing with Legos when the phone rang. I remember thinking how I was in the middle of creating something great and wasn't about to answer the phone. The ringing seemed to go on and on and I finally had enough. My Mom was in the living room watching TV and I don't think she even heard the phone. I answered the phone and then I received a huge surprise... it was Jibi's store detective and he began to tell me how he caught Jamie and Hagen stealing some chocolate. He thought I was their father. Now this was going to be bad if my Mom found out that they got caught stealing and I just couldn't let that happen, so I continued to play the role of their father. I remember thinking, 'Wow, this is going to be fun'. So the detective asked if I could come down and have a word with him. I told him I was just about to leave for work but would give them a royal spanking in the evening. He was glad he could talk to me and told me he would let the kids off with a warning but they could never enter the store again. Jamie and Hagen had a very, very long walk home. Imagine how you would feel if you were about to come home to a world of hurt. They arrived home terrified and after letting them sweat a little I finally told them that I was the one on the phone with Jibi's detective. 

Now, years later, everybody in our family knows this story, including Roland, who took this picture of me remembering that time that we all laugh about now. 

Jamie and Hagen never stole anything ever again.

Roland and I stopped at a grill to get a Gyros Pita. Roland told the cook I was visiting from America and the cook insisted I snap his picture for my Germany photo album.
The Gyros Pita was delicious!

After a great lunch we drove to the windmill I saw on Tuesday that we weren't able to see up close due to time constraints.

I took these pictures just for you Becky. :)