The Weekend...

So the weekend started a little slow.  Saturday we started out and rode our train downtown to a stop where most of the local shops are mainly small grocery stores and bakeries.  We walked around the area next to the Rhein River where there were lots of apartments packed in a small place.  Either they were apartments or what you could consider Row houses.  We tried to see if we could walk to the Rhein Tower but you had to cross the river with no protection provided by the bridge.  The temp kept dropping and the mist kept getting worse so Blye and Grandpa jumped the train and headed back to the hotel and we went grocery shopping.  Grandpa and Blye spent time walking the halls in the pony walker and riding the elevator. Finally we got back with lunch, we went to one of the local stores and bought bread, cheese, and sliced meat. We sat for our train for almost 30 minutes and then figured out that fewer trains run on the weekends.  So once we were back and ate we just relaxed a little bit.  We started planning for supper and no one really had any idea what we wanted and Grandpa and Grandma headed to see what they could find.  By the time that they left we realized that because it was the weekend the trains shut down earlier and we were worried that they wouldn't get back.  Well they found out that our train that we take from the hotel was the last one and that they were going to have to find a different way to get back.  That was then they decided to go to the Henrich Heine Alle and see what they could find for food and a way back home.  The food was McDonalds and the train was a different one and they learned just one more piece to the city that made it easier to getting around.  They found another u-line train that comes to the cross street behind the hotel.  So after eating McDonalds and by the way it still tasted the same as it does in America and it is nothing to write about (well anymore).  Oh, and you have to pay for your ketchup.  We decided to call it a night and start Sunday with another great breakfast here at the hotel.  After that we decided to take the train that Mom and Dad had found the night before and take it to wherever it could take us.  We went clear out of town to another town, but don't ask me the direction we went or the name.  Neither of us could figure it out.  So after we ended up back at the Heinrich Heine Alle, we noticed that alot of the shops were closed for Sunday.  There was a row of restaurants that were open, from Irish pubs, Italian, Seafood, and of course German.  The only thing was the eateries were mostly standing type that were in front of the shop.  We had done a lot of walking and really wanted to sit down, so we decided to eat at Maredo's.  Blye had fish and fries, Grandma had beef on a skewer with a mustard sauce over it.  Gary had a minced steak which is like a hamburger steak, Grandpa had spareribs, and I had the lamb.  It all was wonderful and everyone enjoyed the meals emensely.  After we left there we decided to treat Blye to Ice Cream.  We had it at Dulce and it was wonderful.  Blye had pure vanilla, Grandma had "zimt" (cinnamon), Gary had macadamia, and Grandpa and I had dark chocolate chunk.  After this we decided to just grab sandwinches for supper before heading back and jumped the train back to the hotel.  The rest of the night we just lounged around and relaxed.   I think we are finally getting adjusted to the time change we are sleeping to around 8:00(that is midnite at home) they run on military time so the day ends around 22:00 or when everyone falls asleep, usally it is the latter. The weather is cold, over cast and lots of mosture in the air, and we have not seen the sun since we have been here but there is always Monday.