We made it to our comfortable hotel without a hitch! We enjoyed a welcome dinner in the hotel restaurant. It was delicious and generous! We had Kung pao chicken with peanuts, spicy shrimp with cashews, beef and eggs, stir fried lotus root and snow peas, amazing garlic green beans, sweet and sour pork, scallion pancakes, hot and sour soup, rice, lo mien noodles, and beer!!! I’m so glad I didn’t eat much on the plane! What a great start! I can’t wait to try more real Chinese food 😊

Ps- sorry for the ugly pictures. The lighting is no good. Hopefully I can make the food look better in the future 😜

The flight was actually quite easy. The middle seat was open, so I was able to rest and lounge. I slept for a lot of the fourteen hour trip. The attendants kept waking me up to eat… Why so much food? I ate very little of it.

Everyone was on the plane. Doors were closed, belts buckled… For an hour. After sitting on the tarmac for over an hour, we were asked to exit the plane! Apparently there were mechanical problems. The flight was delayed for four hours! Ugh!

So, I promptly headed to the United Club. I paid $50 for a day pass. Soooo worth it! Free beer and wine, yummy snacks/lunch, and a SHOWER!!! I can do this! It’s only 24 hours of travel. 18 hours on planes. No big deal 😏

I love Chicago! I had a delicious Mexican breakfast torta with chorizo, scrambled eggs, cheese, grilled onions, mushrooms, and peppers. Yum!!!

Liquid breakfast. It’s too early to eat.

After saying goodbye to Annette, we jumped on the train back to Dusseldorf. It’s a beautiful ride along the Mitte Rhein or “middle Rhein” region. We were headed straight home, but after passing a few adorable half-timbered villages, we decided to make multiple stops along the way. We stopped in four villages- St. Goar, Spay, Rhens, Boppard and stayed in each for about an hour. We had great wine and enjoyed great views!

For lunch, Annette packed us yummy sandwiches. We stopped at a cafe overlooking the Rhein for tasty cold beers to compliment our sandwiches.

We had a late lunch, but we were getting hungry. So, why not?

We walked to the old town for dinner and a beer tour! We had traditional German fair at a lovely cafe on the river. The ambiance was excellent. The food, eh. I had the herring salad with roasted potatoes. It was ok, nothing special. The mayonnaisey, cream sauce was totally overpowering. Adam had the cold roast beef platter. It was cold and simple, boring. BUT the beer tour was really fun. We chatted-up an English couple and made new friends. Lots of great brews and a fun tour guide!

We really enjoyed exploring Bonn on bikes! Beautiful city- home of Beethoven!

Plus some chewy snacks 😉