We picked up our rental car Friday night, as well as a new bike rack, and by 10am on Saturday morning, were on our way to The Netherlands. Düsseldorf is approximately 91 km from the Germany/Netherlands border and a trip to Amsterdam – the first stop of the weekend –...

I’ve spent the past few weeks since arriving here in Germany playing with my new favorite toy – my Nikon D40 DSLR camera.  It’s been almost ten years since I played with a camera with more than a push-button point-and-shoot mode.  The advent of cheap consumer level cameras with the...

Well, I finally started work this week after a full month (actually 5 weeks) of waiting for my work permit to be approved by the Düsseldorf City office.  I'm working as an 'environmental manager' at the Corporate Center.  I really had no idea what all that entailed until showing up...

Laura and I took a trip to Köln (Cologne), Germany on Saturday since the weather was nice and we had some free time. Köln is about 30 minutes south of Düsseldorf along the Rhine River.  We purchased a Schönes Wochenende (Nice Weekend) train ticket, which would allow us to travel...

Well, we’re here now – have been for right at 2 weeks now – and we’re finally settled in, so I thought I’d catch everyone up.  Obviously, the last 15 days have been pretty crazy, starting with the the 7 of our 8 checked pieces of luggage *not* making it...

Well folks, things are finally going to get interesting around here.  Laura has accepted a position with her company's (E.On) corporate center in Düsseldorf, Germany.  Obviously, this is quite a unique opportunity that's been presented with us, and after much deliberation, stress, worrying, prayers, and a huge leap of faith –...