farewell miami

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what a great night ! thank you to everyone who came out to wish me well and buy me many drinks!

after arriving in Paris, I hopped the 4 hour train to Cologne Germany, then 2 more trains to a small town called Plettenberg. My good friend Hanno met me at the station and brought me home just in time for dinner. Hanno's mother is a great cook, but unfortunately for me, her specialty is meat! so I snacked on cheeses and bread.

for meat eaters, germany is the place, you can get your meat with a side of meat! especially once you get away from the city where people tend to be more traditional. Hanno's mother and i went to do a bit of food shopping and she told me to get anything i wanted. she kept holding up different kinds of meat to see if any of them were ok. i just kept laughing and shaking my head saying, 'sorry it's still meat!' Hanno's mom is so cute, she is 81 and even though she speaks little English, her generosity and love need no interpretation! She is in the process of losing her sight and as we went to pay for the groceries, she gave the cashier her wallet. Only in a small town can you give someone your wallet and have them hand it back to you with correct remainder...

Hanno walked me around the town, stopping for coffee and ice cream along the way. Hanno's family is well known around town because his father used to own a bedding shop. It takes him a while to get around, as he is constantly stopping to chat to everyone.

After a couple of days in Plettenberg, Hanno and I drove to the most excellent city of Cologne. We stayed with his friends Monica and Haled, who have an apartment in the city center. After a walk around the city, which was bustling (due to it being the weekend coupled with perfect weather) we went back to Haled's place for a bit of wine tasting and then off to a fantastic dinner in a place called Bagutta. Bagutta is very intimate (about 12 tables) and changes its menu every week or so. Our group also included two more friends, one a practioner of yoga, so we had lots to talk about!

The next morning we visited the magnificent dome and then I was off to the train station to head back to Paris for the flight to
Casablanca.

promise to add some pics later, computers in morocco are a bit slow...

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