European Paradise - a Journey into Retirement

Great day- lots of walking.Visited Planten un Blomen - a beautiful park in the middle of the city with the largest Japanese garden in Europe, botanical gardens and  a tropical house.  In the afternoon found the Hamburg Kunsthalle -a beautiful Art hall & Contemporary Gallery.  Here I viewed a visiting exhibition - "Passage dangereux"- by Louise Bourgeois (1911-2010).  A most confronting exhibition of sculptures, tapestries & textile works from the last 15 years of her life. In front of the museum - stood a 9 metre high spider made of bronze, steel & marble- always the greeting to all passer- bys for one of her exhibitions. I did not enjoy the art as I found the pieces disturbing- but nevertheless it was interesting

Left Cologne Tuesday May 1st for Hamburg.  Ron doing a training course in Hamburg - so i am left alone from Weds-Frid.  Started out early Weds morning by walking to the main station and finding a Hamburg City sightseeing Hop On / Off bus. This lasted 1 1/2 hrs and took in many sights.  After returning to base I decided I wanted to visit the Miniatur Wunderland-the largest model railway in the world.  An absolutely amazing feat of fantasy with replicas of many real life tourist points of interest.  One could visit & revisit here many times and never take in all the intricate details.

Saturday April 28th saw us catch the train to Cologne to visit Ron's cousin Ilan.  Spent a very enjoyable time together with Ilan & Heike- lots of laughing at really bad jokes (by the boys!) and fun. ( Enjoying lunch by the Rhine - Cologne)