Wed 22 August

I haven´t had a chance to get on the computer lately and can´t load any photos tonight yet.
Monday we had a great day at the zoo. It has animals - what more can I say?! Megan saw her favourite animals (Meerkats) although I think the ones at Belfast pose better. The lions looked drugged but some of the animals like the otters put on a good show.
Tuesday was busy and was the first time things got a bit boring for the kids. We started off at a tea factory. As well as making tea (really!) they make various fruit flavoured teas with odd names such as Hot Love and Pure Lust. Hmmm. Unfortunately the only freebies we got were peppermint, camomile and some ´kindertee´. Ate lots of cake.
Afterwards we went into Düsseldorf for a bit of shopping and then a tour of their regional parliament. Time for more cake. Listening to politics isn´t that interesting in English and even less so in German! We finally got some savoury food during a visit to a brewery which was good. I chickened out of the traditional German food (sausages, meatloaf, liver, sauerkraut etc) and had ... chicken. Not too adventurous.
Today we went to Lembeck. Some interesting bits especially the castle and chatting to the Countess - she speaks French, the count speaks German and all the kids are taught in English at school so are fluent in all 3! The best part for the kids was the playpark.
The evening finished back in der Museschoppe (house of mice) for some grub and traditional folk singing. Nuff said!
Tomorrow we´re off to Soest. Its supposed to be a nice spot and hopefully the weather will be better.
I´ll upload some more photos later if I get the chance.