Cruising into the Sunset

Sunday morning started a bit too early, with my alarm set for 5:40 am. No chance for snooze, we had to be on the road by 6:00 am - and in monsoon conditions, no less.

We drove Daughter #2 through the dark downpour to her school in Düsseldorf before the sun rose. She and the other 104 kids in her 11th grade International Baccalaureate program are spending the next week in a remote area of northeastern Germany on an Outward Bound experiential learning program. Yes, this is the same daughter who just returned from camping in Italy a week ago. What wonderful opportunities she has! But unlike Rome, this week will be hard work, and unfortunately, the weather is predicted to stay cold and rainy all five days :(

After getting home by 7am, I went back to bed for a bit, but then had lots of housework to do. So most of the day was pretty mundane.

But we did have a really nice Raclette dinner. This is a where a table-top grill is placed in the center of the family table. Each person layers sliced Raclette cheese into small pans (coupelles) along with steamed potatoes, grilled vegetables, and various thinly sliced meats (charcuterie). The pans are inserted into the grill and broiled until the cheese melts and bubbles. Then the pans are removed, and the contents scraped onto small dinner plates. It's really traditional to eat like this in winter - but my youngest son has been asking for it lately and with the miserable cold rain, it was nice comfort food.

After dinner we went out for a brief walk along the river and I captured this image of the ferry coming in at sunset. It seems a fitting way to close the weekend.

Good luck everyone for the new work week!