August 23

This morning I got my things ready to go that were still unpacked (which was not very many things), then headed in the rain with everything, first to the gate at Boehringer to drop off my apartment keys, then back to the Bahnhof, to wait for my train to Koblenz, then an IC train to Köln where I stopped to get a couple of souvenirs.  I met Marc there on the track just fine, and we took an ICE the rest of the way to Leer(Ostfriesl) where we met Petra and Edward who picked us up and brought us to their home which is about 10km in from the Netherlands/German border.  We had dinner with them and another retired doctor friend of theirs, which was quite wonderful and delicious, accompanied by two desserts.  I was quite quite full by the end of that.  After dinner I got to talk to the family because they have a nice Wifi connection here that I could use.  Petra and Edward have been nothing but completely hospitable to us, and I have enjoyed their company quite a lot.  I also caught up on email and my computer furiously updated itself as well, as soon as it could take a long sip of internet after a summer of mostly drought.  I am looking forward to staying in the Netherlands for a while, and not hurriedly traveling everywhere.  It is not that I didn't have a really great time traveling, but sometimes a slower pace is nice too.  A week from today I will be home too.  That is quite something to think about.