Sniping Sycamores

Last night we went to a discotek with Astrids cousin Meriam. The club was put inside an old factory building along media island and the interior was quite en vogue, with videos projects on every wall balconies and a floating dancehall. The music was interesting as alot of it was pink floydesque, but techno. In the dance hall they played music like Prince and dance songs from the 70s like Im coming out. There were a few more umm...recent songs played. It was incredibly warm in there, even though the airconditioning was running. I had alot of fun with most of my classmates. We stayed out...cough..cough...pretty late, but Meriam gave me Jackie and Mary a ride home, so we were ok.

This morning we woke up tired, and early to head to the train station for a day trip to Schloss Dyck outside of Düsseldorf. We caught a train that took one 1/2 hour, then a 40 min bus follwed by a 20 min bus in the countryside. It was cold, and windy. There were deep gray clouds in the sky, along with leaves flying through the air. Astrid and her cousin met us at the gate. As the bus left, they informed us that the park was closed because of the high winds. Apparently even Germany doesnt want people crushed by a falling tree. We spent some time walking around the area that we were allowed. Astrid wanted us to walk around. Though most people went inside one of the shops, I walked along the paths in the wind. I sat down to draw a view of a modern garden i could see from my perch, only to hear a horrendous splintering. Ok, well, a loud one. A branch fell off of the sycamore tree i was sitting near. The wind was picking up more, so finally, i decided that it would in fact be a good idea to go inside.

Inside the shop they sold apples, honey, juice and other things that smell like fruit farm in the fall (odd considering its spring). I ended up buying a bottle of apple cider and dried apple slices. Mike Hee bought a bottle of Rhubarb juice, and finding it much NOT to his liking let me finish it off. Yum! But wow was it sweet and sour at the same time. We spent a little while longer in the shop waiting for the wind to die down and for our bus to arrive. As we sat on the bench, for a reason unknown, or maybe the harmonica someone had, someone started singing childrens songs like the wheels on the bus, im bringing home a baby bumble bee, and itsy bitsy spider. Its kind of odd, i know, but I guess it helped to warm us up and to pass the time.

Tonight, i was hoping to meet up with a Cal Poly friend Kristin Johnson who is studying her masters here, but that might not work out. We plan to spend the evening with the rest of the class playing cards and singing along with Jeff on the guitar...maybe.

Tommorrow we will head off to Bacharach on the Rhein. It is near the infamous vineyard area.