A surprising taste of spring...

     The past couple of weeks in Tianjin have been rather dreary.  Lots of fog.  Air quality index numbers in the 200-400 range (for comparison, the World Health Organization recommends daily levels of 20 or less).  Still, it's only been 3 weeks since we returned from Bali and I didn't feel the need to go on another long journey.  

     Ever since Alice auditioned and was accepted for the AMIS High School Honor Orchestra, 

I've quietly lobbied for just skipping the actual trip.  Isn't it good enough just to know that you ARE good enough?  We could skip those 19 hours of traveling. I'm perfectly fine staying home! But here we are:  Dusseldorf, Germany.  

     Officially, Alice is on a "field trip" as far as her school is concerned.  She had to get all her school work done before coming, and they didn't fuss when we decided to come a few days early so we could do some exploring and sight-seeing on our own.  Once the AMIS group starts on Wednesday, Alice will have all-day rehearsals culminating in a concert on Saturday night.  

     Alice has been very excited to come visit Europe, to see the continent where she was born.  And I have to admit, now that I'm here, I wouldn't have missed this for the world.  We will be here for 8 days, leaving next Sunday afternoon, and arriving back in China on Monday afternoon.

     We arrived after dark on Saturday night with a light rain falling. My first observation:  not many skyscrapers--in fact, hardly any.  And the buildings are not garishly lit the way Chinese city buildings are.  Still, with it being dark, we couldn't get much idea of how things looked.

   Our adventure commenced as we set out on Sunday morning to go to church.  This was our first viewing of what this city was like.  And what a shock!  It wasn't winter here.  We hadn't gone a full block before we noticed yards full of spring flowers. (I've always wanted to have crocuses in my lawn.)  And LOTS of birds were singing.  Since China has so few birds, I almost forget what a chorus they can put together.

     We used to have primroses when we lived in France and haven't seen them much in the US.  So many memories of our time in France have come rushing back!

Since the temperatures here have been roughly the same as we've had in China,

I expected it to still be winter as well.  What a pleasant surprise!  Early spring!

 New, green grass lining the city canals and lawns.

 Alice and I both decided this could be our ideal cottage. As we strolled along (in-between changing buses), we were struck with how neat and orderly the streets and yards are.  How quiet everything was--no horns honking, no buzz from a mass of humanity, no chaotic living.
It felt SO comfortable and familiar.

 In the afternoon, we took a walk along the Rhine River.  Crocuses were in the grass everywhere!

 The sun was out and although the breeze was chilly, lots of people were out strolling. (And engaging in the festivities of Carnival, but that's a topic for another post).

We watched several barges move past, some moving upriver and others going down.

And this is a river that flows northward. 

I loved the quaint old buildings along the river front.

I don't know how many times the word "quaint" floated through my head on our first day here.

We walked the 4 kilometers to the city center and back, and now I can add another city's River Walk to my memories. Each River Walk has been completely unique (San Antonio, Guiyang, and now Dusseldorf).

Then, a beautiful tree in blossom as we returned to our hotel.  

Ah!  The hope that spring brings!  

My soul feels so nourished after spending one day in this beautiful land and I think it is 

the orderliness of everything that is so soul-satisfying.

Alice is already lobbying to move here.