Now that we have a garden, friends, and a fridge filled with yummy stuff, we decided to throw a small barbecue party for 7 or 8 friends who happened to be around on this very day.

I thought putting up the BBQ would not be a problem, providing the pieces didn't need holes to be drilled or none of the parts were missing...and of course the instruction manuel should be at least in English (not in Korean) and straightforward. Unfortunately, it wasn't. All the parts were there, that was not the problem, but in the end I was left with 2 plastic parts, 4 metal bits, 2 hooks and one screw. No explanation was given in the manual what those items should do.

With a bit of logic I deduced that the plastic was for the legs, the metal for protection, the hooks for the grill plate and the screw...well, i guess for screwing

Ok guys, the BBQ is up and quite stable. Let's grill the zucchini to death!

After our visit in Lübeck we drove to Rostock where we would spend the night at Hampa's, a medical student who is just like us a member of BeWelcome.

The highway road from Lübeck to Rostock is quite boring and we were happy when we found the flat quickly, since Caitlin was getting fed up with being in her carseat all afternoon. Hampa's flat was right above an Italian restaurant and we met her flatmates. Hampa herself was not in Rostock that weekend, but we could use her room. We were not alone, however, as she has three cats who kept us company. I guess we can say that Caitlin is not allergic to cats

We ate some of the cake that Tinchen had prepared us, drank some tea and then we left for Warnemünde. The place really feels like a seaside resort, and everywhere were little stalls where you could buy fish (although they were closing by the time we got there).
We just took a stroll near the port, saw the three lighthouses and ate an icecream in an Italian restaurant.

Right at that moment the skies opened and there was a massive downpour. Luckily it ended by the time we finished our ice-cream. We then drove to Rostock for a quick visit by night (looking for an old light-house which we never found) and then it was time for bed.

We have an angel of a daughter, but sometimes I wonder if we shouldn't call the Exorcist.
Some of her behaviour makes me think she might be possessed by a demon.

The evidence?

1. She talks in a strange and ancient language, that nobody around us can understand. Sometimes it even sounds like she is talking backwards! And now and again she mutters "Ba'al"

2. Just as in the movie The Exorcist, she can turn her head almost completely around. Very creepy

3. Sometimes she spits and vomits with such a force, that it would push a grown man from his bike!

4. She sees dead people, I'm sure of it. Sometimes she just looks through me, or she sees things that nobody else sees. She can look at the wall and suddenly start to laugh, probably because a ghost told a very funny story.

5. She can put her feet almost over her head, and curl her toes like a wild animal

6. When she cries, it is like something we have never heard before.

and the biggest proof:

7. I just put on "Sympathy for the Devil" by the Rolling Stones, and she started to move frantically and shouted "whoo, whoo, ... whoo, whoo".

Today we started work on our own little bio garden. We selected a patch in our garden where there is enough sun and it's still not too windy. Then we started digging a 15 cm deep trench and planted pumpkins, sun flowers, radishes, zucchini and eruca sativa (no, not THAT kind of sativa, you naughty people), better known as rocket or arugula.
Finally we watered everything thoroughly, and now we are patiently waiting for July or August to see the results.

If you want some nice pumpkin soup, be sure to book in advance.

The night in the Etap room was quite comfortable with Caitlin between us, since the travel bed would not have fitted in the room. We decided from now on to leave the travel bed in the car, since Caitlin was fine and the disassembling of the bed causes only frustration and arguments.

The breakfast we had booked for 6 euro extra was a buffet consisting of bread with the usual jams and spreads, some sausages, cereals, yoghurt, cheese, juice; tea; coffee. Not what you would get in a regular hotel, but much better than the 2 croissants and jam that you get in a Formula 1 hotel or most Italian hotels. It was filling but not special. Even though we were not too far from the city centre, we decided to look for a parking closer to the centre. Especially with the clouds hanging over our heads. Tinchen had given us a good tip where to park, but we decided to try for a parking near to the famous Holsten Tor.

We were lucky enough to find one without any time limit and got ready for some serious sight-seeing. We unpacked and assembled our Bugaboo and strangely could not move it a single centimeter! After some experiments and puzzling we found that the cable for the brakes was wound around a knob and thus blocked the brakes. What a relief! We headed for the Holsten Tor and bought a small map for € 0,90 with a (very limited) guided tour which we followed as much as possible. Normally the tour would take us 2 hours, but because we went inside many of the landmarks, we spend most of the day.

The Holsten Tor is a late Brick Gothic city gate, UNESCO World Heritage Site and considered a major landmark of Lübeck.

Other landmarks we visited were The Town Hall, The Lübecker Dom and Maria Church, Günter Grass's house, the Salzspeicher (historic warehouses where salt delivered from Lüneburg awaited shipment to Baltic ports) and the Hospital of the Holy Spirit (one of the oldest social institutions of Lübeck).

We took a break at a medieval market, where all the shop assistants were dressed in ancient robes and sold strange things like lutes, mead (alcoholic beverage made of honey) and roasted pig.

In the end we made a quick stop at the factory outlet of Niederegger, a worldwide acknowledged producer of marzipan and sweets. They had a 50% off sale for Easter products, so we bought some stuff for during the rest of our trip.

Next stop: Rostock!

Here is a list of all the nice things we will eat in the weeks to come:

- vegan Panda licorice
- muesli cookies
- apple & pear juice
- Allos Amaranth chocolate muesli
- Women's Balance Yogi tea
- La Bio Idea - Minutini pasta con carotta
- Lima tomato/basil crunchies
- Pajottenlander apple/pear juice
- Pizzolato organic prosecco
- De Rit peanut butter cookies
- Ekoland wallnuts
- Whole Earth organic sparkling apple & raspberry fruit juice
...and lots more!

After loading our entire luggage in the car, we started our trip in Grimbergen at 10 a.m. We still had to go to the Abdijstraat and after saying goodbye to Frank’s parents we left without any traffic jams. The trip itself was fine, of course we had to stop several times to change and feed Caitlin. Today was probably the most problematic (traffic-wise) since we had to cover the long distance between Belgium and the North of Germany in one day.

At around 6:30 we arrived at our hotel, an Etap hotel with the typical practical Etap design. This means it is one star more than a Formule 1 hotel (a little bit more comfort, an acceptable breakfast buffet and free internet in the rooms). The toilets and bathroom (separate) reminded me a bit about those in a train wagon, and cleaning them will probably take 30 seconds with a high-pressure water gun and some disinfectant.

We unpacked, rested a bit and left for my friend Tinchen and her mother Anni, a friendship that dates back to the times when young kids had pen pals and sent them real letters… We were welcomed with warmth and first of all exchanged some news about what had happened in our lives. Old memories were revived too and on top of all the nice conversation we were served a delicious gratin with meat, peppers and tomatoes.

Caitlin was her usual friendly and curious self, only quite late did she get tired and a bit cranky, so we decided to go back to our hotel room and went straight to bed. Having Caitlin sleep between us proved very comfortable. Maybe we shouldn't bring our travel bed anymore next time.

Tomorrow we will test www.bewelcome.org in Rostock

With nothing better to do (and after dealing with some heavy financial calculations) we decided to sit down for the Eurosong Festival 2009, which this year is being held in gay-unfriendly Russia. This song contest (often called the Kitsch and Camp-festival of the year) brings us 25 songs from as many countries.

Here my views on some of the contestants:

- Finland: up-tempo song with a silly rapper, and I'm afraid they won't manage the same surprise Lordi did a couple of years ago

- Turkey: Flemish singer Hadise delivered a good performance, although the song was a bit weak. Still I think a Top 5 position is possible

- Germany: Very silly song, but with a gorgeous Dita Von Teese. What else did you expect from a group called 'Alex Swings Oscar Sings'

- Estonia: a beautiful singer with a beautiful voice...unfortunately not the kind of song that will win the Eurovision Song Festival

- Ukraine: My favourite, a very kitschy up-tempo song with beautiful women, Roman gladiators and funny lyrics. My favourite for the first place.