Coffee, fancy cake, and a surprise visit

On Monday after that first great summery weekend, I had a birthday and it turned out to be a wonderful day. First, Alex and I had a wonderful small celebration at home. After a lot of deliberations, Alex decided to give me one of his favorite stuffed animals as a birthday gift. I was really touched! When I asked him, if we was really ready to part with it, he replied, rather sensibly, that he could always get it back.

After I dropped Alex off at school I decided to take some time for myself. I went into town to go window-shopping and people watching and treated myself to a fabulous cup of coffee. As you can see from the picture, it was at Starbucks. I have tried hard to patronize local establishments here, but for one of the best coffees, Starbucks is simply the place to be - even in Germany.

I spent the rest of the mid-day wandering around town, eating a sandwich of pickled herring (yum!!) and went to the Kindergarten in the early afternoon to pick up Alex. Just as we started walking back to our apartment, we got a call from my brother, who was in town for a few hours and who was coming for a quick surprise visit! What a joy! We met him outside our place, then ventured upstairs and had a blast hanging out with him. Just then, the doorbell rang and my friend Sherry showed up with some gifts and also a giant chocolate cake (a Sachertorte to be exact) that my mom had asked her to buy and bring over. Wow!

It was fantastic and a huge surprise!!! (Also, it lasted the whole week, so we had celebrations over and over for a few days.) 

In the evening, we all met up with the Föhrs and went to one of my favorite local restaurants to eat and celebrate. What a great day!