"sittin on the dock of the bay"...

After confining myself to my apartment yesterday and only leaving to get groceries I decided today I would get out. Yesterday I babied my foot, propt it up, and applied ice...yet I was bored out of my mind! Today the weather is beautiful mid 60's, sun shining bright....absolutely gorgeous. I was not going to stay in all day! I had to get out and enjoy this, as I've been told it wont last for long. The winter days here hardly ever see sun. Simone, Lisa and I walked down to the Rhine. I've never been to the west side of the Rhine from school so we chose that path. We came to a bench on a hill. We decided to sit there. Stair steps decended the hill side leading to a holding area for a boat. In the states we have docks lined up with boats tied. Here there are poles at which the boats dock. It's like parallel parking for boats. As we talked we planned future girls weekend trips to Paris or London. We were intrigued my the ducks and the ducklings swiming in the water. The water was clear and shallow. It was as if we were watching the Discovery Channel. The ducklings would dive under water and fish for food. Their little bottoms sticking up in the air for a second and then they were to the bottom. They were quite entertaining.
After a while we decided to walk to the east side of the river and sit on the dock. The leaves here are starting to turn. Houses lined with vines had brilliant colors of orange, red and yellow leaves. As we walked the leaves crushed against our feet. As we approached the dock we climbed over the chain and claimed our spot. Lisa laid back dangling both her legs off the dock, I chose to dangle one leg off and pull the other knee upward, while Simone chose to pull both knees up. We laid there basking in the sun, occasionaly talking about movies, books, and so on. It was realxing and felt a bit like we were at camp. How peaceful it was to watch the planes in the sky, the swans in the water, and to here the light sound of the waves as boats went by. I could have fallen asleep out there. A hammock would have been a plus. The day was relaxing and a nice end to a slow weekend.