Rauchfrei!

Finally, Dusseldorf has caught up with the rest of Europe and has banned smoking indoors in restaurants and bars!! The new law went into effect on 1 July, and I finally got to experience the pleasure of dining without the aftertaste of smoke the other night at our favorite Portuguese restaurant here.

Of course, many folks are not happy about this, and I believe the law is being appealed. I saw something on the news the other night about how some establishments are getting around the law by establishing Raucherclubs (smoking clubs) - a woman walked into a bar that had a sign outside reading 'Raucherclub', and threw down her pack of cigarettes and took out her little laminated Raucherclub membership card, and happily lit up. Clearly there is some kind of legal loophole they are exploiting.

You know, if Paris, Ireland and England could successfully do this, Dusseldorf should be able to as well!