Advertisement
Up early to have breakfast and finish packing. There is a bus that leaves from very near to my hotel so I planned to get the one that left at 9:15. All good - you just pay the driver €2.80 and you're off. The bus arrived at the Central Train station about 15 minutes later so I had plenty of time to find my platform and where I needed to be standing before the train departed at 9:59.
The train journey took 5 hours but it was very pleasant and a good way to see some more of the countryside. I arrived at Köln station just after 3pm and followed the instructions my cousin Tony (or Tonz as he is known to us!) to the platform for a train to Bergisch Gladbach. I missed one step in the instructions - buy ticket before heading up to the platform - so got up to the top but then had to go back down again. This would be easy except the escalator going down wasn't working and I had to lug my suitcase with me. Oh well - bought a ticket and went back up to the platform and the train was
there, so I jumped on. That's when I remembered I was supposed to find wifi and text Tonz that I was leaving Köln!
So, I got to play the game that is "try to connect to wifi at each station the train stops at". Surprisingly it worked - after about 4 stations. I got a quick message to Tonz and hoped for the best. On arrival at Bergisch Gladbach station I walked to where the cars are and sure enough, there was Tonz hurrying to find me! It was so lovely to see him again. We drove back to his place and met up with Susi and we had fun catching up. After a while Tonz left to drive to Köln Bonn airport to pick up Vince and Alison, so Susi and I got the chance to catch up - over a few glasses of wine. Their son Julian and his wife Janina came to visit with their beautiful little girl Eva, who is almost 7 months old. The last time I saw Jul (and his twin brother Basti, who now lives in Vienna) was when Daniel and I drove back from skiing in Bormio, Italy with Raine and Ben - when they were about 5 and 3 and Jul & Basti were about 15. It was so lovely to see him again and to meet his beautiful family.
Vince & Alisons flight had been delayed but they eventually arrived. After a catch up and everyone met each other, Tonz took them to their hotel so they could freshen up and get sorted. We then started preparing the dinner (but mostly Tonz!) and then Tonz went and picked them up to bring them back for dinner. We had a lovely meal together, with many more glasses of wine and all enjoyed the evening of laughs and fun times.
Vince & Alison then caught a cab back to their apartment and that was when they found out that the cab drivers don't take cards - and Vince & Alison didn't have €€€. Tricky - but in the end they gave him a £10 note and that just had to do.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.452s; Tpl: 0.018s; cc: 13; qc: 60; dbt: 0.2013s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb