Cologne and the Rhineland

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Week 1 (26.03.08-
So the flight wasn't too bad from Australia considering it was 21hrs all
up. It turned out that QANTAS has awesome in flight entertainment, and
because of some convenient exit row seats (thanks pam), I managed to get a
fair bit of sleep on the 2nd flight which meant I was fresh for a day of
sightseeing. I arrived into Frankfurt airport early in the morning and was
faced with my first challenge. Taking the train to Cologne. It turned out
to be not much of a challenge at all. The train station is basically
directly opposite the airport, and the lady at the Deutsche Bahn counter
was patient as I made a destroyed the german language. Before I knew it, I
had pretzel and coffee in hand and was on the fast train to Cologne.

After being picked up by Peter (a friend of dad's in Cologne) I showered,
had breakfast and then was given a guided tour of Cologne's sights by
Carsten, Peter's son. Cologne is a pretty awesome place. At the centre is
a cathedral called the 'Dom' which basically towers over everything. It's
MASSIVE, and building began around 800 years ago. Carsten and
The Cologne "Dom"
The Cologne "Dom"
I then
kicked back in a street cafe and drank latte macchiatos (german coffee is
different..). After a few more sights I was pretty stuffed, so after a
quick dinner out I promptly collapsed into bed.

Tuesday was a similar story as I saw the sights of Cologne with Carsten.
Until lunch. On tuesday we ate lunch at a place that I think is becoming
one of my favourite aspects of germany. It's called.. the Mensa. The mensa
is basically a massive restaurant/dining hall where you can go and chose
from a few options and several side dishes and make your own meal up.
Basically what it means is that you get a main meal, a few sides (vegies,
salad, dessert etc) and a drink for about 3.40 Euros. Basically $5
Australian. It is as awesome as it sounds.

Wednesday Carsten and I went to Michael Schumacher's own gokart track.
After winning the first couple of races (nothing too special, only me and
carsten), I spun out in the 2nd two and he finished up the winner. Great
fun though.

Thursday I got to see another little town called Bonn. Back in the day,
when Germany was
Climbing the "Dom"
Climbing the "Dom"
divided, Bonn was the capital of West Germany. These days
it's a really picturesque little town with a really random layout. Anka,
Carsten's sister, explained that it was designed that way as a deterrant
to criminals as it was very hard to escape from.

Friday Peter and I arose early to get a head start on the autobahn north
to Weimar...

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Comments

[anonymous]

woah!!! my t shirt made it to germany!wooooo looks like you're having an awesome time man!!