Cologne June 2009

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Flew into Cologne from Gatwick - flight was only 55 minutes! Stayed at Meninger Hostel which was quite nice. Bathroom with shower right in the room, and very clean. Also a great kitchen, with free pasta! (you have to pay for sauce, but still great when you're skint.) I was able to walk around the city just a bit, which looked quite nice, not as spread out as Berlin. I'd like to go back to explore it a bit.

I meant to check out the bar at the hostel, but I wound up talking to an American girl in my room for a good part of the evening. She was travelling around Europe for the summer alone, so I think she was starved for some English conversation. She'd just come from Belgium, where she did Bruges (sp?)in one day. I'm not sure what I think of traveling that way - I know there's a lot of world to see, and we have a very limited time in which to see it. But can you really experience a place in a few hours? Is it really worth it just to see a place for a few hours, to say you've been there?

Anyway. That's kind of why I feel like I didn't get a good feel for Cologne. I saw the amazing Dome (primarily because it's next to the Hauptbahnhof) but didn't get to go in. Maybe next time.

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