Cologne...In Germany it is Pronounced Köln.

---

Well we are in Köln. It has been an adventure here. It all started at the train station in Salzburg when we went to get our reservations. I asked about reservations to Köln but I obviously pronounced it wrong since the guy just stared at us so after saying it again and still getting a blank look I mentioned the English pronounciation and he finally understood where we wanted to go but he corrected us and said (an a very snotty tone) in Germany it is pronounced Köln.
Our train from Salzburg was nice, long but nice. We were in a six person compartment. We had the window and aisle seat (with no one in the middle). Across from us by the window was a German lady and the other two seats were a nice retired couple from Texas. There was no luggage rack so we had to put out bags on the racks above the seats. Our bags are really heavy, I wasn’t sure that we would have been able to get them up ourselves. The man from Texas was very nice and got our bags up for us. After a long train ride, made even longer by the fact that we ran into a little bit of inclement weather and were delayed for a bit. We got here just after 8 pm and everything was shutting down. We had to take the S-Bahn from the train station and then it was a ‘3 minute walk’. We had a google map and we followed it and we came to a hostel, Zimmerman Hostel, although the one we were looking for was Shiva’s Sleep City Hostel. We couldn’t find the street sign so we didn’t know if we were on the right street but it seemed as if we hadn’t walked far enough. We then continued to walk for a bit but but then we got turned around and eventually (after a 30 minute walk) we got back to the hostel and we rang the doorbell. No one answered. There was a Kiosk kitty corner from the hostel so we went over there and I waited with our bags while Sydony went inside and tried to call them. She had no luck, we were getting a bit worried and frustrated. What were we going to do?!?

Luckily Sydony had such a frustrated look on her face as she came outside that the owner of the kiosk came over with another young man who spoke English and asked if we needed help. We told him that we were trying to get a hold of our hostel and he called them for us. The hostel people answered and said that they had left and that our key was in the mailbox. We thanked the person who called them for us and went over to the hostel again. Of course the mailbox is locked and Sydony’s hand doesn’t fit in, and my arm isn’t long enough, so we try to pry it out with twigs and then Sydony had a coat hanger so we tried to hook the key ring with that, it didn’t work. By this time we are frustrated and tired and ready to give up when I figured out that it you pull down on the front part of the mailbox you can open it without the key!!! So we got the key and proceeded to unlock the door. Well we tried anyway, we were having so much trouble trying to get the door open that a nice german girl walking by asked us if we needed help. We gave her the key and within a matter of moments she had gotten the door open for us. We thanked her profusely and dragged our bags inside. We got up to our room, and were very happy to have a place to sleep, even if it turned out to be a double bed rather than two singles.

Today we met the people who own the Hostel and got a map from them and signed in. Then we went back to the S-bahn station to get a train to the city center. We tried to get tickets we really did but there was only one machine and it didn’t take cash or credit cards. It only took maestro and some other german debit cards. Since we didn’t have that we just hopped onto the train. We did get out at the next stop and luckily the machines there took cash so we bought day tickets and got on the next S-bahn to the city centre. Since it was Sunday we went to the Dom, which is huge and right beside the main train station. It is a lovely gothic building. We stayed there for mass and then took a few photo’s before heading out into the sunshine. We wandered through the shopping district, it was fairly empty since all the stores were closed. We also wandered through the old town and along the Rhine before having a late lunch or early dinner at a döner shop and sitting outside and people watching. It has been a bit of a trying experience here in Köln but in two days we will be in the Netherlands and have a whole new adventure.

---

Photos

Hostel
Our Room.

Hostel 2
We have a table and a sink in our room but there is only one bathroom/shower room and it is down the hall.

Hostel 3
Sydony looking so disgusted at all the effort it took to finally get here.

Dom
The Dom. It is hard to see in photo's but it is a very large and impressive place.

Dom 2
It is a very tall, large, gothic building.

Dom 3
The church's Graveyard.

Dom 4
I love the lion door openers!

Dom 5
View to the alter, it was very smoky in there, I am not sure if that is from all the essence that they burn or from the sunlight coming through the stain glass.

Dom 6
Some lovely stain glass windows.

Dom 7
There was some very lovely wood working on the pews.

Train Station
The Hauptbahnhof in Köln.

Köln
An interesting Ice cream covered building.

Köln
Some of the town.

Köln
Near the Rhein there was a 'wading pool' for kids.

Köln
The Old Town.

Birds
There was a really cute (fat) little birdy sitting by the base of a tree.

Nutcracker Store
It wasn't open but there was a store that sells German wood crafts. I liked the old man with the birds.

Nutcracker Store
I also really liked the different Christmas wood work scenes. The only problem is how to get them home! (Well the price might be a problem too but I have no idea how much one of these costs).