Cologne

On Saturday we caught the train to Cologne. Despite paying 120 Euros we had no seats and had to change trains midway. We walked along the Rheine River to find our hostel. It was well located but very shabby and we were disappointed to find that there was no kitchen. We had hoped that cooking our own meals during our time in Cologne could be a good money saver. It was mid afternoon and we hadn't eaten lunch so we checked the budget and decided we could afford a meal out anyway. At a pub near the hostel we ordered a huge amount of food - bread with Dutch gouda, beef goulash, and a pork knuckle served with red cabbage and potato dumplings all to share. It was fantastic, although we couldn't get through all of it. The pork knuckle was particularly challenging, and it wasn't slow cooked as we had hoped. I thought the dumplings were terrific though!


Afterwards we went walking by the river and took a nap in the hostel before getting ready to go out in the evening. We really didn't need any dinner after the meal we had had for our late lunch so we went exploring a few squares including Heumarkt and Aldt. We had a drink at one pub and then found a take away cocktail bar! It had a tropical theme and sold potent sugary concoctions in plastic cups for only 5 euros. We took two down to the Rheine river where a party boat was playing cheesy music for a mostly over 50s crowd.


It was fun sitting there and singing to the songs from the 80s and 90s, talking about our trip. It really is winding down now with less than a week to go though we have been trying not to think about it! It has just been so amazing. We got back to find the hostel thumping with the noise of the gay bar downstairs where there was a loud and extravagant drag show continuing until late into the night!

To make matters worse we were woken early to the sounds of more pumping music and a man speaking German enthusiatically and jovially about something we obviously couldn't understand over a PA system. We waited for it to pass, thinking it was some kind of aerobics session outside an office building. Then I wondered if it was some kind of Christian youth thing as it was a Sunday morning. David sugested it might be a television show being filmed by the river. After a couple of hours of lying there unable to sleep we decided to just get up and out for the day. We found that there was a triathalon on and the starting line was right in our street with grandstands of people, musicians, commentators and huge speakers aimed directly at our hostel! We needed to get out of the area as the noise was just overwhelming so we went to the Hauptbahnhof to organise our tickets to Frankfurt on Monday. It was a bit of a blow to find that once again we were in a country of very expensive train transport. All the Inter City Express trains were going to cost 128 euros for two tickets. Then we found a slow train that would cost 82. Reasonable success!

Next we went to the Dom to admire its amazing architecture. Though we have seen many many cathedrals on our trip this one was particularly beautiful. As it was a Sunday there were religious services taking place so we could only go in certain areas but we took a lot of photos of the stained glass windows, the statues and the amazing ceilings.


For lunch we ordered by pointing randomly at the menu in a cheap cafe where noone spoke English. We ended up with chips, some sort of shredded meat with a yoghurt sauce and a pastry scroll that had spinach and cheese. Not bad! We decided we would see the most of the city by going on a day tour with a bus. We picked a reasonably priced two hour tour with a multilingual audioguide. It was alright but a good few of the major roads in the city centre were inaccessible due to the triathlon. We did see some great views though, and some medieval areas of the city.


We went back to the hotel to update the blog and get ready for the evening. It was much quieter being a Sunday night and just lovely in the city. We had a fantastic Spanish meal in a tiny square tucked out of the way up a little side street.


Afterwards we went for a walk by the river. The buildings were so pretty lit up at night and the lights twinkling across the water of the Rheine at us made a romantic atmosphere. We kept talking about what an amzing trip we have had and how we feel it has changed us and opened our eyes, especially places like Spain, Greece, Albania and Croatia. We talked about our favourite places, foods, songs that remind us of being in different cities, and what we think we have got out of it all. We also talked about things we are looking forward to back home to make the end of our honeymoon feel like less of a blow. Travelling has given us such an incredible high and it seems that coming back to normal life might bring us crashing down. We already have more trips in planning now. It is such a fantastic experience.