Lamppostings

We slept in a bit and then went to Lidl to get breakfast and food supplies for the 6 hour train ride. I went and found a pharmacy to get Colin some cold medicine and to a dept store to get myself a washcloth to wipe my sweat! I had a bit of a sore throat. Graeme’s back is feeling better.

We packed up and headed across the street to the train station. Super early. Becky and I wandered around a bit and got some orange juice and a coconut. Yes, an actual coconut. Why, because I thought it was a good idea. The orange juice is for Colin and the coconut is because it’s fun. Then we found a cheap clothing store that I wish we had more time in. I got a pair of trousers and Becky got a dress. Then it was time to get on the train.

Our tickets said open seating so when we got on, we thought we just chose our seats. Turns out there is assigned seating so we had to move, but we all have seats together which is lovely. We had some great talks about past loves, heart breaks, church, faith, pendulums, the importance of experience and theory. We had a fabulous picnic with bread, salad, avocado, pretzels, yummy tomatoes, cheese, and wine. Delightful. We’re in Germany now, on our way to Cologne. Beautiful countryside, again distinct architecture styles. Lots of farmland.

Sadly the train has been very hot with intermittent AC. It makes it a bit less enjoyable.

Hoping for cooler days the rest of the trip, but no guarantees. This is our longest single train journey = 6 hours.

We rode the train thru the Rhine Valley along the river. It was amazing. There were rocky hills with vineyards packed along them. Gorgeous villages one after another along the river. Then there were castles! There were old ruined castles and more modern, fairy tale castles. Vineyards in every space they could squeeze them.

As we journeyed closer to Cologne things became more industrial until we pulled into the station. We walked out of the station and the Cathedral is right in front of us. Not quite as impressive as our walk out of the Venice station, but it was pretty cool.

We began the short walk to our hotel which was billed as a boutique hotel. It was very close, but it seemed like a pretty dodgy area. When we finally found the reception area (there were several entrances) it was a bit dirty and odd and there was a sign that the receptionist would be back soon. We waited for about 30 minutes. Colin and Graeme wandered around trying to find someone. When the guy arrived, he didn’t say a word. He took Becky’s reservation paper and started typing on the computer. She was just watching him and he looked up and stared at her for an uncomfortable amount of time and then said, “Are you ok?” It was so weird and awkward.

He checked them in and gave them their key. Then he checked us in and said he would have to show us how to get to our room. Graeme and Becky were to take the lift to their room. He took us thru the back way, outside and to another entrance. There was no lift so we hauled our bags up 2 flights of stairs only to find that it was a double room with only one bed. So I left Colin and the boys and went back to the desk – he wasn’t there, but returned soon. I told him about the bed and so he gave us another room on the 4th floor – two more flights of stairs. Our room turned out to be pretty cool despite exposed wiring and a lock on our door that didn’t quite work and a shower that didn’t work properly. Quite large, double bed, large windows looking out at a gorgeous church. The boy’s room was up in the loft.

Meanwhile, it turns out the G&B’s room was pretty awful (hand scratch marks on the walls among other things) so they requested another room and got one in the same area as us = a few floors down, much better. Turns out half the outlets in both our rooms don’t work though. Still felt a bit dodge, but we finally got settled and headed out to find dinner. Graeme found a German place so we headed there. It was very strange walking through the city. The streets felt a bit deserted, but at the same time, quite creepy. When we got the place it turned out it was closed for a few days for renovations, so we set off to find somewhere else. Zane was close to tears and was very anxious about our situation and the city itself. We were all feeling hangry, and frustrated, then it started to rain. Restaurants were either too expensive or closing. We finally found a burger place and had some super yummy burgers and fabulous fries. All the while it was pelting down rain. We decided to head back to the hotel. It continued to rain and we found a Metro station – turns out it was super creepy so we headed back to the street and went as quickly as we could back to the hotel. We passed creepy guys in doorways and wondered if we might get mugged. Soaking wet, we made it back to the hotel, everyone was pretty much ready to get out of Cologne.

We were hoping that Cologne would redeem itself in the morning.