Das Ist Bescheuert!

Cologne is one big party! Perhaps you need to be drunk before you understand their public transit... if that's the case, everything now makes sense. We flew in from Berlin in the late morning and the first thing that happened was we jumped on the first train that arrived at the platform from the airport... all trains go to Köln city center right?

Not true actually… trains go all over. Anyway, we thought we had jumped on the wrong train, only to get off and realize we were on the correct train after all… wait for the next correct train, then get on the subway in the wrong direction… off that train again and on the next one. Edwin can confirm… we’re not just ridiculous (Das ist Bescheuert!) - Cologne has very misleading signage :P We arrived at hostel Die Wohngenmeinschaft and were able to check into our bunk - this hostel has such neat little bed; they are like little pods. They’re actually quite large and have curtains you can close completely. After a recommendation from the guy who works the front desk, we walked the 15 minutes (yes we got lost once here as well) up to Päffgen Kölsch brewery and had our first regional “Kölsch” beer (SO good).  They serve them in 0.2 liter quantities (tiny) and come around often to bring you a new one - in fact, they have these special holders there they can arrange the glasses and fill up about ten at a time from the keg. They write tallies on the coaster at your table to keep track of how many you've had..... eight tallies and two pork chops later, we're back to exploring the city with full bellies :)

 Hearty German meal at the Brewery - yes mom, I picked up the bone and chewed on it... in a restaurant

Hostel pod-beds!

We took the train back to city center and walked along the water. Edwin and Alexandra (Alex) would arrive the next afternoon and we weren't really sure what to do with the rest of our day. Köln doesn't really have a ton by the way of sights to see - they have two big art museums, the main cathedral and that's about it. It's known as more of a convention town than a main tourist hub. The main drag along the water offered an endless strip of cafes and restaurants with every table full of people dining al fresco. The walk along the water was jam packed with pedestrian and bike traffic - like I said, the city felt like one big party. We noticed that there seemed to be a lot of bachelor and bachelorette parties happening today... like too many for it to be a coincidence but we really had no clue what was going on. At one point, a guy dressed up in a pig costume approached a bride-to-be, exchanged some words and then had a drink together (from a flask) in the street. #whatishappening

When beer is served in a 0.2 liter quantity, a very useful German phrase to know is "noch eins", which literally translates to "one more thing" but more usefully translates to, one more of the same or another one. Noch eins bitte, if you're going to be polite. Which you always should when it comes to the people pouring your drinks ;) Anyway, well you can guess how many times we used that phrase at the bar below the hostel that night.

We slept in the next morning and had a nice breakfast at the hostel. We met a Canadian couple and a guy from Madison. The best part about staying in hostels (besides the price) is meeting people and hearing about their travels. It isn't always super easy because I don't really like to start conversations with strangers, but once you get going it's actually quite enjoyable :P Usually people are on trips for a month or more at a time and it makes me wonder why I'm wasting so much time at work... oh right. Money.

We went for a little stroll to get some coffee and ran into the Herz-Jesu KIrche (Sacred Heart Church)... there's a church like this around every corner... I just happened to take pictures of the this one :) as Edwin says... another town, another church.

Jewish Synagogue

Enough with the random churches. Edwin and Alex finally arrived!! They had to take a bus, then a train, then a bus (I think?) to get from the small town they're from to Köln - we're SO grateful they were able to join us on this adventure. SORRY AGAIN, no camera pictures :( pictures of all of us will need to wait til I get home. Wasting no time, we dropped of their bags and headed back to where all the action is by the river where we sat down for lunch at one of little touristy hubs after nearly getting assaulted by beckoning waiters wooing you with menus and clothed tables. The two Germans ate salad and pizza and the two Americans ate schnitzel... typical right? Edwin really stuffed himself with those leaves. I don't know how he managed to eat so much! Hehe. Everyone had beer, though, of course. The waiter quickly learned who to speak English to and who to speak German to... they catch on really quick. Our accents weren't fooling anyone... even with the extensive time we've spent practicing how to order in a restaurant in German. Edwin and Alex taught us how to not sound like such goobs at least... nothing gives you away faster than trying to speak to locals with direct translations from google translate. We also learned that we must make eye contact when we "prost"! 

We find that just chatting is far more interesting than the "sights" that Köln has to offer. The main museums are art, which we skipped. We did decide to visit the main Cathedral: Der Kölner Dom. Unfortunately, since it was Sunday, it was closed off for a service that all us heathens weren't allowed at ;) We still got to peak around a little... and that's when climbing the 500+ steps to the top seemed like a great idea. Mmmm not so much. The view was great... all of our legs were shaking when we got down and here we are three days later and Andy's calves still hurt. LOL. Perhaps we descended too quickly. 

The height we climbed to was right around the top of the scaffolding on the left side

The rest of this night was just kicking it like a local - or at least that's how it felt to us. We took Edwin and Alex to the brewery we went to the night before (apparently Edwin was still stuffed from his salad, so we decided to skip dinner and just get some ice cream by the river). Unfortunately the brewery was pretty crowded and the service was poor.... we didn't even get to "noch eins" once in like 30 minutes. So we left and bought about a liter of beer each from a convenience shop and walked to the park near the hostel where we just picnicked with beer until the sun went down. 

We continued the party in the hostel bar area (not at the actual bar, but in the restaurant section where they just had a fridge where you help yourself but fill out a slip to pay later with your room bill) where we nearly cleared out the Kölsch section of their fridge carrying on until 2am. The title of this blog is my new favorite phrase to yell auf Deutsch... besceheuert means like preposterous. Or maybe ridiculous. 

The next morning it was pouring rain, so we checked out of the hostel quite early (still feeling pretty groggy) and got a cab to the train station where we were supposed to pick up the rental car. After we picked up the car we went out for breakfast which was kind of a bust. Since we were back in the main area, it's always hit or miss with food.... for like EU 6.50, we were served meat on sliced bread. Lol. At least the coffee was okay I guess, but the music was atrocious (lol). It's definitely hard to find that giant American breakfast that I know and love. 

The weather was dreary, just like my mood. I was so sad to leave Edwin and Alex after such a short amount of time. Edwin and Andy have not stopped chatting on WhatsApp since we have split... their both so goofy. Who knew one could carry on a conversation for so long about train connectors, LOL. Those are Edwin's favorite thing, by the way. He is an expert in high speed train connectors. Yes, he's going to study engineering :P I'm so proud. 

After saying our sad goodbyes, we drove off into the distance... in the rain... not really sure what to expect. This driving portion of our trip takes us down the Rhein along what Rick Steves calls The Romantic Road. This was the part of the trip I was most nervous about.