Siena

It was dusk by the time we arrived in Siena and guess what? It wasn't raining! My friend Elizabeth had recommended we take a bus from the train station located at a bottom of a very large hill to our destination at the top of the hill within the city walls. It was a beautiful night and we were tired of sitting, so we thought we'd walk. That was easier said than done, as there was a sizable and busy roadway between the train station and the old city. After wandering a bit trying to find a way across what appeared to be a highway of sorts, meandering through a pretty modern mall and a parking ramp, we decided to take the bus. After struggling to figure out where exactly the bus station was, and then which exact bus would get us to our destination, we took an educated guess, and by that I mean we just jumped on a packed bus and crossed our fingers.

Once we made it inside the walls, we knew we were on the right track and we didn't want to risk being taken outside of the city walls by the bus, so we hopped off and made our way to our hotel on foot. By the time we made it into the walled area it was dark and we walked the dimly lit medieval streets, hiking up and down steep cobble stone lanes. Siena is a beautiful city and we were excited to get to our room, get settled and check out the town.

After checking in, we were pleasantly suprised to find out that we had been upgraded! We stayed on a small street, via Giglio, not far from the Campo, or main square of the town.

Stopover in Pisa

As you can imagine, we were pretty excited to get out of Cinque Terre and into a city with a little more, well..."city." We took an early train out of the CT and were on our way in no time.

Pisa is not far from the Cinque Terre, and more or less on the way to Siena, so we decided to do a stop there to check out the Leaning Tower and get a brief glimpse of the rest of the city. After storing our luggage and picking up a map, we exited the train station. We had grown quite accustomed to the rain in Cinque Terre, so we weren't going to let the fact that it was pretty much pouring rain get in the way of our fun.

Speaking of getting in the way-- have any of you ever traveled through major Italian cities on rainy days? Well, this was our first time, and as we exited the station sharing our crummy umbrella, we had to run the gauntlet of men selling umbrellas to ill-prepared tourists.

"Umbrella, Umbrella?" Uh, no thanks. "Umbrella, Umbrella?" Uh, no we're fine, thanks. "Umbrella, Umbrella? Look, we said no to the last two guys, so no, no thanks. "Umbrella, Umbrella?" SERIOUSLY? No! "Umbrella, Umbrella" Is this some kind of joke? "Umbrella, Umbrella?" AHHHH!H!H!H!H.

You get the idea. Eventually, we gave in after the 103rd person asked us. I guess that's how the system works. As we walked the city crowded with umbrella-outfitted tourists and locals, we took in the sights.

Merry Christmas!

The 'Singing Christmas Tree' in Zurich, Switzerland

Santa Claus is Coming To Town from Via Picnic on Vimeo.

The Cinque Terre

It was our longest train ride to date. Over 12 hours from Fussen, Germany to Vernazza, Italy. To put it mildly, the views were nice.

Fussen Pretzel Picnic

It was a warm autumn day in Fussen - perfect picnic weather.

We got pretzels!

Neuschwanstein and Fussen

Ever seen pictures of Neuschwanstein and think “Holy crap, I want to go there?”

Yeah, me too.

Munich

In Munich, and much of Bavaria in general, beer isn't classified as an alcoholic beverage; by law, it's considered food. People drink it on their lunch breaks from work. They don't serve it by the pint - they serve it by the liter. When in Munich...

Best Laid Plans

It's here! It's here! God bless that woman. Taxis are yellow in the Czech Republic, too.

(Side note: I can finally spell "Czech" correctly on the first try. Chezk, Ceck, Czeck.)

Oh *@#! What's that girl doing? She's getting in OUR taxi? Dammit, nothing's easy, ever.

Oh, wait. She's not getting in. "Taxi, no?" says the driver, confused.

"No," the girl replies, then turns to me. "Did you call for a taxi?"

Oh, God bless her, too. And the woman at the taxi service last night, did I mention her?

"Hi, do you speak English?"

"Yes?" She responded as if she were asking question.

"Hi, I'd like to schedule a taxi for tomorrow morning."

"Tomorrow morning, yes?"

"Yes. At seven forty-five."

"Seven forty-five, yes?"

"Yes. To the central station."

"Yes? Train station. What time?"

"Seven forty-five."

"Seven..."

"Forty-five," I respond, completely doubting, at this point, that this woman understands a word I'm saying.

"Central train station, seven forty-five. Okay, bye bye."

It was at this moment that I realized I had neglected to give her the crucial detail of where to pick us up. "No, TO the train station. TO."

"Yes? To the train station? How many persons?"

Not immediately understanding her through the heavy Czech accent, I assumed she asked where to pick us up. "Uh, Krumlov House?"

"Yes? Krumlov. How many persons?"

Still not understanding, I replied, "Seven forty-five."

"Five persons, yes?"

"Oh no, two."

"Okay. Three persons at 7:45. Okay, yes?"

"No, two people. At the Krumlov House. Do you know where that is?"

"Krumlov House, yes? 7:45, three persons, yes?"

Close enough, I thought. "Yes."

"Okay. Thank you. Bye bye."

"Thank you. Bye." I hung up, not sure at all if I had requested what I wanted to request.

Even the best laid plans go awry. That is one of the primary lessons we've learned on this adventure. Taxis sometimes go to the wrong hostel. Transit systems occasionally have detours. And language barriers, at times, seem insurmountable. You keep plugging along with faith that your Plan B works, and if not, you'll be able to devise a Plan C. Sometimes - many times, probably most of the time, but we usually take it for granted - things work out perfectly, like the taxi at the front of our hostel in Cesky Krumlov, saving us a forty minute walk, uphill, with our luggage.

Munich, here we come.

The Ghost of Christmas Present! (In Austria. Coming home soon.)

So much to write about. We're running behind on the blog, but we're getting there. I just wanted to speak in present tense for a bit to share our experiences as our trip comes to a close...

Our last week on this continent. We're in Salzburg, Austria, and I can only interpret the weather here as nature's way of easing us into what we have in store back home, in Minnesota. We hear it's been rather chilly there, especially Thanksgiving night. We were in Venice, where on Friday it rained more or less constantly. You want to know what's worse than a cold winter? A cold fall rain. The tide in the bordering Adriatic Sea goes in and out, as tide does, and in November, the rainiest season in Italy, many of the streets are covered in a few inches of water from the canals flooding just a bit. At times, even my waterproof shoes, which have braved the most threatening puddles from Berlin to Rome, couldn't withstand the overflowing canals. Whole streets unpassable for anyone who wanted to maintain some semblance of sock-dryness.

But that's another blog. Thanksgiving has passed, my parents have come and gone, Rome was created, and then fell. Much to blog about, but we can't wait. It is officially the Holiday Season, and, being freshly snowed upon by Alpen flurries, I am sitting, six floors up, watching white-covered trains pull into and out of Salzburg Hauptbahnhof.

Our hotel is right above a hundred-year-old brauhaus - admittedly young, by European standards - so Karina and I headed down there right-quick. Stieglbrau. Karina had a Goldbrau, I had their Dunkelweisse. Both delicious. As we sat there, the snow started falling. Our first snowfall of the year. While we've seen it here and there, in patches, and coating an Alpen field, we had yet to seen it fall.

We hoped it would still be snowing when we headed out to the Christmas Markets. Hours later, after we visited the markets as I write this, it's still falling, accumulating, making everything look beautiful. A couple mugs of gluhwein - a spiced, warm, red wine - held by mittened hands as we peruse the Christmas ornaments made from glass, carved wood, and fabric. On a whim, I had a baked potato, which, proudly, I ordered by using, soley, my German language knowledge:

"Eine kartoffel," I said, leaving out "bitte," accidentally.

"Mit?"

"Uh...alles," I said, requesting it be loaded with cheese, some kind of herbed sauce, and sour cream. It was delicious, and I regret nothing, even though I spoiled my dinner, burned the roof of my mouth, and neglected to keep my hand sufficiently warm while operating the plastic spoon.

Now, looking down from six flights up onto Austrian train tracks with frequent traffic, listening to the xmas music on my iPod (Sinatra, Crosby, Krall, Guaraldi, Springsteen, McCartney, Lennon, Sufjan, Low), I can't help but recognize how lucky I am, that we could do this thing we've been blogging about, and, mostly, and more importantly, that we have a home to come back to, close to our friends and family.

Cesky Krumlov

Something about the trip to Cesky Krumlov made me feel like we were really far away from home. Perhaps it was the 45 minutes we spent in the Ceske Budejovice train station, waiting for our connecting train.

It was one of those “Where am I moments” particularly enhanced because I wasn’t sure how to pronounce the name of the city that I was momentarily visiting. Perhaps it was the small three car train which clearly indicated the remoteness of our final destination. Perhaps it was a realization of just how many miles we’ve traveled via train on this trip. Or perhaps it was the teeny tiny Czech towns we passed through on our incredibly scenic trip to Cesky Krumlov.

Plzen

We felt a slight tinge of homesickness when John and Amanda left Prague for home. They're back to real life, Minneapolis, the holidays, friends, family. But then we were off, too, leaving Prague for Plzen, a city often ribbed for its lack of things to see and do. I suppose compared to Prague, the city of a hundred spires - and gift shops - it may seem that Plzen pales in comparison. It's harder to find out what's worth checking out in Plzen, to be sure, but with the right resources, and an open mind, one can find plenty to see in the birthplace of the Pilsner Beer.

Plzen Picnic

We got a late start to our first full day in Plzen, so we decided to start our day with a picnic. We stopped by a grocery store to pick up some goodies. This grocery store in Plzen most closely resembled the huge grocery stores we have in MN (as well as across the U.S.A) and don’t ask me why, but I found it strangely comforting. The grocery store was also located next to a McDonalds with a drive-thru! That was the first we’d seen here as well. Perhaps the picture I’m painting for you is not of an idyllic European town, but believe me this was not the case. Jacob and I had walked through the city’s town square the night before on our quest to try some local Czech brews (other than Pilsener Urquell) and it was quite nice. We thought it would be a nice spot for our picnic.

Prague Picnic #2

Sometimes picnics happen when you least expect them. John and Amanda headed back to the Minnie-apple early that morning, so this time we were John-and-Amandaless :( As Jacob explained in an earlier post, the 4 of us took a taxi into Prague. But with only 2 people, the taxi option was too pricey, so we had to do it the old fashion way—public transportation. Normally, we love to take public transportation, but when it involves carrying our enormous bags and squeezing ourselves into packed trains, it’s not very pleasant. On our way to the underground station we stopped by a bakery to pick up breakfast for our train-ride to Plzen. Jacob purchased a pastry with some crunchy-crumblies (that’s the technical definition I think) on top, and I got a cheese-covered pastry.

We hopped on the underground and arrived at the train station much faster than we had expected. That left us good 45 minutes to kill before we boarded the train. It was a beautiful day so Jacob suggested we eat outside in the sunshine.

Czech Prague Out!!!

While it's not really a representation of a city, it's hard for me not to step off of a train and into a train station and think, "So, this is what this place looks like." Prague is no exception. For what it's worth, I'm glad Prague doesn't look like its station, which resembles what people in the 80s imagined the future to look like. The look of the station made me wonder if I'd happen upon a thrice-endowed Martian woman, and an automated taxi driven by Johnny Cab.

Prague Picnic #1

Our pal John suggested that we all picnic in a park just on the edge of the old city, and not far from Prague Castle where we walked earlier that day.

Aaaaand we're back!

We've been without internet for a while now, but we're in Rome and we're back online! Since our last post in Dresden, we've been in Prague, Cesky Krumlov, Munich, Fussen, Cinque Terre and Siena. Hoping to get some posts up this next week, so check back soon. We're also updating photos so check those out too.

Cheers!

Dresden

Jacob and I have been to Dresden before but only at night and only for about 4 hours. We thought it would be a nice spot to stop between Berlin and John and Amanda’s terminus European city, Prague. After purchasing our tickets from a pink-haired lady in the Wittenberg station, we hopped aboard a packed commuter train. We had a hard time finding spots, especially for our luggage, but we managed. Amanda and I spent about 45 minutes talking about soup, stews, and other hearty winter food which made us even hungrier than we already were.

Packed trains make for quality friendship time

Happy Belated Reformation Day!

Did you know that Halloween is also Reformation day? Did you know that Berlin is only an hour away from Wittenberg, home to Martin Luther and the famous Castle Church where Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door starting the Reformation? Did you know that Wittenberg has a huge Renaissance festival celebrating the Reformation on the 31^st? Our original plan had been to leave Berlin and head straight to Dresden, but with the previously stated facts, we decided we pretty much had to go to Wittenberg. It was pure serendipity. So with our traveling buddies, John and Amanda, we said Auf Wiedersehen Berlin und Guten Tag Wittenberg.

Our last week in Berlin

Wow, time flies. Or should I say time flew. When we signed our contract for our month-long stay in an apartment in Berlin, we were really, really excited. But at the same time, we wondered “ Is a month too long? What are we going to do with all that time?” We also wondered if it sounded too extravagant: “We’re going to travel for a month, then stay in Berlin for an entire month, and then finish it off with another month’s worth of travel, pass the caviar and Winston, can you pour me another scotch and soda? No not that scotch, the 100 year old bottle!” But as you’ve read in prior posts, staying in one spot saved us a lot of money in terms of room and board, and also gave us a needed break. And as you’ve also read in prior posts, we kept ourselves very busy. After three weeks we were still finding plenty of new things to see and explore, and I can honestly say I was never bored.

By the time our 4^th week rolled around, we had a lot “housekeeping” to do. We had to nail down the details on the last month of our travel (Where are we going? Where are we staying?), clean the apartment, and do laundry, all on top of trying to enjoy our last week in Berlin. Much of this work was front loaded to the beginning part of the week because our dear friends John & Amanda were coming to Berlin and would be traveling with us for our next few stops! Amazing! We were so happy to see them and to have them traveling with us for a bit! When they finally made it to Berlin we took them on a site seeing extravaganza!

Ich liebe das Nachtleben, Ich mag zu Boogie

To say nothing of Berlin's evening and night scene would be sheer negligence. Berlin is as alive in the night as it is during the daytime.

Berlin Picnic #3

There are places to picnic besides Mauer Park, so we thought we should try one out (even though it was another beautiful Sunday afternoon and no doubt Mauer Park was hopping). Having spent the majority of our time in East Berlin, we thought we should check out a park in the West. The owners of the apartment we were staying in had recommended Schlosspark Charlottenburg—conveniently located in Charlottenburg, right next to the Charlottenburg Palace. We we jumped on the S-bahn and made our way west.

Charlottenburg Palace and its surrounding grounds was the former residence of King Friedrich I. Now it belongs to the people of the Berlin. And of course, the park is well used. There were lots of people out for a nice afternoon stroll enjoying the fall colors and weather.

So Schmeckt Berlin

After nearly a month of travel with our fair share of picnicking and eating out, we were eager to arrive in Berlin where we could actually do some of our own cooking—and do it on the cheap (We were still off on our budget—thanks a lot, Switzerland!). We’ve been doing our best to prepare a lot of cheap meals at home, and then sprinkle in some affordable and moderately priced meals here and there to make sure that we know what Berlin tastes like. So schmeckt Berlin…

(Translation: Tastes like Berlin)

Happy Halloween

Just wanted to wish everyone a very Happy Halloween weekend! And now, please enjoy a portion of an excellent rendition of Bach's very spooky" Toccata and Fugue in D Minor" performed by these talented buskers in Cologne.

Be safe, have fun, and eat a lot of candy for us!

Hamburg Day Trip

We had seen and heard good things about Hamburg, so Jacob and I decided to make a day of it.

On a Wednesday morning, we hopped on an ICE train and an hour and forty minutes later, voila! We were in Hamburg.

Berlin's Festival of Lights

We finally got back outside around 21:30, stepping into the clear, crisp night. The smell of something apple-cinnamon was in the air, and then the earthy smell of fallen leaves. Scarves and mittens were secured and snug as we made our way to the S-Bahn station. Down to Franzosische Strasse first.

Autumn in Berlin

"We're going to miss fall," we'd lament to each other before we left. How a season is perceived is all relative, but if you'd ask me right now what the best season is in Minnesota, I'd say fall. (Ask me in January, and I'd say spring without hesitation.) So while we're definitely lucky that we were able to take this trip, it was with some regret that we'd miss out on autumn. We didn't realize, however, that Berlin's autumn would just be getting underway when we arrived at the beginning of this month. When we arrived, we were somewhat surprised to see so much green. Now twenty days later, that green has quickly turned to reds, yellows, oranges, and in some places even gray.

As a Minnesotan, I know how moody the weather can be. Being in Berlin for this month begs me to ask the question, is it just MN? This has been the most consistent and steady October weather I can remember. We arrived to green grass and comfy long-sleeve tee weather; a week later, we were in hoodies and thought about purchasing scarves; now we are layered, bemittened, and some of these nights strongly suggest headwear. The change was so appropriately metered, it was as if a thermostat was being gently adjusted to make sure everyone was acclimated. This is opposed to Minnesota, which seems to cruelly and almost jokingly swing the dial back and forth, and then a little more forth, then all the way back again, before just dumping six inches of snow on our heads after a week in the 60s. Not to say that anyone can judge the climate of a place by just observing a month, but, like I said, I can't remember a time when the weather's been so kind.

More autumn pictures after the jump...

Berlin Picnic #2

We couldn't resist. We had such an awesome picnic in Mauer Park on our first Sunday in Berlin, that we had to return the next Sunday for another one. It was a beautiful day. Can you blame us?

More pictures and a couple videos after the jump. And details on - *gasp* - a picnic without bread!

Berlin Museums and Memorials

Like any big city, Berlin has a lot of museums - art museums, history museums, even a “Museum Island.” However, since there is so much recent history here - from the rise and fall of Nazi Germany, to the German Democratic Republic, to the fall of the Berlin Wall - the museums and monuments have a certain immediacy and relevance to them than any other city we can think of.

Read about a few of them after the jump!

German Unity Day, and a few flea markets

Karina wanted to make sure we were actually in Berlin, so one of the first sights we went to see was the Brandenburg Gate.

Yep! We're here!

Berlin Picnic #1

Last time I was in Berlin, while walking through Prenzlauer berg one night with some friends, I ended up in an incredible place. Though it was dark and not much could be seen, there were a few pieces there that added up to one of my most memorable nights in Berlin. A park+ a long stretch of the former Berlin wall freshly painted by many of Berlin's artists + swings= incredible. Coming back to Berlin, I was eager to find this spot again--- this time in the light. So on the first Sunday of our stay here, after checking out several other markets throughout the city, we headed to Mauer Park, to check out their market, enjoy a tasty picnic, and see what the park was like in the day time.

It's amazing what daylight can do for a place--that and several thousand people. As we approached the park I was blown away to see SOOOOOO many people. People everywhere! People bargain hunting in the market. People chilling on the grass with their friends. People performing music for crowds. People gathered in droves watching. People spray-painting new works of art on the wall. A.Maze.Ing.

Jacob and I headed toward the large hill where there were so many people hanging out/drinking beer/picnicking/making out/all of the above, it was difficult to find a spot. Eventually we found one and set up.

This picnic wasn't too different from those past-- wine, cheese, bread, veggies. This time we assembled them into a sandwich. At our last picnic I had over-extended my collapsible wine cup, but lucky for me, Jacob was able to fix it!

As we dined we enjoyed a melange of music coming from every different corner of the park, while many adorable dogs played around us.

After our picnic, we checked out the swings!

And after we checked out the swings, we checked out the karaoke performances that were going on just down the hill in an outdoor amphitheater. Brave souls performed for what must have been nearly a thousand people. Minneapolis needs something like this!



The singer in the video above was actually improvising the song based on audience suggestions--- If I remember correctly they were: Angela Merkel, Rumpelstiltskin, and recycling. If you speak German, maybe you'll find it funny too!

Our picnic in Mauer Park was every bit as incredible as our picnic in the alps. The creative spirit of Berliners was overwhelming and it made us very excited for the rest of our time here.

We've been in Berlin

Hey folks - Sorry for the lack of updates recently. We've been gently nudged by a few of you. We're glad you're reading!! Our schedule has been full of Berlin sights, nightlife, and concerts, all of which we'll blog about very soon. Also, in news of the stinky, we lost a bunch of pictures thanks to a memory card malfunction, so there's a gap in our pictures and not many in this blog post (but plenty available on our Flickr site, to the right). We're still hopeful we can possibly recover them...Also, in the news of the friends and family, we miss everyone a lot. Anyway, let me pick up where Karina left off, from Cologne...

It was our longest train ride to date. Or maybe it just felt like it. We were anxious to get to our next destination, the place we were staying the longest: Berlin. We've been trying to take advantage of our time on the train, finding something productive to do while sitting still. Drafting blog posts, emails, perhaps sorting pictures. If we were working on a Mac, we'd probably spend some time with Photo Booth. It's amazing how useless a computer feels without the internet. Some trains have wifi, but of course they charge.

This was our first ride in the first class of a train, thanks to the folks at Rail Europe. It's not that it was all that uncomfortable in second class, but boy, leg room sure is nice, as is not wrestling for the arm rest with the guy in the seat next to me. I also enjoyed the absence of any smells reminiscent of body odor, or any just-as-offensive fragrance used to cover up said body odor. So yeah, I guess I'd say first class was nice.

After about four hours, we finally started seeing signs of the sprawling metropolis that is Berlin. And then, in the distance, we spotted the Berlin TV Tower, a massive structure erected by East Germany in the 60s. It remains today the tallest structure in all of Germany. Last time we were here, I don't think I ever made it to the base of it, but it can be seen from virtually anywhere in the city. It looms over Mauerpark, a former Berlin wall "death strip" turned urban green space. From elevated S-Bahn lines, it can be seen shining in the gaps between apartment buildings. Visitors to the dome atop the Reichstag can either look down onto the German Parliament, or Eastward to the tower's impressive geodesic sphere. I would liken it to seeing the lake at the cabin up north, or the skyline of your home city after being gone for awhile. After three-plus weeks of being on the go, no home base, in places that were - for me anyway - completely foreign, it felt good to see a familiar sight.

When we arrived at Berlin's Central Station (Hauptbahnhof), we transfered to an S-Bahn train, then to a U-Bahn train which should have taken us within just a couple blocks of our destination. Little did we know that the track was under construction a few stops before ours, so we were forced to exit well before we wanted to. We had the option of transferring to a replacement bus service, but when the first one filled completely up before we were able to board, we decided to make the final haul on foot. With, once again, the heavy duffels on our backs, and the day packs on our fronts, we set off on the very doable 2km stretch.

Of course there was a catch: we told our accommodator we would arrive at the doorstep at a certain time, which had passed about 45 minutes ago. Hoping he'd still be there when we arrived, we speed-walked to the apartment, as running with the weight on our backs would have certainly killed us. (All the while, I should mention, more replacement U-Bahn buses, the ones we could have been on, passed us on the street. So that's fun.)

We finally arrived, ragged and sweating, and the caretaker, who was very nice given we had left him waiting for at least an hour, led us to our home away from home for the next month. After sharing small, scantily-designed bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchens, and general living spaces with perfect strangers for the better part of a month, the new place seemed unbelievably large, even though it's essentially a studio. Our own place!

After our travels we yearned for a home-cooked meal, which we could finally cook with our newfound kitchen. After a quick trip to the grocery store, we made a quick batch of spaghetti and salad, and, since it was a Friday night, watched an episode of TPT's Almanac before going to bed, ready to explore Berlin in the morning...

Cologne

We wanted to check out another town between Amsterdam and Berlin, so Cologne seemed like a good idea. Famous church, and famous beer-- works for us!

Before we got to Cologne, our visit was nearly thwarted by a "really mean, really stupid lady." Let me explain. We got up early our last morning in Amsterdam to get to the train station so we could catch the 10:34 train to Cologne. Since we were only going to be there one day, we thought it'd be smart to get there as early as reasonably possible. A 10:34 train put us into Cologne around 1. Great! We arrived to the Amsterdam train station around 9:40, which in any other place would have been PLENTY of time to purchase tickets and catch a train. Not in Amsterdam though!

Problem #1:

I waited in a line to purchase tickets that did not accept American credit cards. That would have been nice to know before I waited through the entire line. We were told we needed to go to the international travel area where they'd kindly accept my credit card. No problem. We still had plenty of time. 40 minutes!

Problem #2:

We arrived in the international ticketing area and got in line. Wait, no we didn't. We needed to get a number, so that we could get in line to purchase a ticket. Sheesh. I wandered back to the entrance of the international ticketing area to get a number. Near the entrance I saw a uniformed lady standing casually next to a number dispensing machine. I wasn't entirely sure that this was where I could get the number, because she looked more like she just happened to be standing there and did not necessarily look like she was involved in dispensing the numbers. I approached the woman.

"Um, hi-- is this where I get a number to buy a ticket?" I said.

"WHAT DO YOU WANT?" the lady screeched back at me.

"I'd like a number to.."

"WHAT DO YOU WANT?" she repeated. I decided to elaborate.

"I want to purchase an international train ticket."

"YES BUT WHAT DO YOU WANT? WHERE ARE YOU GOING?"

"Um, I'd like to go to Cologne..."

"WHAT DAY WHAT TIME WHEN???"

"Today at 10:30," I told her. She looked down at her watch and punched some buttons in the kiosk. Maybe she's just giving the me a ticket here? No such luck. She handed me a number "c075." Great. I headed back to the ticketing area.

Not great. They were only on C051. I could tell that it was moving slowly. The electronic board that listed the numbers and the corresponding desks people should go to was also calling another section of numbers in the A430's. Soon enough they were mostly calling A's and were rarely calling C's. I overheard an American nearby saying that they were also taking the 10:34 train to Cologne and that it SEEMED like those who were in a hurry were getting A's, and those with "plenty of time" were getting C's. While, in any NORMAL train station, I did have "plenty of time," I could tell that at the pace they were calling C's, I really should be in the "in a hurry" category. Jacob went to the number dispensing agent to try to get an A (it was a different woman than the one with whom I dealt and she was much nicer), and received one by providing the exact information that I provided to the grouchy woman. However, by this time our chances for making the 10:34 train to Cologne looked bleak. But there was still a chance. Wouldn't you know, they called my number at 10:31. We ended up missing the train by about 2 minutes. All because of this incredibly rude woman who was either 1) Purposefully mean or 2) Incompetent or 3) both. (I think it was #3). Because of this woman, we missed several hours of daylight sightseeing in Cologne and we ended up spending 2 hours in a train station "New York Slice" fast food restaurant.

I'm happy to say that good triumphed over evil, and we eventually made it Cologne. The first thing you see when you step out of the train station is the Cologne Cathedral. Holy moly, that thing is imposing!

We decided we would check it out after depositing our bags at our hostel. We jumped on the underground and arrived at our hostel, the Weltempfanger.

We were quite pleased with our room-- one of the nicest places we've stayed so far.

Jacob checks out the view

It's a nice view!

The staff there were very helpful, giving us a few recommendations for where to try some good Kolsch beer. We had read that the Cathedral was open quite late, so we decided to grab a beer, some dinner, and check out the neighborhood first.

Cologne was heavily bombed during WWII, so the resulting city is a mix of old and new. The area where we walked had tons of pizza, falafel, and doner places in addition to lots of clothing shops. In general, it doesn't seem to be much of a tourist town (though we weren't hanging out in the touristy areas), and very few people that we encountered spoke English. This made for at least one awkward experience at our first stop, "the smallest brewery in Cologne."

We walked in and ordered "zwei bier" and the bartender replied back in German with a reply that seemed much longer than the "coming right up" response we were expecting. We stared at him blankly. "Sprechen Sie English?" "Nein" he replied. Thankfully a couple who had been previously chatting with him when we first arrived did. "The bar is closed. It opens at 6." It was only 5:15. Oops! We thanked them and quickly exited the building. 6? Whatever happened to "it's 5 o'clock somewhere?!" ;)

We decided to grab some food in the meantime so we found a very cheap and tasty pizza place and enjoyed some personal pans along with a Kolsch. Afterwards we headed back to the first bar and enjoyed a delicious microbrew as the place quickly filled with locals.

Next stop? The Cathedral! We hopped on the underground and arrived at the Cathedral around 8. Although the website said it would be open, it was clearly not open. We'd have to check it out in the morning.

A bit creepy in the night, wouldn't you say?

No worries though-- we ended up walking around the downtown area where tons of shops lined the streets.

Including shops with names that might raise a few eyebrows with the English speaking world.

We were also treated to a few tunes by some very talented street performers. What an awesome looking bass!

Our next stop was a very cosy brewpub that made Jacob and I regret that we had already eaten. The food smelled soooo good! If we had been in Cologne another night we would have HAD to come back to eat the delicious smelling German comfort food. mmmm. The server came around with a fancy beer tray that carried about 10 small glasses of beer, and asked us "Kosch?" Yes please.

The restaurant had such a warm, friendly atmosphere-- it was hard to leave! But we had to catch an early train to Berlin AND see the Cathedral in the morning. If only we had two more hours to spend in Cologne (thanks a lot, really mean stupid lady from Amsterdam!).

Next morning, we needed to find a quick breakfast, so Jacob enjoyed Germany's version of the Egg McMuffin, and I picked up some pretzel rolls for the train ride. We then headed over to the church. As I mentioned before, it is quite imposing, and it is so large that you get a bit of vertigo looking up at its towers.

The floor space inside was HUGE. I was surprised that it was considerably less ornate on the inside then many of the churches we've been in. However, it did contain my favorite stain-glass window thus far.

Unfortunately, we didn't have time to climb the tower to get the Cologne panorama. We had to make a train.

We enjoyed our short time in Cologne, and wish we would have had more time. Yes, I'm still talking about that really mean, really stupid lady.