The first thing we saw when we stepped off the train was all the delicious German food. Lots and lots of meat and potatoes!! While it was tempting, we were anxious to get to out hostel and get settled. Our hostel wasn't too hard to find and it was brand new so everything was really nice! We spent that night gnawing on delicious food from a late night snack store. Emily and I had some sort of double layer pizza with spinach.
The next morning we did some sightseeing. The main attraction that brings people to Cologne is the Cathedral. It is literally massive...so massive I couldn't fit it into one picture. Mass was going on when we got there, but we decided to pay the 1 euro and hike to the top of the church. The view from the top was amazing, but actually quite scary. There are basically no stops once you start climbing the stairs and once you do get to the only stopping point under the rotunda then you have to walk up these scary stairs where you can see how far you're climbing up.
One we got to the top it was a relief but it was also really cold! That's the only bad part about sightseeing in the winter, everything is soo cold! The view was really great and since it was sunny you could see for a ways.
After the church we went back to the hostel to get out stuff for the soccer (futbol) game. FC Koln was playing..well i'm not sure. :) They were from Germany and their colors were blue, but we couldn't figure out who they were. The stadium they played at was huge and it was packed!! The other team's fans were all together in a small section with no chairs so they jumped up and down the whole time, waved flags, and chanted. Of course the Koln fans just yelled at them and flipped them off.
The game was really good! No one scored so the end result was disappointing, but nonetheless I had a great time cheering for my adopted team. After the game it was madness! The security was intense. My highlight was seeing a line for the men's bathroom...that would never happen in the States.
Lindsay ran into some high school kids and they proceeded to hang out with us for the next couple hours. We went to a Mexican restaurant and had some chips and queso. It was good, but I was waiting for some Thai food back near the hostel although that would never happen because they closed before we got back.
That evening we just hung around the hostel bar and just chilled.
The next morning we checked out of the hostel and walked around a little bit more. We crossed the Rhine river, got some delicious pastries, and had an excellent lunch. I had spicy schnitzel and fries!!
We had about an hour before going to the train station so we split up into two groups. Jackson, Emily, and I decided we would follow all the people dressed up to wherever it was they were going. We had noticed on Saturday that some people were dressed up...I guess getting an early start on Carnivale. We followed these people all the way to this hotel with hundreds of people in costumes. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.
After that we made it to the train station with time to spare so I grabbed a Starbucks!! The only Starbucks in Brussels is in the airport so I had to take advantage. It wasn't cheap either, but it was worth it! And finally some decent proportions.
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