Saturday, September 30, 2017

Euro Trip 2017: Day 6 - A Splash of the Good Stuff in Cologne


I miscalculated the time it would take me to get to the Berlin ZOB (main bus station) from the hotel so, for a moment, I was anxious. I don't like that feeling of dread as you rush from point A to point B, worrying that you might miss your train, bus or plane. Thankfully, German precision won again, and it took no more than 30 minutes to get to the station.


One of the train stations on the way to the Berlin ZOB

It was a good thing, too, because the driver was quite stern-looking and no-nonsense. She drove the bus to the designated spot, alighted like a boss and cooly instructed the passengers that had gathered around her to place their bags inside the carriage hold in an orderly fashion.

When it was my turn, she said something in German which I took to mean that my bag was bigger than the allowed size. Result: I had to pay an additional two euros. It wasn't a problem, except she didn't have the exact change for the five-euro bill I gave her. She promised to give me the change later on. She found me at the gas station lining up for a Cherry Coke during a bathroom stop and she handed me the change with a small gesture saying that no, she didn't forget.

The bus ride was memorable because, unlike previous rides where there were almost always two men alternating as drivers, on this one, she was alone. She was quite a stickler for cleanliness, too. During another stop, she did a quick inspection of the bus and saw the bread wrapper I stuck on the net holder in front of my seat. She asked me, in German, to toss it inside the plastic waste bag hanging on one of the aisle seats.

And she never stopped talking. I wasn't quite sure what she was saying or who exactly she was speaking with (another passenger? somebody on speaker phone?). But it felt like she was talking during the whole nine-hour journey. But I wasn't complaining. She did get us to Cologne safe and sound.

The train ride from the airport in Cologne where the bus dropped us off to the city proper was quick. The hotel I chose was thankfully easy to find, just a few steps from the Messe-Deutz train station. Travel fatigue was setting in, but it was still light out, and I was eager to explore the city.


First photo in Cologne: the Messe Deutz train station

It was a short walk to the bridge and then on to the famous Köln Dom or Cathedral, which was as spectacular a sight as all the guidebooks and travel blogs promised. I walked around the Old Town just taking it all in. Clearly the decision to go to Cologne was the correct one.


The phenomenon of locks on bridges is clearly a popular one all over Europe and the world

A glimpse of the Köln Dom from the Hauptbahnhof

A walk around Cologne's old town



Spotlights made the Dom all the more beautiful


The Dom on the other side of the Rhine river

Ended the day with a beer at the hotel bar

Next: An unexpected cancellation

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