Smells like Cologne!

I'm here!!!!!!!! I made it safely to Europe. This is Kirstin. I can't believe I'm actually here! So when I arrived in Cologne I was greeted at the airport by my two beautiful travleing companions. I was happily surprised to discover that Julian, (an exchange student that lived with Haley's family for a while) had a sister that let us use her flat downtown Cologne for the week. The flat is so cute, cozy, and easily accessible to downtown. I slept for 15 hours the first night (Lindsay thought she would be nice and let me sleep half of my day away!!) but it was much needed. Fortunately, I was able to adapt to the time change fast. My first day in Cologne was amazing. The three of us took the train to meet up with Julian at the city center. We walked around the shopping center for quite a while (and of course bought a few souvenirs!) and headed to the cathedral.

Dom Cathedral is a Roman Catholic Church that dates back to 1248. Construction of the church began then, but the church was not completed until 1880. During World War II the church suffered immense damage, but didn't collapse.

We walked around inside the cathedral...truly an amazing experience. I had studied the cathedral in an art history course while in school...and to see it in person....WOW! We had the opportunity to hike to the top of the bell tower...not an easy task, but before we did, we had to take another jumping picture! This is in the tunnel that leads to the stairs of the bell tower.

We took narrow winding stairs to the top, stairs that EVERYONE used traveling up and down. We thought we were going to pass out from stair stepping. The sight from the top was gorgeous. You could see all of Cologne, and the cathedral sets right along the Rhine River. Of course after our little jaunt up the bell tower, we were hungry.

The four of us ate at a small little cafe close to the cathedral. Haley had bloodwurst sausage with potatoes (surprisingly delicious), Lindsay had potatoe cakes with applesauce (yum!), and I had the best salad ever! Sauteed mushrooms, bacon, and onions! The Germans really know how to eat! After our break we shopped a little longer, than went back to the flat to relax. The three of us stayed in for the evening to rest up for the next day and plan the rest of our trip.

The next mornig we headed back to the city center in search of a post office and some good food. We had lunch near the central train station...awesome food. Lindsay had currie wurst (delicous), Haley had a sandwich that is pretty popular here (eggs, tomatoes, and cucumber), and I had a sandwich with brie and tomatoes. We weren't full yet so we had to have dessert. I don't know what it was called, but it was the greatest thing I've ever had. All I can compare it to is a doughboy donut, but way better. We sat down at a starbucks infront of the cathedral, enjoyed the sun, and wrote some postcards. Yes, it is sunny and beautiful here. It's been in the upper 60's, low 70's....perfect!

After our little break, we walked through old town Cologne, an area less touristy. We walked past an irish pub, heard some men speaking with strong irish accents, and of course we had to stop in. We sat down for a drink and started a conversation with some of the guys. We now have irish friends!!!! Kevin, Collin, Jim, and James!!! We talked for a few hours with them, asked them all about Ireland, where to go, where not to go. They are from a small town called Cork. All of them are finishing up carpentry and electrician apprenticeships, and head home to Ireland next Wednesday. Hopefully we will see them in Ireland! They were very friendly and extremely fun to chat with. We are definitely excited to visit Ireland!

Later in the evening we met up with Julian and a few of his friends from Cologne. We went to a huge dancing club and danced our socks off!!!!! So much fun. We met a lot of interesting people at the club and had a great time.

Right now the three of us are resting up, packing up, and prepping for our train ride to Prague. We leave this evening on a night train to the Czech Republic, YAY!!!!! We are so excited. We upgraded to a semi-sleeper train and will hopefully sleep during the night so we are ready for the day when we arrive in Prague. We arrive in the morning so it should work out perfect.....

We are having an amazing adventure together. Lots, lots, lots of laughing. I couldn't have asked to travel with better friends.

Well, signing off........we will update in Prague hopefully!!!!!

-Kirsten

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P.S: This is Haley, I wasn't able to upload photos from my camera...until now. Here are a few photos from our visit with Stefan that I couldn't put before.

Here Lindsay and I are doing another crazy jump picture in front of a government building in Hanover.

This is a picture of our gracious hosts that made us feel so comfortable while we were in Hänigsen. Thank you all so much!

I loved being here in Cologne to see where Julian lives and to meet some of his friends. Thanks Julian for making us feel so welcome.

-Haley