First stop, Cologne

My planned two month journey commenced early in the morning of October 2nd. The previous evening there had been a birthday so it was not until late that night that i managed to get some much needed sleep. The sound of my alarm at half past 3 gave me a sense of excitement in anticipation of what lay in front of me. After finishing packing i through on my bag and left the house in the direction of the bus stop. I would have to catch no less then 3 buses to get to Victoria stn, where i would then catch a train to Gatwick Airport. Thankfully all went smoothly and i managed to catch all the buses in time. It was a rather uneventful and short flight to Germany.

These trains have some pace to them.

As i stepped out of the plane i thought to myself, at last I've made it! To understand the significance of this statement you would need to have known that both my brother and sister were lucky enough to have been to Germany as children. This left me being slightly envious at their good fortune in contrast to what i maybe thought at the time was a case of me being abandoned. However that was a long time ago and now i had long since realised that with Independence comes certain freedom's. Therefore i made the decision to wait for my cousin to return from his extensive trip down under before i began my journey.

An imposing sight that you can see from almost anywhere in Cologne.

My initial encounter with the German rail system was indeed a positive one. The platforms themselves spoke a great deal about the efficiency, cleanliness and reliability that i had heard about. The trains themselves were very quiet and combined with the simple, plain colour scheme impressed me enough to give them the tick over the London underground offerings. Another feature of the Deutch bahn is the lack of turnstiles that grace every train station you'll find in London. I thought to myself at the time, what do they try to achieve through this method? Surely it gives the commuter an invitation to avoid fare's combined with the lack of signage warning of the consequences of such behaviour. My curiosity later lead me to ask Tobias what the deal was. His response expressed the same confusion i felt, but it could be a variety of reasons.

Tall and Gothic in nature

Having navigated the Hauptbahnhof, i stood waiting in anticipation of Tobias's arrival. Just outside the station i could spy the huge towering Cathedral that dominates the view of the city from just about any vantage point. We set off together in the direction of his flat, a mere 5 min walk. He had come on his pushbike, which soon became apparent was by far the best and easiest way of getting around. Luckily for me he had a spare bike which i was more then happy to make use of. I was pretty trashed so i spent the rest of the afternoon catching up on sleep. Once Tobias was back from work we set off for a nearby Italian place to eat. After downing some pizza we met up with some of Tobias's friends, a couple who lived in a flat just above where we were eating. The couple had a small baby and the father's occupation was quite peculiar as he was apparently a neuro surgeon. He took the both of us through where the baby was sleeping up a ladder to the roof. It was surprising how few high rise buildings there were, apparently this was nothing was allowed to be built in close proximity to the Cathedral. The rest of the night Tobias acted as my tour guide, showing me around the sights whilst letting me know everything about everything. It was quite impressive how he could recall seemingly endless amounts of info on pretty much anything.

Tobias reminiscing of his more youthful days

Day 2
Today was a public holiday, being the day Germany unified. A perfect excuse to sleep in! Brunch consisted of some delicious German bread and an assortment of cheeses, yum. We finally got outside around midday before heading to the Cologne city museum. It contained an assortment of interesting things connected with the city. We then spent a short time in the massive Gothic cathedral opposite the train station. Tobias had mean while organised for us to drive with his friends (with whom i had met last night) to some old industrial factories. We walked up what i assume was a big iron smelter, looking at all the pipes, bolts etc that made up its construction. I could appreciate how difficult it would be to understand just how it all works. The top platform was a little over 60m tall. This gave me a good view of some of the industry and mines in the far distance, a lot of which is no longer in use. We explored a little more before we headed back to the car park, snacking on some of the local fare (Currywurst) along the way. That evening we saw the Disney film, Ratatouille which was an enjoyable feel good flick.

Outer Cologne from 60m up

Day 3

Tobias had to work on Thursday but i had already organised to meet up with his father who lived in Bonn, about half an hour by train. In the morning he took me to the building where he worked and showed me around. He did a short recording of a teaser for some comedy festival, this is his main task for the Cologne radio station. I got to watch as the lady very eloquently spoke this 60 sec promo, which would be then later edited with music added etc. Afterwards i took the train to Bonn and got picked up by Klaus, an interesting man who i would describe as being typically 'German'. At his house i found a very simple and what some might describe as backward dwelling with very little evidence of any modern technology present. I accepted the offer of a second breakfast just to be polite as we discussed his work in the field of Nuclear Power safety. Christoph, Tobias's brother had come to Australia when i was quite young but he looked completely different when i saw him. He keenly showed me his cd collection and speakers which he had apparently been wanting to get for some eight years. Klaus took me in his car around some of the sights, the first a big Monastery on a hill with practising monks inside. Then we checked out the city centre of Bonn, where Beethoven lived. There was a cool sculpture of him and you could see his house in the streets. A short drive later and a hike up a hill (Oil mountain in English) and i found myself overlooking the area. Unfortunately today was a bit cloudy but Klaus was content to smoke his pipe while i took photo's of the misty hills. Dinner was at a Chinese restaurant by the Rhine, where we could watch the boats or lack there of float past. The slightly crazy Christoph took me to the train station back to Cologne and ultimately back to Tobias's place. A hotly contested game of chess ensued to finish the day.

3d statue of Beethoven in Bonn

Day 4

Today was Friday and i didn't do all that much. A notably nice breakfast at a funky cafe kicked things off. I bid farewell to my cousin before heading in the direction of the Cathedral with the goal of climbing the south tower. At the top i was rewarded with a nice view of the city and a look at the massive 24 tonne bell which apparently only gets used on special occasions. The cathedral treasury was another part of the ticket but it turned out to be slightly disappointing with mainly a collection of robes/clothes priests wore along with other ceremonial gear. I thought id ride along the Rhine just to get a feel of the place and check out a chocolate museum which was in the same direction. I looked inside but didn't go in, i slightly regretted the decision later when i found out you could drink chocolate from a stream. If only id have known! Anyhow i found my way to one of the old roman gate's found in the city where i met up with Tobias for lunch. I was directed to an outdoors shop nearby where i picked up some cheap pants and a jumper. That evening we hired a car and drove about an hour out of town to see a Ska band with whom Tobias was good friends with. It was held in a small nightclub venue with approximately 100 people turning out to see the gig. The support band and the main band were both quite good, having a really fun playing style. The only downside being that i probably inhaled more smoke in that one night then i had in my entire life! Oh and my clothes stank. I was to become quite accustomed to this though. There was an afterparty afterwards which we stayed at briefly although i must say i was relieved to be going back to a nice warm bed. The next day i would catch (run to) the train to Berlin, cutting it quite fine in the end :P On the whole i liked Cologne and had a good time hanging out with my 'super' German cousin :)

Serbian Ska band Trovaci