köln

as i hoped, we spent the last couple of days up in köln. it's about 20 minutes from bonn, and is about four times the size. as soon as you walk out of the train station you're met by the kölner dom - the köln cathedral. it is collosal, and it's gothic architecture gives it a really intimidating presence. aaah. it was started in 1248, but wasn't actually completed until 1880. when j & i first went in, they were about to begin mass. not sure why, but we decided to sit through it. as much as i love mass (...), it was a relief to duck outside the second it finished because it was as cold as antarctica inside that cathedral. so cold that when we walked out, the temperature (7°) felt warm. brr.

but hey, at least now i know how to say jesus christ in german.

we found a good hiding spot from the cold - the früh brewery/restaurant. deliciously traditional german cuisine plus deliciously traditional früh beer makes for a very happy steph. we rolled out of the door 2 hours later, and decided to take a walk over the rodenkirchen bridge. in itself, it's quite a boring, ugly bridge...but over the years, people have given it more personality by attaching "love locks" to the rails. the tradition has caught on, such that today there is next to no free space on the rails. we had a read of some of the engravings, and found some dating back to 1990. so much love!

luckily i had locals (aka jana, nils & adrian) with me in köln, because otherwise i would've gotten lost several times in and amongst the winding streets - which, by the way, all look the same. we did some alot of shopping, and i now have a bit of a thing for h&m, zara and topshop. too bad my pack doesn't share this same love...should make packing my bag tomorrow (sob) a bit of a challenge...

i've booked a flight out of germany for tomorrow, but i'm so tempted to accidently forget to go to the airport. i'm going to miss deutschland so much, and i'd rather stay for longer, but...london's calling.

bis zum nächsten mal,

S.