Day 20-23 Cologne, Paris

I am saddened to report that this will be my final posting from Europe. I am in a small internet cafe near our hotel at Rue De Charrone, Paris. It is very noisy outside with lots of people and cars going by, people speaking French next to me. This keyboards layout is stranger than anything I have encountered so far on the trip so these words are a bit more taxing than normal. I purchased an hour of usage time so I can hopefully convey everything that has happened in the past few days. It would make sense to start off where I left off; Our arrival in Cologne, Germany.

Our train trip from Munich to Cologne was very easy and fast, we took one of the high speed bullet trains. The German countryside was very nice to soak in, small towns and villages sporadically accenting the green rolling farmland and forests, all going by in a blur. Since we have been in major cities for most of this trip, our only chances at seeing countryside have come from our train journeys. From the sparkling blue southeastern coast of Spain, the Tuscan region of Italy, the "ass of Hungary", to the green landscape of Germany, it has all been quite beautiful and fun. I am probably going to be upset with myself later for not staying awake for most of the trips.

We decided to visit Cologne because it was a nice mid point to break up our trip from Munich to Paris, and it resident to a very impressive gothic cathedral. Our hostel was situated very close to the train station and center of the historic center of the city. Like Munich, Cologne was also bombed heavily in WWII. Fortunately some of the major historic landmarks were spared, like the cathedral. And an impressive cathedral it is, by far the most intimidating and awe inspiring cathedral we have seen on this trip. The 2 massive towers shoot incredibly high into the sky, overshadowing an intricate and complicated architecture of the main structure. All of the lines and points of this cathedral are incredibly sharp, the color of the stone nearly black, all giving it a very sinister and gothic look. The inside contained lots of beautiful stained glass and very old tombs. Overall, the scale and "wow" factor of this cathedral was the greatest of the trip.

We walked around most of the main areas of Cologne, and went across one of the main bridges. The Rhine river divides the historic district from from the main commercial areas. Along one of the bridges that we crossed, there were hundreds and thousands of different padlocks attached in random places to the fence that divided the sidewalk from the railway. All of the locks had names and dates on them like "M & S, 1987", I suppose to commemorate a marriage or relationship. We walked across the bridge, took some pictures, walked around the historic district some more called it a day. That night, we went to the bar and pub area of the historic district and I actually got carded by the bartender. This is a country where the drinking age is 18! It must be because I finally shaved...

My final impressions of Germany were quite good. From what I saw, it is a very clean and friendly country. The 2 cities we visited were very modern and nice, and the culture was very much alive in the people. The food is very good as well, but didn't seem to vary much. Lots of sausage and potatoes. I would recommened Munich or Cologne to anyone visiting Europe and passing through Germany. Each place only offers sights to fill up 2-3 days each at most though, a little less to do than some of the other places we visited.

After our brief stint in Cologne, we hopped on the train for Paris the next morning. This trip took us through Belgium and the northwest section of France. Everything was very mountainous and hilly, with almost all the villages and towns rising and falling up and down constantly. We arrived in Paris late in the day around 5 oclock. Paris is by far the biggest, busiest and most frantic city we have been to. The cab ride from the train station to our hostel was like a stop and go rollercoaster with lots of curse words and beeping horns. Our hotel is situated in the eastern central area of the city, several blocks north of the river Seine. On our first night we walked down to the river and saw the Notre Dame cathedral from the outside, and also visited a little tourist area. We had some food at a rather touristy restaurant, and it wasn't very good and was also overpriced. Afterwards we walked back to the hotel and made plans for the next day, filling it with lots of walking and sight seeing.

The next morning, our first stop was the Arc de Triophe. It took us about an hour of walking to get there first, we passed through several different areas of the city and definitely got a feel for the vibe of the city and its residents. I think overall, Paris is somewhat of a dirty city. There is lots of smog and smoke, trash everywhere. This doesn't mean the sights were not amazing however. The Arc was very impressive, much larger than I thought it would be. After seeing the Arc, we made a straight line for the Eiffel tower. While waiting in line to buy our tickets to go to the top of the tower, a flash rainstorm came through and soaked us both, followed by gusty cold wind. It was miserable, but we were determined to wait in line and get to the top of this damn tower. The elevator up was definitely a little scary, the tower becomes thinner the higher up you go, and by the top you are very high up and can hear the wind gusting and buffeting the elevator car. The view was entirely worth it, a spectacular picture of the enormous city.

After the Eiffel, we walked around the city a little more and eventually made it back to our hostel for a nap. That night, we had dinner at a street corner cafe, and this time it definitely did not disappoint. I had Onglet de boeuf, jus a romarin, gratin pommes de terra. Translation: Steak with sauce and au gratin potatoes. I will forever compare any au gratin potatoes I have to the ones I had that night, totally fantastic. The atmosphere of the restaurant was also very nice, low but abundant conversation, the tables very close together, excellent service.

Our next day, we decided to go check out Notre Dame during the day and see some different areas of the city. Notre Dame is a much less sinister looking cathedral than the one in Cologne, but is equally important and impressive. The inside was totally beautiful and again commanded reverance and awe from me. I really love cathedrals and this was no exception. That night, we met up with our friend Mohsin, who we met on a tour bus in Barcelona. He lives and works in Paris and was nice enough to show us around for some sights and nightlife. We tried to get into some fancy clubs but unfortunately the bouncers werent too keen on letting in a party of 4 guys, 1 wearing running shoes (guess who...). We ended up bouncing around to some bars and other areas and getting a cool perspective from actual residents of the city. I want to thank Mohsin and Alex for showing us a good time and I wish them the best of luck!

I only have a couple minutes left so I am wrapping this up now. I will add more to this post later, probably when I get back to the states. Goodbye, Europe. It has been quite an adventure.