Köln

Hahaha I like your post, Nick! Maybe in a few months you can be my chaffeur. =D

Anyway, I had a short two-day trip to Köln (Cologne) during the 23rd to 24th of June. It was a four-hour journey from Freiburg with the train. And so I arrived at 7p.m. at the Köln Central Station.

(Train) Central Station.

A wonderful view of the Köln Dome greeted my eyes the moment I stepped out of the Station. Lots of young people were just sitting around the stairs at the foot of the cathedral.


This is how the Dome actually looks like, I only captured half of it in the previous picture.

From there I went on foot in search of my hostel, walking along the Rhein river.



Again, there were lots of people just chilling out along the bank of the river. It was a beautiful day with beautiful weather!

I finally found the hostel after around 45 minutes. It's actually only a 10-minute walk from the station (according to the hostel website).


Am Rheinauhafen Hostel

I had so much trouble locating it at first, even though I was standing right in front of it, cos at eye level it just looks like a bar! Apparently the people even check in at the bar counter. =.=

The hostel was quite small, but at least clean.

For 39 euros per night, I get this and public bath and washroom. But it was supposed to be a single room lah, I duno what the double decker bed was there for.

In the evening I went walking around a bit, and I saw this!

Monty Python's SPAMALOT Musical =D
It was in London and New York and now in Köln! Too bad I was only there for two days. =(

The next day after depositing my luggage at the station:


I went and visited the Musikhochschule (Music Uni). It looks horrible.

Dark grey rubbery, plasticky floor. Light grey pillars. Light grey ceiling. Light grey walls. (They're all cement.) And funny splashes of gaudy colours like bright green, bright yellow, bright red, all in funny places. Eww.



Then I went walking around in the Central Station, and whiled away the time reading Agatha Christie's Three Little Pigs. I was so nearly finished when a salesperson came and told me that if I want to finish the book, I'll have to buy it. What on earth right! But I just went and put it back, walked around a bit, and then finished it anyway. =D

Saw this in the station too. It's a model of the trains in Germany. If you put in some coins, the trains actually move!

But anyway, the saddest thing about that trip is, I actually went there for the entrance exam at the uni, and I failed. =(
So now I only have one more chance: auditioning here in Freiburg. If I fail that, well, it's back to Malaysia for me.

I spent the trip home reading and drowning my sorrow in this, on the train. Reading about this crazy dog certainly cheered me up a lot. I would strongly recommend this to everyone, if you haven't read it already.

That's all for now. =)