Koln (aka Cologne) - Germany

We had our first trip on the choo-choo today and it was awesome! The rail pass that we bought only comes in first class which is really cool, but 2nd class is pretty sweet too. The seats are grouped in fours with a little table in between. 1st class has more room, and has little compartments that are like small staterooms. The train goes really fast, I think we were going over 80 mph when we were traveling next to a highway and overtaking the traffic. They have bullet trains that go even faster. The train is great because it brings us right into the heart of the biggest cities without having to drive in. We had a lot of fun hiking through Amsterdam with our packs on to get to Central Station. We planned to change trains in Cologne and head for Koblenz which would take us along the Rhein river, but we decided to spend the night here so that we could see a bit of Cologne. There is an amazing cathedral here, right at the train station that we just finished touring. The area around the train station is pretty Americanized, Mcdonalds and Starbucks etc.. We are staying at a Best Western.

Our new friend Thomas! A great guy that hosted us in Amsterdam for a few days! Really enjoyed our time together and we are looking forward to returning before we finish with Europe.

Hiking through Amsterdam to catch a train to Germany. Back pack on the back and a day pack on the front! We gotta get lighter!!

On the train to Germany. Pretty sweet way to travel!

This is inside the cathedral here in Cologne. I don't remember the name of it and it wouldn't matter if I did! I wouldn't be able to spell it anyway. I think it was something like Kolgrenstwitanshe.

Outside the cathedral, it's far to big to get in a picture.