Why are we always running? (Köln)

Last Saturday, Adriana, Lara, Taisy, and I went to Köln. As a mentioned in my last post, you can get a good deal on train tickets when you buy them for a group of five. For 46 Euros, a group of five people can travel anywhere in Germany for one day with unlimited use of public transportation. We only had four people, but that only meant that we each had to chip in 11.5 euros rather than 9.2.
Lara and Adriana met at the Gießen Bahnhof and bought the ticket, and when the train came through Wetzlar, Taisy and I got on. We were on our way a little after 10 and we got to Köln at about 12:30. The train ride was pretty uneventful. We had to make a pretty tight connection in Siegen, but we made it thanks to a flat out sprint from one train to the next. Which begged the question Taisy and I ask our selves nearly every time we're together, why are we always running?
After arriving in Köln, the first thing we did was visit the Kölner Dom because it is literally right next to the Hauptbahnhof (Main train station). The Dom was so breathtakingly beautiful; I have no idea how humans are actually capable of building such things. All of the pictures I took don't seem to do it justice. I could never even manage to capture the whole thing in my lens anyway… so I bought a nice postcard.

A group photo in front of the Dom.

A photo of one tower taken from the South side.

Fun facts:

• There is a shrine behind the alter of the Kölner Dom witch holds the bones of the Three Wise Men who brought gifts to the baby Jesus.
• The Kölner Dom is Germany's most visited landmark, attracting about 20,000 people a day.
• It is the largest Gothic Church in Northern Europe and has the second tallest spires.
• Its two large spires give it the largest facade of any other church in the world.
• It is 157m (515ft) tall and I climbed 100 of those meters.

There was an opportunity to climb up one of the towers, an opportunity that of course we were going to take. Lara had already done it once before so she opted to meet up with us afterward. Once we started climbing, we didn't blame her. Most of our ascent consisted of a very narrow spiral-staircase, not for the  claustrophobic or acrophobic. Tired and slightly dizzy, we reached the top where we got a 360 degree view of Köln from 100m above the earth. Many people had written their names on the walls there, and much to my surprise, I found mine and my brother's name side-by-side. 

On our way up.

Finally made it! I'm pointing to where we are standing in the Dom

Must be fate.

*Note: With the exception of the photo of the South tower and the photo of mine and my brother's names, all photos here have been shamelessly stolen from the lovely Taisy. I left my cell phone containing all my pictures at a friends house this weekend. I will add some of my own photos when I get a chance.*

After we made our way back down, we met up with Lara again and went to the Weihnactsmarkt for lunch. There was a ridiculous amount of people there. It was pretty unpleasant having to push through the huge crowd of people. That being said, it's one of the best known Weihnachtsmärkte in Germany, the food was good, and I did a little bit of Christmas shopping for my Americans. 
Around four o'clock, Adriana and Lara met up with a plethora of other Latin American exchange students. Taisy and I hung around for a bit, but due to my Spanish being out of practice and Taisy's nonexistent, we decided to split and go to the Schokoladenmuseum Köln. 
With a vague idea of where it's located, the GPS in my phone, and the help of some strangers, it didn't take us too long to find the museum. Although it may have been quicker if we just followed the strong, heavenly scent of German chocolate wafting through the air. 
Upon paying our entrance fee, we were each given a tiny chocolate bar which was made right there in the museum. We learned just about everything one could learn about chocolate. There were exhibits on everything from the origin of chocolate, to the plant it comes from, modern production, and everything in between. The museum was complete with a tropicarium filled with cocoa plants, a small scale versions of machines used to produce chocolate, and chocolate fountain. Taisy said it reminded her of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and I have to say that I agree. The only thing I could have possibly wished for was more time to experience the whole thing… well that and more free chocolate.

The glorious chocolate fountain

Eventually we had to leave to meet up with the others. But not until I spent eleven something Euros in the chocolate shop, not for me, but to send back to America. Mom, if you're reading this, I guess you might have a clue what is coming to you in that package I sent.
We were running a little bit late for our designated meeting time with Lara and Adriana, so yet again, we found ourselves running (and pushing through large crowds of people).
Before we had to leave, we wanted to try the local specialty beer of Köln called Kölsch. Luckily there was a grocery store right in the train station where you could buy it. As we were looking around for something to open the beer with, I happened to see the time on my watch. "Umm, hey guys, our train leaves in four minutes and we don't even know what platform to be on." You guessed, this comment sparked another sprint to catch our train. At this point, I can't say I'm not used to it.
Once we got to our platform, we saw that the train was completely full. People were reluctant to let us on since they were already packed in like sardines. One of the others suggested that we just get the next train, but we knew that wouldn't get us home until almost midnight. We ended up just kind of forcing our way onto the train. We had to stand most of the way back to Siegen, which my tired feet didn't agree with, but it was an awful lot better than hanging around in a train station for a few hours.
This time our connection in Siegen was even closer because our train from Köln was running late. We arrived at the station at the time that our second train was supposed to be leaving. On a wing and a prayer and a good healthy sprint, we managed to catch our train. The remainder of our trip was much more relaxed, save for some rowdy soccer fans that boarded the train for a few stops.
We finally reached Wetzlar, and by the time I walked home I was just ready for sleep.

Fun in Frankfurt

On Monday I went to Frankfurt for the afternoon/evening with Adriana, an exchange student from Venezuela. Adriana had to visit the Venezuelan Embassy and invited me to come along with her so after she'd finished what she needed to do at the embassy, we could explore Frankfurt and definitely check out the Weihnachtsmarkt there (Weihnachtsmakt = Christmas market). So Sunday night I asked my host parents if I could go and they said it was alright, but first I should call Uta (our AFS coordinator) to make sure that it was okay for the two of us to go alone. And so, I had my first phone call completely in German. The phone call went a well, except I was really nervous and I made Sarah stand with me while I called, just in case. Uta said that of course it was fine that we go to Frankfurt and wished us "viel Spaß!"

So Monday after school (I only had school until 1pm!), I met Adriana at the train station. We were just about to buy our train tickets when a woman asked us if we're going to Frankfurt because she had two extra tickets (in Germany you can get special discounts on tickets when you buy them in groups of five). She asked us to pay seven euros for each ticket, which is about half of their normal price.
Taking a train from Gießen to Frankfurt takes about a half an hour, and there are at least two trains per an hour going to Frankfurt. It was kind of mind boggling for me that I could be in a city the size of Boston in just a half hour; whereas from where I live in America, it takes an hour by car to get to a "city" of 42,282 people. Also, I really appreciated the freedom of being able to go Frankfurt with just one other exchange student when just three months ago I had no idea how to speak German or use the train system. And three months ago, if I'd found myself in a large city of which I could hardly speak the language and I had no idea how to navigate, I would probably have a mental break down.
After arriving in Frankfurt at about 2 o'clock, we decided that our first order of business would be to find the Venezuelan Embassy. Equipped with the address of the embassy and Google maps in my phone, we still managed to get a bit lost. We ended up asking for directions about three times. Eventually we found the embassy, spotting the Venezuelan flag from down the street and running gleefully in its direction.

Upon arriving at the embassy, much to our dismay, we discovered that it had closed at 10 o'clock that morning. After a few minutes of wallowing in our self-pity and trying to decide what we should do next, we noticed two men exiting the embassy. Adriana had a short conversation with them in Spanish, most of which I did not understand (unfortunately, it seems that as I learn German, I'm forgetting my Spanish). Then the men let us into the embassy where Adriana talked to some more people in Spanish and was able to do whatever she needed to do there.
Next, we decided to go to the Frankfurt Weihnachtsmarkt. I had already been to the Weihnachtsmarkt once with my host family, but only briefly, so I was happy to go back. We simply asked someone on the street in which direction the Weihnachtsmarkt is, and we were on our way.
Once at the Weihnachtsmarkt, we bought the obligatory Currywurst, crepe, and hot Apfelwein. When you get something to drink at a Weihnachtsmarkt, the vendors give it to you in a mug that you're required to return (or else you won't get your extra euro or two back), so there are some tables for people to stand around while they drink their Glühwein, or what have you.

We spent the rest of the evening walking around the Weihnachtsmarkt; we even took a ride on the carousel. Navigating the Frankfurt Weihnachtsmarkt, especially at night when there are more people, can be really tricky. There are huge crowds everywhere. As a small-town girl, I'm not used to having to push my way through tons of people just to make it down the sidewalk.

When we finally decided that it was time to go home, we asked a man for directions. He told us that the Bahnhof was quite a distance away from the market and that it'd probably be best to take the U-bahn back. But we thought, whatever, we've walked this far, we can walk back. On that note, thank the Lord for smart phones with GPS!
The train ride back was pretty uneventful, with the exception of the fact that a rather large woman with a huge backpack sat next to me (practically on top of me), squishing me against the wall of the train for the whole ride. But not even that could take away from the fun night I had with Adriana in Frankfurt.