It starts! Europe, a region of the world that I've largely ignored, on a one-way ticket. After no sleep on my flight from Chiang Mai to Frankfurt via Shanghai, this grand adventure begins with a journey from Frankfurt to Cologne. Shannon and Rob were my CouchSurfing hosts in Wellington nearly 10 years ago, and I'd be meeting up with them now in Cologne. I tried to hitchhike from Frankfurt to Cologne but it's not possible to hitchhike on the Autobahn and the entrances, where I normally get lifts practically everywhere else, are not well defined. Shannon informed me of one of the absolute best travel bargains: the Deutschland ticket. For €49 it allows unlimited travel within Germany on all transport except for the bullet trains. A single ticket from Frankfurt to Cologne costs €33, and since I'm travelling to Berlin in a couple of days it's great value already. It was an opportunity to do one of my favourite trips: the train through the Rhine Valley from Koblenz to Wiesbaden with its majestic castles. Since it's a long weekend, the trains were chock-o-block. Two elderly women were standing in the aisle and I got up so one of them could have a seat, and it encouraged the gentleman sitting to the right of me to do the same. Shannon, Rob, and their two children live in the village of Zons, which is about halfway between Cologne and Dusseldorf. They instructed me to get off the train at Dormagen and that they'd pick me up from there. Despite being so exhausted, I couldn't not do my favourite thing to do when I'm in a new place: go for a walk. I collected my first geocache in Germany and then I picked up some wine and stuff to make zucchini bread. Shannon never forgot about my most famous recipe.
Shannon would help me get a SIM card this morning; it's a rather lengthy process in Germany as I needed to bring my passport and fill out some paperwork. The bakery is a fixture in Germany, and a warm croissant for breakfast was tasty. I wonder if cologne was invented in Cologne; I haven't noticed any body odour around. At 157 metres (515 feet), Cologne Cathedral is the world's tallest twin-spired church and the third tallest church in the world. It appears straight out of a gothic horror movie. I couldn't wear my hat inside, and the interior is just as impressive as the exterior.
I thought the bridge over the Yarra River in Melbourne had many love locks (before they were removed), but Cologne's liebensbrucke (love lock bridge), the Hohenzollern Bridge over the Rhine has thousands upon thousands of locks set by people expressing their love.
After some last-minute exploring and geocaching it was time to get home. Shannon would take me for a short drive before we all had an easy one at home this evening. Rob cooked up a light tea of pasta and, since I'm still a bit tired from all the flying yesterday, it was a great evening to chat, drink wine, reminisce, and do little else. Shannon would play a video about an Aussie beer brand called Dicken Cider. Haha! Word play is my comedic specialty.
Shannon agreed to drive me to Dusseldorf since it would possibly be my only opportunity for a trip on the Autobahn. We reached a maximum speed of 170 kph!
Much of the Autobahn has no speed limit for certain classes of vehicles. Had traffic been lighter and if conditions weren't a bit wet, we could have gone even faster. Shannon and Rob (and from tomorrow, Brian and his girlfriend) may be the first people to have hosted me on two continents. Berlin is up next, but I'm really thinking about where this journey will take me? Armed with the Deutschland ticket, Germany is my oyster, and it is totally feasible to duck into Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Poland, Austria, and many other countries. Where I can't take the train, my thumb should work wonders as this European odyssey could allowe me to rack up quite a few countries to add to my travel collection.
After a wonderful time with Shannon, Rob, and their children and an exploration of Cologne and getting the Deutschland ticket, this European journey has certainly started off on the right foot.
