Cologne

I stepped a little outside my comfort zone and tried Mitfahrgelegenheit to get to Cologne. Mitfahrgelegenheit is really just a long German word for RideShare. Me and two Turkish guys drove five hours across a snowy German landscape when they unceremoniously dropped me off at the East Cologne train station. My dear old friend Theresa Hagelüken was waiting for me, but it was more like shivering for me. It was bitterly cold. I had been nervous to see Theresa after six years since out junior year together at Bishop Diego High School, but right away it was like we were in a time warp. At her cosy orange and red apartment, we broke out the photo albums and laughed about my penchant for funny faces and her penchant for taking pictures of the class cutie, who shall remain nameless (Ryan!). I was already having a better time than I could have imagined.When I decompressed from my ride across Germany, we went into the old part of Cologne. It was breathtakingly gorgeous as we walked over the Rhine. The bridge has a bunch of locks locked onto it where couples have engraved their names so their love will last forever. Cologne must be a city full of soulmates. The Cologne Cathedral is pretty impressive; I can see why it is a UNESCO world heritage site. What made it all the more beautiful were the twinkling winter lights of the Weihnachtsmarkt, the Christmas markets I wrote about in my last post. We had glühwein and went for Italian food. I was happy.

The next day, we went out to meet her friend Anja at their favorite spot. The waiter was trying a bit too hard, but none of use minded when he went to buy us french fries. That night was a Monday, so we didn't get too crazy. Just the usual of singing old Backstreet Boys songs at the local karaoke joint.Tuesday is apparently a good night to go out in Cologne, especially when you are a teenager. It was so strange to be in a castle-themed club with my friend from high school as we watched teens screaming along to old Britney Spears songs. This trip was going to have a lot of music nostalgia.