Cologne

The gates of the palace.
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August 10 This morning we got up later and had breakfast before walking down to the Quiksilver store around the corner to see if there were any good deals. Then we packed up our car and started out for Cologne. The whole ride was pretty boring. Things got a little scary when it started to rain and we’re on the Autobahn going 180. But everything was all good and it stopped raining. We stopped for gas and food at a truckstop. I had to go to the washroom and I thought they’d be disgusting. First of all I had to put 50 cents in a machine and go through a turnstile and I got a ticket. It was seriously the coolest bathroom ever! After you go you put your hand in front of a sensor and it flushes then a little arm comes out and starts cleaning the toilet seat while the toilet seat rotates around. Then you can use you ticket as credit in the store. I thought that was wickedly cool. We got to Cologne after awhile and found our hotel after some arguing. Turns out we had driven right by it. It’s really nice and Steph and I have an excersise machine in our room! And a badet. If I spelt that right. One of those French toilet things that shoot water in your butt. It’s a pretty ugly city though. Very gray and blah. They do have a gorgeous cathedral though. I might be forced to climb up the 400 steps in it’s tower tomorrow. Uggghhh. There is also a cool ski gondola type thing above the bridge. I don't really know what it's for. I'm assuming it is used for pedestrians who want to cross the bridge. So Dad and I went downstairs to try and get internet. He left me there when he was done and I used the internet until the time ran out. When I got back up everyone was asking me if I knew where his wallet was because he had left it on the desk and now it was gone. Luckily after about 10 minutes he went down to the front desk and there it was. Ahhh relief. We walked by the church then got dinner at a pub where no one spoke English. Food was good though. Will write more about tomorrow

The front of the Dom.
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August 11 Started out later this morning. We took our time to eat breakfast and whatnot then headed out. We went to the Dom which is the big cathedral. It's gigantic so I couldn't get a picture of the entire thing. We went through the inside and stayed for a prayers ceremony. My dad wanted to climb up the tower which it turns out actaully has 509 stairs. We refused though and so we left. Since it was kind of a lazy day today with not alot planned we decided to hop in the car and check out some towns around here. First we went to Bruhl. It wasn't too far awary and was quite a large town. We visited the palace which was very pretty. It had gorgeous gardens, but before we could explore it started pouring rain. There was a tour going through the palace, but we decided to keep going to the town of Bonn where there was a huge castle. I was quite excited to see this but we never got around to it seeing as Mom wanted to see Beethoven's house. We couldn't find it though, so we ended up heading back to Cologne. I was all ready to relax when we got back but since we're leaving for Paris early tomorrow we decided to go for an early dinner. It is seriously hard to try and find a place to eat when you can't read a word on their menus. There are a few that have English below so we chose one. It's funny trying to communicate with the waitresses, both in your own seperate languages. We came back to the hotel afterwards because it's really cold. We haven't had the greatest weather so far except for the first couple days in Amsterdam. It's okay though because it's more comfortable to sight-see when it's not 30 degrees out. Tomorrow we are off to Paris and I can't wait!!

It is seriously hard to try and find a place to eat when you can't read a word on their menus.