Seeing an Old Friend in Köln

Last fall at WVU as I was sitting in my Managing Individuals and Teams class, I noticed there were two Germans sitting together in the back row. For the first few weeks of the semester I found it hard to work up the courage to say something to them because I wanted to say something in German while at the same time making a good impression. I had just begun my German 101 class and was far from confident in my ability. After about a month curiosity moved in to take over the fear and I was able to introduce myself. I'm glad I did, because I still keep in touch with both Alex and Andre today. In fact, I saw Alex just this past weekend in Köln. He's doing a 4 month internship there and in November will return to Fulda, where he'll start studying for his Master's.

View of the old town

From the ferry

My first view of Köln was through the window of the S-bahn (above-ground train) on the way to his apartment. I saw the magnificant Cologne Cathedral, the second largest in the world next to the one in Rome, which was beautifully lit up in the night. We went out for a few beers and I had my first taste of Cologne beer. I found out there are 28 different varieties, each of which are served at various bars and pubs around Cologne. I also later learned that Cologne is the fourth-largest German city (thanks to Dawn for that one:) )

The magnificent cathedral

The next day we woke up early to catch a ferry ride on the Rhine River. It was a beautiful day and for that reason I'm glad we decided to spend time outdoors that day. The cruise was certainly the most breathtaking part of the weekend - one could see for miles while out on the water. And the silhouette of the cathedral from far away cannot be described with words.

Afterwards we visited the cathedral and spent some time inside. Quite large I'd say, but not immensely impressive because I've seen a few similar structures elsewhere in Europe.
We then visited the German Museum for Sports and Olympics, where I learned about the history of sports in Germany. It seems that gymnastics, Formula One, and Boxing are much more popular here than I had ever imagined.
Later that night we went out to catch a piece of the Cologne nightlife. We started by watching the Germany vs. Russia World Cup qualifying game, which Germany won by a goal. We then made our way to the first club but found out that we either had to know the bouncers or apparantly have women with us to get in. Sounds silly, but we didn't let it bother us because there were plenty of other opportunities in the area. We got into the second place, which was playing a style of German music similar to Irish drinking songs. It was incredibly upbeat - we walked in to people jumping and waving their arms in the air. The place was packed. It was a nice change from the typical hip-hop they play in most clubs these days.

Alex himself

After a nice lunch Sunday I made my way home on the train back to Frankfurt. I hope I get to see both he and Andre in Fulda later this year.

The beer bike!