Germany... Finally getting to see Anke again...

Sorry there are no photos at the moment, the internet at starbucks is kinda crappy...and my 8 gig memory card dosen't seem to like the laptop

Day 1 Cologne

Flew in, to have my host meet me at the airport!, was soo happy, we spend the night, moving crates of water upto his mothers appartment, (crazy how much water she needed)... then we had to move a big old 29" crt tv to his mothers place from his sisters, this didn't go too well, cracked the windscreen in his car... 10pm, we went off to CS drinks, only 30 odd people, and people smoke in the bars, meet a few locals, was pretty cool, got home around 1-2am...

Day 2 Cologne
Ok, I had to look after myself here for 1/2 a day or so, I changed my mobile simm to a new german one, was alot cheaper, only 10 euro, Itailain one was 75 Euro... I wandered around Cologne, with it's huge Gothic Cathedral, it was amazing, ok nothing compared to the Vatican, but still impressive, looks like something direct out of a Medievil Gothic thriller, I will add some photos later.

I was ment to Star on Ukraine TV (some couchsurfing Feature), film crew did a now show... damn...

Anyway, around 4-5, after a few calls to Anke, she shows up!, I was soo happy to see her again, we went out to dinner with Ulf (my other host), then to a Party at one of Anke's friends place, still with my backpack on, trying our best to find the place!, after the party, we made our way back to Bonn, in which I had to RUN with the backpack to catch the Train.... damn... I am soo Glad, I've been doing soo much fitness training over the past year... made it back to Ankes place...  Sleep 4 hours I guess...

 breakfast with Anke :)

Somethings missing here, I wonder what it could be?

Day 3
Explored Bonn, with Anke, taking lots of photos, that night, Ankes Yoga Teacher, thew a party, Vegie Heaven! soo much vegie food, it was good,  later than night we went to the World Beat Party, some dance party, drinking etc, I haven't done anything like this for 15-16 years..... we partyed on till 5am, then moved on to another bar, at 7am, one thing I've noticed, germans love there BEER, they seem to drink it everywhere no mater what hour of the day, on trains, in the streets... it's crazy...

Day 4
Meeting Ankes Parents, & Boyfriend, after very little or no sleep,  probably less to eat... running on empty... had a fantastic day, exploring Germany's smallest town. The country side, looks soo much like NZ, no wonder why the germans like NZ soo much.

Day 5
Traveled to Dusseldorf, where Anke works, given a map of the city, my task was to Explore the city, and get back by 3:30, I actually liked Dusseldorf, Still compared to Rome, Bonn/Cologne/Dusseldorf are non events,

The most noticeable thing I've observed is, Germans don't smile... it's strange... they are not a happy people? they always seem to be grumpy?

I brought what I though was a bottle of water, turned out to be water with bubbles, yuck! lady behind the counter, got all ticked off at me, because I wouldn't give her 5 cents... (was 2.05 Euro) I gave a 5 Euro note...

I got lost again, asked a guy, for directions, and found I was 2-3 km off the map, took about 1 1/2 hours to make it back I really need to invest in a Smartphone with google maps or a GPS.. May do that in Spain, getting lost is fun,  but can be very stressful..

That night, Anke had student (she teach's spanish) and a dance class, I cooked a batch of Kumera soup, Ok I had to adjust the recipe a little, but it turned out ok.... not as good as home... that night we were packing... Anke was going to Palma, 6:30am and me to Barcelona, I got on the wrong tram to start with rofl... I am hopeless, German rail system is amazing, probably not as easy as the Italian system to work your way around, but seems to work really well.

Made our way to her boyfriends Apartment around 11pm, in Cologne (as it was alot closer for the both of us), Anke provided me with instructions on what trains to catch, (thanks Anke),  woke up, to say goodbye to Anke, probably for the last time... <<snif>>

For you Anke, thanks again for making Colonge/Bonn so great :)

And here I am waiting at Bonn/Cologne airport, weather is overcast and raining... bit on the cool side....

will add photos later :) next stop Barcelona, Spain..