Germany -- Road Tripin the North

We are now in our 3rd city in Germany. The Germans just won the World Cup a few days before we arrived and spirits are high around the country.

Cologne, or Köln, has a amazingly large gothic cathedral called Köln Dom. We entered and immediately climmed a spire that was over 1000 meters tall via a seemingly never-ending spiral stair case! I actually got dizzy walking up the stairs. As we got near the top I could feel groves in the old stone stairs where monks has trumped up and down hundreds of years ago. We were lucky enough to be in the bell tour when an hourly bell went off.

Later that evening we headed to a nearby court to kick the ball around. Despite being very overgrown and clearly abandoned, we took the cut in the fence and an invitation to play.

Our last stop in Köln was the chocolate musuem. Mmmm.

We got wheels! We'd been craving a car and finally got a rental in Köln where we began our road trip through the north of Germany.

Next was Breman, a large medieval city, where we spent just one night. We luckly attended the city festival that was an awesome mix of a fair, music shows, circus, and delicious food. We made friends with three Brits at our hostel who joined us. The next day we pressed on, though more time in Breman would have been nice.

We are currently in Lübeck, which is situated on the Baltic Sea in the far north of Germany. It's also a mideval city, which is covered in old red brick. The city center, which is 2 sq km, is an island-- partially made by a natural curve in the river and partially by a man made canal. 

Upon arrival we didn't have accomadations for the first night so we splurged on a nearby hotel with a spa. The spa had 4 different kinds of saunas, each with their own distinct combination of heat and humidity. However, we were most entertained by a wooden bucket that hung from the celing with a metal pull chain hanging from it which allowed the user to dump a bucket of cold water on their head.

Now we're a local hostel which has a great foosball (soccer) pitch nearby. Yesterday we explored the city's old treasures and arctiecture with a self-guided tour (run by Josh), then got some afternoon exercise at the park.

Last night we ate dinner at a nearby cafe and enjoyed a live German folk trio, though one member was Canadian and another was American...

Today we're headed to a nearby seaport city called Trävemunde where the annual sailing festival is taking place.

Rotterdam-- the city of boats

Tomorrow we depart Rotterdam, Netherlands for Amsterdam. Rotterdam has been great. It is the largest port city in Europe. It's a mid-sized city with a very multicultural feel. 

Last night, our Hostel served a pasta dinner for just €3.5-- it was delicious. 

Tonight we made our own past dinner!

Today we took a ferry across the city to a fairly secluded beach that seemed like a miniature Frenchman's bar. It was great. We observed some of the half naked locals and cooled down in the murky water. It was 90 degrees here today.

Yesterday, we went to an awesome maritime museum. The best exhibition documented the lives of people who loved in houseboats in Rotterdam and Amsterdam. The houseboat population is nearly 10,000 here! We also got to tour some amazing old barges that had been converted to yachts. 

Now, we are off to amsterdam!

Blimey Brits 🇬🇧

Here's a picture of some Blimey Brit we met. From Essex in the UK. Meet George.

Cologne, DEUTCHLAND 🇩🇪

Our first stop in Germany was Cologne, we took a train from Amsterdam to there. We only had 1 night there, so we went to see as many sights as possible! We saw the Chocolate Musuem, it was delish!!! The entire place was sponsored by Lindt, so it was very very good. After that we went to the Cologne Dom. This was a massive cathedral. We unknowingly decide to climb the thing, by jut following the crowd. It was a spiral staircase that took us about 15 minutes to go up! The work was substatial to get to the top, but once you made it, the view was beautiful. As we left there we found an old futsal court, and we played some juggles, and kicked the ball around. Naturally being the most skilled player (josh) I won the crossbar contest! Cologne was an amazing city directly along the Rhine river and was a great way to begin our DEUTCHLAND journey! 

Antwerpen, Belgium

Today we mark our 3rd night in Antwerpen and we are just relaxing as we create our own meal, there are many sights to see here, and we are just beginning to dive into the Dutch culture!!!

Belgium life

We've been spending our days living as Belgium's eating walking and watching! The Belgian waffles here are out if this world! As well as the delicious and crispy frites! Our first ones weren't quite up to par but our next batch from a different frittura definitly made up for it!

Yesterday we discovered the grandness of the belgian ports. They have gotten yachts as well as small water craft and even boat hotels! Belgians can splash around in a floating pool located in the port as well! To to it off the have a barge that has been converted into a full farm with produce and even chickens! The farm is completed with a cafe and souvenir shop as well... although the souvenirs there must be a Belgium thing because I still cant quite understand what they were.

Belgians know their stuff...

Belgium has been great! The Chocolate and Waffles have lived up to the hype. 

One day while walking, we came across a park that contained my three favorite games: futsal court, ping-pong tables, and a foosball table! All in a small public park. I love Europe.

Also pictured: a floating farm and an outdoor antique market.

Cork- The Best Fish & Chips in Ireland

We spent the last two days in Cork, Ireland, the 2nd largest city in Ireland and a port city know for it's fast talkers. The best meal we've had so far (we had it twice) was a student priced fish and chips at a little hole in the wall called Fish Wife. The fish was fresh and the chips were thick wedges of potato. 

However the highlight of our time in Cork came from the neighboring small port cities of Kinsale and Cobh.

In Kinsale, we took a 9pm Ghost tour around the small city to learn about its Viking history and famous inhabitants. It was led by a very boisterous individual and was more like a theater play rather than a tour.

We also experienced our first "trad", or traditional Irish music at a small restaurant during lunch. Three individuals sat down at a table just like any other customer and began playing. The music was enthralling and it was hard to avoid tapping your foot. 

Cobh was a beautiful port city that is apparently the 2nd largest natural port in the world! There were hundreds of boats and a beautiful set of small islands offshore. Cobh was also the last city the Titanic left from before it sunk. We took part in the "Titanic" experience where we were treated like a passenger on the ship and, given a mass amout of information about the vessel and how it sank. It was certainly one of the more interesting attractions we've seen.

This morning in Cork, we went to the Cork City "Goul", or prison, where we walked around reading about the prison's infamous prisoners and their lives.

Now we're off to Galway!