4 Cities, One Weekend

Sorry this has taken me a while to write. I'm just getting back on my feet after having quite a long week (two midterm exams and a research paper due, all while battling a cold). Anyhow, forgive me if memory fails, but here is hopefully an accurate account of my past weekend.

So I elected to go on the "Discovery Tour" which is a Miami sponsored trip led by our student activities coordinator, Kelley. I had signed up for the express purpose that part of the trip was a wine tasting, but more on that later.

Our tour began in Differdange, where we took the 1300 train to Luxembourg City. From there, we boarded a long train to Cologne, Germany (or Koln, as it's called in German). The train ride was just over three hours, and I had yet another opportunity to meet some cool people on the train. I sat with a young man who was originally born in Paris, but who was now living in Esch (where I live!). Also in Bonn, another guy sat next to us, and he was some sort of Olympic athlete from Germany. I say this because he was jacked (as in ripped) and was wearing a Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games official shirt. He was very friendly, and we chatted for a while about Germany, Koln, and America. We arrived in Koln at about six, and walked around the massive Dom (which is right by the train station). Here is what it looked like then:

It's giant. Anyways, I climbed it later.

So we checked into our hostel (Pathpoint Backpacker's Hostel) which was a sweet converted Evangelical church, and we even had a private bathroom in our room. Then, on the advice of one of the other students on the Discovery Tour, Tiffany, we found our way to this incredibly happening German restaurant, Fruh (or something like that). It was real awesome, and I had probably some of the best beer I've had yet, Kolsch (which is made in Koln). I had had that same beer earlier, in Trier, but it was not nearly as good then. I had a bockwurst with potato salad for dinner, and it was quite tasty. We then strolled leisurely through the streets of Koln, where there were shopping sites everywhere. We wandered into a street performance of 4 guys that was really cool. Then, our advisor, Kelley left us to go meet a friend, and it was just us 10 Miami students, alone, in Koln. So, we went back to the hostel, got jackets, and decided to find a club to hit. We took the subway (which was ubersketchy at midnight), and made our way to the main club street. It was crazy. Imagine High Street in Oxford times five. But yeah, we weren't really dressed well enough to get into any club, and we didn't want to pay that much at other places. So we ended up just walking slowly back to our hostel before konking out for the night.

We got up early, had a sweet breakfast in the hostel, and then got on an 0858 train to Moselkern. Now, the town of Moselkern is not exactly a booming metropolis, but near there is the castle Burg Eltz, which was our destination. Here is a picture of the sleepy town of Moselkern:

So yeah, we hiked through the city first, and then made our way through the woods approximately two additional kilometers up to Burg Eltz. It was really cool. As in, it was set back on a hill, in the middle of what appeared to be an extensive forest. We chillaxed in the castle, and actually had a guided tour in English (which was nice). Turns out this castle is still owned by the original family descendent, and is in its 33rd generation of ownership. I remember I found it interesting that every room had a chimney in it, as they had to heat each room individually. We then had lunch - in the castle courtyard, which rocked. I had really good french fries that actually tasted like pretzels. Then we hiked back to the train station so that we could make our train to Cochem (where our wine tasting was scheduled). We took the short train to Cochem, which is another sleepy town along the Moselle river, and literally walked 100 steps to the vineyard.

First, we had the proprietor give us a little lecture (in English) about his vineyard. I learned all about the terroir of his vineyard. Apparently, terroir is a french word which describes the unique aspects of a vineyard. It takes into account local weather, local soil, the actual grapes used, and the work/workers. This guy told us all about how there they have hot mornings, so they grow the grapes on the southeast side of hills to maximize the morning sun. Then, they use a very gravelly-slate soil (which apparently adds a potassium taste to the wine). The grapes they grew included Riesling, Dunfelder, and Pinot Noir. Then, after a tour through their rock cellar (where they keep wine - it was literally a cave), we got to taste some wine (my favorite part). We had three different glasses of white wine, and then one glass of red. The red was especially interesting - they keep their reds in oak barrels, so there was a very strong woody taste to the wine, which I was not used to, and did not particularly enjoy. So I actually ended up buying a bottle of one of the white wines we had (for 9.80 euros), to give to Norby as a present (My first wine purchase, and assuredly not my last - my parents would be so proud).

Our group then weighed our options and figured out how to get to Aachen, where we had rooms booked for Saturday night. Unfortunately, we called the hotel to let them know we were going to be late, and by then they had already given away some of our rooms. Luckily, they just booked us new rooms in a hotel right by the train station in Aachen. So we took like a long, four hour journey, with several changes, to get to Aachen. Notably, when we were on the train from Koblenz to Koln, at one stop in Remagen like a thousand people got on the train, and it was a party. There were some older people who brought glasses and bottles of wine on the train, people were standing throughout the entire train aisle, I gave up my seat to an old lady, twice (one of them was so appreciative, she gave us an entire bag of chocolate to say thanks!), it was a Party Train (or Party Zug, in German). Oh, side note about cultural exchange, when one of the german guys dropped and broke his wine glass, I said out loud, "Das ist eine Party Foul!" and everybody laughed, so I think they understood the notion of a "party foul," which was funny for me. German people are incredibly friendly, which has really contributed to how much fun I've had the last two weekends. So we didn't get into Aachen until after midnight, and by that point we were all exhausted, so we set up a rendezvous time for the next morning and went to bed. I, regrettably, decided to sleep on the couch and had quite a cold night. Nonetheless, I survived, and after a warm shower in the morning, I was back in the game.

So we headed out in search of food, and stumbled upon one of the coolest little cafes I've been in yet. The place was called "Bagels and Beans." Thus, we had delicious bagels and the best coffee I've had in Europe yet. It was awesome. Plus, the owner was talking to us and explained that that day, Sunday, was the last day of a rock and jazz festival going on in Aachen, and that there would be free concerts all day starting at 1300. So, we walked into the city center, and it was already happening. Turns out they were hosting some sort of running fundraiser for Amnesty International, so there was a large hoopla in the city center with people cheering and a big band playing inspirational music (like YMCA, and the Rocky theme song - pure America). We went into the Rathaus, which was like the town center, and saw a bunch of cool stuff about German kings and Charlemagne. Later on, we would visit the cathedral in Aachen, where Charlemagne's remains are located.

It was really cool that there was this huge festival going on, and it provided a fascinating juxtaposition between the ancient parts of the city and the still vibrant German population. Here is a picture that explains this idea well:

Anyway, so that was cool. Then, we had some lunch (more sausage), and decided to catch a train back to Koln so that we could climb the tower of the Dom (for some reason that seems to be the thing to do in Europe). So, after a relatively short, and uneventful, train ride, we got to Koln and promptly headed over to the tower.

It got real high, real fast. The stairs were quite steep and thin. Yet again, I had my backpack on, which added to the difficulty of climbing the 509 steps to the top of the tower. Though it took quite some time, it seemed fast, and tiring - the oxygen level decreases with an increase in altitude, just so you know. Anyway, so we got to the top, and had some pretty sweet views of the Rhine River and the city. Here is one of them:

And, we were like caged in, as I can imagine the danger of falling from such great heights. But, it was a really fantastic view, and I could see for miles. The climb down was equally precarious, but I again survived. Then, some members of our group actually elected to go to mass in the Dom, which is cool, but I was hungry. So instead, we went to the train station and plotted our return course as well as got McDonalds. We got on a train about an hour later, and had a long, long journey back to Lux City. On trains, you learn a lot about people, and they always provide a great opportunity to really get to know the people that you're spending time with. They are truly fascinating modes of transportation.

And thus concluded our whirlwind tour of Koln, Moselkern, Cochem, and Aachen. It was very hectic. So I'm now much more chill after having completed my exams and papers (by the way - classes are NOT easier here, I don't know how that myth exists, but it does, and it's wrong). So, I plan on putting up the rest of my pictures on facebook soon, and you should be able to check them out.

Thanks for reading, and look forward to next, next weekend, I should be returning from a weeklong vacation. Er, I mean..."Study tour" for my chocolate class. I'll be sure to take good notes.