On to Rhineland!
We began our day by having a nice breakfast consisting of eggs, under-cooked bacon, and a wide variety of fruit. We then left the hotel and began our trip to Cologne, Germany. The time that we spent in Nuland, Holland was one of a small town atmosphere. The people were very friendly and treated us like neighbors. It was a good experience to see the simpler city of Nuland and how it will contrast with a city the size of Cologne.
The bus ride was a two hour trip, and our bus driver managed to stop a policeman when we were lost. The policeman escorted us to the hostel, and we arrived around twelve-thirty. It was kind of fun joking around that we were escorted similar to how a professional futbol team would travel. We were given the rest of the day to explore the city and take in the sites.
We started off the day with a light lunch in a local café near the hostel. The menu was a little difficult to read, so most of us just ordered some bratwurst and fries. From there we went to the travel center to ride the railway into the city. The process was very confusing, but we ended up just jumping on one of the subway cars with hopes of finding the main part of the city, and luckily enough we found it. The first object that caught our eye as soon as we got out of the railway station was the dom. It was an immaculate cathedral with towers over four hundred feet. Most of us have never seen anything like it and were amazed by its massive structure. The intricate architecture that made up the cathedral made it one of the most remarkable and interesting sites so far on our trip.
We traveled farther into the city and looked around in many of the local shops and cafes. The cafes were filled with delicious baked goods and ice cream. Several of us tried Spaghetti Eis. Spaghetti Eis is vanilla ice cream pressed through a machine to look like noodles. They then put strawberry sauce over top of it to resemble tomato sauce. To complete the ensemble, they put vanilla flakes on top to resemble parmesan cheese. It was really delicious and we recommend anyone visiting Germany to try this creation. We found a great soccer store that contained many jerseys and apparel that we were searching for throughout the entire trip. It was a great relief finding it.
Later on we had a delicious dinner of noodles with a choice of two sauces; a chicken and mushroom sauce or a vegetarian red pepper sauce. To compliment the noodles, there was salad and some fruit. There were two kinds of salad; the salad that most of us are custom to, green and leafy, and the other which is more of a sour kraut. We had several options for desert; pudding, pudding, or more pudding. But in all seriousness, there was yogurt with fruit, plain yogurt, green jello, and a couple different kinds of pudding!!
After dinner, we had a short meeting with the team and we were off to more exploring. Many people went in all different directions for this round of exploring. People found different districts within the city, all of which were unique in their own way. My group made friends with some of the locals at Rhene Park. Rhene Park had a diverse group of people playing music, having picnics, rollerblading, or just hanging out. The park was between the riverside and many cafés making it a beautiful site. It was really interesting and fun to talk to the locals. You truly learn more about the culture when you experience it first hand, and not just stop to admire it from afar. Overall, the first day in Cologne was successful: we didn’t lose anyone, we had delicious German food, and we immersed ourselves into the culture! I know we cannot wait for the days to come!!!!
- Matt Makin and Dan Kmetz