The first day in Cologne we stayed the night and then decided to leave tomorrow morning for Amsterdam. Cologne is one of my favorite visited city in europe. Yes it doesnt have the glitz of Paris, or is as romantic as the Italian Cities, its not as busy as London. It's probably why I like it there so much. Cologne is a place where time to me goes by slow but still is a up-beat town.

Since ive been thro Germany a few times in the last 2 years, Cologne to me is the largest most-culturally diverse city in Germany. And i never felt like I didnt belong except for the language barrier, I'm quite humbled when people come up to ask me directions in German and I politely reply back in German 'neine sprechen de deustch, bitte.' I still have a long way to grasp and master the German language, and just because english is spoken by the majority of the people, i still feel like an idiot!!!

We got in to Cologne in the morning, parked our vehicle which later that evening took us forever to find again..but we found a good restaurant and we had Kolsch, a few of them before it was time to for lunch. I took Blake to the Lindt Chocolate Factory and we hit up couple German shops. He enjoyed the city the way I enjoyed it here when I first vistied the year before. However I noticed he was having a hard time adjusting to being a foreigner. Which leads into another topic that gives Americans a bad name: egotism. For my european counterparts I'm sure it gives you a frown on your face when you have a tourist or collegue that speaks english to you and expects for you to respond back in english. yes it is rude, but truth is we dont know any better!!! If we knew how to speak your language like you as a native, that wouldn't be a problem, not everyone was like this, but even I could spot out Americans from a city centre away.....and thats bad! But Poor Blake, he dont know any better but I helped him out the best I couple, and because of this trip he knows a few dutch and german, unless he forgot already!

I found my friend Pamela that evening and we went out to eat authentic german food. Poor Blake he couldnt recognize anything he would eat off the menu but for myself I like Bratswurst ( I grew up in Wisconsin). An hour and pitcher of Kolsch later, Pam helped us find a hotel to stay at near the Koln/Bonn Bahnhoft and we were ready to go in the morning

The meet up started quite early already but I arrived pretty late because I had to work. When I got there everyone was at the restaurant El Gitano in the Altstadt. I knew half of the crew already so it was a lil bit of an reunion. We've had quite an awesome time there but the staff got rid of us at midnight. :D But we went to Schaukelstühlchen after and had some fun and Alt beers together.

It was really awesome to see Alex again. He is really a cool and laid back guy... it always is a pleasure to talk to him.
He is intending to move to Germany soon since the so called Raucherclubs (smoker clubs) in Germany made quite an impression on him.  I am looking forward to it! I even try to support him the best I can and offered him a job... I mean since I own Lipton Ice Tea it was really no big deal.
(for interviews and further question pls contact my secretary)

I also met Guido again but compared to the last time we were able to converse more. The good thing about mini meet ups is that we kinda have more personality and it's easy to find out more about the other one. I kinda think it needs some more time to get to know Guido which is awesome since there are loads of meet ups we gonna go to and I am looking forward to getting to know him more. This time was too less time again. :D

Henning is a real cute guy... we had a conversation about cologne and there is no one better you can talk about cologne with than a dusseldorfer himself. haha... he could tell me quite a bit about south america which was awesome because I am yearning to go there!
He was lovely indeed although he was kinda tired that night I heard. :)

Andre, Andre... it was a great pleasure to meet you. Coming from Sauerland he was one of those I met for the first time.
He kinda has roots in Dusseldorf too which is probably also why I felt we were friends right away.
He was very helpful and friendly. We got to talk about some travel experiences and shared different opinions on same countries.
Full on laid back guy to hang around with!

Another one I already met in April but never got time enough to talk to was Daniel. The guy who has got loads of pictures of me it seems.
I think he's planning to take over lipton Ice Tea or so... Because he has been extra friendly! Helped me when I was in need... when I had no way to return home... or in german... als der letzte Zug abgefahren ist... lol... at that point of my life there was Daniel... and Andre too.
Thank you guys!!!

Aaaaaaaaaaand then there was Lauro... who just left when I was in need. And the excuse was... He had to pee!!!
Hahahahaa... really he does make a good friend!
No I am just kidding... It was cool to see you again Lauro. I think you are one special person and my favourite organiser (not that I ever attended any other organisers meet ups haha)! BUT... you will learn how loyal I am although I suck, always come late and so on. :D

Save the best for last... Jacki! Thank you so much for coming. Meeting you was really loads of fun. You are one hell of a woman and so funny to hang around with. I bet the guys would agree when I say that you brought the spice baby! haha
San Fran here I cooooome........ (anytime soon promise :P)



Thank you all for giving me such a good time and I can't wait to see you all again! :)

Now here comes my 2 cents.... icetea's pictures of the night...

first - kitty ket happy birthday to you and we celebrated your birthday with really hot asians (including me) hahahahaha :P

history repeats itself even if it wasnt a year that i hosted to date the biggest meet up so far in düsseldorf, it was a hell of time. a bill including 2000 euros in a restaurant, causing a chaos in the central station and bringing down a bar till dawn.

it was a legend and a good memory.

fast forward - i hosted a meet up, a very small and intimate one - that i didnt advertise it, its like if you see it, you come.  the meet up was supposed to be for some people living just in and around the area of düsseldorf, but the unexpected came and it became a hot asian nights meet up! hahahaha ^_^

here is the summary of it:

- rosi, jackie, alex daniel and me agreed to meet at the central station at 4pm.

- i saw jackie first and i hugged her, it was amazing because there was never an uncomfortable moment with her its like weve known each other for a long time! she gave me presents ^_^ which i appreciate very much!

- next came rosi and i introduced them to each other.

- alex the idiot had a hard time finding us ^_^ but, we were hidden in hotdog stands so basically he cant really see us! hahahah

- last came daniel and we agreed to tour jackie in the media harbor of düsseldorf since jackie wanted to see the modern architectures and we went up to the tower had coffee in the revolving  restaurant which it isnt really revolving that time! hahahaha

- then we strolled along the rhein promenade and took pictures of the tower and the amazing sunset that has long been denied in düsseldorf because of the dark and grey and rainy weather.

- went to my favorite junkfood snack shop in düsseldorf called fritjes (a hollandish specialty) where they ordered fries because they got a bit hungry from walking.

- i received a message from thy that she said she "wont come" (i misunderstood her sms)

- then we went to the otherside with a bar called "der weisser bär" which was ironically the bar where we were last time in the düsseldorf meet up! we had to meet the other guys at 8 pm. but unfortunately rosi cannot stay long as she had to go and work in the evening :(( maybe next my bergbau kumpel ok?!!

- first came guido who really "punktlich" hahaha exactly at 8! then we had our second round of beer.

- then i received a call from thy that she got off from work and coming in an hour.

- next came andre, "oh the guy from sauerland" hahahahaha rosi had to see andre as they had been chatmates, then after they saw each other rosi had to say goodbye. i was really sad :((

- then came last was hening and we had till 5 rounds of beer before heading off to eat since guido was really hungry as he hadnt eaten something!

- we decided to go to schneidel wippel  gasse the "spanish corner" of düsseldorf where lots of spanish and latin american tapas bar are located.

- we decided to eat at el gitano while waiting for thy and i had the most amazing dinner! grilled shrimp with small salad, garlic dip and lemon!

- thy came and all the boy's attention was on her! hahahahaha ^_^

- after dinner we went to my favorite bar in düsseldorf called "das schauckelstülchen" (the rocking chair) because it plays rock, punk and alternative music and you can smoke inside! hahahaha ^_^

- we called it a night at 2 am since the girls need to catch their trains.

*i am sorry that i wasnt able to come with you kacie, thy, daniel and andre at the train station as i was really really needed to pee ^_^and i know at 2 am the toilet in the central station is closed" my apologies!

i had so much fun with you guys! from the start to the last! there were no silence between us and i all love you humor! i cant wait to see you all again! hasta la vista bebes! ^_^

july 21 - this is the day i finished my blog.

it was hard to start and finish it.

hard to start because eventhough i brought something for me to write, i just couldnt write all the things happened, the notebook remained blank, unfinished, unclear. the only recollections i have are my pictures and my memories - everytime i look at them - it brings... painful joy in my heart - joy of how beautiful everything was and yet... it pains me that all beautiful things in the world must come to an end.

hard to finish, because i want to blog about this as long as i remember all that happened. to finish means giving everything up, stopping and not looking back.

but the one thing that i will always remember - is that, i followed my heart - i followed the whispers of the spirits and brought me to my ultimate dream, of being in spain, of kissing her lips.

i had lived everything. i have seen the heart and true beauty of spain, it was not the elite and glamour and parties of madrid and its beautiful people - it was in a small town, far from everything, a town which outsiders have never even known. a little pueblo called cedeira and in cedeira - there is a little rose hidden far beyond everyone's eyesight. a rose named señora lucia. a dignified old dame, who served us till her last energy. never-tiring and never complaining, but she's also a strong willed woman and her voice is the head of the house. she is spain. she was the one i was looking for and i found her. pablo, i know it is very hard for you to read this blog because of our language barrier, and i will try to say it in  my spanish and simplify what i had said - tus madres es el simbolo de españa, ella es la rosa de cedeira, señora lucia.

when i think of her, i think about my mother, who has also served me and over-protected me throughout these years. but i took it for granted, i never knew how that these are all about our mothers. sacrificing everything for their children.

when i arrived in madrid, i called my mother, and joyously told her that - it was the beginning of my dreams and my desires. but there will always be opposites of everything, the alpha and the omega. my mom told me that she was very sick and she can barely stand.  i told her that moment, at the airport in madrid, that if she wants me to come home i will do it.

but she said no, she wants me to live my dreams and go for it.  i was halfhearted in the beginning of this journey. but i was strong and i am good in hiding my feelings, this is for her and for me, of finding our roots, our fragments.

i know this is clichè, but i want to thank rubs, hannah, lori, alex and ben for coming with me. our togetherness within 10 days had secrets, had desires, had laughters, had pains, had fears and hopes that shall forever stay in spain and portugal. you were the best that happened to me.

rubs, you will be forever my favorite londoner. you were the quiet one in the group. and if there are some arguments, you were the last to voice out your opinion and you always nail it. thank you very much luv, wherever you are, i know you shall leave a mark in all the places you will be.

lori, your no-nonsense attitude, level-headedness and quick thinking saved us from all mishaps that would-be hapenning. in all 10 days we are together - everything went smoothly because of you. thank you ver much lori. you collected everyone of us while we were scattered.

hannah, its a pity that only the last days of our trip that we talked that much. but it was worth everything.  i was watching from the distance all the 5 of you - and you are the one who doesnt complain and ready for everything, you go with the flow. thank you.

alex, thank you for saying "you celebrated your birthday with your friends" friend is a very special word, it is a bonding of souls. in such uncomfortable moments in the trip - you were the one who always makes everyone smile, with your blurting of jokes out of the blue. i will never forget my silent laughs everytime you pick on someone. hahahahaha (sorry this is getting dramatic, i had to laugh again hahahahaha)

ben, you were our feet - there is the mind and the arms, but withouth feet, they cannot move. you are the most sensible person i talked to for a while. sure there were funny moments between us, but - we talked about life, im sorry we didnt talked with a bottle of beer on the beach as promised as we were on the road most of the time.  but if it werent for you, we would never had found the true jewel of portugal. i wish you the best in your exploration of the world and i am hoping you will also find what you are looking for. you are a true traveler.

pablo, how many times i would have to say "thank you" for inviting us to cedeira, your home, and to meet your family. you have given us much more than we asked. muchos gracias mil veces.

as for me? well i am 30 years old, i lived my dream, i had seen it, touched it, spoke it and felt it. there is nothing more in the world i can ask for, as i said, maybe i stopped travelling for awhile or if, it would just be a bonus for me. i may never been to many countries, nor visited many cities in this world, but when i grow old, i will have many stories to tell. i will remember.

in that wild stretch of land
such a sad place to be
when the night comes heavy down
and the sands turn to sea
many saints have lost their love
many a pilgrim died unseen
in that wild stretch of land
in that fire to be free

patrick wolf

finally i have some time to write a blog about this. but i dont know where to start!

i met one of my friends in travbuddy byiang personally. she visited me and my city düsseldorf for 2 days before heading off to her eastern european trip. we were supposed to travel to spain and eatern europe together, but for some unforseen circumstances they were always cancelled. so i was really happy that she wanted to stop over for a couple of days in düsseldorf to see me!

on the first day, i picked her up at her hostel, she was asking me to give her itineraries - but i told her, why?! because i want to show her personally everything there is to see in düsseldorf and also the non-touristic places.

byiang was not the first person (and definately not the last) that i would show düsseldorf. everytime i do this, i feel like i am also a tourist in my own city, but i love doing this - showing people around düsseldorf, which is not very well-known outside of germanic speaking countries in europe and in the world.

i showed her königsallee, the famous shopping, fashion and expensive city in germany. then from the kö, we took a short subway trip to the otherside of the rhein river in düsseldorf which is the district of oberkassel where rich people with beautiful belle epoque (age of beauty) houses lives.

then we crossed oberkasselerbrücke (bridge) towards the old town. from the view we can see the art academy of düsseldorf, thyssen krup building, lambertus basilica, schloßturm and the rheinufer.  i am anxious of byiangs reaction, but all she can say in the first part was gorgeous and amazing.

inside the old town - i first toured her to the quiet part of the old town, byiang enjoyed taking pictures because this part of the old town is completely deserted. after a bit of walking i got hungry and introduced byiang to some european junkfood. my all favorite is fritjes from holland. we had frikandel (a sausage with mayonaisse, curry ketchup sauce) topped with fresh chopped onions and french fries. byiang absolutely loved it! hahahahaha

then we continued to walk in the old town and i showed her the rhein promenade, our townhall, the museum streets and the art gallery street and the unknown ana maria luisa de medici plaza.

i got hungry again! hahaha so we ate first at mcdonalds - then went to my favorite bar das schauckelstülchen for a couple of drinks. it was laready dark AND perfect to go to the harbor where neon lights are on and the glorious blue/violet lighting of the rheinturm is on.

i was very excited because byiang had a very powerful camera - nikon d80. i am very frustrated about the tower - because i couldnt get the night shots of it with my small compact camera.  it was very windy and chilly! but it doenst matter - i got what i wanted! a picture of the tower in its fully glory. thank you very much byiang!

after that, it was time to call it a night and we decided to meet the next day for a tour of two small of the five castles in düsseldorf.

on the second day, i met byiang at about 2:00 pm at the central station and headed off to the first castle which is called schloß eller - a prussian designed castle with a moat encircling the castle and woodlands around it. byiang was just so excited seeing the color of the trees around and the red earth with fallen leaves. i took her to the woodland paths and she enjoyed herself hunting for squirrels and enjoying the colors of early autumn.

after that, we went to the other castle which is more grand and with well maintaned and manicured gardens called schloß benrath - it is from the rococo period - where everything is grand, elaborate and ornate. well, in my opinion although schloß benrath is really beautiful i like schloß eller better because of raw plantage of woods surrounding the castle instead of manicured ones.

it was raining heavily when we were at the castle it was also damn cold but nothing would stop byiang from taking pictures! hahahaha.

it was a fun day, as i like byiang, we had so much things in comon from a point of view of a treveler, and also i missed talking in my language as she is also from the philippines.

we had dinner in a chinese fastfood in the oldtown, everyone knows me there and its been a long time since i was there and they were very excited to see me back again! hahahaha

before caling it a night, we went back again to schauckelstülchen and had latte macchiato. i wished byiang in her travel around eastern europe as she had 2 weeks ahead of her. it was fun to show düsseldorf around and i would do it again next time.

This restaurant is located in the centre of Weeze, right beside the church. It is a pleasant restaurant with seating for about 50 people. The waitress was very friendly and she made good recommendations when I ordered regarding portion size so I didn't over order and end up paying a lot more than I needed to. I liked this honesty very much. The main drawback for me was that my German left a lot to be desired and her English was worse... The food was nice, the portions large. We got a salad to start off with, which was standard and did not have to be ordered. I picked around the beetroot which I cannot stand, but apart from that it was nice (although they could have eased up on the dressing a little). For mains the waitress suggested I order a child's size schnitzel for the girls, one portion which they shared and they still couldn't finish it! For myself I ordered a kind of Baltic Mixed grill, with a few types of meat and rice. I shared some of the meat with the girls and I was still full at the end of it. I had white wine to drink which was fine, Reagan ordered mineral water and was given sparkling water which we were told was all they had. Unfortunately I didn't think to ask and none of us like it. All in all it was a pleasant meal, and very affordable for under €40,-.

as a part time job, i work in the elementary school, which they have a cooperation with the social center where i work in düsseldorf.  i had a foto class with the children as an extra activitiy after school. i had been working for 3 semesters now. and the best thing was that, this batch of children are the most talented that i ever had! not only talented but very cooperative and willing to learn every details and information i say to them.

i just had 3 sessions with them and i feel that they are ready to take pics and explore the environment of düsseldorf. and i was very excited too! so i asked permission to the parents if i can take them to the medienhafen (media harbor) a bit far from the schlll and they have no objections to it.

my kids are:

marija from morocco
isa from turkey
orfeo from italy
jasper from germany
joshua from germany

the medienhafen is one of the interesting spots in düsseldorf it is home to lots of fashion and advertising agency, the WDR (west deutsch rundfunk) our main radio/televesion center in NRW state,  expensive clubds-restos and bar and of course who would forget the rheinturm? (rhein tower) about  240.5 meters high - the symbol of düsseldorf and in MY opinion the most beautiful tower in germany.

i took the kids up the tower then down to the media harbor, it was bit rainy but they had fun! i think the most encouraging thing to work with children is that it doesnt matter if things are not turning out right but at least they are having fun and not complaining!

Whenever I find a special offer with an airline this trip will make me think about finding out ALL the details before booking those flights! Let me elaborate:

My ex is currently staying in Scotland for medical treatment. As we have two children together who hadn't seen their dad in almost three months, when I saw a special offer from Ryanair (€5,- pp including taxes) I thought it was too good to pass up. As they don't fly from The Netherlands directly to Edinburgh I decided to fly from Dusseldorf Weeze, which is about the same distance as Eindhoven in The Netherlands from where I live. Only after I booked did I really start thinking about how to get there and the cost of it... I don't have a car and the plane was to leave in the morning on a weekday so I couldn't expect anyone to take me there either. A train wouldn't get us there on time so in the end we had to take the train a day beforehand, and stay a night in a B&B. Might as well have paid a bit more for the tickets....

Anyway, lets start at the beginning: The girls and I left Meppel by train at around 1.30pm. In Zwolle (about 20 minutes away) we had to change trains to take us to Arnhem which was about an hour further along the line. There we had a little bit of time to kill and then it was on the InterCity Express to Dusseldorf we went. It took us ages to find a seat and when we finally found one I realised I had lost my purse (bag)! And as you all know, a women holds her whole life in her purse, and in mine were my money, traintickets, airline tickets, passports and so on... I completely panicked and ran through the train like a mad woman I'm sure and boy was I relieved when one of the conductors told me he had found it! So with a sigh of relief I sat down and enjoyed the ride... From Dusseldorf we got the train to Weeze and from there walked to Kevin's Pub, our home for the night.

When we found our accommodation it was a bit disappointing to find out that the attached bar, restaurant and beergarden were closed for the night (every Tuesday!), but the room was comfortable although basic, and the owner (from the UK) was very pleasant. We had dinner at Haus Bodenstaff in the centre of Weeze and then a very early night.

If you want to stay in Weeze this is not a bad place to do it! Kevin's Pub is located in the centre of Weeze and consists of several buildings and types of accommodation. There is the Hay Hotel, campground and the Guesthouse, and I opted for the latter for myself and my daughters. I had pre-booked for the guesthouse and the email contact was pleasant and usually a response would be given within 24 hours. As my daughters are young (3 and 6) I was given a the room at the normal double price which was €55,- including a continental breakfast. We were greeted on arrival by the owner of Kevin's Pub, Kevin Betts, who is originally from the UK but has lived in Germany for about half his life I would say. Tuesday, the day we arrived, is the one day in the week on which they are closed so the bar, beer garden and dinner were not available. I had not been informed of this prior to arrival but as the place is centrally located with other restaurants nearby this was not a problem for me. I did not intend to go out drinking anyway. The room was a basic ensuite (twin beds and a single with duvets, a wardrobe, small table and chairs and tv) and comfortable. Plenty of towels and some toiletries are provided. The room was situated in an building across the road from the actual pub. We slept well as it is located on a very quiet street. Breakfast the next morning was a typical German continental one: (softly) boiled eggs, crusty breadrolls, a selection of mostly undefinable sliced meats, cheese and spreads like Nutella and jam. Orange juice and a choice of coffee or tea. If you are into boating or cycling you can rent canoes or bikes here as well. The property backs onto the river Niers. The property is located about 10 minutes walk from the train station and about 5 kilometers from Weeze Airport.

The Gothic Cathedral in Koln, Germany should be on everyone’s list of places to see. We only got to spend a short time there, but I must say that the moment you see it and get a chance to walk in the doors you will be changed. Back when this cathedral was built it was thought that the taller the spires and ceiling the closer you were to god and he would hear your prayers easier. Since the middle the end of the last century they have been trying to remove the coal deposits on the exterior, so every shot of the exterior will include scaffolding which has been up the for years. It takes hard elbow grease to remove the black coal soot. But the detail remains and it is the most magnificent you will ever see.

This morning we were up at 6 am for our second day of the tour.  Breakfast was the same as yesterday, but somehow being in Europe made it taste better.  Today we will be on the bus to Germany. 

The autobaun is fast, except that there is no speed limit and drivers follow the “slower traffic keep right” rule, very unlike the California freeways I am used to.  Here the cars in the fast lane are going fast and not trying to pass on the right.

We spent quite awhile at the buses highest speed (they have speed limiters) before stopping at a gas and convenience store for a chance to stretch our legs and buy a snack.  We ended up with a Coke but it hadn’t been in the cooler long enough (we like very cold).

Our first stop is in Koln, Germany where we get an hour to eat lunch and make a quick visit to the amazingly beautiful Gothic Cathedral.  Our bus parks temporarily just across the street from the Cathedral, and a local McDonald’s, deli/bakery.  Let me tell you, one hour just isn’t enough time to get a good thorough look at the Cathedral, eat lunch and visit the only comfort station around, but we did our best.

What is the smallest you have ever felt?  Walk into this cathedral and look up.

AND IT GETS FOILED BY A FRIGGIN' NAZI RIOT!! just my luck.

i have a tendency of getting lost. well, getting lost and also preoccupied. i get sidetracked and distracted easilly. i know this, i've come to terms with it. the first 3 times i've tried to get german food i've 1> gotten lost, 2> ate something else in the meantime and then wasn't hungry anymore and then got lost, 3> got so lost that i ended up on the other side of town, couldn't find a brauhaus or ANYTHING for that matter and ended up on the rhine somewhere and then decided to head back home. well, i was determined. it was a beautiful saturday afternoon and i finished my german homework. what better way to reward myself than with german food and refreshing german beer, eh?

EEEEEEHR, WRONG!! not so much when there's a riot in the old town. just getting INTO town was a chore and a half. the tram that normally takes 10-15 minutes to get into town was shut-down half way to the bridge due to thte bridge being closed-off by police in lieu of the riotting. i wasn't going to waste this beautiful sun staying at home!! we hardly EVER get sun here!! AND I'M FROM CALIFORNIA --I NEED MY FIX!! so i followed this russian chick from the tram to a bus station. i asked her in the most broken german i had in me where she was going. 'deutze messe haubtbahnhoff', hbh must mean that's on the other side of the river. let's follow her!! so we hopped onto a bus and the bus stopped and told us to get onto another bus that basically went the same way we had already gone. strange adventure this is becoming. then it stopped in a place called 'kalk' and said that it was the end of the line. okay. where to from here? where the hell is kalk, and where have we come? you know, part of the sick fun of getting lost is that exhilaratingly fearful feeling of being so small. the world is so effing vast, you can get lost in it in a heartbeat. you're a speck in a group of specks. i happen to believe my speck is a bit more colorful and glittery in a world full of dull monochromatic specks. what was i typing about? OH YEAH, getting lost. so we're in kalk and then walked like, 5 minutes to this random train station in the middle of nowhere and waited for another 15 minutes to get our train. i kept eyeing this stroller that was randomly parked at the information thing we were standing at. i was tempted. it was calling my name. so i sat in it. after a while and weird looks i stood up again. i felt bad for its wheels. from the station hub you could see the 2 towers of the dom. it's so comforting to know that if you're ever lost in cologne, you can always find your way once you see that big-ass cathedral.

we finally get our train and make it over the bridge. this was where the adventure got interesting. the train station is a chaotic disaster in itself, people shouting and chanting, whistles blowing, stomping in unison, etc. it was nuts. but then OUTSIDE the hbf, mercy!! it was insane!! loads of police officers lined up and ready to charge random picketters, i haven't seen so many skinheads in my life. it was so strange to see all these young kids with so much hate and blind rage in their furious eyes. like wild rabid wolves. i wish i took pictures, but i was too scared. i'm not afraid to admit that either. i was scared. i mean come on, i'm asian. these dudes don't like us, right? i was out-numbered. luckilly there were a lot of anti-fascist protestors in full-effect to counteract this stupidity. here's the info i collected from college kids...

a bunch of nazis from europe decided to have a little pow-wow in koln in the old town, the altstadt. they came friday night and wanted to do their protest [legally] saturday afternoon. i guess a bunch of anti-fascists from all over europe joined together to blockade the nazis from entering the old town and then they couldn't have their little protest party. woohoo!! this didn't mean that it was over. there sadly are still many neo nazis running amuck trying to spread their bullshit hate around and tote their smug mugs, shaved heads with red painted-on swastikas...it's really fucking sad. like these kids have seen too much american history x and have a hard-on for chris norton. damn, i keep forgetting i'm in germany. nevermind all that up there. sorry.

well, being the tourist that i am i tried taking as many pictures as i could. i was almost at the end of my first beer when i made it to the front lines and was met by a row of police officers preventing anyone from getting intot he old town. there were some neo-nazi skinhead types causing some ruckus and making a bunch of random german noise. one of them started shouting in my face. his friends were holding him back and the people around me were kind of just staring i think. i was just staring. i really wasn't all that scared, i mean there were cops everywhere, for one, and two, this ignorant little shit wants to talk a bunch of shit i don't understand just because i'm a different color? what a fucking idiot, right? i guess in a sense it was my fault for standing at the front, but that's the adventurer in me. plus my camera only has 3X zoom. anyhow, i got fed up fairly quickly and threw my beer at him. it was mainly backwash anyway. the cops saw me do it, but they detained him. [woohoo!!] i mean, that was purely in self defense. i didn't do anything to provoke him, his own hate provoked his ignorant behavior. when will these idiots learn that they can't get rid of us? when will they come to terms with the fact that we're all in this worlkd together. i mean, germany is a fucking booger in the grand scheme of the world. what the fuck makes them so damn superior. excuse my colorful language, but really. germany? get the fuck over yourself.

long story short, because of the riotting i couldn't have german food at a brauhaus with beers. i settled for pomme frites [belgian fries] and 2 1-liter bottles of reisdorf kolsh and called it an afternoon...

trying to make my way back OVER the bridge, bullshit. forgot about that. was thinking about walking over it, but it was still blockaded, even to foot traffic. the police officers told me to try other bridges, but they wouldn't allow foot traffic to even get TO the bridges. so after trying 3 other bridges, getting extremely tired, i decided to go back to the hbf and tifure it out from there. then this nice german man helped me try to figure out a way to get back home. he was very sweet and offered to guide me around koln. he said that koln is especially beautiful at night. i told him i had seen it at night. he then spouted out all these funky places that i had never heard of that are in koln and that i simply had to see them, especially at night and that he would be more than happy to show me around and SPEND THE NIGHT AT HIS HOUSE TILL THE TRAM STARTYED GOING AGAIN. UH...HOW 'BOUT NO, MR STRANGER!!!

germans are friggin' weird!!!

i made it home. an hour and a half later.

i'm starting to really loathe germany. harumph!!

2 more months and i'm OUT!!!

deustchland.........

Day one by the time the afternoon rolls around we have walked thro most of downtown Cologne. The streets were crowded and we found a couple beer vendors and found a nice lil mini-beer garden to sit down and watch the world go by!!

How exilerating, to sit and chat and drink, be merry after our 10 month ordeal...we didnt chat on the war...we knew we would be back there shortly

We had more Kolsch..and by 2pm i was very 'Happy'. I called my german friend Pamela, because we had discussed meeting for dinner.

DUDE..WHERE'S OUR CAR...

"Dag?"

"Jah Pam its Jess"

I realized a minute into the conversion I couldnt remember where we had parked or where our car was. She was ready for us to get here around 4 pm but i told her we had to find where our car was first.  So me and Blake looked around to where the Dom was at and we walked toward it to get a good feel for direction of our car. it was located southeast ...40 minutes later we found the parking lot!! Ah well we walked all the beer off. The lesson learned from this story is write down what name of the street address down before u go anywhere, you might save yourself precious time and money.

It was good seeing Pam, she took us to a German restaurant and they had good food, too bad I never wrote the name of the restaurant down but when I go back there again i know i can find it even tho my sense of direction is....slow

After dinner we turned our rental car in at Cologne/Bonn Airport, crashed out in our hotel, Kommetz or Kommeltz near the backend of the Bahnhoft and rested for our next big travel day

NEXT STOP...AMSTERDAM, HOLLAND

Once we landed in Frankfurt I wasted no time in ensuring to pick up our rental car. First off, yes we are crazy to rent a car in a country we have never driven thro nor are we familar with the signs. I told the dude who changed the language on our GPS that the signs should be common sense, but he jus shook his head, hoped that we would have a safe trip to Cologne!!!

I did not drink as soon as we got to the airport. I was soo pumped about getting to Cologne, it is not wise to even attempt to drive like that ..on the Autobahn?! thats suicide...

SHIFTING TROUBLE...

I'm not the best standard driver in the world and when i hopped in and noticed it was different than the little 5 speed Nissan work truck i drive in Tikrit...I freaked out. I panic " Blake WTF, i'm all confused...can you help me!!!!" Blake saved the day and drove the rest of the way to Cologne...

OHHHH SHITT!!!!

It wasn't what we had expected, we were being schooled by the Germans when we got on the road and eventually the Autobahn, muthaf*ckas y'all was goin 200+ km and we jus stayed in the middle lane...lol. It was a intense first hour but we pulled it off.

KOLN!

Upon arrival to Cologne, it was a hour and half drive from Frankfurt. We got there a lil after 10am. we parked at a Parking Lot and i was hungry, well we both were. I think we walked around a bit and took the whole place in, I dont know what Blake was feeling at the moment or how special this was for my friend but Cologne is a very special city to me.

I think we ate at a Greek restaurant..and I ordered 2 Kolsch, Blake never had Kolsch but it has a clean taste i told him. Drinking at 1030am!!! Buzzing right around lunch time : )

I just added this entry because I made a connection here on my way to Belgium. I would like my travel map to be a bit more accurate when I take long train rides.