Köln

Back in Germany, at the home of the original eu de Cologne and the second largest festival in Germany after Oktoberfest.

We arrived into Köln with Simon, but shortly after split as we were staying in different hostels. We stayed 15 minutes out of the city in a hotel.

The first night we headed back into the city for a meal, which turned out to be at a steak restaurant. I did however try the local brew called Kölsh, which was quite refreshing and light.

The next day was a late start, and we didn't get into the city until the afternoon. We spent the afternoon just wandering around the city. Jeni bought the bag she has been lusting for ever since she saw it in Munich. That night we went with Simon to a Köln pub which was great. The Köln Karnival is on at the moment and it is getting close to the end when they have their 'crazy' days. A lot of the locals in the pub were dressed up in their colourful costumes.

Our last morning was another slow one, but in the afternoon we checked out the Köln Applied Arts museum which was interesting, and then met Simon again and headed to the Chocolate museum. The place is pretty cool, mostly because they have their own little chocolate making plant inside where you can watch the whole process from start to finish.

All in all, Köln is a pretty cool city. It is not terribly touristy but was well worth the visit (especially for the cheap German prices). We flew out this morning to Edinburgh in the UK so we will update shortly on what it is like here.