We make it to Cologne in record time! Just kidding … James noted that the distance from Milan to Bern is much shorter than the distance from Basel to Cologne, yet it took about the same amount of time. The ICE train is just that much faster. I imagine it’s 2-3 times faster than a regular IC, which is what we took.
Cologne is interesting. It’s not quite what I expected – it is a bit dirtier and less organized and aesthetically pleasing than I thought it would be. Switzerland sets the bar pretty high, though. Ittigen and Bern were immaculate cities.
Anyhow … we made it to Helena’s house around 2 pm and she welcomed us in and was a great hostess. She fed us lunch right when we got there, offered showers, bed, etc. Later we had the best afternoon tea I’ve ever had! Excellent earl gray tea and several different kinds of cakes and chocolates. We were saving up energy for the evening new years eve celebrations (I was, anyway).
Diner that evening was a party. Helena had three of her friends over and Christina had invited the two Americans and two of her other friends. The roster: Helena, Christina, Klaus, Monica, Tobias, Uli, Serena, James and I. We had raclette, and this time it was quite a bit different than the Swiss version. There were many more options for your own personal raclette creation – mushrooms, carrots, fennel, ham, bacon, onions, three different cheeses, olives, broccoli, and I’m probably forgetting something. Everyone had lots of beer. Helena served a fruit and pastry plate for desert, along with strong french-press coffee.
After we all digested for a while and had some good discussions it was time to head out for the fireworks! James decided to stay in for the evening, nursing what was left of his cold. It was probably a good call on his part, but he doesn’t know what he missed. The fireworks were amazing. We watched from one of the many bridges spanning the Rhine. There were no private, city-funded fireworks at all. Everything was done by individuals all over the city. And they love setting off fireworks in Cologne. In every direction, the city was ablaze. It was quite a site and definitely the most memorable fireworks display I’ve ever seen. It almost looked like war – which is really what fireworks are supposed to be imitating, yeah? Alas, I did not feel like lugging my camera as it was raining anyway, I did not get any photos.
The fireworks ended and everyone was off to the bars. I’m glad I didn’t know we were going to be out until 5 in the morning, or else I might have talked myself into coming home early. We went to several different pubs (the number of which I’m not totally certain). Helena never let anyone be without a beer. It was interesting, though, the beers. In Cologne, apparently, beer has to be served in .2 liter (about 6.7 ounces) glasses. I was drinking a LOT and it wasn’t until later that I realized the amount was about 1/2 of what I thought it was – after I did the liter > ounce conversion. I was quite tipsy, for sure. And certainly less drunk than most people.
I really enjoyed meeting everyone and talking with Uli and Serena. Tobias was full of great information on Cologne. I actually danced a lot, having been dragged onto the dance-floor early in the evening by Uli or Serena, I can’t remember which.
The night ended late. I think Klaus and Monica took off around 4. Christina shortly after and Uli, Serena and Tobias went home around 4:45. That left me and a very drunk Helena. She was almost at the point of falling over. We shared a cab back to her house, fought a little over who’s sleeping where, and finally just after 5 am went to bed. I didn’t sleep much, typical restless drunken sleep.
The next day we just chilled out. I slept until 1pm or so. Had tea, snacks, etc. James and I cleaned up the mess from the night before, washing dishes and such. It was the least we could do for being hosted so well! Later on, we ventured out to find an internet point. We found a bar that had one hour for two Euros, which isn’t bad, except that the stupid machines stopped working half-way into our time. We got some money back and left. We looked for something to eat. I felt like Italian, some solid, calorie-packed comfort food to finish off my hangover. We stopped in one very small place that was jammed with people. It apparently was a good place to eat, but also very slow. We left, walked a bit further and ended up finding the perfect place. The food was excellent, the server was a very cute German girl (Maggie) with decent English skills. The best part was we found an open, but faint, wireless signal that we were able to use to complete the internet tasks we needed to do.
Our mission completed, we caught the bus back to Helena’s, chatted for a while and drifted off to sleep.
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