hamburg

every time i visit Germany i get this this feeling that sometime i'm going to go there, get caught up in its awesomeness, and never actually leave.

when i woke up in Köln, the sun was just coming up. there's not a lot of sunlight these days. as i went out for a walk, i saw that the clubs were still going full blast. i guess Christoph was right when he said that Köln is a party town.

visiting james in hamburg was great. it was a cold brisk night, so we kept ourselves warm by drinking gluvine (that ridiculously sweet german wine) and eating these sugar-coated doughy pastries that reminded me of Ottawa's Beavertails. we walked by the harbour, and through Hamburg's seedy red light district where the night clubs sex shops, and strip clubs were. james says he finds straight night clubs weird, and i could see why he doesn't hang around this place much - it sure gives Amsterdam's Red Light District a run for its money. but seen at 2PM on a Monday afternoon gives it a whole new odd light. we also walked through the hipster area for an amazing brunch, and james had to practically tear me away from all the boutique shops that would have been disastrous for my credit card.

and when we woke up the next morning, it had snowed. pictures will come soon, i swear!

Köln

there are many similarities between German and Dutch. this would only help me if i understand Dutch in the first place.

so i decided to take a trip by myself to Germany on a whim. an important lesson: taking trips on a whim is very expensive. backpacking is not what it used to be.
my hostel is located by a bunch of designer boutiques. this is not good news, especially since i spent the day in the Negen Straatjes in Amsterdam yesterday, shopping heaven. must...stay...away...

still there is some fun in spontaneous unprepared trips. i arrived here with no guide book, no friends, no agenda, and also, as mentioned, no understanding of the German language whatsoever. i did find a city guide at the hostel, however, at least i assumed it would tell me about the museums and restaurants to visit. as it turned out, however, over half of the guide is dedicated to information about escort services. i'm not really looking for *that* kind of adventure, but i suppose it is useful to know that i am probably too short to be an escort in Germany - they're all like five foot ten.

made it into Cologne today, or as the locals keep insisting on remind us Anglophones, Köln. i decided to go to this city solely on the Christoph's advice, who told me that it was a great city because it was known to be Germany's gay capital. Not that, he assured me, he believes that i "drink from the furry cup", but a good gay scene is pretty indicative of a fun city. and who am i to disagree with a German? especially a German who used to be my karaoke buddy at Ottawa's best gay bar?

did a bit of exploring today, taking a lovely walk along the Rheine river and checking out the various Christmas markets within the city and feeling in general excited about the holidays. Köln is all decked out in Christmas lights, and in my festive mood, i stole a festive mug from one of the apple cider stands. at least i assume that the 2 euro deposit on the cup was optional. along with my festive apple cider, i had a delicious German sausage along with a German beer.

i also experienced a bit of the joys of watching German dubbed television. "How I Met Your Mother" is, regrettably, still not funny in German, but "Malcolm mittendrin" is just plain gold no matter what language.