Getting to Cologne

After our one-day Frankfurt adventure we wanted to get back to Nasim's apartment in Cologne, but if you've ever spent time with anyone from the middle-east you'll know that leaving isn't as easy as, "Thanks for the great time, see you later." You have to stay, and chat, and stay some more, and chat some more, and go through the pleasantries of trying to leave for a while. We had decided that after picking up from a party that we'd like to take the 4PM train back to Cologne. No such luck. Our host had decided that 4:30 PM was a good time for shisha (arguilleh, gheylan, hookah; as you like). So we stuck around for a bit, more rain, smoking a pipe that our host had so carefully prepared for his guests. Finally, we all agreed that the 7pm train was the right one. So our hosts drove us to the train station at 6:55pm. Yeesh. Very middle eastern.

We made the train and set off for Cologne. About 90 minutes later we'd arrived and Nasim showed me the apartment she only has for a few more days before moving to another one. She lives in a nice part of the city, just outside the main central district, close to the university, so there is plenty going on. She also had bought a few Kölsch beers for me to try and they were patiently waiting in the fridge for me when I arrived. That was pretty great. We set off for the local bar (literally down the street) and tried a couple beers, got harassed by an extremely drunk, extremely regular local who I suppose didn't like us intruding on his bar. The other people in the bar came to our rescue and pulled him outside while a few others gave us loads of suggestions about what to see and do in Cologne. Off to a propitious start methinks!