Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Brussels - Day 1


15.04.2011

Reede/Friday

Uus 9 päevane seiklus!

Ärkasin varem et viimased asjad pakkida sest tahtsime lennujaama kusagil kella 1 ajal minna sest tavaliselt on Ryanairi lendudel väga pikad järjekorrad. Võtsime takso sest kottidega metroosse minna on nii tülikas. Lennujaama jõudes nägime et järjekordi polnudki, super. Ehk inimesed lendavad siis varahommikul või hilisõhtul. Kyle käis viisakontrollis ja kõik läks hästi. Tegime check ini ära, läksime läbi turvakontrolli ning jäime lendu ootama. Söime hommikust lennujaamas –väikse võileiva. Lend kestis natukene üle 2 tunni ja olimegi Brüsselis. Lennujaamast pidime sõitma bussiga veel tund aega Brüsseli kesklinna. Buss peatus rongijaamas, sealt võtsime takso ning sõitsime oma hotelli. Taksojuht ei osanud hotelli minna, aga selgus et see on uus. Hotell on väga lahe, üks parimaid kus oleme Euroopas ööbinud. Väga moderne. Tuba on lahe. Megasuur LCD telekas seinas, voodi on super mugav- kui sinna istud siis püsti enam tõusta ei taha. Allkorrusel on baar, piljard ning mõnusad lebotamistoolid kamina ümber. Hotell asub Euroopa Parlamendi piirkonnas. Kesklinna saame metrooga 10 minutit. Küsisime hotelli töötajatelt kuhu minna õhtust sööma. Otsustasime tänasel õhtul minna lähedal asuvasse väikesele väljakule kus oli mitmeid söögikohti. Väljas ei olnud külm, aga ei olnud ka soe. Restoranis kus me õhtust söime olid soojapuhurid õues ning seetõttu valisime laua terrassil. Meie valikuks osutus Belgia õlu. Kyle valis heleda õlu ning mina kirsiõlu. Söögi poole pealt suupisteks valisime kreveti qroquetta (mis on siis peamiselt muna, jahu ja krevetid aga maitseb nagu oleks see kartulipuder ning mis on praetud väikeseks palliks) ning pearoaks jagasime hobuseliha. Mõlemad olid väga maitsvad. Hobuseliha oli muidugi Genevas parem, aga hind oli ka poole kallim. Peale maistvat õhtusööki läksime kõrval baari ning proovisime veel 2 erinevat õlut. Selles baaris oli pildiraami sees erinevatest riikidest kohalik raha ja kohe jäi silma ka eesti 10 ja 25 kroonine :) Tegin pildi tõestusmaterjaliks. Mõnus algus meie reisile on tehtud. Sellest tuleb kindlasti järjekordne vahva reis. Ootan juba homset päeva!

Rohkem pilte: https://picasaweb.google.com/HeleriR/BrusselsBelgium#

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I woke up early to finish packing because we wanted to go to the airport around 1PM because there are usually so long lines with Ryanair flights. We took a taxi because it’s so difficult to take a metro with the bags. We had only one check in bag, one carry on bag and a computer. When we got to the airport there wasn’t any lines. That was surprising. Mayby people travel in the morning and in the evening not in the middle of the day. Kyle went to visa checking, it went well. We ate breakfast in the airport because we didn’t had anything at home. We are going to be away 9 days and it would be good if there is any food in the fridge what might go bad. Flight was over 2 hours and we made it to Brussels. Let the fun begin.

From the aiport we had to take a bus to the city center. It was one hour ride. The bus stoped in a train station, from there we took a taxi and went to our hotel. The taxi driver didn’t know how to go there because it was new. The hotel was AWESOME. One of the best where we have stayed during our travels in Europe. It was so modern and design was incredible. It had a big LCD TV on the wall and bed was sooooo comfortable- if you sit down you didn’t want to stand up anymore. Downstairs was a bar, pool table and a fireplace. The hotel was located near the EU institutions- Aloft Brussels Schumann. We were really happy with this discovery. City center is only 10 minutes metro ride. We asked from the hotel workers where is the best places to eat and also what places we have to definately see while being in Brussels. We got a map and recommendations. This evening we decided to walk around the area neat the hotel and go to the city center tomorrow. We walked to a small square what was full of restaurants. It wasn’t cold outside, but it wasn’ warm either. We choosed a restaurant what had heaters so we could sit outside. Right away we wanted to try belgium beer. Kyle choosed light beer and I wanted to try cherry beer. Both of them were really good. Our appetiser was shrimp croquettas. It was delicious. Similiar like in Spain, but way better, lol :D We decided to split main course- horse meat. It was good, but the horse meat what we ate in Switzerland was so much better. It was more expensive too of course. After good dinner we weren’t ready to go back to the hotel so we walked to a bar next to the restaurant and tried some more beers. There was a frame full of money from different countries. I found Estonian 10 and 25 EEK :D It was good beginning to our trip. It is going to be another good trip. I can’t wait for tomorrow!

More pictures: https://picasaweb.google.com/HeleriR/BrusselsBelgium#

H.

Brussels - Day 2



16.04.2011

Laupäev/Saturday

Meie hotell soovitas meile väga head hommikusöögi kohta. Söök oli seal orgaaniline ja väga maitsev. Kyle söi munaroa ja mina müsli, jogurti ja puuviljadega.Crossaint oli ka super hea. Pärast hommikusööki jalutasime Brüsseli vanalinnas ringi. Nägime Grand Place peaväljakut ning Mannekes Pis – väikest pronkskuju poissi kes koguaeg pissib. Peaväljakul oli Godiva šokolaadipood ja seal müüdi šokolaadiga kaetud maasikaid, mitte ei suutnud neid ostmata jätta. Ütleme nii et need oli ülimaitsvad. Olime just hommikust söönud aga kui belgia vahvleid nägin oli kõht jälle tühi. Peale pikka mõnusat jalutuskäiku sõitsime metrooga Atomiumi vaatama. Atomium on monument Brüsselis, algselt ehitatud Expo '58, the 1958 Brüssel World's Fair. Ta on üheksa terasest sfäärides ühendatud nii, et kogu vormide kuju üksuse raku raua kristall võimendab 165 miljardit korda. Atomiumi kõrval asus ka Park Mini Euroopa. Pargis näeb üle 80 Euroopa Liidu miniatuurseid linnasid. Päris huvitav oli seal ringi jalutada. Tallinna miniatuurne vanalinn oli sinna parki isegi ära eksinud. Parki sisse astudes tehti meist maskotiga koos pilt ning pargist lahkudes sai selle pildi osta. Olen paljudes kohtades selliseid pilte teinud aga mitte kunagi pole neid ostnud sest teeme ise niikuinii pilte. Seekord kui ma seda pilti nägin siis pidin selle ostma kuna see mulle väga meeldis. Proovisime palju erinevaid õllesid. Minu lemmikuteks osutusid vaarika ja kirsi õlu. Kyle’ile meeldis rohkem hele õlu. Šokolaad oli ka väga maitsev. Peaaegu igas teises poes sai tasuta erinevaid šokolaade proovitud. Väga populaarne toit Brüsselis on friikartulid mida saab osta väikestest putkadest väga odavalt. Oleme harjunud et Madriidis ei räägi keegi inglise keelt väga hästi aga Brüsselisse tulles ei olnud mingit probleemi kuna enamus inimesi rääkis inglise keelt. Õhtul jalutasime vanalinnas ringi ja leidsime pika tänava mis oli täis mereandine restorane. Valisime ühe restorani kus saime vaadata ka Real Madridi ja Barcelona mängu. Loomulikult valisime selle koha kuna saime 2 tasuta klaasi sampust. Õhtusöögiks söime krevette, tigusid ja vähi suppi. Restoranis oli kamin mis muutis meie õhtu romantiliseks. Kõht täis ja mäng läbi suundusime kõrval tänavale asuvasse baari Delirium. See on väga populaarne baar kuna seal müüakse 250 erinevat õlut ning samuti saab osta seal absinti. Kaks päeva Brüsselis oli just piisav aeg nüüd on aeg vallutada Amsterdam.

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Our hotel recommended to us a really good breakfast place. It was a small cafe, but the food was organic and really healthy. Kyle got eggs and I got a parfait with granola, fruit and yogurt. Freshly baked crossant was also delicious. After breakfast we walked around the old town. We saw the main square- Grand Place- what is awesome. The buildings are so incredible. Took pictures of the small bronze fountain sculpture- Manneken Pis- a naked little boy peeing into the fountain's basin. On the main square I bought strawberries covered with Godiva chocolate. Oooo my :D It was heavenly good, lol. We had just ate breakfast but I’ve always wanted to eat those and I had to have it! When I also saw belgium waffles I couldn’t just walked by I had to get those too. Kyle got just the waffle but I got with strawberries and bananas. I thought I’m going to blow up, I was so full. After our walk in the old town we took a metro and went to see a Atomium. The Atomium is a monument in Brussels, originally built for Expo '58, the 1958 Brussels World's Fair. It was pretty cool. Next to the Atomium was Mini Europe Park. Mini-Europe has the reproductions of the most attractive monuments in the European Union on show, at a scale of 1:25. Roughly 80 cities and 350 buildings are represented. We both liked it. It was fun! When we walked in the park photographer took a pictures of us with the mascot. When you leave the park you can buy the pictures. I’ve done that kind of pictures in a lot of places but never bought them. When we walked out from the park and when I saw the pictures I wanted it. It was good picture and it wasn’t expensive like those usually are. Walking around the city you could eat chocolate in every store- everything was so yammy :D We asked from a beer store what are the 5 best belgium beers and bought those to try. My favorites were cherry and rasberry. Kyle still liked light beer. Very popular food in Brussels in also fries. You could buy those from every corner and it’s cheap. It was so much easier in Brussels to talk with people, because almost everybody can speak english.

In the evening we found a street full of seafood restaurants. Everybody were trying to get us to their restaurant offering free drinks etc. We finally choosed one small restaurant where was a fireplace and Kyle could watch Real Madrid and Barcelona game, but we got also 2 free glasses of champagne. We ate garlic shrimp, snails and lobster soup. Everything was really good. After dinner we went and found on of the popular bars in Brussels- Delirium. They offer more than 250 different beer sna they have also absint in their menu. It was really cool bar because they had the whole street for their own. It was a good day and now we’re ready to go and discover Amsterdam.

H.

Amsterdam - Day 1



17.04.2011

Pühapäev/Sunday

12:18 sõitsime rongiga Amsterdami. See oli meie mõlema esimene rongisõit. Kahe tunni pärast olimegi Amsterdamis. Rongijaamast ostsime ka kohe pileti Cologne. Sõitsime oma hotelli kus meid võeti väga hästi vastu. Toas ootas meid troopilistest marjadest tere tulemast pakike. Panime kotid tuppa ning läksime Amsterdami avastama. Hotellist kesklinna oli kusagil 15-20 minutiline jalutuskäik. Ilm oli ilus nii et jalutuskäigu vastu pole meil midagi. Ilmaga oli meil väga vedanud kuna soojakraadid ulatusid kuni 26 kraadini. Museumpleinil kus asub Van Gogh ja Rijksmuuseum asus ka suur park. Park oli inimesi täis. Enamus kohti oli kinni kuna oli pühapäev. Leidseplein väljak oli puupüsti inimesi täis kuna seal asus väga palju söögikohti. Jalutasime natukene aega ringi et näha millised restoranid seal on. Meie valikuks osutus Itaalia restoran. Küsisime taksojuhilt kes meid hotelli viis et mis on Amsterdami kohalik toit. Ta ütles, et sellist toitu nagu polegi. Inimesed pidavat sööma siin paljude erinevate riikide toite. Imelik on siin see et inimesed alustavad sinuga rääkimist inglise keeles mitte nende emakeeles. Ehk nad teavad et turiste on nii palju ja peamiselt räägitakse inglise keelt. Trammid ja jalgratturid on seal küll väga ohtlikud. Amsterdam on väga lahe linn. Eriti vahvad on kanalimajad kus inimesed elavad. Neil kõigil peab olema majades elekter ning vesi nagu tavalistel majadel. Toit on tunduvalt parem kui Madriidis. Valik on suurem. Jalutasime peatänaval ringi aga ega ka seal midagi väga näha väga ei olnud kuna enamus poode olid kinni. Eks me peame ootama homseni. Coffee shopid on iga nurga peal. Kyle oli nii vaimustatud neist. Läksime korra hotelli puhkama ning õhtul jalutasime peaväljakule-Dam ning käisime uudistasime ka punaste laternate tänavat. Kyle arvas et see tänav on poole hullem ja räpasem, haha. Homme võtame tõsiselt linna uudistamise käsile. Tänane päev oli kiire ülevaade kus teatud kohad asuvad. Kyle’ile väga meeldib Amsterdam. Ütles, et siiamaani on see ta lemmiklinn Euroopas.

Rohkem pilte: https://picasaweb.google.com/HeleriR/AmsterdamNetherlands#

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At 12:18PM we were on our way to Amsterdam. It was our first train ride in Europe. When we arrived to Amsterdam we bought train tickets to Cologne right away. We took a taxi and drove to our hotel. We put away our bags and went for a walk. It was about 15-20 minutes walk to the city center from the hotel. The weather was beautiful so we didn’t mind walking. We’ve been so lucky with the weather all through our trip. It’s been +26C. First stop was Museumplein where was Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh museum and Diamond museum. There was also Iamsterdam sign. There was a big park next to the museum and that day it was full of people. Most of the places were closed today because it was Sunday. Next stop was Leidseplein square what was full of restaurants. We asked from the taxi driver that what was a traditional Amsterdam food we should definately eat. He said there wasn’t any that people here eat different kinds of food. So we could eat everything, we like that. We felt like eating pizza in a italian restaurant.Usually when you travel to a country the people over there start speaking with you to their native language and then when they see that you speak English they start talking to you in English. In Amsterdam people started to talk in English not in Dutch and it was like that every place we went to. It was so much easier than in Madrid where most of the people doesn’t understand english. Trams and bikes are really dangerous over there. They are everywhere. You better not walk on the bike road because you might get hit. The city is well kept. There are flowers everywhere. It is a very cool city. The food is better than in Madrid, there are more choices here. We walked also on the main shopping street but most of the shops were closed. There are coffee shops in every corner. You just go in and buy weed and smoke it in there. Kyle was so excited about the coffee shops. I bet most of the people are, lol :D We walked back to the hotel to rest a little bit and in the evening went to the main square- Dam. We ended our day walking around the red light district. I’ve been there before so I know what to expect. Kyle thought it was worse but when he saw it it wasn’t that bad. Definately place to see in Amsterdam. Today was a quick overview where the things are and tomorrow we are going to tour around more. Kyle said that Amsterdam is his favorite city in Europe so far.

More pictures: https://picasaweb.google.com/HeleriR/AmsterdamNetherlands#

H.

Amsterdam - Day 2



18.04.2011

Esmaspäev/Monday

Pidime kell 13:00 Mary ja Juliega kokku saama, kes ka eile õhtul Amsterdami jõudsid. Söime hommikust ühes armsas pannkoogikohvikus ning suundusime siis meie kohtumispaika. Võtsime oma suunaks Albert Cypti tänava kus asub ka suur tänavaturg. Seal müüdi igasuguseid asju- riideid, toitu jne. Mulle jäi kohe silma heeringas hapukurgiga. Ma lihtsalt pidin selle maiuspala ostma. Madriidis pole kusagil heeringat nagu Eestis ja selline isu tuli kohe peale. Soovitasin ka teistel proovida. Keegi polnud eriti vaimustatud aga kui nad ampsu võtsid hakkas meeldima :D Ma ikka vahel tean mis on hea ja mis pole. Minu sõbranna Silvia soovitas mulle ühte väga head restorani Bazaar mis pidi olema väga populaarne ka kohalike hulgas. Meie hommikusöögist oli möödas juba paar tundi nii et oli aeg süüa lõunat ning miks mitte selles samas restoranis. Tegemist oli türgi toiduga. Restoran oli väga lahe ning seal istudes tekkis isegi tunne et oled Türgis kuna sisekujundas oli super. Ma soovitan kõigile kes Amsterdami lähevad sinna sööma minna sest toit oli seal väga maitsev.

Kõhud täis söödud suundusime Heinekeni tehasesse. Tutvusime õlle ajalooga, saime enda nimelise õllepudeli valmistada ning loomulikult saime õlut juua :D Piletiga koos sai 2 tasuta õlut, aga kuna me istusime baarileti läheduses saime veel lisaks paar klaasi. Üldkokkuvõttes oli päris vahva muuseum. Igast põnevaid tegevusi leidus seal aga mis ma nendest räägin kuna kes teab äkki mõni lugejatest tahab mõni päev sinna minna ja eks nad siis ise näevad mis see endast kujutab. Ostsime kõik piletid õhtusele kanalikruiisile (Blue Boat Company). Paadi sõit kestis kusagil 75 minutit ja päris vahva oli mööda kanaleid ringi tiirutada. Paljud inimesed elavad paatmajades mis näevad välja nagu päris majad, aga paiknevad kanalis. Saime ka teada et nendel kõigil peab olema elekter ja vesi sees ning nad peavad maksma makse nagu iga teine maja omanik. Lõpetasime oma paadisõidu päikeseloojangul ning suundusime õhtust sööma mehhiko restorani. Õhtu tipphetkeks osutus live sex show punaste laternate tänaval. Mis ma ikka muud ütlen kui et soovitan vaatama minna ja Amsterdam on just õige koht selle jaoks.

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We were supposed to meet with Mary and Julie who arrived to Amsterdam last night too. Before meeting them we ate breakfast in a pancake cafe and then headed to our meeting place. We walked to Albert Cypti street where was also a street market. You could find so many different things from there-clothes, food, furniture etc. I saw herring with pickles and I had to buy it. I haven’t had a herring since I was in Estonia on Christmas time because Madrid doesn’t have a herring, at least I haven’t seen anywhere. Nobody were so excited about trying it but when they did they liked it. Sometimes I know whats good. My friend Silvia from Estonia recommended a good restaurant on that street. She said that it was very popular with local people. It’s been couple of hours since breakfast so we were ready to eat lunch. It was a Turkish restaurant. The interior was cool and the food was amazing. I recommend to go there! After delicious lunch we went to Heineken brouwery. Heineken exerience was about 2 hour tour where you hear about the beer history, you can do a lot of fun things, make your own heineken bottle and finally drink some beer. It was a really fun!!! With ticket everybody gets 2 free beers but we were sitting next to the bar so we were lucky and got more. When you go to Amsterdam, definately go there. Another cool thing what we did was a canal cruise (Blue Boat Company is the best). The cruise was 75 minutes long. Driving around the canals and seeing all the boathouses were people live was pretty cool. People who live in the boathouses have to have electricity and water like every normal house has. Our cruise ended on a sunset and after that we went to eat dinner in a mexican restaurant. Amsterdam is fun.

H.

Amsterdam - Day 3





19.04.2011

Teisipäev/Tuesday

Minu enesetunne polnud just kiita teisipäeval seega istusin pool päeva hotellis. Käisin hommikust söömas ning peale seda läks Kyle teistega rattastega ringi sõitma. Nagu nad mulle mainisid siis väga kaugele nad ratastega ei jõudnud. Olid pargis käinud ja natukene linnas ringi sõitnud ning oligi aeg rattad tagasi viia. Enne õhtusööki läksid kõik oma hotelli ennast välja puhkama. Õhtu Amsterdamis lõpetasime väga odavas itaalia restoranis mis oli üllatavalt hea. Nii pizzad ja pastad olid ainult 5 eurot. Kahju küll et mu enesetunne mind alt vedas aga mis teha... Igatahes meie 3 päeva Amsterdamis oli vahva ja ega see meie viimaseks korraks siis ei jää....

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I didn’t feel good on Tuesday so half of the day I stayed in the hotel. I wasn’t happy about it but there was nothing to do about it. I went to eat breakfast with everybody and then went back to the hotel. Kyle and everybody else rented a bikes. They ride around the Vondelpark and just around the city. They didn’t get far because I think they only had 2-3 hours. Before dinner everybody went back to their hotel and in the evening we all met in the city center. We walked around to find something good to eat and we saw italian place where all the pizzas and pastas were only 5 euros each. Italian it is. It was cheap and good. I was sad that I didn’ feel good but we still had a great time and hopefully it’s not going to be our last time here because we both like Amsterdam.

Cologne - Day 1


20.04.2011

Kolmapäev/Wednesday

Kell 14:36 sõitsime rongiga Cologne. Sõit kestis 2 tundi. Rongis oli passikontroll aga õnneks Kyle pääses sellest. Tundub et Saksamaal on see kontroll natukene rangem kui mujal. Mary ja Julie ööbisid samas hostelis kus meiegi. Õhtul läksime jalutasime naabruskonnas vähekene ringi ning söime õhtust kohalikus restoranis kus šnitsel oli populaarseim söök. Me kõik tellisime ühe prae aga mitte keegi meist ei suutnud seda ära süüa kuna see oli lihtsalt nii suur. Järgmine kord me teame et enne küsime kui tellime midagi. Kõhud kurguni täis söödud läksime kõrval asuvasse baari et jalgpallimängu vaadata- Real Madrid ja Barcelona. Õhtu lõppes varakult kuna tahtsime homseks ennast välja puhata ning linna uudistama minna.

Rohkem pilte: https://picasaweb.google.com/HeleriR/CologneGermany#

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Our train from Amsterdam to Cologne departured 2:36PM. It took us 2 hours to get there. There was a passport checking on the train. They asked passport from Kyle but I was in the bathroom and I had the documents so when Kyle said that they left. That was lucky. We didn’t know that it was so strict in Germany. Mary and Julie were staying in the same hostel as we. In the evening we went walking around in the neighbourhood. We ate dinner in a schnitzel restaurant. We ate schnitzel in Estonia too. I love it. We all ordered one and when they came we were surprised because they were huge. None of us couldn’t finish it, because it was too big but it was delicious. Next time we know that we should ask before we ordered that how big is the meal, lol :D We were so full. After dinner we went to a bar to watch soccer game- Real Madrid and Barcelona. Our evening ended early because we wanted to start our day tomorrow early to see the city.

More Cologne pictures: https://picasaweb.google.com/HeleriR/CologneGermany#

H.

Cologne - Day 2



21.04.2011

Neljapäev/Thursday

Magasime ennast välja ning kella 11 paiku võtsime suuna vanalinna poole. Jalutasime peatänavale mis viis vanalinna. Enna peatänavale minekut söime väikeses pagariäris hommikust-saiake ja kohvi. Sain üle pika aja kohupiimakooki süüa. Peatänaval leidsime paar lahedat poodi. Üks neist oli fotograafia pood, kus müüdi üliägedaid fotosid ning teine oli õlide ja maitseainete pood. Poes sai proovida erinevaid maitseaineid ja õlisid enne kui ostad. Kyle läks päris pöördesse kuna ta ei suuda oliivõlist eemale hoida, haha :D Lõpuks jõudsime peakiriku juurde mis oli vägev. Ei tea miks see kirik musta värvi oli, nagu õudusfilmist. Kiriku kõrval oli ka rongijaam kust ostsime rongipiletid Brüsselisse. Ostsime pileti kus peame 2 korda rongi vahetama. Kiirelt otsustades tegime vale otsuse. Eks näis kui tüütu see saab olema, aga mis tehtud see tehtud. Siiamaani ei olnud ma eriti Cologne’ist vaimistatud aga kui jõudsime Rheini jõeni oli jutt juba teine. Istusime jõe kõrval kohvikus mõnda aega ning seejärel jalutasime üle silla. Silla küljes oli tuhandeid tabalukke. Seda nimetatakse armastusesillaks. Selline sama sild on ka pariisis. Paarid kirjutavad luku peale oma nimed, lukustavad selle silla külge ning viskavad võtme ära – see peaks tähendama siis et nad on koos igavesti. Hommikusöögiks oli möödas jube tunde ja kõhud hakkasid korisema. Otsisime restorani mis pakkus õiget saksa toitu. Rheini jõe kaldal oli neid päris palju. Meil kõigil oli ikka päris raske suhelda inimestega kuna mitte ükski meist ei osanud rääkida saksa keelt. Ma küll õppisin 3 aastat gümnaasiumis, aga midagi külge kahjuks ei jäänud. Õhtusöögiks tellisime verivorsti saksa moodi mis oli hea aga mitte nii hea kui Eesti oma ning erinevus oli ka see et see oli külm. Pearoaks tellisime praekartulid vorstiga mis oli imehea. Peale pikka päeva ringi jalutades suundusime hotelli ning paari tunni pärast läksime istusime hotelli lähedal asuvas baaris ning lõpetasime oma reisi Cologne’is paari saksa õllega.

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Our day started at 11AM when we start walking towards the old town and city center. We walked to the main street what took us to the old town. Before starting our tour we ate breakfast in a small cafe on the main street. We found a couple of really cool stores on the main street. One was a photography store and they had so amazing photos on sale. The other one was oil and vinegar. The store had so many different kinds of olive oils, vinegar and herbs. You could taste everything before you even buy. Kyle wanted everything from there especially olive oil because he just loves it. The store had a personality, it was pretty cool. After walking 30 minutes we made it to the cathedral. I was so big but it was also very dark. We have seen a lot of cathedrals travelling around Europe but it was a scary looking color for a cathedral. I’m curious why it’s so dark. The train station was next to the cathedral so we bought our tickets back to Brussels. We got a ticket and we have to switch train twice. I don’t think it was a good idea, but I guess will see tomorrow. Finally we saw the river- Rhein. That area next to the river was pretty. We sit down to a cafe for a while and enjoyed a beautiful weather. We were getting hungry but decided to walk around a little bit more. We walked across the bridge to the other side. There was a high glass building where you could go on top and see the view over Cologne. The bridge was also like in Paris – lover bridge. There was a thousands of locks on the bridge.Couples write down their names on the lock, lock it to the bridge and throw away the key and they are together forever. Again we didn’t had a lock with us but like Kyle always says that he wants to put a combination lock just in case, lol :D We all were hungry and on the way back strated to find a place were we could eat some german sausage. Didn’t took us a long time to find a place. There were so many restaurants next to the river. None of us didn’t know any german language but somehow we managed to do things all through our Cologne trip. I studied German 3 years in high school but I don’t remember anything what is sad. So, we finally got some Germany sausage what was really good. We also tried blood sausage German style. It wasn’t that good as in Estonia. After long day of walking around we went back to the hotel and in the evening went out to eat dinner close to the hostel. We all were happy with Cologne and I think it was a nice little city.

H.