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I was hoping to wave goodbye to the White Cliffs of Dover as we left port but it was pretty misty. Luckily the sea was reasonably calm and so we made the crossing in good time. Everything about the jetfoil is like a trip on an airplane. They even call the journey "a flight" and we had to wear seatbelts for the "take-off". If you did not know, the jetfoil skims two metres above the waves at a top speed of 50 miles per hour. It takes the big ferries four hours to cross from Dover to Ostend. But the Jetfoil does it in only one hour and 40 minutes! Well worth the extra supplement I had to pay.
By the time we reached Belgium, the mist had cleared cleared and I could see that we were in for a hot day. As we docked I moved my watch forward one hour and then prepared myself to make a dash for the luggage lockers as soon as the seat-belt sign had blinked off. By this time it was 12.23 p.m. and my train for Koln (Cologne) was due to leave at 12.35 p.m.! I must admit I was a little anxious about this slim connection but it turned out OK in the end. I needn't have run as the train left a few minutes late. coming to think of it, it was probably waiting for us anyway.
I found the seats in the brightly orange painted train to be very comfy. It was just as well as it took a further four hours to reach Koln. With the temperature soaring into the the 30's and the train gradually filling up after a few stops, it soon became hot, sticky and a little uncomfortable. There wasn't much to see out of the window apart from fields, woodland and towns. The houses in the countryside had a distinct Continental look about them but the town ones could have been in any country.
For the record, it took three hours to cross Belgium and then a further one hour to reach Koln in Germany. I was a little surprised that there was no passport check at the border. when I left England my passport was checked and then again on arrival in Belgium (though I must admit that they only glanced at it). Obviously freedom of movement in Europe means literally that.
Disembarking at Koln I was by myself in a foreign country for the first time in my life. My one year trip in Australia doesn't really count as they not only speak English there but also I was met at the airport by my relations. Here in Koln I was faced by signs in German and a sense of complete disorientation. I just didn't know which way to turn first. My main priority was to find a bed for the night. I had an address for the Youth Hostel and a sketch map to show where it was located, but I knew that the rooms would fill up quickly. I had to act fast as it was already early evening.
Near the station entrance I found a good street map but as soon as I went outside I couldn't work out which way to go. I knew that I had to cross the River Rhine, but which way was the river? After a lot of coming and going, I managed to find an information centre. The bilingual staff there gave me a free map and pointed me in the right direction. I was off at last!
It took about fifteen minutes to walk to the hostel. I said "guten tag" to the person on the reception and then went on to say "sprechen sie Englisch?" Fortunately he did, si I didn't have to stumble through any more of my broken German. It turned out that there was a spare bed for the night, which was a great weight off my mind.
I am spending the night in a room with three beds. The other two beds are occupied by a couple of English guys who have only just arrived. I think they were just as surprised as me to be spending the night with a fellow countryman. after we had introduced ourselves, we chatted about our experiences. (Obviously mine weren't very long!) They had bought themselves an Inter Rail ticket and after only a few week they are now finding themselves rather short of money. They will probably head back home soon. Hopefully my money will last a lot longer. It is a long way around the world.
I put all of my valuables into my day pack and then locked my rucksack into the locker. Security here is pretty good. We each have three keys. One for the door on our landing. One to our room and the last one for the locker. However, having said that, it would be unwise to leave valuables unattended. I left the English guys to finish unpacking whilst I went off to explore the city. I still had three hours of daylight left so it would have been a shame to waste it.
Koln Station is actually in the heart of the city. The first thing I saw when I arrived at the station was the massive cathedral. The two spires at the West end are an incredible 157 metres high, so you can imagine how far I had to lean my head back to see the top.
The wonderful intricate carvings on the outside apparently only date back to the 19th Century, but the main part of the cathedral was built between 1248 and the 16th Century. Inside there was an evening service going on so instead I wandered around the streets instead. I must admit that I wasn't too ambitious with my first bought meal in a foreign land as I ate at McDonalds. some of the items on the menu were in English (or should I say American). A Big Mac is apparently the same in any language so I didn't have any problem ordering. Even when I asked for a drink in German, the reply was partially in English: "small, medium oder large". Before I left England I had meant to make a note of how much a cheeseburger costs there, as I thought it might be interesting to do a price comparison around the world. In Germany, the cheeseburger is DM 2.45 which works out, at the present exchange rate, at about BP 1.00.
I found it fascinating wandering around the shops. Here and there I spotted English words and logos scattered amongst the German words. I even saw a C&A the same as ours. Funnily enough, one of the window displays had a sign, which said in English “Back to School”! Very strange.
Back at the cathedral I watched some street entertainment for a while before heading back to the hostel. The two English guys invited me out for a drink so I had an opportunity to grill them on their experiences so far. I asked them whether they had anything stolen as I had heard stories. But, they have been lucky so far. They admitted that it was their main concern at the start but now that nothing has happened they have relaxed more. They said that as long as you are “street-wise” and take simple precautions you should be alright. Their main worry each day is arriving at a new town and having to find accommodation. That is something I will have to deal with a lot in the coming months.
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