So early in the morning I got up, took a shower, ate breakfast, gathered my things, and we all headed for the train station. I stopped at the little bakery in the station to get a baguette for the train ride (my last French baguette :( ). Then we went to the platform and I said my goodbyes and thank yous to Anne Marie and Christian. They were so sweet and helpful!! I'm glad I had this time to stay with them.
I got on the train and waved goodbye as the train departed. My first train was very short. Then I got off in SWITZERLAND!!!! That's right, Switzerland. I had a one hour lay over at the train station in Switzerland. It was an eventful one hour though. I went to costumer service first to figure out my platform. It took a bit to long, but it was good I checked. Then I bought a tiny bottle of Swiss wine for another time. I bought a Swiss snack and a present for Sethy (brother). Then I headed to my platform to catch the train.
I got on the train and did my best to pass the time. I had about 4 or so hours on the train so I did my best to pass the time. I finished the book I was reading, Sidartha. It was pretty good, I didn't like or agree with all of it, but it had some good moments. After the book I ate the lunch I had brought with me (yummy fresh baguette with cheese). Then I listened to music, and started a new book, Good Omens. Eventually I made it to Koln (or Cologne, depending on which country your in).
I wandered the platform a bit, not sure if I should go downstairs or wait there. After a bit I found SYLVIA!!!! I was very happy to see her. We bought a ticket for me and took the train to her Mom's apartment on the edge of the city. We talked and talked catching up on life. She told me that her Mom and sister were gone so it would be just the two of us in the apartment (which means I get her sisters bed, yay not sleeping on the floor!). She also told me that her boyfriend would be meeting us at the apartment. We had a small issue with the stupid trains (they wouldn't let us get on the right train for some reason, so we had to wait for the next one). Then we got on and made our way to Sylvia's.
On the way to her house I was just walking along with my stuff, minding my own business when a bush with thorns cuts my arm. Like actually cuts my arm, not just scratches. It was bleeding and hurt. Thanks for the kind welcome to Germany you evil German Shrubbery!
At the building was her boyfriend (it sounds like Niece but I'm not sure if that's how you spell it). So I met him and he was very nice. Sylvia had to leave for work (she works at this little ice cream cafe kinda Italian place, its cute). So her boyfriend and I hung out. First we went to the mall to buy a week pass train ticket for me, but that didn't work because it was only Monday to Monday. So we thought I could buy a weekend pass and a week pass, but they had no weekend pass. After much debating and issues with the lady at the counter I ended up buying a week ticket and a day ticket that were very overpriced.
After the train ticket issue was dealt with we went to try to catch part of the Gay Games (yes, you heard correctly, the Gay Games. Apparently Cologne is the second Gay Capitol of the world after San Francisco. I had no idea). We found handball, but that was all. Niece (I'm just gonna write it like this till I get a proper spelling) wasn't into it so we kept looking around, but couldn't find anything. Eventually we found out that all the events were done for the day so we got back on the train.
Our next stop was the beer garden. We went to a stand and each got a beer then went and sat on the grass. Now as you may or may not know, I don't like beer, but I am in Germany so I'm determined to give it a chance. So when I asked Niece for a suggestion he chose a local beer for me to try. It was not tasty, almost gross. But I didn't want to be rude so I drank most of it anyway. Only problem with that is that the beers here are huge! But it was okay, Niece and I talked about alot of stuff. Like living in gay cities and that we both want to be actors. He's trying to get into an acting school for next year so we had alot to talk about. Anyway after that we walked toward town. I stopped at an ATM then we got back on the train.
Niece took me to the gay area of the city and showed me around a bit. I had mentioned the Castro street being the gay street of San Fran but he informed me they didn't have a street as much as an area. I couldn't help but laugh when I saw a store named Castro on one of the streets. They had it all dolled up for the Gay Games festivities, and the best part, free shoes! We were walking down the street and this girl came up to me and asked if I was interested in free flip flops. I said yes so Niece and I both got free flip flops! Score!
After that we got back on the train, then on a bus to go visit Sylvia at work. Eventually we found the place and Sylvia. They had this weird ice cream called spaghetti (basically vanilla ice cream put through a spaghetti maker so its in pile of thin noodles, but ice cream). It looked so strange and different that I had to try it, they had all different toppings but I got berries. It was super yummy, and free which is always nice. Then Niece left to go to work. Sylvia only had a half hour till she was supposed to get off work so I didn't mind waiting a bit. I just listened to music and hung out. After a half hour she wasn't done yet so she made me some tea and went back to work. An hour later she finally got off and we headed back to her place. She dropped off her bike and we grabbed jackets and headed out.
We went to a cafe to eat (Sylvia was telling me about a bunch of possible food places for while I'm here). Sylvia was looking forward to the sandwiches at this cafe, but apparently she hadn't eaten there in a while because they no longer served them, in fact they no longer served food. We disappointedly went on to find food somewhere else. We ended up going to this little Turkish restaurant and getting traditional Turkish kabob, but in a bread pocket (they added the bread pocket when they came to Germany to make the food able to be eaten on the go). I actually didn't like it that much, it was kinda disappointing. I also tried a German soda which is orange soda mixed with cola, and that was actually pretty good.
After the food we went back to the cafe (the one we tried to eat at) because Sylvia liked it and her friend works there. We both got a tea, but after my day of traveling and her day of work we were both so tired we could barely stay awake. Once our tea was gone we headed back and went to sleep.
Not the best first day in Germany.
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