Sylvia got up really early to go to work at the old lady’s house again. I planned on waking up at the same time and getting all my packing done, but my bed was just too comfortable to get out of. So I slept in an extra hour and a half, it was very nice. Finally I dragged myself out of bed and started packing. I got a lot done and was weighing the suitcase as I went to make sure I didn’t go over the weight and have to pay. I also called Gusy, who was still awake at a ridiculous hour of the morning in Montana. But it was so good to talk with him.
Sylvia got back around noon and a bit later we headed to the center of Cologne. We got out of the station and walked in the direction of the chocolate museum. There was a market going on along the river bank (it was really cute). I got potatoes fritters (potatoes pancakes) they came with Apple sauce which I thought was weird, but apparently that’s how they are traditionally eaten. They were pretty good. We also tried some cheese samples at an Austrian cheese stand. The man who worked there was very enthusiastic about the cheese. He started talking to Sylvia and kept talking and talking ( I could tell Sylvia didn’t want to talk but was trying to be polite about it). On the bright side he gave us free mini Austrian cow bells ( I couldn’t help giggling when he handed me a cowbell with fringe and all, its pretty silly). We eventually escaped and continued on our way.
We made it to our intended destination (a bratwurst stand). I had asked Sylvia if we could get bratwursts for lunch since it was my last day in Germany and I hadn’t had one. We went to the stand and I got a Currywurst with a Brochen (a different kind of bratwurst with curry sauce and spice on it). Apparently they are very popular in Germany, so I tried one. Super yummy! Then Sylvia had the brilliant idea of getting dessert. We were just across the bridge from the chocolate museum which had a little café that they serve special cakes in. So we went in the museum café and had cake, mine was raspberry and Sylvia’s was chocolate. It was pretty tasty. We chatted and enjoyed our dessert for a while, then we headed back to the train station.
Unfortunately we missed the train Sylvia was hoping to catch, but there was another in like 20 minutes. So we sat on the steps in front of the Dome and chilled in the slight rain. It was nice. Then I walked Sylvia to her platform and came back to the Dome steps. I sat on the steps reading my book for a bit. I thought I might meet up with another German I met at the Wednesday night party and hang out for a bit, but I never heard from him. So I chilled for a bit then decided since I was at the Dome I was going to climb it. I went in and paid the 1 euro cost to climb the 358 (or something close to that) steps up to the top. It wasn’t easy, lots of stairs. Luckily you get a break if you stop to look at the bells. They also tease you because you finish one set of stairs go down a hall, and then there are more stairs. I made it to the top, and the view was absolutely beautiful and made me realize how big Cologne really is. I took some pictures and enjoyed the cool air for a bit before I headed back down. There was only one stair case for going up and coming down so everyone had to squezze past each other. It was a bit annoying and not the best design plan, but oh well. I DID IT!!!
Sylvia had told me about an area I could go shopping, but I didn’t really have space in my suitcase, so I decided not to go shopping. As Sylvia was getting on the train she asked me if I could bake a cake for the going away party we were going to that night. I said sure. I figured I could help Sylvia out considering all she did for me. Besides baking is easy…or so I thought. I got to the grocery store and found the cake mixes. Then I stood there for about 10-20 minutes wondering what any of them said. I was thinking of doing cupcakes but the only ones they had were chocolate and pink princess. So I looked at the cakes I had no idea what any of them were, but 2 looked chocolaty and one looked like lemon so I chose the other one thinking it looked like vanilla. I bought the cake mix and caught the bus back to the apartment (after all those stairs I didn’t really feel like walking).
I got back to the apartment, sat at my computer with the cake mix and began to translate what it was, what I needed and the directions. This ended up being a long and annoying process. Then I went to the kitchen to find everything I needed. This also ended up being an incredible annoying process because I didn’t know where anything was and couldn’t ask anyone. At one point during all this I called Sylvia and left her a message saying “help me!”. Nels called to get a hold of Sylvia which worked for me because a bit later I called him back and asked him for help since there was no measuring cup to be found anywhere in that kitchen, and since its in the metric system I don’t know the amounts well enough to guess it. Nels helped and eventually I found everything I needed and made the cake. I also watched Victor Victoria while I worked (it was my baking movie). After only four hours I had a broken, but frosted walnut cake. I will never bake in a foreign language I don’t know and a foreign kitchen ever again :p. I called mom and told her about my cake adventure and watching Victor Victoria.
I was frustrated but felt accomplished and Sylvia was very proud, so it all turned out okay. She came home and was very impressed because she realized she had given me a very hard task once the train went away. A bit later Nels arrived. I ate a snack cause I was hungry and we weren’t eating till the party. Then I called Gusy and talked to him for a bit while I was waiting for Sylvia and Nels, who were waiting for me (minor misunderstanding).
Anyway eventually we left for the party. We walked to Mario’s house (Mario is leaving to teach football [soccer] in Argentina for about a year I think, so it was his going away party) and went in and joined the party. There were a lot people from Sylvia’s theater group there that I met and talked to. The two most memorable were a girl who loved English and was drunk (she spoke English more when she was drunk apparently, she only told me so like 4 times). She had a strong British accent when she spoke English and talked about how she passionately wanted to move to Britain. We talked about theater and following your passions/ heart. She was nice and she said she appreciated talking to me (although who knows if she’ll remember it). The other memorable character from Sylvia’s theater group was a guy who frankly followed me around quite a bit. He spoke English but his enunciation was horrible so often I didn’t understand what he said. Still I talked to him and tried to seem polite. He is 18 and I think he was very interested in me, and I was not at all interested in him. It was kind of funny though, and a little bit weird.
When we got there Mario got us all a beer, and I drank mine (it was okay, not bad). The only problem was I didn’t really want to drink beer, I wanted to eat food. Sylvia had told me not to eat because there would be food at the party, so by the time we got there I was hungry, but I didn’t see any food. I asked Sylvia but she didn’t know and I told her not to worry about it, but a bit later in the night I had to ask again. This time Sylvia asked and I was pointed to the food (yay!). I felt better after that.
Francheska and Life were also at the party so we hung out with them. There was also a t-shirt that everyone was signing for Mario. I signed it too, I wrote, “Bye! <3 Amber (American)”. I think he will find it funny and this way he’ll realize who it was that signed it (aka that American girl Sylvia brought that one time). When it got late I started to get tired, and since I knew I had to be up at 5am the nest morning I wanted to get at least a few hours of sleep. I mentioned this to Sylvia and she said we would leave soon. About an hour, and two more “we’ll leave in just a few minutes”, and we actually left. (I know I shouldn’t complain because I am guilty of this too, but usually I’m not affecting the less than three hours of sleep someone is hoping to get) We said goodbyes and headed to Life’s house and he gave us a ride back to Sylvia’s apartment. Then Sylvia, Nels and I got ready for bed. I said goodbye to Nels since he wasn’t going to wake up before I left in the morning. Then Sylvia and I went to bed to enjoy our 2 hours of sleep.
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