No, I’m not talking about how fresh I smell this morning. Cologne (Köln), Germany was a place I was lucky enough to travel to for work back in 2014. I was 27 at the time and really enjoyed myself.
My layover was at O’Hare (ORD) and from there it was direct to Frankfurt (FRA). When I landed in Frankfurt, I was supposed to get on the train to Cologne. It was a tight window since I had no clue what I was doing. I had already booked my train ticket, so in hindsight, I think it was easier than I made it out to be. I got to the station in the airport and realized that I needed to exchange the train “boarding pass” I had gotten from Lufthansa into an actual ticket for the Inter-City-Express (ICE). Unfortunately by the time that I had figured that out, it was too late and I missed my train.
I should preface the rest of the story by saying that I have a rough understanding of the German language. At the time, it had been about 10 years since I had been anywhere that spoke German, but I often surprised myself with how much I remembered. Ok, back to the story.
So I went back across the platform to the Lufthansa booth and they let me exchange my train ticket for one on the next train. Perfect! The next train shows up in about an hour. I board and choose a seat that looks comfy. As I get settled in, I hear someone shouting at another person on the other side of the rail car. The dispute is over seats and the person shouting (in English) is claiming that this other person has taken their seat. The person sitting down looked rather flustered and was quick to get up and move to their appropriate seat once they figured out where that was. I hadn’t even noticed that there were seat numbers until this point, but after seeing that encounter, I quietly slipped into my assigned seat. Luckily this train wasn’t very full.
I don’t exactly remember how long the train ride was but it wasn’t too bad. The rolling hills of Germany looked oddly familiar to what I’m used to in the United States. It was June, so the ground was very green and bright with wild flowers. As we rolled into Cologne, the scene changed to an urban center and we curled into the station. I had a ride scheduled to pick me up from the train station, but since I had missed that first train, I was pretty much on my own. I had a number to call, which I did a few times, and left a voicemail. After about an hour of waiting and weighing my options of getting a taxi or waiting for this ride, my problem solved itself. A nice older lady rolled up and asked who I was and where I was going. After our brief discussion, I loaded up my bags and we were off to the hotel.
The driver rolled up to Hotel Friends. Apparently this is a small chain of hotels. Everyone who had to travel and was there for the same classes was staying at this hotel. The place was very European, not the huge open spaces that I am used to in American hotel lobbies. Still, it was very nice and very purple. There was a hotel bar and free breakfast every morning. Like a lot of hotels in Europe, you were expected to leave the room key at the front desk when you left for the day. And here, at this hotel, was where I taught Norwegians, Austrians, Iraqis, Scots, and Italians how to play flip cup. I even have pictures to prove it!
I was only in Cologne for a week, so each day I was there was different. Some days we had class all day. Some days we had no classes and got to explore the Cathedral (the “Dom”) or local breweries. In case you didn’t know, Kölsch style beer was invented in Cologne. Men’s perfume is also named after the city. You can still buy the “original” recipe at local shops, but it smells really dreadful. I wouldn’t recommend it.
The trip to Cologne was a lot of fun, and I was touring with a bunch of strangers. I know that if you go there with friends, you’re going to have a great time!
