Trust me, I trust you.

Koeln. Where to begin, where to begin. I suppose, at the beginning.

Thursday -
I wake up at 6:45, shower, and double-check my packing to make sure I have everything. I leave incredibly early, just to be extra sure that I don't miss the train/know where I'm going, and all of that jazz. I find my Gleis (track) easily and sit in the cold rainy-ness for about an hour, but it's peaceful so I don't mind too much. I also grab a Butterbretzel (buttered pretzel) and Mineralwasser for my breakfast - not as healthy as I had hoped, and way too expensive, being at the train station and all, but it worked. Finally my train comes, and because I reserved a seat in a glass cab in the train, I feel super European. Traveling in my own compartment to Koeln, all by myself! I scoot towards the window, and a man sits across from me and a young woman on my left. Then a boy about my age joins and sits next to the man. Mostly, I ignore them and stare out the window. I wrote a poem (a really, really good one, I think) and did some other writings, read "The Alchemist" (not quite finished yet, but it's brilliant,) and gazed out the window. On the third or fourth connecting stop, a heavyset woman came in with her fat, ugly dog that smelled, and I was sad to be in a separate compartment. Luckily, my connecting stop in Mannheim was close, so I wasn't stuck in there for long. The woman was also very loud and kept asking everyone questions, but I pretended to be so interested in my book that I was able to keep out of the conversation. Then I got off in Mannheim, and the Gleis for my next train was the same. I stood for only ten or so minutes, and then the train that would take me to Koeln came! This time, I didn't have a compartment, and I certainly did not care. I had two hours of travel left, and I found that the regular second-class seats were quite spacious. I had my part all to myself, and across the aisle to my left was a large window. As we took off towards my stop, we drove along the Rhine. This, I have decided, is one of my favorite places in the entire world. Little towns sitting in the valleys of giant mountains, with Rhine river hugging the outskirts - it was so cozy, I just wanted to hop out right there and live there forever. The water was so beautiful, and everything was green, and atop one of the hills, someone had spelled out in some crop or other for train passengers, "LEBE VEGAN!" which means live vegan. It was heaven. I wrote this in my journal that I had with me on the train, and I think it is appropriate to include here: "No book, no picture, no second-hand description can take the place of seeing this magical countryside." I think every single person in the whole world should travel, because these things will imprint themselves on your mind, and they will change you. When we arrived in Koeln, I was excited and nervous. I wandered out of the train station into the city, where it was a cool but sunny day. Immediately, directly to my right, stood the Dom, Koeln's breathtaking cathedral (of course I have a million pictures, which I will post later.) It seemed to reach up forever, and the architecture was so incredibly intricate - great! I went to where all of the taxis stood, and grabbed the first available one I could. He zipped (and REALLY zipped) over to my hostel, where I checked in and headed to my 8-person room. There were only two people actually in the room when I entered; Matt, the Canadian, and Thomas, the Frenchman. I chose a bed directly to the left of the door, and since they were bunked, I went for the bottom, because I always hate climbing bunk beds and feeling like I'm inconveniencing people. I stored my luggage, made sure everything was safe, talked briefly with Matt, and headed out. I decided that this first day, I didn't mind exploring on my own. I headed to one of the main streets near the hostel, and decided food was the most important thing I could take care of - it was 2pm, and I was SO hungry!! I found a nice Italian place that was pretty cheap, and went in. I seated myself, and the waitress brought me stuff. I had purchased a map of Koeln at the hostel, so since I was eating alone, I pondered that for a while. But some times, I didn't do anything; just sat, watched, and was. It was a strange, and slightly uncomfortable, experience, but it really was not that bad and the waitress was extra nice. The food was pretty good; I have had better, but I was hungry so it worked. However, about 5 or 6 bites in, I found a hair. I was grossed out, lost my appetite, and was actually pretty full before then anyway, so I decided that was enough. The waitress asked (in German) if anything had been wrong, and she was so nice and I really didn't want more food so I just said, it tasted great, I'm just really full! I paid and headed out, towards the Stadtgarten. I wanted to figure out where Peter Moren was playing on Saturday, particularly where it was situated in terms of the hostel. It was easily within walking distance, and I was pleased. I wandered around the park for a moment, and a little german boy wandered up to me (he was maybe 2) and handed me some peanut-shaped cracker. I thanked him, and he gave me another, and I thanked him again and laughed. I headed towards his mom and gave them back and said he was very, very cute. We said goodbye, and I headed on. Then I decided that it was still early, so I wandered towards the Dom. It was pretty far (I'm horrible at distance-judging, but maybe half a mile?) I enjoyed the peace, though. When I got there, I decided to inquire about an ad I saw for this goofy-looking choo choo train that went to the chocolate museum. I knew that the museum closed at 6pm, and it was only 4 so I thought I had time. I went into the tourist station, and asked, and the woman pointed out the train stop for me. I thanked her, and went and waited. As I waited, I looked up again at the Dom, because the stop was right next to it. I took some pictures, and then noticed some of those cool people-statues (where people stand in various clothings and pretend to be statues, and then move to freak people out.) It was really, really cool!! There was an Egyptian mummy one, another that actually looked like she was bronze, and two that looked like Renaissance-era people. Tres cool. Finally, at 4:45, the train showed up, and I was the ONLY person who got on. The guide still did his spiel, but it was definitely a little awkward. I kept thinking of dad, though, and how he would say, "How cool! You have it all to yourself!!" So that's how I looked at it, and it was fun. When we arrived at the museum, it was 5:02, and I thought, wonderful! An hour to explore. However. . .they stop the tours at 5. I had JUST missed the last one. Disappointed, I thought, eh, I'll come back or not, whatever. I went into the shop and bought some truffles, and then headed back out to catch the train back. At this point, I was pretty tired, so I walked the half-mile back to the main street, and then walked toward a REWE (grocery store) I had seen. I went in and bought a half-baguette, a cola and some Alpenbutter, and headed toward the hostel. I went downstairs to eat my feast, and it was quite good. Then, I went back to my room to relax and get to bed early, so I could have a full day the next day. More people were in the room, which was wonderful. Tegan, from Australia, was super nice, and we started talking with Matt and got to know each other. A blonde guy was sitting under Thomas, but I didn't catch his name at the time. There were two American guys who were studying in France, and just doing some traveling, but there weren't enough beds, so they went to the front and the hostel worker realized they had put the blonde guy in the wrong room. He left, and then the American guys left with Thomas and Rafael (another guy from France) to go out. I climbed into bed, and fell asleep.

Friday -
The next morning, I woke up when Lily (from Portugal) got up, since she was in the bunk above me. It was earlier than I had wanted to get up, but I figured it would be nice to get a shower before the rest of the people in my room were awake. I went to breakfast with her, Tegan and Matt, and it was really nice. The blonde guy from the day before came over to see if Tegan wanted to go out with him that day, and she said sure. As we were talking, I asked Tegan if she could come with me and Lily (and of course the blonde fellow was invited,) and she said sure, depending on how he felt about that. He was cool with it, and it was decided. I learned from Tegan that his name was Mitchell and that he was also from Australia, so I thought that was cool. The four of us set out to do the Dom, and we walked the half-mile there, jabbering on. Mitchell and I talked about music (hooray!) and I invited Tegan to spend some time with me in Freiburg, if she ever got the chance. When we got to the Dom, we paid for our ticket and began the IMMENSE ascension (Mitchell joked that the steps actually went to heaven.) After what seemed to be endless winding upward, we made it to the very top. It was absolutely gorgeous, and totally worth all of the work. We slowly worked our way around, taking tons of pictures of the city, the Rhine, a dead bird (I did not partake in that one) and everything else we thought was worth remembering. The architecture in Koeln is really interesting, because some of it is really classic, and a lot of it is super-modern. Then after we had rested, we headed down - it was considerably quicker. We headed next (after a quick bite to eat) to the Ludwig museum, where there was a lot of pop art being showcased. Andy Warhol, Lichtenstein, all those guys and more. We spent a LOT of time there, because that place is huge! It was really great, though, and I love pop art so for the most part, I was really entertained. I think, collectively, our favorite exhibit was a trailer for a movie with people like Courtney Love, Gerard Butler, and Forgot-her-first-name Jahovavich. "Caligula." SO tacky!! It was to be the punchline to many of our later jokes that day. Then we headed over on the boardwalk to the chocolate museum, which was OK but quite a let-down from what we had expected. We only got to taste a small square of chocolate, and one crisp-stick that was pre-dipped in the chocolate fountain. Boo. My favorite parts of the museum were the random greenhouse with cacao, coffee, pineapple and other plants and trees, and the assembly line. After this, we were all extremely tired and hungry, so we went to an Italian place and had DELICIOUS food. Afterward, on the way back to the hostel, Mitchell decided he wanted to see a movie, "Die Welle," that night, and because Uli had already recommended it to me, I though it sounded like a great idea (since, before I met people, I thought I might see a movie that night anyway.) We dropped off the others back at the hostel, and then met back up again for the movie. Mitchell is GREAT. It's not that we have everything in common (like, for instance, I do with Katherine,) and of course we aren't even from the same parts of the world, but something just clicked and I felt really close to him immediately. He's nice and funny and interesting, and those kinds of people are the best. Anyway, we saw the movie, which was brilliant and intense, and then went back to the hostel and talked politics until 3am. Awesome.

Saturday -
The next day, I wanted to sleep in as late as possible. I made it to noon, and then leisurely got up and showered. That was also the first time I really talked to Thomas, which was nice because he is also very cool. I decided I was starving, so I went out to grab something to bring back to the hostel. I went to the same bakery I had gone to before, in the REWE store, and I was only second in line. Good, I thought. Then, two different middle-aged women cut around to the left side of me. I thought they were probably trying to cut the line, but I thought, that's OK! The helper lady saw me standing here, she'll know. Too bad I misjudged her kindness - she kind of scowled at me, and then turned the the first lady with a smile and asked her what she wanted. I was pretty upset, particularly when she saw the second lady first. But I was hungry and this was cheap, so I waited. Finally she waited on me, without a word - just looked at me. I told her what I wanted, and was as chipper as possible, and then she set the things on the counter, said "Danke schoen," and turned away. *I* unassumingly thought I would have to pay at the REWE counter again, but then as I was walking away, I heard a loud, "HALLO! HALLO!!" I turn back, and the lady is looking at me like she just saw me eat a child or something. I said (in German,) oh I'm sorry, I thought I was supposed to pay over there. She said, of course not!! I make these things, you naturally pay me, my God. I was so, so angry. But whatever, I paid her and then left. RAWR. I was frustrated at her (and the other older ladies') rudeness, but I am currently trying to convince myself that this is not a typical thing, just these women. Anyway. I went back to the hostel, ate, and then went up to my room to read and rest until it was time to meet Mitchell for dinner. (I forgot to mention, Tegan had moved out that morning with a lot of other people, so I didn't get to hang out with her that day.) I vaguely remember taking a nap, and watching a horrible german soap opera, and then it was dinner time! I met up with Mitchell and since it was still only 5, we decided to walk around for a while. We wandered toward the Stadtgarten, under a bridge, to another section of the Stadtgarten, and back around again. All of a sudden, music started playing and people with face paint, masks, and other colorful clothing starting wandering down a main Koeln street and took it over!!! They were blocking the auto traffic, because they were protesting it (one of the signs said something like, "reclaim the streets"). It was AWESOME! At first, I just stood to the side, watching (Mitchell jumped right in and wandered down the street) because I thought, what if the police arrest me and I'm sent home or something?? But then Mitchell basically said that I had to take a chance and go for it, so he pulled me out into the street and it was AWESOME. There were fire-breathers, baton twirlers, clowns on bikes, and all kinds of other crazy things. It was so nice also to see so many young people (the average age was definitely 21 or around there) standing up for something. Stupendous. Then it was getting late, so we went to another Italian place and talked a ton more about everything, really. Then it was time for me to go to my concert, so we said our goodbyes, not knowing if we'd see each other again. I headed up the street to the Stadtgarten, and when I arrived, I was the only person there yet for the concert. I was only 30 minutes before the doors, so I really didn't know what to expect. I sat by myself for those 30 minutes, waiting to get in and hear some great music. When the doors did open, I was the first inside, and only two guys followed in after me. It was nuts, and I was sad because I wanted Peter to have a big audience (and also didn't want to look creepy, standing pretty close to the stage, directly in the center.) Luckily, after an hour had passed (and we were all still waiting,) the room was a little fuller. I doubt more than 40 people ended up being there, though. Meh, nobody knows what they are missing. So at around 9:30 the opener, Tobias Froberg (also from Sweden) went on and he was adorably hilarious and extra talented. I love his voice and lyrics. A lot of his songs really hit home in different ways, and it was just great. Then, for the last two songs, Peter came out to join!! My knees got a little weak, not gonna lie. Anyway, they were just fantastic (p.s. in case I haven't mentioned before, this is Peter Moren from Peter Bjorn and John.) Then, after Tobias was done, there was only a ten-or-so minute intermission, and Peter and Tobias both came back out (Tobias was Peter's backup band.) I don't remember EVERYthing that happened during the concert, but I will jot down highlights - Peter said he studied German in school, but all he could really say was "Ich bin ein Dummkopf, und ich habe Angst, and that about sums it up!" So funny. One (out of the four or so) encores they played included Buddy Holly covers, and to introduce them, Peter said, "I don't know a lot about Texas. Even though I keep going back to South by Southwest, I just don't know anything about it, except Buddy Holly and Stevie Ray Vaughan!!" Anyway, even though I know he was just doing his spiel, in my heart it was a mini-shout-out to me. You are allowed to laugh at me for this. Also, Peter played ALL of my favorite songs. He opened with "This Is What I Came For," my absolute favorite off of the new solo album. It's six verses and just perfect. "My Match" became a new favorite because of how beautiful it sounded live. "Paris 2004" off of PBJ's latest album is always great, and then - the best thing ever - there was "Objects of My Affection." It is, without a doubt, my favorite Peter Moren-written song ever, and perhaps even my favorite song of all time. Certainly in college. Anyway, it was brilliant. And they played all kinds of stuff, like an Elvis cover, and A-Ha's "Take On Me," and just everything. It was beautiful and moving and I was so happy I went. Afterwards, I immediately rushed out to buy both Tobias' album and a hard-copy of Peter's, as well as a lyric booklet. The booklet was hand-made, with handwritten lyrics photocopied onto special pictures of Peter, and they are all signed, dated and numbered, because there are only 200. I have number 7, thank you very much. Then, as I was paying for my things, Peter and Tobias showed up!! I turned to him, and said, "Hey there!" and he said, "Hey!!" I said, "I promise I'm not just following you, I'm actually studying in Freiburg right now." He said, "Oh that's great!! Wait, where are you studying?" "Freiburg, down south." "Oh, yeah! Great!" "Your show, as always, was just brilliant, just great." "Thank you!" *interruption as I pay for my stuff* "Do you mind signing my CD for me?" "Oh, of course!" "Actually, maybe just the booklet." (I realized the CD was all wrapped up.) "Yeah, sure! Ok, now forgive me, but I forgot your name." "Oh, psh, I mean, of course, don't - yeah, no." (This was supposed to be, "Don't worry about it, I certainly don't expect you to just remember *my* name.") "It's Caitlin, C-A-I-T-L-I-N." "Alright!" "Well thank you so much, and good luck with everything!" "Yeah, thanks!" "See you around, hopefully!" "See you!" And that's how it went. For the curious, he signed my booklet, "TO CAITLIN! A PROPER FAN!" Hooray:) So yes he remembers *me* and I don't care if he forgets my name, me is enough. Anyway, it was only just before midnight, so after I bought a water and sipped on that for a while, I headed back home. When I got back, I turned on the TV for while I got ready for bed, but then all of a sudden four new people come in to the hostel. They are all girls, and all speaking English. Two of them climb into bed, and one is sobbing, and the other is trying to comfort the sobbing girl. I, mostly, am uncomfortable. I sit on my bed, just about to go in to the bathroom and get ready to sleep, but the sobbing girl goes in there. Then the girl who was trying to comfort her starts talking to me, and explains that they are all from California, they were traveling today and got wasted and the sobbing girl lost her Eurorail pass because they were all wasted. Classy, I think. But the semi-sober one seems nice enough, so whatever. My pal Thomas came in and invited me to the hostel's bar, and I thought, yeah, I'll get out of here for a minute so that when I come back, they'll all just be asleep. So I say bye to the sober girl, who says, yeah, we'll all be asleep when you get back so no worries. Good, I think. I set my PJ's on my bed, my clothes for Sunday are nicely folded on my suitcase, my valuables are locked in a locker, and the rest of my stuff is safely zipped in my suitcase. I head to the bar, and happily, Rafael, Mitchell, and a new guy are there with Thomas. We talked for two hours, and it was wonderful. The new guy's name was Matt, and he was very nice. He is originally from the U.S. but now resides in Canada. Anyway, I was given a free shot of Jagermeister in honor of Thomas' birthday, which at that point was the day before. It was pretty gross, but it was an experiment. It wasn't as strong as the sip of Hungarian stuff I had when I went to Seita's friends the week before. Anyway, they all decide they want to go clubbing, and I think ugh it's 2am! No way! But Mitchell pulls his "live a little" motto, and I decide, what the hey, I'll go and then get a few hour's sleep before I have to catch my train. We went to a place called "Subway," and it was a lot of fun. We danced like crazy and just had a blast. I left before the others, when it was 4am, because I knew I wanted to get at least a little sleep. So, I headed back and went into my room. Here begins my unbelievable tale. One of the Californians is passed out in MY bed. Oh great, I think. I try to shake her awake, but she is totally passed out and only turns over on her other side. Perfect, I think. My PJs are in the bed, and I at least need them before I leave the next morning! Whatever, I think, I'll deal with it after a little bit of sleep. I make up the upper bunk bed, because it's free, and then I start to pick my things up off of the floor (my clothes for tomorrow, specifically.) Oh. My. God. THEY ARE WET. My mind races. Please, God, let this be water or something. No. It's. Her. PISS. I was FURIOUS. This drunk Californian BITCH peed on my stuff!!!! I was so, so mad. Her friend kind of moved, and I said, "Do you know that girl?" The girl, still messed up, goes, "I dunno, I can't really see." I said, "Well, she is in MY bed, and peed on MY things!!" The girl, now more awake, says, "Oh, her name is Alison." I don't care, of course. I rush out, furious, to the main desk so I can get a hostel worker to help me. I explain what has happened, and he has this look of disbelief on his face. He says, "I'm so sorry, they were really messed up when they arrived but this is crazy." He comes into my room with me, and HE tries to wake her with no luck. At this point, the other girls wake up. The semi-sober one goes, "What's going on?" I angrily say, "Your friend is in MY bed and pissed on MY things." She goes, "Oh, shit!!" and comes over to get the girl out of the bed. My PJs, of course, are soaked. Ugh. The hostel worker says I can wash my clothes for free, and gives me some towels to wipe down my suitcase. I go put my stuff in the washing machine, and then call Scott and cry. Then I decide I want to go upstairs and wait for my friends to get back from the club. They do, and I tell them what happened, and nobody can believe it. They wait up with me for a while (Mitchell stays with me the longest, until 6am) and then we say our final goodbyes and I decide to just wait up until my train comes. It was a nightmare. But, after I got my things out of that room and checked out, I started to reflect on the whole trip and realized I still wished it could be longer, because it was SO amazing. As I walked away from my taxi, past the Dom, it began to rain a little, and I felt somehow refreshed. I mean, at least the very worst things that could possibly happen to me (a ticket and the pee-incident) have happened. I can't think of anything that could be much worse! The train home was nice, uneventful, and I managed to get two small 30-minute naps in. The countryside was still gorgeous. I would have enjoyed it more if I had been showered and awake, but it was still so beautiful. When I got home Sunday, I immediately showered and then slept for a while. Then, when I got up, I went out to dinner with my pal Seita and told her the story, and we both laughed about it. Then, before I headed home, I grabbed some Eis and listened to some street musicians play some gypsy-esque music. Perfect.

So, ultimately, my trip to Koeln was one of the best times I've ever had, and I wouldn't change a thing. I really hope I can stay in contact with my new friends. Now I'm doing Orientation week, which is so far quite boring, but hopefully I will meet even more amazing people:) I want to write more, but I have to get to REWE and get some cleaning supplies and food, and then go to Uli's for dinner! Also, bis spaeter, ciao:)