Köln

Köln is really cool and amazingly easy to navigate. I'm staying at a little hotel that is about 200 yards from the Dom so I am in the heart of everything even the incessant ringing bells from the Cathedral! The hotel is more of a room with a cot and a sink and the world's tiniest TV! Toilets and showers are down the hall but luckily I think I'm the only girl on my floor. There's way more shopping here than I could ever want to do. Yesterday I climbed the 509 steps of the Dom (Cathedral) and just walked around the city forever. Today I rented a bike and biked along the Rhine until I was out of the city and could enjoy the German countryside. I also went to the chocolate musuem today and that was a lot of fun and educational and I got to watch some being made and was able to sample fresh chocolate. I sadly have to say that I had Starbucks today and broke my little point and shoot digital camera while I was there so I had to buy a new one, not a cheap purchase in Europe! Anyway I'm enjoying some great German beer and I will be going out dancing with one of my German friend's (in Seattle) friend that she connected me with. Off to Munich tomorrow!

So last night I went to a dance into May party, apparently May 1st is similar to Labor Day and everyone has the Day off. It is also Witches Day and Father's Day! Anyway the party I went to was a 30 and up party only it was way, way up past thirty but I still had a good time people watching and dancing to old school Michael Jackson. People were up making noise all night in the streets and the church bells started ringing at 7 so it was a short night but I enjoyed every minute!

Amsterdam

So Amsterdam is pretty cool! There are bikes EVERYWHERE, it's crazy! I'm in a "coffee shop" in the Red Light district writing this post! No worries, I'm just having coffee and a muffin, no funny business, just really cool to say that I'm sitting in the Red Light District! Anyway, other than getting lost when I arrived and having trouble figuring out the tram system I'm having a great time! I've been to the Anne Frank house, the Van Gough museum, and yes the sex museum! The coffee in Amsterdam is amazing and I've had some great beers. For my fellow beer snobs I will chronicle all of the different beers I try. I also did the canal cruise and went to the flea market today. I decided to stay an extra night here and I'm glad I did, there's so much to do and see. Anyway I'll post some pics later when I can. Cheers!

Auf Wiedersehen!

T -5.5 hours and I'm off! The next time you hear from me I'll be eating strange brownies in Amsterdam! j/k

So I ended up getting everything packed into my one bag so I'll effectively be carrying a small child on my back! Needless to say I will be buying an extra bag when I'm there so I can bring back souvenirs! What's hard to believe is that my packing list only amounted to:

2 shirts

2 pairs of shorts

1 pair of pants (not including what I am wearing today)

PJ's

Toiletries and medicine

Hair product

and every charger known to man!

Itinerary

So after about four requests I guess I will blog my stupid two week European vacation so you people will leave me alone! Ugh! You can follow me around on boring train rides, groovy coffee shops, awesome beer drinking, and fantastic wine! Have fun you blog heads!

The plan: I'll be gone 16 days and I plan to travel through 4 different countries with just a backpack, a rail pass, my camera, and me! No real plan just a rough idea of where I'm going and lots of suggestions from many different people on things to do and see. Oh and look forward to the invite of my photo show in July where I'm sure I will be displaying many of the photos from this trip!

So here's where I'm going and staying:
Leave Saturday April 26th
Arrive Frankfurt Sunday April 27th
Take train to Amsterdam, spending the night in a hotel, hope to see the Van Gogh museum, the Anne Frank house, and the history of sex museum (not my idea, but sounds interesting), and yea of course a DAY trip in the Red Light District.

Next stop will be back to Germany down to Cologne, I have no idea where I will sleep but that's a minor detail! I will definitely be making a stop at the chocolate museum and climbing the steps of the cathedral. (4/29-5/1)

After a few days I'll mosey on to Munich to drink plenty of awesome Beer! Nothing more to say about that. (5/1-5/3)

Next will be Switzerland for a nice hike in Lucern. (5/3)

On to Italy, Yay! First stop Bologna where I will be crashing on some random person's couch that I found on CouchSurfing.com. It'll be fun. If I don't blog after this you might want to get a little worried. Unless of course I somehow manage to get married and decide to cut all ties cause I'm not coming back! (5/4-5/5)

Florence is next for a day of museums and staying in a hostel (5/6)

Then to the Cinque Terre (5/7-5/9) right on the coast, I'm so excited about this part of the trip. I plan to just rent a room when I'm there.

Then Milan (5/9) do some shopping spend the night in a hotel and then......

Head to Venice for my last day! and then I'll catch an overnight train back to Frankfurt and fly home on the 11th!

So there you have it, hopefully I'll find place to keep you updated on my safety and progress.