Hotel Ibis Bonn

... of course). He may even bust out the ukelele.
This weekend I have a little adventure planned outside of Cologne. I will visit Hamburg, where I may or may not meet my elusive American friend, Pat, who is still wandering throughout Europe. More on that next time. Hopefully I will see many of you soon when I return to the US on the 18th! I'm so excited to spend some time (and Christmas) at home. I miss you all and send all my love!

Bis spaeter,
Jen

... er hier einmal erwaehnt. Ansonsten war es auch mal wieder nett ins Kino gehen zu können, russischsprachige Filme sehe ich mir ja in Kasachstan nicht unbedingt an.

Dann wieder zurück in Almaty beziehungsweise Astana. Was gibt's Neues? Der Benzinpreis liegt jetzt bei KZT 101 pro Liter 96 Oktan. Statt über Währungsabwertung gegen den USD wird mittlerweile über eine Währungsaufwertung ...

... So viel ist schon passiert, so wenig habe ich bisher erlebt. Neue Freunde, eine 2te Familie und ein ganz anderes Leben erwarten mich hier. New York, meine neue Liebe!

Jetzt, mit mehr Zeit und Muse widme ich mich dem langersehnten Lebenszeichen. :)

Viel Spaß beim lesen!

... and often erotic) replicas of the tower out of cardboard boxes. Resteraunts waving nearly identical English-printed menus competed for business. And tourists of all races, religions, and languages took funny pictures with the leaning tower. Katie and I were no exception.
After a flight, a high-speed train trip (costing 28 Euro EACH), and a very heated German debate with an evil, soulless, hateful train employee who couldn't seem to grasp the ...

We went towards Cologne because we wanted to make our way towards Amsterdam and the weather was supposed to be decent. The weather was wonderful and the sights were amazing. It was nice to just walk…and walk…and walk. There wasn't too much to do but the few main attractions were spectacular and just walking across the bridge made you feel good. Breathing in the fresh air and feeling the sun (which had eluded us for weeks) was incredibly refreshing!
Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany ktchris

... for the massive gothic Cathedral that was used for navigation by Allied pilots. It was quite cold but an enjoyable stopover. On our way to the hostel, we saw a few drinkingcarts powered by pedalling drinkers and steered down the road by the bartender (sober I hope). Our hostel was fine but far from the best we have stayed at. We walked around Cologne the following day and it felt different to be out of the tourist crowds and actually in a livable, practical city.

... and Amsterdam in Netherlands. Philip and Lawrence both took their cars over for the tour, with highlight of the Nürbergring racetrack. As they say, what happens on tour stays on tour, but we had a brilliant time. Here's a few pictures and video's from the Germany part of the trip, courtesy of Elias, who had the commonsense to bring a camera.

... stuffed into a small space to listen to more German speeches and back slapping, not to mention the Deutsche Welle choir! It was all a bit surreal seeing the war weary of Zimbabwe and Afghanistan sipping wine and foot tapping to strains of German classical song. I had a "GET ME THE F OUT OF HERE" moment and managed to sort a taxi to remove me pretty damn schnell (see yesterdays thoughts on taxis ...

... and went to the dining cart - where of course no one understood me but I ended up with a sandwich and kit kat bar after they started taking food out of the galley and placing it on the table for me to choose. Maybe they heard about the crying fit I had 2 cars down.Lord knows they did not want me to bust out with that in there. Haha. So now it is bedtime, we have passed some mountains somewhere in Germany - Good Night. Cry Baby I'll add pictures tomorrow , I am on wireless---

... Danish cheeses, strong mustards, and dense hearty breads. Each night we would sit around talking about life while watching soccer highlights, normally accompanied by a cold Kolsch beer and occasionally a quick drag of some fine Turkish chocolate. During the days we toured the surrounding areas. Rosrath itself is a quaint little town connected to two others, Hoffnuthsgal and Bensberg. The three of them form a small community in the middle of the Koenigswald where Andreas grew up ...