My First night in Europe

My very first night in Europe...I was tired from the plane ride, but so excited to see my Husband. It had been 2 very long months without him, as he came to Germany in September and it was now November.

Me and Marty in Köln Nov 2004

I had flown into Hamburg and needed to make my way down to Bielefeld by train. I had to change trains in Hannover and must have looked lost or foreign or something, because three different people came up to me asking if I needed help. One man made me try his food (some sort of yummy smoked salmon in a pastry dough). Each person spoke to me in both German and English and struck me as so kind. Honestly, I had heard so many things about how cold the Germans were as a people but my first impression was the exact opposite.

I finally made my way to Marty´s house. The weather had already turned quite cold and I was glad I had packed all my scarves and hats. That night we were to travel directly to Köln to meet up with a friend and do a little site seeing. By the time we arrived, it was after 6 in the evening and the sun had been down for about 30 minutes and dark clouds were coming in. The air was really dry and cold and then within a few minutes the snow began to fall. The first snow of the season on my first night in Europe. It was so lovely. And there is something about night snow that is a bit magical. Everything is a little quieter, a little sparkler, and cleaner. I couldn´t wipe the smile off my face.

Our trip to Köln had a few other highlights. First, I was given my first glimpse of the lovely Rhine. A river that 30 years earlier my grandparents had cruised with friends. I was also introduced to the wonderful world of German Bäkerei. I had the most delicious bread rolls, and pastries filled with fruit or cheese and spinach or any number of nuts or marzipan, chocolate varieties. Finally, we were also witness to Köln´s crazy tradition on 11/11 at 11:00 am. The official beginning of Carnival. Most countries only celebrate the weekend before ash wednesday, but Köln also celebrates on this day. Everyone is in costume (similar to Halloween) and pretty much in the streets whooping it up by 11:00 am. The train station was full participants from all over the country. I saw groups of bumble bees, jail birds, pirates, witches, jedi rebels, and more cases of beer being carted around than I had ever seen before at 10 in the morning. (incidentally it is legal to drink on the street here in Germany so the revelers would cart the cases around on a wagon and drink to their hearts content. And when the beer was gone it was time to go into one of the numerous bars in the square set up for the festivities.)