Monday morning we left our host in Trier and heading off on the train to Bonn. We spend the afternoon walking around this little town which was the birthplace of Beethoven. After Bonn, we continued along the Rhine river to Cologne which is where we will be spending a few days. Last night we stayed with Richie who was an emergency couch for us. He had some friends over so we all hung out, ate dinner, and then we off to the bar. Tuesday was student's night at Flanagan's Irish Pub and with 1euro beer and shots, it had the potential to be a messy night. We arrived at the bar and there was already a line filled with drinking students (note: drinking is legal on the streets). When then had to walk down a staircase to the actual bar which was pretty much a giant room underneath all of the stores....let just say if there was a fire down there, we would be F-ed. Although not really our kind of music, we danced the night away. Oh Danielle, you would have been SO proud of me...when us Canadian girls dance with no shame and acceptance of our stupidity, the Germans don't know what to think. I even had some girls getting mad at me because they thought my dancing was to - all over the place - lol. I may be small, but I can clear and area on the dance floor. After a few beers, even Ryan got into it.

We ended up getting home before 12 which was pretty good and then passed out. This morning was our first day exploring Cologne and it is quite amazing. The main attraction is the church which is right in the centre of town. Words cannot describe how huge, beautiful, and magnificent this gothic structure is. It is by far the best thing we have seen so far and I don't think any churches will be able to compare. We climbed all 530 stairs to the top of the bell tower and had a 360deg view of Cologne. After going up and then down, my legs were twitching for about an hour. It was an awesome experience though.

After standing in awe at the church, we went to what is called the Lock Bridge. This bridge is a rail bridge which also has a pedestrian walk. Along the side, the railing is filled with locks of all shapes and sizes. Couples visit the lock bridge, put a lock onto the rail and then throw the key into to river as a way to lock their love. Of course, Ryan and I had to do is so we etched our initials into a lock we bought from the dollar store and headed to the middle of the bridge. We tucked our lock in at the bottom of the gate and tossed off the keys. It was quite incredible looking at the lock displays because most have initials, names, and quotes actually engraved on the lock....it's a really cool idea.