One final breakfast at the Queen Anne Hotel, then an early morning cab to the train station. All our luggage did not promote a metro ride to the station. A two hour train ride from Brussels to Cologne (or Köln as the locals say). Pile the luggage into the end of the train car, and stare out the windows at the Belgian and German countryside. Köln is the home of true Kölsch beer, so in the station, Chris just had to have one. Like Champagne is only Champagne in France, all others is "sparkling wine"; Kölsch beer is a Köln specialty. When in Rome....Then, after a tiny "layover", it was a 6-hour train ride to Munich. Chaos on the train. We had reservations, meaning "seats". People will just hop on and hope they can sit down. It was a massive wave of humanity pouring into the train. Trains run on time, on the dot. So as we were trying to find a spot for our enormous bags (there wasn't any), the train moves. Gotta go! So people are falling over each other as the train lurches and winds its way. We managed one bag by Kimberly's feet, and one bag in the bins overhead, but the biggest one was by the door being used as a seat for one of the standing masses. Once that door opens, our bag is gone. So, at the first stop in Bonn, Chris gets up and manages to get the bag and lift in into the overhead bins, hoping it doesn't fall down and kill someone. Eventually the crowds dwindle, but the first 3 hours or so of the trip was chaotic and frenzied.
8 hours via train: Brussels - Köln - Bonn - Frankfurt - Mannheim - Stuttgart - Ulm - Augsburg - Munich.
Our second European home: the Angelo Designhotel. Ultra-modern. Super cool. A far cry from the simple Charlie Brown dorm room that was our previous home. A late dinner at the hotel restaurant of pizza and we settle our weary heads in Germany. More hijinks to follow tomorrow....
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