Arrival to Germany

Today was an adventure. I took a flight from the airport in Newark to Frankfurt on Saturday at 7:30pm (Philadelphia time) and arrived in Frankfurt at 9:15 am (Germany time).  My final destination was Cologne, but in an attempt to save money, it was cheaper to fly into Frankfurt and then take a train from the Frankfurt Airport. Trains tickets are expensive though, so we (and by that I mean me and the other student I was traveling with) bought a weekend ticket for a Regional train to Cologne which, while cheaper, add about two hours more in traveling time.  What I was not expecting, though, was being so tired throughout the day! Not being able to sleep very well on the flight, my body on sunday was impressively even operated on about two total hours of sleep (including the power nap taken on the train to Cologne).

 

Some first Impressions of Germany: 

This is my first trip to Germany (my first trip to Europe as well), so while I had a vague sense of what I might expect, I would clearly have to wait until I got to Germany to actually know what they’re all about.

1. Every car, bus, boat, etc., is either a BMW, Audi, or Mercedes-Benz

2. Everyone seems really friendly

3. Everything (cars, buildings, etc) are smaller or more compact than they are in the states. E.g. A car considered to be small in USA would probably be one of the bigger cars in Germany.

4. On the train from Frankfurt to Cologne, the sights of the hills/mountains and castles are fantastic!

5. This weekend is Karneval, which is apparently taken most seriously in Cologne. I don’t think I’ve ever seen any country as a whole so excited about a parade!

6. Cologne’s Cathedral is incredible.

 

Tomorrow, I believe that I, with the rest of the city, will be watching a parade and partying for a lot of the day.  Afterwards, the goal is to move into the room I’ll be staying in for the rest of my stay while studying and get things settled with the University of Cologne (where I’m studying). 

Until next time, Tschüss!