From Köln to Bruxelles

Just one day before I was planning to head to Koln, I sent out a last minute couchsurf request to find somewhere to crash while there. It seemed the moment I had hit send, Luis shot back a warm affirmative… he and his roommates, an Indian couple, were available to host me at such a short notice. I was ever so grateful! Luis’ profile looked rather interesting… a Portuguese neuroscientist working on his PhD in Koln, Germany. Scientist or no, his cs page was filled with positive references from other surfers whom he had crashed with and whom he had hosted. I felt confident that I’d be in good hands.

My first evening in Koln started off great. Luis met me at the metro station near his apartment on his way home from work, we grabbed a quick sandwich and I met his roomies, Leo and Jinu. All of them welcomed me warmly. Then Luis, his American friend Dale and I took off to hit the local rock climbing gym. Jackpot! After, being wined and dined so gloriously during the John Deere trip, I was more than eager to go get some exercise. Except for my quick rock climbing excursion with Ben in Atlanta, it’s been more than a year since I’ve climbed. This time we didn’t top rope it though, we bouldered. Bouldering is good for improving your technique and for practicing more technical routes. It felt so great to be working my muscles again!

The next two days I didn’t do much of anything but stay in the apartment with Jinu and catch up on work and try to make a plan of action for my travels while Luis and Leo went to the lab. I didn’t have a lot of inet access during the John Deere trip, so I had a lot to do still. But, staying in did mean I got to enjoy Jinu’s home-cooked Indian food. I felt spoiled. In fact, Jinu fed me during my entire stay. I wasn’t expecting that! I did immediately offer up my free bottle of Reisling from one of the JD winery tours and we enjoyed that the first night.

Luis, Dale and I joined another friend, Raja, to go bouldering again the second evening. I’m such a novice, but in just one day and I could see a big difference in my technique! Once I get settled again, I’m definitely going to get back into rock climbing. Leo, Jinu, Luis and I capped off most of our nights watching movies online. Little did I know, www.joost.com often has newly released movies available to watch… awesome! Leo, Jinu and Luis were such easy-going company and made me feel like I fit right into their daily routine. I felt so relaxed with them and Luis was the perfect host, making sure I felt comfortable being there.

The second day I did go out for a bit to get groceries with Jinu and to pick up some gloves. I had forgotten to pack them and I was certainly missing them in this cold weather! I grabbed some roasted Chesnuts too while we were strolling through Schildergasse, Koln’s main shopping district. We also went to check out the cathedral, or the Dom. I planned to go back the next day with camera. Jinu likes to paint too, so I picked up some small ornaments and paint for her to create custom decoration for her Christmas tree this year. Jinu has a fine touch. She’s accustomed fabric painting and henna. She used to make all of her own clothes while in India. Her artwork inspired me to get more involved with art too once I get settled!

That night, I had Luis pick a restaurant for us all to go out and eat at… my treat. It was the least I could do for being fed Jinu’s home-cooked food throughout my entire stay! Luis picked this authentic Portuguese restaurant, A Caravela. The restaurant was beautiful, built mostly from rich, red-golden colored wood and with paintings of ships hanging everywhere. I had Luis order me a traditional Portuguese dish of a thick and savory slab of Cod with potatoes soaked in olive oil. It was delicious! We sipped both the red and white house wines during the meal… which is probably what provoked Luis and I to get into a hearty debate about science and religion and America. Luis is just like me, stubborn and intense… so it was amusing. But, a very healthy debate! Then, we capped off dinner with a traditional shot of “I don’t know what the Portuguese call it” but the waiter was calling it “burning water” (update: Luis has since told me it's called Aguardente) and… some more roasted chestnuts! The highlight of the night though wasn’t the food, it was the troop of Chilean singers who strolled in, surrounded our table and drowned us in their exciting and enlivening music! I’m not gonna lie, I’m such a sucker for live, table-side music and I was just eating it up! I tipped them so they would play more music for us. I wanted to keep them there all night! Luis definitely picked the right restaurant!!

Finally, after catching up on work and figuring out somewhat of a travel plan, I went out to explore Koln during my third day. I wandered around the city, snapping pics of the Rhein River and the huge, gothic Dom. The Dom looked so awesome the night I had arrived in Koln. I popped out of the main station and there it was, gothic and looming in the dark, cold, wet drizzle. I wanted to snap a pic, but it was too dark and too wet. I knew I’d be going back to see it later. And see it I did… all the way to into its 475 ft tower. I climbed 509 steps to get to a height of 332 ft. What a hike! Unfortunately, it was caged off at the top, so it was difficult to take good pics of the incredible view of Koln. I tried my best though. It was late afternoon when I finally broke myself away from the enchanting Dom and I had to decide if I would use my few daylight hours left to go to the Ludwig Art Museum or the chocolate museum further down along the Rhein. Well, I hadn’t eaten… so chocolate won out. There’s a lot I didn’t know about chocolate and cacao. It was an interesting museum to explore. I did expect to have more of a sample than a wafer barely dipped into a milk chocolate fountain, but that’s what they offered. Of course, that meant I had to go the gift shop and buy some. I tried some 56 percent Indian spiced chocolate that was too sweet for (I should have known better… it was only 56 percent). I also grabbed a bar of 77 percent chile-mango chocolate. Ummmm… WOW. AMAZING! Originally, chocolate used to be eaten with chili peppers. The taste combo is so ridiculously good! I’m ordering a box of it when I get home!!

And now we’re caught up! I’m in the train station now… waiting for my train to Brussels, Belgium. I lazed around with Luis all day, thoroughly enjoying his company while I waited for a couchsurfer to bite in Brussels. I was just about to give it up and reserve a room at a hostel when I got a message from Michel saying he could host me. Sweet! He’s meeting me at the main train station and we’re going straight to a free concert. It shall be fun! I am already missing Koln though…

Update: Michel met me at the central station in Brussels and immediately took me traipsing throughout the cobbled streets of an "old Europe". Even at night, the old granduer and beauty of Brussels is evident. With more than 100 pounds in tow(aka my luggage), we hiked to a small restaurant to listen to Belgian band, Ivan & Le Singes Savants, struggling to make a name for itself. I´ve always loved the italian language, insisting that it´s the most beautiful language, but I must admit... eavesdropping on the French chatter of the locals was a delight.

Michel is a character... within a half hour we were bickering like brother and sister... all in good humor of course! He has already convinced me to stay for a couple days more because there is just so much going on here in the center of the EU... like a huge political demonstration with somewhere between 20,000 or 30,000 people. More on that soon! Michel really is like a little bro...

Enjoy the vid of the Portuguese singers... thanks to Jinu!