Cologne and Bonn

The train to Cologne left in the morning at half-past ten. It was a straight shot there and disembarking, Benito felt a sense that he had done this before. But no matter, Benito often experienced these moments of des-ja-vu! So off he went, following the crowd and found to his delight a lady in distress. He flagged her down and struck up a conversation, finding out that her name was Sara and that she was coming from some remote region of Germany, waiting for her friend. 'Ciao!' said Benito to the young girl in front of the cathedral. He made for the museum, but before that he stopped to buy some goodies at the local Asian memorabilia stand. 'Where are you from?' asked the lady at the stand. 'Oh, somewhere far, far away', said Benito. 'Well, then,' said the lady, 'Help yourself to some merchandise.' -- 'Thank you!' said Benito. There were some more girls standing nearby and Benito struck up a conversation with one of them. 'So' he said, 'Where are you from?' -- 'We are from Belgium,' she said in perfect English. 'Nous parlons un peu le francais!' -- 'Tres bien!' said Benito and off he went. The cathedral at Cologne was a sight to behold and there was the man making his sketches on the ground and the clown entertaining outside the grand doors. Benito made for the fountain where he attempted to take some pictures, but ended up getting all wet because of the blowing of the breezes along the 'wasser'. Memory full, read his camera. "C'est la vie!" thought Benito and off he went to the museum, which was closed on Muntag.

After addressing some Korean tourists and informing them that the museum was indeed closed, he went to check out the movie theater. 'Romeo + Juliet' was playing in a theater near you, well, in Cologne that is. A lady was looking at traffic moving under the bridge and Benito stopped as well to ponder the traffic. 'Mmmm' he said more to himself than anybody else, 'Traffic.' Well, he went up to the lady, who was bulbous at best, and addressed her saying, 'Das Museum est geschlost immer Muntag?' It was an honest question and deserved an honest answer. 'Yes, unfortunately' she said in perfect English. 'You might try the cathedral, and then the Romanesque church (which also turned out to be closed), and perhaps a boat ride down the Rhine!' Benito thought these were good ideas and so often he went, past some bars and some migrant travelers to the Romanesque church. Not finding the entrance at first, he made his way around the edifice to find a convenient toilet. 'Ah, what a relief!' he said to himself, putting in his coinage. He thanked the clean-up lady after he was finished and continued on his way, stopping at yet another fountain below the church. If you could not tell already, Benito enjoyed the sound of water. Then, he made for the Rhine and bought his ticket. With time to kill, he decided to investigate the Romanesque church. He went up an alley, similar to Diagon Alley in Harry Potter, and came out at a square with a statue of Gustav Hermann Blaeser and compatriots. It was quite the sight and construction workers were on the move. Continuing along, Benito found yet another fountain commemorating what looked like something to do with WWII and there were other tourists there as well. Unfortunately, the church was closed on Monday as well, but Benito did meet yet another nun who asked him, 'Wo kommen-Sie hier?' or 'Where do you come from?' To which Benito replied, 'Plus longtemps du ici', for she spoke un peu le francais as well. 'Peut-etre, we meet again,' Benito said, and off she went, while Benito eyed a girl smoking nearby, who quickly left to get back to work. Much to Benito's delight, however, he found a 'Hard Rock Cafe'! Immediately, he made a V-line for it to purchase his collector's item. I measly 20 euro. Coming back, there was a woman with a baby stroller inside a pub and she asked Benito if he could be of some assistance. So, Benito opened the door and had a peek inside, promising himself that he would return at some point. It was a nice place to be sure, but Benito had a boat to catch. Buying an espresso at the local store, he made for the water once again.

With little time to spare, Benito ran to the boat at Dock #5. He had been keeping the boat waiting for him, or so it seemed. At the gate, the porter asked for his ticket to which Benito obliged readily and hurried on board. He planted himself at a single booth and asked how much was the beer. Finding it too expensive, Benito sipped on his beverage instead and made out some postcards in the meantime as the trip got underway. The voice on the loudspeaker gave the tour of the Rhine in German, English, and Chinese. There were some Koreans and some Spanish on board for the cruise, and Benito made their acquaintance, though not for some time. Ah, well, the joys of traveling solo. Benito made out a boat named the 'Bellissima' as well. 'Che bella!' he thought. There were also some museums he made out, including one dedicated to Liszt chocolate and some people walking along the beach, which Benito thought was a grand idea! So, after the boat trip, he made for the bridge where he found a lot of locks. He took pictures of some Chinese ladies and that was that. Coming to a movie theater at the start of the beach, Benito looked back over the water and admired the view. He had seen a dead pigeon as an evil omen, but didn't give it too much thought. It was a fine day to be sure in Cologne. Coming back across he considered buying some cigarettes, but decided against it. Instead, he found some Italians wearing nice shoes, but they appeared to be mafiosoes, so Benito decided against striking up a conversation with them. He was pleased to find them nevertheless and also found some Goth backpackers hanging out at the base of the cathedral, then Benito bought a hamburger at McDonalds and boarded the train once again.