36 DAYS: Hop On the Plane They Said

Note: Wrote this a week ago but never had the chance to finish it, so let the countdown stay at 36 days on this one

This trip to Cologne (Köln) happened about two weeks ago - and that was the most exhausting weekend ever in my entire Summer. Ok, so imagine having a party until 3AM on Friday night then you had to run home and catch your flight at 7AM. It was nearly impossible, but with a generous hint of miracle, I managed to zombie-walk to the airport.

Before I start rambling on and on about Köln, look what I brought for my 2-day trip!

TADA! I've had this bag for a little over 3 years now. I've been carrying it around the world (no kidding!) from a rural village in Panama to the Black and White Desert in Egypt. This bag is the reason I'm not calling myself a backpacker. I mean, seriously, I don't even travel with a backpack. So call me a handbagger maybe? - Uh... that sounds weird.

Anyways, back to the Köln trip:

With only 2 hours of sleep, I finally arrived in Köln and first thing I have to deal with is how to get to Main Station where my friends were waiting for me.  So I looked it up on the map and I was like, ok... I barely know Berlin's map and now this...

Uhhh... yeah. This is too much for my weary eyes. Oh I miss using OneBusAway app - you don't have to think cause your smartphone will do the thinking for you, isn't that why they are called 'smart' phone??

Ok enough with the rant, overall the trip was awesome. First stop, the Köln Dom or the Cologne Cathedral.

I think these windows are the best thing in the cathedral. They are so colorful and simply beautiful.

Philip and I then decided that seeing the Cathedral was not enough; we need to climb the tower. Yes, climb to the top of the tower, which is about 553 stairs high. I must say, it was a great workout!

From here, the group got bigger as Evi and Yusuf joined us. Next stop, the famous love lock bridge.

Doesn't this look familiar? Yeah, things like this are all over the world. I seriously think this is absurd (sorry hopeless romantic people out there!). So the urban myth says if you lock a 'love' lock here, your love would last forever - WRONG. True story, a mutual friend did this and 2 weeks later they broke up. I didn't know forever is that short!

Here's Yusuf trying to break people's love by skillfully opening the lock. We are indeed the non-believers. But hey, guess what I found! My name. On 10+ locks! I guess other Jessica's are hopeless romantic (?)

The last one is my personal favorite. LOL! And here are also my personal favorites.

(You'll understand if you read the book - which I don't recommend. It is such an awful, awful book)

I can sense good music when I hear one and this guy is the real deal. While others passed by him on the street, we sat near him and listened for a while. I ended up buying his CD - and I was right, he is good. This Polish dude, Michal Lech, has toured around the world with his cello for the past decades. I pat myself on the back. See his Youtube video here!

The rest of my trip was just bar-walking-chilling-more bars. I honestly didn't plan this trip that much. I'm more of a go-with-the-locals kind of person and I was fortunate enough to be accompanied by 3 amazing people when I was in Cologne. They even host me on their couch as well! So well, here's a summary of my trip.

Thanks to these people and a couple others who are not in the picture.

I am so, so glad I skipped my sleep and hopped on that plane. I went to a great place and met genuinely awesome people. That's a lot of good things happened in 2 days!

Finally, let me end this long post with a quote from J.R.R. Tolkien.

PS: Book a trip and hop on that plane/train/bus - whatever. Good things will happen.

Cheers!