Amsterdam and Cologne

I went off to Amsterdam with some of my rugby teammates early August for a few days. Stayed in the heart of the red light district. There was a permanent smell of marijuana and half clad women dancing in windows all hours of the day and night. Funny old place. Had a great time at the various establishments (partaking only in substances and activities that my mother would approve of!) and enjoyed the chance to chill out. Quite liked Amsterdam, but doubt I’ll be aiming to go back to that specific part of it. Went for a few strolls around some of the rest of the city and it was quite beautiful.

Went to World Youth Day in Cologne with Lucy last week. Travelled with about 300 from London area. Bus left at 5am and took 14 hours to get to our place in Solingen, about half an hour out of Cologne on a good day. Unfortunately there are no good days when a million extra people descend on a city. Our worst effort was four hours. Most of which was spent in a crowd on a train station platform. Still, it was an amazing event, the sheer number of people was mind blowing. Saw the Pope from a distance a couple of times, and even saw Cliff Richard too. Caught up with a bunch of kiwis too, and met some cool London dwellers.

My favourite part wasn’t even the Catholic part, it was getting the chance to practice a bit of German, chatting to waiters and a lovely old lady on a bus. Managed to get to a half dozen masses though and listened to a couple of good talks. Fun times.

Kiwis in Cologne - Martin, Lucy, Meg and Beanie

Cologne Cathedral Plaza

Cologne Cathedral