Friday, 4 August 2006
Probably the least exciting trip in my whole stay.
My plan had been that, after I arrived in Frankfurt with my baggage for the flight, I would leave it in the hostel, embarking on a trip to the one-hour-away-by-train Köln. But Cathay Airlines had some wierd policy regarding baggage that I didn't find out until quite late. As a result after I arrived in Frankfurt, I needed to first check two pieces of my baggage as cargo in the airport's CargoCity. The process took the better part of four hours, and when I was done, it was about 18:45.
I figured out that it was still not too late to visit Köln, so I went off on an ICE train using my last valid day of Eurail pass. I had hoped to get a glimpse of the dramatic Rhine River valley on the way to Köln, but I was disappointed: the train thundered past embankments and valleys and villages at 300 km/h--but the Rhine River did not become obvious until we almost arrived in Köln.
When I disembarked from the train, I found out that it was raining quite heavily. As someone told me in the Heidelberg conference, the Dom of Köln was clearly visible, an imposing, ancient black structure, even from the train station.
Fate had it that I lost my umbrella in the CargoCity. I tried to walk as far as the Dom, but the fifty-metre walk already rendered me soaking wet. So I sought shelter, and after a while, seeing that the rain would not stop, doubled back quickly to the train station.
There I stayed, until I took the 20:54 ICE train back to Frankfurt.