Germany (Dec 5 - 8)

The first cultural difference I noticed when I landed in Frankfurt were the bicycles. The bike is the preferred method of travel by the employees to get around the terminal. I thought this was quaint, as any advanced airport would be using Segways.

From the Frankfurt airport I hitched a ride on the bullet train direct to Düsseldorf. Reaching speeds of 300kmph, it still took about 2 hours to reach the train station where I would be meeting some family friends' to crash at their place for the next few days. They live in the small village of Kaarst, just outside of Neuss which is a small town, just outside of Düsseldorf.

They took me to the main cultural/touristy site which is in Köln aka Cologne. Construction on the Cologne Cathedral began in the 13th century, and it wasn't completed until 1880. This is approximately the same timeline that construction in the Waterloo region is based on. This was one of the few shots I was able to get off, and on this little trip I learned a valuable lesson in battery consumption.

The next day I went on a trip to Neuss, mainly to familiarize myself with the train I would be taking to get back to Düsseldorf, but also to see if there was any shopping to be had there. I found the prices to be alright, about the same as in Canada. My dollar would go a lot further in Sri Lanka, so I opted not to spend anything (especially after the 114€ bullet train ticket).

This is, well it didn't strike me to ask what this was exactly, but I assumed it was a farm house of some kind. Or a mill. Something like that. Anyway, it reminded me of the scenery in the TV series, "Band of Brothers" (cue DS9 theme song). I snapped this pic while riding a bike through the Kaarst countryside.

And here is Santa attempting to break into a home. I dunno why I found it so amusing; clearly the chimneys are too small for a magical man to fit into. So in Germany he just throws up a grappling hook and works his way in through the second storey window. I saw this on a couple of houses, but I never had the camera around. Finally took this on the way back from my bike ride.

about Germany, written in Sri Lanka