Day on the Train

 Today is our day to take the train to northern Germany to see a long time friend of Dan’s. We are getting accustomed to dealing with scheduling and transfers. We have a system now to get the bags on and off the train.  I am seriously thinking we should lighten them up some how although not sure how

My question is why are there not more escalators in train stations.  I am getting tired of climbing up 2 to 3 flights of stairs to get to the train. Today we were waiting for the train and the track was changed that meant climbing down 2 floors to climb up them 1 track over.  Two days ago there was an escalator that was broken and we had to climb up those steps. It is just crazy. We almost missed that train, it wouldn’t have been the end of the world because 20 minutes or so there is another train. Just an inconvenience and source of anxiety

Today we are going to get off the train in Cologne and see the cathedral then catch the next train to our destination.   Dan’s friend called and said he couldn’t pick us up until 8:30 when we planned to arrive at 6:30. So we had a few extra hours to kill. We had a leisurely lunch and then walked through some pedestrian only shopping streets.  I a great way to fill the time. I wanted to try one of the hop on hop off buses to get a better feel for the city but we didn’t have that much time😩. Maybe next time, cologne seems to have lots of things to explore 

While walking we decided that this town is known for it candy stores. Not chocolate but bins of ever kind of gummy bear or other type of candy.   There were 3 separate shops in a short walking area not to mention the other food available.  Glad we had lunch first!