Well hello there strangers! It’s been awhile. My besties flew in from America and man have we been busy! Olivia, Kaden, Chloe, and Roger who are all my friends in Eau Claire, flew to Denmark for their friend Freddie’s wedding. They extended their stay so we could meet up while they were over here. I left Munich to meet them in Cologne, Germany. We chose Cologne because that’s where Olivia’s cousin, Wade lives now. He’s been living there for the last year and a half. 

Their train arrived a few minutes before mine did so when I got off my train, Olivia and Kaden were waiting at the bottom of the stairs for me when I descended. I didn’t think I was going to cry but my emotions were so heightened after traveling for so long on my own now and knowing I was finally getting to see my best friend in the whole world again that I couldn’t help it as soon as I saw her, it was over. I sobbed like a baby in her arms. It felt like I was able to just release all the stress of completely 100% depending on myself over the last 5 weeks. I finally had a piece of home with me again. Something, someone familiar. We got an Uber to our new hostel. I advised Kaden and Olivia before the trip that I would need to continue sleeping in hostels as I am budget traveling, but I said it’s completely okay for them to get a hotel or Airbnb or whatever they wanted because I understand a lot of people don’t want to stay in hostels. They’re such good friends though that they wanted to stay with me and didn’t care what that meant. So hostels for all of us it was. 

We arrived at our new hostel in Cologne and it was cute. We got a four bed dorm so we only had one roommate who was a stranger. He was from London so we bonded over that right away as I really wish I lived there. We got showered, dressed, and set out to meet Wade at the Cologne Cathedral. We stepped out in front of the cathedral and it was breathtaking. You can see all of the pictures and videos you want of these places and monuments, but when you get in front of them in real life, it’s as if you’ve never seen it before. It’s incredible. The cathedral stands 515 feet tall, making it the third largest church of any kind in the entire world. Construction of the cathedral began in 1248 but was paused in 1560 and resumed again in 1814. It was finished in 1880. It took a total of 632 years to complete. It’s purpose is to house the Three Kings. You can find them inside the cathedral in three separate golden boxes. It is so beautiful there. Olivia got very emotional there because of her grandmother who passed away recently.

Wade was a great tour guide. As stated previously, he’s been living in Cologne for the last year and a half. He’s incredibly knowledgeable and it seems as though he knows every detail about the city. His family is from Germany and his mom had a huge impact on his interest in taking German classes when he was in school. He was so friendly and welcoming, we really appreciated all he did for us! 

We also met up with Chloe and Roger at the cathedral. It was my first time seeing this since I left home, so I was really excited! After the cathedral, Wade took us for a long walk around other places and neighborhoods in the city, of course coming in with all the facts. It was really cool to learn about Cologne on a personal level. 

We went to this local Brew House that is well known in Cologne. It was MASSIVE. In Cologne, they serve Kolsch. It is their beer. They also have this rivalry with Dusseldorf. Apparently if you live over the river, you live 7 years longer. Anyways, when you’re seated they immediately bring a round of Kolshe beers to your table, no questions asked. If you’re there, you’re there to drink beer. And they literally just keep bringing rounds. They also keep tally on a coaster from one of your drinks on a table. As soon as you’re done drinking, you just put a coaster on top of your drink and that lets them know you would not like any more refills. We also got authentic German meals and it was some of the best food I’ve had in Germany. We ate and drank and got to know Wade better until he had to leave due to having to work in the morning. 

After Wade left, the rest of us decided to go to another bar. We found an Irish pub (my personal fav type of bars) and I taught my friends how to split the G, something I learned in Italy from my friends. I also introduced them to baby guinness, a shot the Irish girls taught me about but I had for my first time with Chris in Italy. Success. Everything was so good and so fun. I was just over the moon excited to be back with my friends again. We drank, we laughed, we caught up, and my heart was full. 

The next morning, we got up and were ready to explore the city again. Wade actually ended up meeting back up with us because his work let him leave early. We learned a lot about life in Germany from Wade. The work culture in America vs Europe is so different. Life in general works completely different over here. 

There’s a shop in Cologne where they sell original cologne, like perfume. This is actually where cologne originated and did you know that a smell is not able to legally be called “cologne” unless it was made there? It was SO cool getting to smell the first ever original cologne. It’s called 4711 Original Eau de Cologne. It’s a very popular scent. 

We walked over the lock bridge where there are thousands of locks hanging off of it. Olivia got us a heart lock and on one side wrote her and Kaden’s names and I used the other side of it to write mine and Hunter’s (my dog who passed away almost four years ago now) names. We locked it away and Kaden through the key away in the river. After the lock bridge, we made our way to the observation deck. Here we were able to see the entire city of Cologne and Wade pointed out a lot of neat places and was able to tell us the backstory behind them. 

After, we made our way down to a local brewery where we got some beers and snacks along the river. We stayed for hours just chatting and hanging out. During this time, all of the news about Charlie Kirk was coming out so it was kind of a big deal. After, Wade had to leave again and it was dark by this time. The rest of us walked to the ferris wheel and went for a ride. It was so beautiful to see Cologne all lit up from so high. After our fun little ferris wheel ride, Olivia, Chloe, Roger, and I decided to go to a bar to hangout. Kaden took a scooter back to our hostel since he doesn’t drink. The bar was so fun and it was the bartenders who made it that way. One of our bartender’s names was Nikolas and he was from Greece. He’s spent the last 4 years living in Germany but was actually moving back to Greece in a few days. He was a blast. He kept making us fun surprise drinks and every single one of them was so good. There’s a shot that’s very popular in Germany called the Mexicaner and it’s like drinking a shot of a very spicy bloody mary. We wanted a full drink of it because it was so good. Chloe definitely asked, but they said no. 

These men in their 50s approached us at the bar and started to hit on me. One of them bought us a round of shots because I was “hot”. That’s fine, you can buy my friends and I all the shots you want but it’s not happening because of his attitude. One of them was actually decent and nice, and the other was incredibly arrogant. I mean you could tell they had some sort of money just by their demeanor and attitude, but it was unattractive. They said they were pilots of some sort. The man that was buying drinks kept talking down on me as if I was small. He actually was making fun of me for being an American woman as well. At one point I literally turned to him and said, “talk to me like I am a human, not an American.” I have gotten beyond sick of the issue of being an American, trust me. He goes away finally. The bartender, Nikolis, handed me over a drink coaster with his number written on it and told me to return the next day. 

Chloe came back from the bathroom, walked up to the bar, and told us there were two men and one woman in the bathroom doing something. Nikolas heard and shot up saying, “what? Right now?!” He then paced over to the bathroom, came out a few moments later, and pretended to sniff something with his nose. Oh, they were just in the bathroom doing cocaine. No big deal I guess. Nikolas said there’s nothing he can do about that and they’re supposed to just let it happen. It’s so funny because that would never fly in America I don’t think. We also met this other boy in his late 20’s who’d been traveling since October of LAST YEAR. He was from Oregon. I wish I had been traveling for an entire year. We immediately started chatting about the Charlie Kirk situation. People in Europe couldn’t believe it. A school shooting and political shooting all in one day. This is why everyone hates us. We met a girl from London and she invited us to go to a rave party after the bars which was being held until 10 am and took place in a junk yard. Great. We will meet you there girl. We actually did agree on going but by the time they were leaving, we were busy talking with other people so they left without us. I have a feeling that was definitely for the best. 

We found a pizza place on the way home that we stopped in at. It was sketchy. We ordered our pizzas and there were some very strange men hanging around there. Couldn’t tell if they were homeless or what was happening exactly. There was this small dog in the pizza place. The dog was white and some sort of mixed breed. He needed teeth pulled, had scraggly hair, smelt as though he’d never had a bath, and was wearing a torn down jacket. He was terrified and these men were poking fun at him. I watched the dog literally bite one of the men and they continued to torment him. I was SO upset. I asked the owner to the pizza place whose dog this was and he said he didn’t know. I told the other men to leave the dog alone RIGHT now and they actually listened. I tried to bend down and offer the dog some food, but he wouldn’t take it. He was shaking under the table. He walked towards me and I tried to catch him. Everyone was surrounding us and talking and stressing me and this poor dog out even more. I spread my arms out and said to everyone in the pizza place, “everyone, please shut the hell up while I try to get this dog. You are making him more upset.” I just know everyone thought I was insane at this moment. The owner of the pizza place set off to find the dog’s owner. He came back with the owner, who was a man with baggy clothes and a bunch of neck tattoos. I asked the man if we could buy his dog from him. Roger immediately stopped me and told me that we cannot buy this dog as we cannot take this dog home. I was really upset. The owner grabbed his dog and left. I then sat back down and started crying. That situation broke my heart. I still think about that dog and hope he’s doing alright. He’s clearly abused and it’s heartbreaking. 

The next morning, we weren’t feeling our best from the night before. Olivia, Kaden, and I had a chill day. Chloe and Roger took a day trip to another city to see a castle. We explored the city a bit and did some shopping but really just had the day to relax. Olivia and I found a couple of bottles of this wine called  Fiederwäissen. It’s a partially fermented wine that’s only available during fall. It’s amazing. I wish I still had some of that. We just hung out in the hostel room, played music, and made our own homemade charcuterie board. We facetimed Chris and it’s been fun watching Chris connect with my friends. We met this girl at our hostel from Lithuania. She said she was getting out of her country for two weeks because the military were doing a week practice of something in her country and said the last time they did this, they accidentally bombed homes with their drones. So she had to get out of there this time.

The following day, we all took a day trip to this city called Cochem. It’s a smaller city in Germany and one of my favorite places I’ve ever been to. I literally just found it by looking at the different cities on Google maps. It took us about 1.5 hours to get there via train. I was pretty stressed out during the train ride because my Paypal account had gotten hacked. My Play Station account had also gotten hacked and sold by someone on Telegram apparently. So I lost my Play Station account where they bought over $300 worth of games. They also spent almost $600 through my Paypal on various things. Almost $1000 gone just like that. It was the weekend so I couldn’t get ahold of anyone and my phone likes to barely work without wifi so it was just a stressful ride. 

I was okay after we had arrived at Cochem because I told myself it’s out of my control for the time being and that it would all work out. I had to shut down my debit card though, which sucked because Olivia had to pay for everything for me then and I’d just Venmo her back. Cochem was like a city out of a fairy tale. Why do I feel like I say this about every European city? They’re all just incredible. But Cochem had mountains everywhere, a river that ran through it, and a massive e castle. We found a bite to eat and then set off to go to the castle. It was beautiful. I just can’t believe things like that exist in real life and people lived in the castle at one time. Chloe and Roger did a group tour of it while Olivia, Kaden, and I hung out on the terrace, enjoyed some wine and the views of the city. We walked around for a long time, popping in and out of various shops and grabbed a small snack at the end. We caught a train back which was running late. It took us about 2 hours via train to get home. We drank 3 bottles of wine during this time. We laughed so much on the train. We had a blast. After we got off, we found a spot for a real dinner. We said our goodbyes to Chloe and Roger as they were leaving for Amsterdam the following day.

The next morning, Olivia, Kaden, and I took a day trip to Dusseldorf. It’s a massive city. It was okay. Too much city and not enough nature for my liking. We spent the day walking around and exploring. On the train ride home, we once again had a group of Germans bullying us. They are not the most friendly group of people. 

The following day, we packed up as we had a train to catch to Amsterdam! We were all very excited to get to Amsterdam and get out of Germany. It’s unfortunate with Germany because it’s such a beautiful country, the food is good, but some of the people there really ruin it for visitors. We caught our train. During the ride, I fell asleep and one of my airpods fell out. I kept dinging it and dinging it and I couldn’t find it anywhere. The lady next to me and the two men behind me helped me look everywhere for it. No luck. I went up to grab Kaden so he could come help me. He said, “it sounds like it’s on you”. No, that’s ridiculous Kaden. Sure enough, I found the missing airpod in my bra. Kaden said I owed him therapy after that. That’s fair. I had this whole train looking for an airpod that was in my bra the entire time. 

We made it to Amsterdam and caught the ferry over the river to our hostel and got checked in. Amsterdam was already better than Germany because the people were friendly to us. We paid for a four bed hostel dorm but someone got stuck with having a 6 person room. Oh well. We dropped our belongings off and got ready for the evening. We met up with Chloe, Roger, and Freddie. Freddie is the girl who my friends came to Europe for her wedding in Denmark, but she was now living right outside of Amsterdam for work. Freddie is sooo fun! She has a big personality which I absolutely adore. We had a few beers and dinner at an Australian restaurant that Freddie recommended. After dinner was finished, I stepped away from our table for 5 minutes & so did my friends. I left my umbrella on the table. Next thing you know, this homeless man approaches us using MY umbrella. I knew it was right away. He asked us for money and said he’s homeless. I asked him where he got that umbrella, told him it was mine, and I asked nicely for it back. He all of a sudden couldn’t speak any English then and would not give me my umbrella back. It down poured all night and I was soaking wet so I was cursing him for that.

After dinner, we walked down to the red light district. It was insane. There are women all over dancing almost completely naked in windows in red light dimmed rooms. I mean they are really beautiful women. We stumbled upon a “peep show” and said, “why not?” Two people weren’t allowed to go in at once unless they were a couple so Freddie and I paid to go in together. You get two minutes and go into a tiny stall with the door closed where the window lights up for you and you can see the girl spinning around on her little stage in the center. This lady was naked and doing all sorts of things that i will not repeat here. We couldn’t believe what we had just witnessed. We walked out and found another bar to go to after walking around for a bit. We couldn’t believe our lives. We then found an Uber home and went to sleep for the night after getting traumatized at the red light district. 

The city itself is really beautiful. There are canals that run through the whole place. The only issue is it rains A LOT. Like downpours. I woke up the next morning before everyone else so went for a 4+ mile run. It rained off and on during my run, but it felt really good to be out running and exploring the city that way. I happened to stumble upon a windmill that was built in the 1700s. I love things like that. I ran back and my friends had just started to wake up for the day. We got ready to go get breakfast and meet the rest of the group. Olivia, Kaden, and I went to an authentic Amsterdam pancakes breakfast place. Dutch pancakes are incredible. None of us have ever had them before. They’re very thin but wide. Olivia and I also had some dutch coffee. We were seated in a little nook overlooking the river with large windows. The whole experience was 10/10.

We met up with Chloe, Roger, Freddie, and her husband Nick. Freddie and Nick are so nice and welcoming. We explored for a while until Freddie and Nick had to go home. We decided we’d meet up with them later for dinner as it was all of our last night in Amsterdam. We stopped in at the Heineken brewery as Heineken originates in Amsterdam. It’s so much better there than it is back home. We ended up not meeting up with everyone else later because Olivia wasn’t feeling well. We went out to find a dinner nearby, some authentic stroopwafels and went back to our hostel. We were sad because it was our last night together. We woke up early in the morning to pack before checkout and rode to the ferry to the train station together. I was heartbroken saying goodbye to Olivia and Kaden. I cried so much during our goodbye and after. So much so that I had to call my mom when it was 3am back home and talk to her. I was devastated to watch them go. My best friend. My piece of home. Gone just like that. How had the time gone by so quickly?

I grabbed some snacks and waited for my train. I was heading to Brugge, Belgium. I was excited to see Belgium, but I was missing my friends. I spent the train ride stressed out and trying to figure out what was going on with my cards. Everything was shut down and my other new card Olivia brought over for me was not working now. I finally ended up figuring it all out, but I think the guy who was sitting next to me on the train probably thinks I’m insane.

I arrive in Brugge and I am instantly head over heels in love with this city. I mean every single place you look, you could take a photo of. The people here are so incredibly friendly and welcoming. It’s been the friendliest European city I’ve been to so far.

I planned on being in Brugge for 3 nights before leaving for Paris but I’ve already been here 6 tonights and extended my stay again today. I can’t get enough of this city and I’ll share more about it once I am done exploring.

Happy 30th birthday to my little sister today!

As always, I’m missing everyone from home.

Chat soon.

Xo,

Kals