Jackson and Francis

Yesterday, I went to the Ludwigs museum to see the Lichtenstein exhibit as well as the permanent art work. What a place! It took me three hours to walk through it, I'm sure I missed parts too. Some of my favorites; definitely the Bacon, Pollock and Max Ernst.

After I waded in the fountain with the toddlers and munched on a banana while thinking of Barbara Dee, I made my way back to the Dom, I decided to climb the stairs to the Belfry. As I was climbing the 500 stairs and trying not be afraid of tumbling down the narrow staircase as people barged past me, I though "ugh, what if some thing were to happen? Like an earthquake or a crazy thunderstorm..." Sure enough, half an hour after I had descended and made my way back to the Hostel, the North tower was struck by lightening in a flash thunderstorm and the roof caught fire momentarily. My hostel roommate was about five minutes from ascending the tower at that point...

Pride was happening this weekend too, my morning coffee was had in the district by the area where the Parade was going to be, I unfortunately missed the Parade by a few hours, I would've very much enjoyed it, I'm sure.

Side note: Some Germans have very strange sensibilities when it come to hair stylings. One very popular style involves the spiking up of the inner circle of the hair (the area where the yarmulke is worn) and then glue the remaining hairs to their necks, ears and faces with ridiculous amounts of hair styling product. I wish I had the balls to take a photo of one of these tragic hair dos. One day, perhaps I can fit one into a shot of a building or landscape some time.

Today I took a train to Koblenz and I have to say, as beautiful as Koeln was, I should have started my trip here. Koeln was a bit of a party city, and for me, as a recovery from jet lag it was not the right place to be. I was craving calm but in Koeln I found no calm. Koblenz seems to have a bit more of a small town thing going on. It is stunningly beautiful, a preserved little pocket of architecture right in the middle of a forested country side.