Trains, planes and suitcases.

I am currently on hour 23 of my first and hopefully longest travel day of the trip. The flight was fine, we were an hour delayed but then somehow landed at the originally scheduled time. I just have to say that 11 hours in the same cramped little seat is way too long and ain't no one out there should have to endure that. Food was terrible, of course, but I have always been dramatic about airplane food. Thank god for my dad's burritos....that's all I can say.

Trying to find my baggage was interesting. Normally you just follow everyone from your plane at the airport like a row of ants, but absolutely no one on my flight seemed to know where they were going, so we all just kind of split like baby spiders. We all found our way back to right place though, eventually. Then I had to take the sky train, (actually) to the train station at the airport. Bought a ticket to Koeln, caught the train, got seriously in the way for several stops and then literally fell out of the train with my baggage at Koeln Hauptbahnhof. Leaving the train station, I took a couple wrong turns at the direction of the oh so helpful information booth, got blisters on my hands from my suitcase handle, and stopped several times to mop my brow. Did I mention it's really hot here??

When I finally arrived at the Station Hostel, I went out for a walk to check out the Dom church and buy some flip flops for the shower. The Dom is absolutely incredible, there is nothing in Canada I've ever seen that large, detailed or historic. I have no words, It's very cold inside, which if this temperature keeps up I just may hang out there a bit more. The details are absolutely stunning, mosaics on the floor, the windows, spires. Oh it's all too beautiful.

Now I will sleep and try to catch up on my jet lag, or at least that's what I told Phillippe, a Columbian who suggested we play music in his private room together.