Köln, Germany - Part I

I'm writing this from Toronto - and if you're wondering why this entry is called "Part I" it's because my vacation isn't done yet, even though I'm at home. Keep reading . . .

So I left for Germany about a week ago. Everything went smoothly - got on my flight to Frankfurt, had plenty of time to catch my train up Köln and even managed to find JP's flat even though I only had a rough idea of where it was in my head. Then we went to the laundrymat (so that I would have bedsheets and clean towels >__<"), had lunch at a little Italian place and went grocery shopping. We ran into Chelsey on the street while she was on her way to do her own laundry. (And spotted Thomas Heyer trying to avoid us... awkward... and funny.) I totally love his flat - it's the perfect amount of space for one person and the location is fabulous.

Saturday morning I awoked to "Patty, what would you like for breakfast? I'll make you whatever you want." Hehehehe... My first request for pancakes was denied because JP isn't a fan of them, so we had french toast and breakfast sausages instead. Yummy! That evening JP had a concert so I went along to hear him.

Sunday morning we both slept in like lazy butts. In the afternoon we met up with a couple of JP's friends and had a few beers at a Brauhaus. I'm really not a fan of beer, but I'm starting to get used to it and starting to appreciate them. We went for gelato afterwards and then walked along the river to get home.

Monday morning JP had to work - so I hit the streets and went shopping! For more groceries. LOL. (Actually, I was totally jetlagged and was up at 6am.) JP had offhandedly said that he loved wonton soup but hadn't had it in forever so I went out and picked up the ingredients to make wontons. There's a small Asian supermarket near his flat that I went to hoping to find wonton wrappers - but it was the tiniest, dingiest, smelliest place ever! I walked in and walked back out again. Gross! Left with the small dilemma of no wonton wrappers for wontons, we decided to make them ourselves. So when I say we made wonton soup - I mean it. We made wonton soup from scratch.

Tuesday JP and I went into town in the afternoon to shop (and buy more groceries). It was a bit fruitless as neither of us found anything that we wanted. After work his friend Yoshiko came over and we made sushi for dinner. I had somewhat planned for this so I brought a maki rolling mat, miso paste and soup mix, powdered wasabi (instead of the ready made because of the liquids restrictions on the airlines), nori, green tea, and sushi rice seasoning when I was on a layover in Vancouver. Yoshiko was so happy - this stuff is pretty hard to find in Germany, and even if you can find it, it's pretty expensive because it's imported. It was a lot of fun to prep and make everything. I love social cooking. We had some great conversation and Yoshiko was quite impressed with how much Japanese I knew (which is only what I've picked up from watching anime) and how much I knew about Japanese culture. After dinner we played on JP's Wii while trying not to make to much noise because his neighbour is a grouch - hehe.

Wednesday JP came back from an early session at work and made Caprese salad for lunch. OMG the tomatoes and cheese and everything were so fresh and so good. Total foodgasm. Feeling restless, we went out again into town and walked around, going down towards the Dom and crossing the river to enjoy the view from the other side. Then we sat by the river with a couple bottles of Kölsch in hand and just watched the city go by. I haven't had such a relaxed day in a long time.

Thursday morning JP didn't have to work, so we had another lazy morning and eventually made it out of the house to go grocery shopping and pick up some fresh bagels. I went out and did some last minute shopping for Ritter Sport chocolate and in the evening we went out with some friends for cocktails. I've discovered my new favourite drink - strawberry coladas! Mmmm....
Friday we both woke up obscenely early to catch the train to Frankfurt. JP had a teaching conference so he took me to the airport before catching his connecting train, and I hopped on a plane and came home. I tried to switch my flights this weekeng but no one realy wants to give up their long weekend so I was stuck coming back to work. *sigh* So I promised JP that I'd be back later in the week, but for now I'm home.

It's nice to be back - the new computer has arrived and Kevin put together the extension to the desk that will be my area. The kitties are being their naughty, cute selves ^__^" I went over to my parents yesterday for a BBQ, but ending up falling asleep in Tiff's room on the floor and didn't want to get up to eat. Ooops... I spent most of today doing laundry, repacking my suitcase for "layover mode" and I'll be off to San Fran tomorrow.

Germany - Part II will follow next week or so ^__~"