BILBAO TO COLOGNE

So last time we left you in Bilbao in the north of Spain.  From there we took a train to Cologne, Germany - we want to get to the northern regions before it gets stupid cold.

Now in order to get from Bilbao to Cologne it was first necessary to take three trains to Paris.  The first two were short hops stopping in fairly small, middle of nowhere, towns in northern Spain.  We even got to relax and play an alcohol assisted game of Scrabble - not a bad way to play either, we only had about 10 tiles left at the end however one couldn't exactly say that the words on the board were overly complicated....

First change - Miranda de Ebro.  Nothin' for it but to have a beer...

...and some wine.

Next change - Vitoria.  And, well, a few more drinks to ward off the cold night air

The last leg to Paris we took a sleeper train.  Not a bad way to travel if you're going long distances overnight.

We arrived in Paris at around 8am and made a bee-line to the ticket office to reserve seats on the train to Cologne.  We had been to Paris in April so didn't really feel the need to stay there again this time through, so it was off to Cologne on the high speed Thalys train.

We had decided to stop over in Cologne to break up the trip northwards and  also to have a bit of a break after what was, in hindsight, a rather whirlwind tour of Spain, so we stayed three nights & two days.

Day one was in keeping with the whole "having a break" thing so we crawled out of bed at around 10am.  We spent the rest of the day just wandering around the town, along the Rhine, etc.  We did, however, have to change hotels and this is where the wheels quite literally fell off - well off the wheely bag that is.  It seems that Europe might well end up littered with our discarded bags - when we were in Paris in April we had to replace a bag so left the old one on the street there.  And ironically the one that chucked a wobbly in Cologne was the new one we bought in Paris - that was last seen next to the garbage hopper at the apartment in Cologne.

Cologne central station - they really know how to do train stations over here.

Cologne cathedral. They claim it's the highest building in Europe which is a lie.  A very impressive example of gothic architecture all the same.

One of the tombs in the cathedral.  Maybe they're afraid that this fella's going to get up and run away?

Day two we got going a little earlier and went to catch the tourist train (what we French types now refer to as le petit train).  And here's a free tip for young travellers to Cologne - don't waste your time on le petit train in Cologne!  We have been on a few of these over the last couple of years and most are quite effective at providing a reasonable overview of the main areas & attractions of their respective towns.  This one in Cologne seemed a bit contrived and it didn't really provide much information about many of the monuments / attractions.  What little information it did provide wasn't especially timely either - by the time they got to the spiel about the Cathedral we were in a tunnel underneath it!

In the afternoon of day two, after le petit train debacle, we went on a Rhine river cruise.  In the process of re-organising our stuff into the new bag we came across the traveller's guide book that came with our Eurail pass (as yet unread, needless to say...who reads the instructions??) and discovered that our pass gave us free travel with one of the main Cologne river cruise companies.  We decided to do a one way cruise only - 3,5 hours in lieu of about 8.  So we caught a train from Cologne to Linz - also free on our Eurail pass!

The little boat we took for our cruise

The beach club in Linz - a little touch of the Med on the Rhine!

Like I said, we were in Cologne to have a rest. This was a cabana type seat at the front of the boat  that we managed to requisition for most of the trip.

On the train down to Linz we were fortunate enough to be in the same train carriage as a bunch of blokes on their way to what we assume was a boys bowling weekend or some such.  Firstly a bunch of guys in matching t-shirts get on board, take up the front compartment of the carriage and crack open their beers, there's one sole lady sitting in there when they arrive.  At the next stop another bunch of blokes get on board, one of whom had a hand cart decked out with a stereo and a fully stocked bar!  They pull it on board and set up shop for them and their t-shirted mates, mixing spirits complete with ice, lemon, straws, the whole shooting match.  So as the journey progresses they get louder and more boisterous as the bar gets a good workout, singing songs, smoking and wooing the girls who get on board.  The whole while the poor lady who was there to begin with is wondering what the hell she's found herself in the middle of! Watching all this was a great way for us to while away the hour long train journey.  And anyone who says that the Germans don't have a sense of humour - we beg to differ!

The last night in Cologne we went out for the obligatory schnitzel and beer.  Cologne is a rocking little town on a Friday night!

We are currently in Oslo, Norway but we still need to tell you about Copenhagen and the West coast of Sweden - that's for the next post.  Till then...