Wednesday, June 16th, 2004: Köln, Germany

N 50° E 006° Frankfurt to Köln: 205 kilometres

Renault provides a seamless service as we pick up our brand new car – we are met at Frankfurt airport by a happy German who vigorously shakes our hands and drives us to the Renault lot for the final paper work and signatures before the car is ours – Renault takes a big IOU, in case we disappear with the car. We hit the autobahn and head to Köln for the first 2 days of phase two our trip. Although we are driving at a good pace, car after car zooms past us on the right, traveling at speeds that make us look like we are crawling.

Welcome to Köln!

Köln, or Cologne as English speakers call it, is an extremely pleasant city of about a million people nestled on the Rhine River about 190 km northwest of Frankfurt. Our B&B owner Thomas has given us good instructions, and we arrive in the city centre by about 1 pm. We park, drop bags and walk off to explore the downtown. We don’t get too far – our long flight and the stress of the 200 kilometre drive from Frankfurt to Köln catch up with us, and we spend the rest of the afternoon napping. We head out again about 9 p.m. for dinner. After a light meal, we head back to the apartment, ready for sleep, despite the fact that at this northern latitude, the sun is still shining brightly.