Day of Exploration

My first day alone also happened to be a German Holiday. The plan was to sleep in, but unfortunately, my body had other ideas. I woke up at 7:30 bright eyed and bushy tailed. For those of you who know me, you know that never happens. I tried to roll over and go back to bed, but it just wasn’t happening. God was telling to get up and face the day. So I compromised and read my book in bed until 8:30. Then I got up and wandered around the apartment setting things up a bit for single person living again. By 9:30 I decided to muster up some courage and explore Köln a bit for myself. After a good shower, I packed my book bag with my book and a snack and took the bike out for a little ride.

I headed northwest through the park and was going to follow it around Köln to he Rhein. It was quite nice to see a different area of town with its quiet platz’s and small shops. I got to the Rhein and found a piece of stone to sit on and read my book while watching the traffic on the river and the people out enjoying the holiday. That’s the thing about Germany. On a holiday, nothing is open so you are somewhat forced to relax. Not even the grocery stores are open. I saw lots of families on their bikes and older couples taking a little stroll. The sun was out and it felt nice and warm on my skin.

After a little while, I was feeling good and went exploring some more. I thought I could just cut across and make it back to the little platz by my apartment for a little lunch. Unfortunately, I took one too many right turns and ended up in a place I hadn’t seen before. It was quite beautiful though with ivy covered buildings and small churches. However, things were getting more and more suburban. I stopped to check my map and didn’t see any of the streets on it. I assumed that I had wandered off my map but did not quite know which way would get me back on the map. I made a U-turn and headed back toward a street I recognized. I found that I had went past my apartment and ended farther northeast. I eventually made it back to the park and tried to take a different way home. After making a lot of turns, I was surprised to find myself in my little platz from a direction I hadn’t expected. No matter, home is home right?