The other side of the river...

*note: the cell phone tower on the left marks where I live. The church in the foreground is about half a mile in front of the Dom.

So work has been really rough this week. With having to do all my laundry afterwards I haven't had that much time to relax. I of course went down my list of contacts and tried with some people from work, but apparently there's something fundamentally wrong with me because I had no takers on going out for dinner. Not wanting to spend the night in my apartment I decided to hop on the subway and wander around Köln for a while. I've got the whole subway thing and the city pretty down pat now. I stopped off at the media markt where I picked up some headphones so I can rock out at work and another SD card for Rome. Surprisingly I got a 2 GB card for €11 which is actually about even with what I could get one for in the US. It's a Panasonic, not a Scandisk which I prefer, but I couldn't beat the €11 price tag. With less than 500 pictures possible left on my current card I knew I would need a new one.

After shopping I decided to go on walkabout. I found the rothaus (city hall) which was a pretty interesting looking building and yet another cool church. After that I decided to cross the Rhine and see what adventures awaited me on the other side of the river. There really wasn't anything of note other than what I found at the base of the train bridge. That's right, buildering with a top rope set up. I tried climbing a short distance up, but my sambas don't make the best climbing shoe on the smooth rock surface. Now all I have to do is convince Kai to buy some top rope gear and I'll have a free place to climb ;-). Upon returning from the other side of the bridge I of course stopped off inside the Dom since it's so incredible. I was treated to the sight of mass being held. It was cool as the minister was singing and they were burning incense. Imagine being back in the day before airplanes etc. and going to the Dom. That would definitely put the fear of god into someone. Especially since the Dom is still one of the tallest buildings in the city.

Being late it was time to stop for dinner. I've been craving a good steak since I got here and in all this time I never found a decent one. I did stop off at a Farmer's steak house though. This is what a European €20 filet mignon looks like ($32). Needless to say I had to stop for a snack and then again for some more food when I got back to my apartment. Once again the service was terrible as I had 3 other parties sit down after me and get served before me. The waitress had the most awful European angry face on too. I definitely appreciate the checks and balance system of tipping in the US. Also, quoting the, 'I don't tip,' monologue from Reservoir Dogs really loses it's meaning here. Although it would have been nice to get a little something extra with my €20 steak... haha... So I'm thinking that the tiny portions are the cause for all the thin people here. It's like Mexico only 4 times the price...