Adventure Accounting

After Cologne, Germany, my next stop is Venice, Italy. It is a long 14-hour train ride to Venice. I read in forums that there are budget airlines which offer cheap plane rides. Tru enough, a one-way fare to Venice cost me € 50 - almost a third of the price of the train price. Some pointers in booking your tickets: The ticket is non-refundable and non-rebookable, according to the carrier’s conditions. If your visa is denied, you can’t get your money back. Book at your own risk. The closer you book near your flight date, the more expensive it is – unless they have a seat sale. I bought my flightv from Frankfurth-Hahn airport going to Venice via Ryanair for €50 3months and 3 weeks before my actual flight date. I booked and paid even without the visa yet. Took a risk with this one. 

Some signs have no English translation. Some quick German lessons: Eingang = Entrance. Ausgang = Exit. But I got away with this one. Similar to Amsterdam, taking pictures of the menu is also discouraged.

Time to do something fun! My aunt brought me to Phantasialand, an amusement park in Brühl, Germany. This is the only amusement park that I visited during my whole trip - wasn't really gunning for Disneyland in Paris. It was a scenic drive going to Brühl. Some leaves were already changing into their autumn colors. Didn't see an English translation of this. Don't fret, the Germans are quite friendly translating this for tourists. The giddy girl in me woke up as soon as we entered the park. After almost a week of museums and churches, it was good to have a not-so-serious destination.

I have been away for a week but it felt like I've been traveling for a couple of weeks already. I've been seeing and learning something new everyday. My morning felt like one whole day, my afternoon another day, and my evening is another day. Time slowed down. I wanted to capture and absorb everything with all my senses.  The sun was still shining brightly during my third day in Cologne. While waiting for the train: Am feelin' the boots. And there's still the purple camera bag.

The Dome is located amidst restaurant and shopping centers. Plenty of options where to spend my moolah. I’ve been keeping tabs on my spending in Amsterdam, that’s why I didn’t spend much. Hahaha. Time to swipe a bit now.

Cologne is famous for its Cathedral – which is a Unesco World Heritage Site. The catherdral is locally called the “Dome” of Dom. The Dome withstood World War II bombings. During my planning stages, I was patterning my itinerary from Rick Steve’s best of three weeks and I wanted to spend time in Bacharach, aside from Cologne. However, I didn’t find any suitable accommodations which were available and within my budget on my preferred dates.  I initially thought of skipping Germany and doing Spain instead but Spain is relatively far from my other target destinations. The largest Gothic church in Northern Europe