Day Five - Wednesday

The middle of the week in deutschland....

Im sure that you are all aware of our morning ritual (for breakfast that is) now so we dont have describe that amazing experience anymore.

Today we caught a mini bus to Koln (Cologne), a major city about 1 hours drive south of Neukirchen/Vluyn. It is (so far) the biggest German City we've seen.... and it is landmarked by the biggest Cathedral most of us have seen.

Construction on the Colonge Cathedral began around 1265 AD. Many Many Many years before Australia was even put on the map. It is a GIAGANTIC Gothic style church that is still being fixed today.

We had a guided tour inside the church, and we all learnt plenty about the history of Koln and how the Church impacted the cities exsistence in the world.

Surprisingly the Church survived WW2, when everything around it was completely destroyed - infact the architeture surrounding the church mostly dates in the fifties/sixties.

After our tour we paid 1 euro each to climb to the top of the Cathedral tower. It is 1008 steps up and down, and very very very high. You could see for miles and had a perfect view of the Rhein River. It was a painful journey and some of us are paying for it the nest day. However, the view and experience was worth it.

We then had a chance to do some shopping. It was very busy and there was plenty of shops. It was probably the first time we could spend some serious cash.

Later we had lunch at Fruh - a pub in Koln the was deep underground. They served plenty of beer... kegs of beer infact... We started a competition with the group next door shouting "Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi" - We won of course.

Finally we travelled back home... and finished the rest of the day off with our host families.