Out and About Again

Cologne has a great public transit system.  There are CBYX participants living out on farms that can make it to class in less than 30 minutes of traveling using a combination of buses, subways, and surface rails.  In this picture above, you can make out a gondola system used for getting pedestrians across the Rhein.  The Rhein itself is pretty awesome.  There are barges, party boats, leisure cruises, and transportation on it at any given time.  The river isn't very wide within the city, but it is by far the fastest moving river I have ever seen.

 Advertising in Cologne is different than in the states.  There are ads for music releases, movies, cigarettes, beer - almost everything.  The ads are often more abrasive and less conservative. Right now, I believe the billboards are exclusively for Step Up the movie and a Hamburg beer that is trying to enter the Kölsch (local pils) market.

Another shot of the Rhein.

     Ryan, my CBYX friend from Alaska, and I got a huge kick out of "the selfie advancement". Ryan's joke is that the biggest advancement in photography for our generation is being able to take pictures of things without actually really looking at them.  This photo was inspired when we saw a crowd of maybe 40 tourists frantically snapping photos in front of the cathedral- but they didn't even take the time to face the building and look at it!

 The doner kebap appears to be the most popular food in Cologne.  There are shops that sell the Gyro hybrid on every corner.  The photo above means to show how lovingly regarded the sandwich is.

     On Saturday night we were exposed to a new tradition: the "hen" night (that is just what it sounds like, I'm not sure what the real word is).  It is essentially a night where everyone has a bachelor/bachelorette party starting at the cathedral.  The bride and all of her bridesmaids dress ridiculously, and then go around selling things to raise money for the wedding or wedding party, or something.  The items for sale were mostly related to nightlife and drinking.

The video (which didn't turn out so great) was supposed to show another interesting part of "Hen night", which is when bachelor and bachelorette parties meet and sing (scream) songs at each other.  All in all, it seems like a fun experience!