Feeling Rough

MP3 track of the day - Offspring: worst hang over ever

Well I woke up today at around 7:30am expecting that, after 12 hours sleep, I would feel allot better ... I didn't really; I went into the bathroom to get ready before my room mates could. Ah before I go on lets just quickly talk about my room mates; just like at the Generator Hostel in Berlin it appears that, by accident, I have chosen a hostel that caters for the younger person. I'm sharing my room with three girls who have won the 2009 gold award for the 'most messy room mates' ... when I arrived the floor was covered in shoes, clothes, make-up etc. I didn't know where to stand.

Anyway after having breakfast (which I only had a bit of fruit juice, some toast and some cereal ... umm think the hostel made some money out of me there) I got ready and headed out. It was around 9:30 when I left and, being in a delicate state, I decided to walk into the city and get some fresh air. For the first time this holiday it was cold and I had both my fleece and coat on (it's around 12oc here) which I was very glad about as if it had been hot I would of left worse; anyway after walking into the city centre I soon found the Dom.

Well you can hardly miss it ... at 157.31m high it's one of the biggest Gothic churches ever built, which then lead me to ask the question how the hell did the allies miss it in their bombing raids. 99% of Cologne was utterly destroyed during WW2 (there are some postcards with images of the destruction), pretty much all of it apart from the Dom ... there must of been strict instructions not to bomb it.

Anyway after taking a few photos (which I can't upload yet as I'm back in the internet cafe) I then looked at my guide book and went to the Cologne tower. My guide book said that you get a better view from the other side of the Rhine and so I headed across the bridge; sure enough the view was very pleasant.

After this I still wasn't feeling particularly well and so I decided that I would head back to the Dom to find a shop selling coke ... yes coke. My stomach wasn't too happy and coke is actually pretty good for an upset stomach as all it's acids usually kill whatever the problem is.

On my way there I went past the railway station and, because it was pretty cold, I went into Starbucks ( this is the first time I have been in a Starbucks) for a hot chocolate and a sit down.

Finally I then decided to head up the Dom; 533 steps to the viewing platform it was quite a struggle; I walked up 97.25m to the top. It was quite a sight but it was very cold so I didn't stay long; for me it was about being able to say I've been to the top of the Dom ... the view over the 1960's post-war buildings wasn't the most important aspect.

Once down I sat near the Dom and I felt exhausted; still in a fragile state I decided, with seeing the two main attractions, I would walk back to my hostel and have a sleep. I arrived back at around 2pm and slept until 5pm (didn't really want to sleep any longer as I won't be able to sleep tonight).

After that I left the hostel and put on my coat and hat on (yes Edd, my beanie hat ... still no one knows me around here) and headed to this internet cafe.

Not sure what I'm going to do now; I know I want to be back in bed for at least 8pm but that gives me a couple of hours to kill. Still, looking on the bright side ... not feeling very well has saved me a load of cash (although I had just ordered Valkyrie off HMV ... yes mum and Dad you can open it and watch it if it arrives home before I do). Also I should get something to eat as I've only had breakfast today, but the way I feel I don't think I could stomach it.

Hopefully I'll feel better tomorrow ... ummm see a recurring theme here.

Toodle Pip

27hr Train Ride

Okay so lets go back to Tuesday 29th of September...

After blogging about Bran I then went out with the Kiwi guy for a couple of drinks and a chat; it was really cool as human interaction has been rather limited within this trip ... however I knew I had a long day ahead of me. After an hour or so we parted and I had my final meal in Brasov (I went to the same restaurant as the previous two nights ... I had something different though; grilled chicken with salad, a mineral water ... which was sparkling and 2 pancakes with ice cream ... all for eight pounds, bargain!).

MP3 track of the day: The Killers - Are we human or are we dancer

Waking up a 7am I got ready and headed to the train station ... buying breakfast on the way (umm ... spicy pizza) I found my platform ... however (and for some reason I understood the announcement) there was a platform change which resulted in a Chinese bloke asking me what was going on.

Anyway I was aboard the 12hr journey to Budapest. Now this has always been a bit of a mystery to me why it takes around 12hrs to get from Brasov to Budapest but something like 6 hours from Vienna to Berlin. However this mystery has been solved ... the Romanian trains go so slowly. I was discussing this in the hostel with the Spanish guys a couple of nights ago and they agreed; travelling by Romanian public transport takes hours to get anywhere ... they had hired a car because they said it was faster and sure enough, along my trip back to Budapest, I saw a car over take me ... a lorry ... a bus .... a horse and cart ... a 'yoof' on a skateboard and a little girl on roller-blades. In the end I did wonder if the train engine was powered by AA batteries ... at a platform I thought 'any minute now some Romanian train official dude will be running past with a packet of Duracell AA batteries'.

However I sat down, enjoyed the view, and began charging all my electrical equipment (which took the entire journey). We arrived at Budapest an hour late ... it was okay though as I had plenty of time to grab a McDonald's and head back for my connecting train.

My next train left Budapest at 9:45 and got to Munich at 6:15 ... I decided I would purchase a bed and get some sleep ... however you had to book these way in advance (which I didn't as I wasn't sure my AA powered train would make it on time). So I went into a 2nd class carriage and tried to get some sleep ...


... of course I got very little; sharing with four other people didn't help and one took his shoes off and a cheesy smell filled the cabin (foreigners). Anyway I arrived (late) to Munich and I bought some breakfast and got on my third and final train. This was an ICE train which was fantastic. This part of the journey I hadn't done before so I got a window seat and stared out into the foggy morning ... it was beautiful.

Alas I could stare for ever as 'cheese boy' had robbed me of some sleep ... I decided to get a power nap of 20 mins or so and then I was fine for the rest of the journey.

I couldn't wait to arrive in Cologne and it seemed weird being back at a station I was at on the 3rd day of my voyage (I had to swap trains at Cologne on my way to Berlin). I purchased my reservation for Brussels in 2 days time and headed to the underground.

I found my hostel no problem however I was very early and I couldn't go to my room to sleep. I decided to leave my luggage in the luggage room (pack-safed of course) and take my netbook up to do abit of surfing and book my Brussels Hostel and my train tickets home.

After two hours of trying to use there poxy, good for nothing, slow speed WI-FI I headed out and found this Internet cafe ... It's okay and at €2 for 80 mins quite cheap ... however the 'z' and the 'y' are mixed up on this keyboard leading to no end of problems. I went to book my hostel in Brussels but disaster ... it was all mostly booked up; in the end I had to resign to the fact that I could not stay the three nights I wanted and I could only stay two.

Therefore I booked my Euro Star as late as possible on Monday (around 8pm) for the small sum of 59 pounds (there is no pound sign on this keyboard either) and then a train ticket back to Derby, for 11 pounds, getting home just after midnight ... so in a way my tour is lasting until Tuesday.

However at the moment I am looking forwards to the end ... yes I am tired, and I've got megga 'train movement syndrome', and I'm hungry, and annoyed (probably read that thought this post) so I do feel like I want to go home ... however, after a good nights sleep I reckon I'll feel much better tomorrow!

The plan now I suppose is to check in, have a early dinner and then go to sleep ... tomorrow the Dom and hopefully a chocolate factory; I choose this over the many art museums as they give you free tasters from a chocolate fountain ... or so I read in my guide book.

Toodle Pip!