Trip Blog. Day Fourteen. Halfway Home.

Today, I went on a quest for a gelt-automaat (ATM), bought a cable lock for my bike, had a cheeseburger and a margarita at the Hard Rock, and went inside the Kolner Dom.

My legs hurt. Particularly the right one.

Right. So when I got back from the ATM (I really like gelt-automaat), I noticed that my bike was gone. I rolled my eyes, because I figured they didn't get far with it. It is not a particularly heavy bike, but you don't really want to be lugging it around anyway. The reason why it was carried (literally) off in the first place is because the lock is very unobtrusive and is mounted on the rear of the frame; the shackle is curved and hooks through the rear wheel when it is locked. It does not, however lock -to- anything except itself. So, I set off down the Strasse toward a large, filled bike rack, figuring that the perpetrator dropped it off there. About halfway down, there it is, in front of the door of a hotel next to a shrubbery.

Morons. Whatever. So, I unlocked my bike and walked it back to the hostel, came inside and asked where I could get a cable lock so I can actually lock it to the stairs of the hostel. He told me to go down the street, and there she blows. Three euros. So now my bike is locked to the hostel, and I took the front wheel and the seat upstairs with me so that some spiteful bastard does not just steal that.

Anyway, after that I did my laundry because I was so tired of wearing dirty clothes, and then I went to the Hard Rock. I bought a t-shirt. And a cheeseburger. I think I'm going to leave off with the margaritas, though, because they aren't very good over here. I am not sure Europeans understand about margaritas.

Thereafter, I walked around the Kolner Dom and took some photos, and then I noticed that the doors to the east transcept were open. Apparently they don't charge. So I wandered in.

Wow. It is HUGE, like Tall. People were taking flash photos, which annoyed me (how hard is it to turn off the flash? And with digital cameras, you can adjust the aperture to take photos without the flash. I have the flash permanently off on my camera. Jerks). But it was really beautiful. I am going to go back after dark when it is lit up again to take more pictures, but in the interim, here are these.

The last I took last night. I need to adjust my camera when I take them tonight, because it appears more blue than that.

Friday, if I can get the Lutherstadt hostel people to answer me, I am going to Wittenberg, and then Sunday to Berlin. If the hostel people do not answer me, I guess I'm going to have to go to Berlin and make a day trip or something, though I'd really rather not do that. I don't understand why I cannot make reservations online. Not everyone carries a cell phone to Europe. I am probably going to fly back to London on Wednesday and then spend a few days in Cardiff, Wales, probably go to Bath or something, and if I have time I'm going to Edinburg. This is freshman Europe trip, sort of a survey. More later.

Blogger sucks, by the way; hence the really odd formatting.