Not keeping to the coast, I went to Aachen, Germany the first weekend in December.
This all came about as a result of couchsurfing.com.
I joined earlier in the year and I love the idea in principle, a sort of free Airbnb and social networking site. For my more alarmed friends I can see the pitfalls but, I seem to be becoming more adventurous as I get older and less risk averse. How have Ilived this long, I hear some of you say!
As a result of hosting Ana last month at my home, I went to visit her in her home town, Aachen.
I flew out to Cologne ( not very green I know and I’m going to work on this) and then got the train to Aachen after a confusing episode with the ticket machine that had an English option for instructions then gave all the ticket types in German! It’s more by luck than judgment that I got the right ticket! A woman beggar helped me although I had no change to give her.
Ana met me at the station and we got a taxi to her address. It was lovely to see her again, I feel like I’ve known her my whole life not just a few days. I didn’t really know what to expect but Ana made me very welcome, cooked me lunch and let me snooze a bit before we went out.
We visited the bustling Christmas market. I have never been to one before and it was very festive. I used my toddler German language stills to order a couple of cups of gluehwein (it had to be done). We stood at an outdoor bar under a heater and enjoyed the warmth of the sweet drink.
The town itself interested me, it is most definitely medieval with old stone buildings and a magnificent brick Cathedral. You can get a glimpse of Roman remains too!
Apparently Aachen dates back to neolithic times with flint mines and hot sulphurous waters that made it popular with the Romans and then the 18th and 19th century gentry. It’s a Spa town and lists among its famous patrons Peter The Great! Aachen has been both German and French where it’s known as Aix-la-Chapelle.
After we strolled around enough we headed back, we were cold and wet by now and Ana’s place was a veritable sauna (she’s got Mediterranean blood) but I slept well.
The next day after a lazy start and a huge continental breakfast with meats and cheeses. We took the bus to Vaals a small town just over the boarder into the Netherlands. From here using my phone as a map we walked up a hill to Drielandenpunt, where Belgium, The Netherlands and Germany meet. We had a picture taken on the exact spot.
There is a tower to climb where you can look across all three countries. The views spectacular even on a grey day! Not sure about the mesh floor though!
We returned to Vaals and found it a very picturesque quirky town.
The next day we were going to try the thermal baths but unfortunately we discovered my train to Cologne and home was cancelled so spent the best part of the morning trying to sort out my transport..
Now I know my work colleagues and some of my friends think I’m completely mad. I registered for BlaBlaCar and then arranged to meet up with a car share. I had heard of this website and it’s really popular in Germany but, I had not used it before. Anyway in for a cent in for a Euro, or 5 Euro’s in this case for a trip to Cologne!
I met the car at a rendezvous point, a Burger King and was somewhat astonished when several large black lads got out of the car to let me and a young girl get in. Now before you all start telling me off for getting into a stranger’s car, the driver had about 100 references and I knew his name and the type of car I was going in. Once seated the base music went on and we ‘thump, thump thumped’ all the way to Cologne! The lads were from Cameroon and were good company. I would definitely do that again!
I was dropped off at the station and headed towards the Airport and home…I’d had quite an odd adventure!
The Travelling Bee 