Ich liebe Cologne

Day 2 saw us travel to Cologne, one of the most important German cities. After a leisurely continental breakfast, the students prepared their own packed lunches and off we went. The students were tasked with purchasing a post card, stamp and a pen. We were very impressed by their efforts to speak in German in the shops! Postcards – written in German obviously! – will be speeding their way across to some of their favourite teachers, form tutors and indeed to their classmates. Today they were also given their diaries- affectionately known as their green booklets- in which they record (in German, nutürlich) what they have done the previous day, their impressions, what German they have used, etc… Again, there were some real efforts made in this! Cologne boasts an impressive cathedral dating back to 1248, and is located on the river Rhein. We had a guided tour of the area around the cathedral, and some students even had a look around inside it. We walked to the train station, along the river bank and through the old part of town. We were introduced to two important Kölsch folklore figures- Tünnes and Schäl- who represent the two sides of the city. Rubbing Tünnes’ nose is said to bring you luck, while touching Schäl’s hand should bring you fortune. Fingers crossed there is some truth in this! We all had a bit of free time before heading back to the coach. A surprising number of students returned with exciting new trainers, a good number had bought souvenirs its and gifts. We teachers just headed for an Eiscafé and had done delightful spaghetti and tagliatelle ice cream instead- different priorities! Dinner was a rather speedy affair due to traffic conditions getting back from Cologne. Then off we went again, this time for a spot if bowling in Koblenz. We’re pretty sure Harris is secretly a UK bowling champion as he thrashed the competition, ending about a million points ahead of anyone else! Okay, slight exaggeration, but that boy has some serious bowling skills! The bowling alley were very accommodating and even put on the all-important England v Colombia match, not that they were paying much attention to it! On arrival back at the hotel, we delayed bedtime for those who wanted to gunshot watching the match – fortunately it went our way and everyone went to bed feeling pretty pleased!