We had an early start to the first day of our German holiday- We woke up at 3.30 to be on the road to Stanstead for a 7.15AM flight. No worries with getting there on time, though we did have to shift around some of the weight in our luggage as Ryanair has a strict 15kg rule for checked luggage. We were nice and relaxed and had some brekkie while we waited for our flight. Then we hit a small bump. I ducked off to the loo just as our gate number appeared on the screen, so Daniel read it and came to find me . As I had had to line up for the loo he was a bit anxious and we hurried along. Unfortunately, we accidently went the wrong way and ended up on a train that transfers you between terminals. We jumped on and as we started pulling away realized we were going to the wrong terminal. When it arrived, we went into the terminal. There were no signs leading us out so we asked for some help. We asked a man at a desk, who when we said our time of departure gave us a worried look and said we might not have enough time to get back. He phoned an airport staff member to transfer us back. By this time it was 30 minutes to our flight and knowing Ryanair are pretty strict we were getting stressed, with Daniel pacing along the hallway and me wanting to cry. The man arrived and also collected three other passengers who Had made the same mistake as us (in Fact one couple were departing at 7 so really in trouble). It took us about five minutes to get to our gate, and there was still a fair line so we joined and got on without a hitch. The flight was good, only 55 minutes.
At the airport we picked up our hire car, an Opel (Holden) Corsa. As I had just spent a week in Europe and was used to doing things on the right hand side of the road (as a passenger in Robs car- but not driving), I drove. It is a manual and we have decided a really good little car, with plenty of guts, decent features and very quiet. We used our GPS to get us out of there and on the road, and I got to experience unlimited speed on the Autobahn. I pushed my little car to 140 km/hr and it felt good, mind you I spent most of the time in the slow lane, and was zoomed past by cars I reckon would be pushing 180km/hr.
Our first stop was Cologne, a city whose main attraction is the Cathedral. The Dom, a gothic style cathedral, has spires that rise very tall and if you get a close look have a lot of detail hidden within them. We also had a look inside. I had visited Cologne before but enjoyed my second visit just as much. We had lunch in a pub (Great meals!! Daniel had a curried sausage and I had a potato soup) and Daniel tried the local beer (but didn’t like it). We walked over the River Rhine to get some more pictures before returning to our car.
At the airport we picked up our hire car, an Opel (Holden) Corsa. As I had just spent a week in Europe and was used to doing things on the right hand side of the road (as a passenger in Robs car- but not driving), I drove. It is a manual and we have decided a really good little car, with plenty of guts, decent features and very quiet. We used our GPS to get us out of there and on the road, and I got to experience unlimited speed on the Autobahn. I pushed my little car to 140 km/hr and it felt good, mind you I spent most of the time in the slow lane, and was zoomed past by cars I reckon would be pushing 180km/hr.
Our first stop was Cologne, a city whose main attraction is the Cathedral. The Dom, a gothic style cathedral, has spires that rise very tall and if you get a close look have a lot of detail hidden within them. We also had a look inside. I had visited Cologne before but enjoyed my second visit just as much. We had lunch in a pub (Great meals!! Daniel had a curried sausage and I had a potato soup) and Daniel tried the local beer (but didn’t like it). We walked over the River Rhine to get some more pictures before returning to our car.
We then continued down towards Koblenz, where we were staying the first night. Not wanting to just stick to highways, we opted for a more slow paced drive down a road that followed the Rhine. We got to see some pretty towns and also got a chance to take a car ferry across the river. We got to Koblenz in good time and our hotel, although a little out of town was nice and cosy, with a friendly man at the desk. If it wasn’t overcast and rainy, it had a lovely deck overlooking the river which we could have enjoyed. I had a quick nap before we headed back into town for dinner. We first had a quick look at a big statue of Kaiser Wilhelm before having dinner at a pub/restaurant. The meals were fantastic and the service was great to match.
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