The Kölsch way

Ok, so in 13 days I will have lived in Köln for 2 months. The verdict: Awesome place to live. The vibe is relaxed and the natives friendly. There are bakeries everywhere. Millions of them. Shamefully I've succumbed to their freshly baked goods with their freshly baked smells wafting onto the streets, although I'm still not impressed by their "sliced" bread. I also had the misfortune of tasting a national delicacy (not from a bakery) called Reibeküchen. It was a heart attack wrapped in greaseproof paper with an apple mash thing that I would probably feed my teething child, if I ever did have a child, one day. It was nasty. Basically, it was some sort of potato mash that was mixed into some sort of flour mix and deep fried into flat circles. You get three of these circular coronaries and you eat it with the baby food apple mash. Convinced? I don't know how Corni suckered me into giving them a go. I didn't feel too good by the end of my first piece. I have no idea what possesed me to eat the second one. Probably high on artery clogging oil. I guess if it was like below 50 degrees and you needed some way of sustaining yourself, 2 of these would be enough for the day.....

What else? Köln is bike friendly and it's easy to get around the city on the trams. Cyclists are very keen to ram you down if you happen to step onto their lane for even a second. Which you can't help doing cos there are cars parked everywhere, many of which are on pavements. Foooor pedestrians. Jaywalking is against the law and I've gotten dirty looks from some of the residents when I try to introduce this London past time. Admittedly Köln is not one of the prettiest cities I've been to, like say Paris or Florence. Buildings are squarish blocky 50s architecture with regulation rectangular windows. Corni likes to remind me why they aren't so pretty. Like I had something to do with it? Despite the monotony of building designs, the apartments are unexpectedly beautiful and spacious. That's what Köln is like, not much on first glance, but stunning when you take a further look.

I'm still trying to learn German. Not getting very far. However, I can now say with confidence and mock German accent "Ich möchte eine torte, bitte." Translation: I would like one cake, please.

Laters/ später.