Posted by Caitlin

After a long night of trying to upload our video I was finally successful at 2:10am and was able to sleep! Today we thought we’d take it easy since both of us were sleep deprived! So, we woke up around 9am, went to breakfast just a little after 10am, and finally checked out of the hotel at 10:30. After reading the challenges last night, we already knew we wanted to go to the Drachenburg Castle for our first challenge…and hoped that we’d have time afterwards for some more challenges in Cologne before we had to leave on the train. Before leaving the hotel we did some extra research to make sure we knew how to get to the place and that it’s open. After checking out of the hotel we went to the train station to store our luggage, then took the train to Konigswinter in order to take Germany’s oldest train up to Drachensfels Ruins and the Drachenburg Castle. Once we got there we were told immediately that the castle is closed until April 1st. Well, we were a little peeved by that since when we checked their website this morning it never said it was CLOSED!!! So the first thing we thought was, oh great…we just spent an hour to get here and we can’t even do our challenge. Well we decided to go up and check out the view and the ruins anyway, and at least do one part of our challenge. It turned out that the view was amazing, and we spent so much time there that it was totally well worth it. The tain we took up there was also very nice, and we definitely enjoyed today to the fullest.

When we got back to the train station to head back to Cologne, we tried to purchase a train ticket for our return trip, but it was disastrous! There was one machine that only took the EC card and not cash! The other machine that did take cash was out of order! And since the train station was also closed and unstaffed, we couldn’t get a return ticket! There wasn’t really anything we could do, and we saw a train coming, so we broke the law, and hopped on without a ticket! We knew what the consequences would be since we were already fined last night, but we really had no choice because we didn’t want to be stuck in the middle of nowhere. I thought, it’s ok, we will just hop off at a large enough station, perhaps Bonn, where we would be able to purchase a ticket from a train station staff. As we were approaching the Bonn station, someone was approaching us! It was a train police! As he was entering our car, we slowly got up and casually headed toward the exit. Our hearts were beating so fast, thinking, oh crap, this time we’re going to jail! Luckily, the train stopped and we hopped off in the nick of time. We walked briskly toward the ticket booth at the Bonn station, and successfully purchased a train ticket to take us back to Cologne. We did have to take the next train, which was a half hour away, but it was better to waste a half hour than to go to jail in Germany =(

Once we got back to Cologne we did not have time left to do anymore challenges. Instead, we decided to head out to check out the Dom, as well as some of the plaza streets and go shopping! We had a great time in Cologne and took many photos. We then headed back and meet Steve for our train ticket and destination for the night. After finding out that we’re going to Amsterdam, we went and bought some take-out to take on the train, and picked up our luggage then boarded the train! We had our meals on the train and it was delicious! We both ate way too much! Jen had chicken and I had currywurst. Mmmmm!

When we got to Amsterdam we took a taxi to our hotel. Jen was having a lot of pain with her foot and her back and we just didn’t want to take the tram all the way to the hotel. When we got into our room Jen said, “Casey Anthony, in prison for murder of her own daughter, has a larger cell for one person than the room we’re in.” I thought that was really funny, but who is Casey Anthony? She opened our closet, and said, “Oh look! The seven dwarfs can hang their clothes here!” Hahaha, Jen is too funny =D

So our videos have been uploading on Youtube for the past 45 minutes, and only 1/3 of the way one. Seeing how it will be midnight in 20 minutes, we’re sure the videos won’t make the deadline tonight. Oh well! =( Time for sleep, more tomorrow!