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!

I met Cailtin at the Newark airport in time to check out the competition at the President’s Club. There are at least 5 teams of Flyer Talk winners like us, and there are several teams who joined the expedition of their own free will. Knowing this is a test run of sorts, we weren’t worried at first about the competitive nature of this game, and thought we might have a leisurely trip to Europe with some exciting side trips and challenges.

However, we soon met our competition, several teams of two who are quite serious about winning. Their competitive nature seemed to rub off and soon Caitlin and I were hard at work, trying to figure out our next day’s challenges. But the time came to meet the rest of the team and Randy, our fearless leader, and we dutifully followed him to an open area to hear all about our big adventure.

Soon we were boarding, with adventure in our heads and ready to plot and scheme. Luckily, we all decided to get a good night’s rest on the plane, Easier said than done. I ended up with the man in front of me reclining back so far that he was practically sleeping in my lap, and Caitlin had a seat mate who decided her personal space was of no worth.

We deplaned in Frankfurt and immediately took a train to Cologne/Kolon Germany, a lovely city with a gorgeous cathedral in its center. We received our challenges, 13 in all. Though we had high hopes of completing several challenges, we were met by obstacles at every turn. We finally decided to take a challenge in Duisburg, Germany, and boarded a train and a subway then walked the final 10 minutes to Landschaftspark, which is am amazing park and recreation center, a place you can walk a dog, stroll through the parks, yet the scene is that of an industrial park. The smokestacks are lit at night and there are pieces of art disguised as old cable cars and tractors. It’s something the average traveler would not normally consider as a day trip. But we found it beautiful, peaceful and a fitting place to film our 1st challenge. We had been thinking about an original way to film our videos and though we ran out of light and time, we think we did okay for our first day.

Earlier in the day we had a slap-happy lunch (the sleep deprivation kicking in) at a nearby German restaurant. Caitlin was adventurous and ordered a plate full of what looked like seaweed. It actually is part seaweed, called kale. She also had a mini Kosh beer and a salami sausage. As always, I was a bit more cautious, but did order from the menu. I ended up with smoked pork and my all-time favorite food- sauerkraut. We had some fun with photos at lunch and hope you enjoy them.

We were also interviewed via phone by a journalist, and had fun trying to explain both the game and our reactions to it. We are supposed to send photos of ourselves but the ones we have as yet are quite silly, so we’re hoping to get better pictures tomorrow.

Our day was long but we got little accomplished. Yet in the spirit of things, we had a blast of a day and laughed a lot.  We made a bit of a mistake on the train home, as we missed our original scheduled train and took a later one, where we ended up seated in the 1st class cabin alone. To our surprise, the train police said we had to pay $40 Euros or be written up for violating the unspeakable crime of sitting in First Class while holding a 2nd class ticket. Unable to let us go, he/she demanded that we pay 40 Euros to keep our seats, and our butts out of jail.  As the prior choice included handing over our passports, we reluctantly paid the 40 Euros.  We will be certain to keep our eyes on the lower class seats in the future.

Now we are downloading our videos and we’ve been awake for 48 hours. We are anxious to have our video downloaded so we can get to sleep. By the way, our teeny-tiny room has but one bed with two small twin mattresses side by side. If either of us move an inch, we could fall through the crack in the middle. It’s especially funny that I, after refusing to share a room with anyone ever, is sleeping in a sardine can with a girl I met 2 weeks ago. That’s the most exciting news we have.

Tomorrow we start all over with new challenges and hope to do better. We’re tired and cranky, but after a night’s rest (as soon as the people outside shut up) we’ll be up and ready to rumble.

Our video camera ran out of juice at a most critical time, and we’re having trouble uploading it, but hope we can release it Tuesday or Wednesday. We only got one task done, but had fun doing it. We hope the video camera takes its charge and works for us again., and that we can download the video to the judges in time to be considered.

That said, we’re ready for bed. One of our photos shows us in the exact state we are in- crazed. Enough for now, we’ll write more later.