Live from Cologne: the journey to Cologne

Live from Cologne report by Todd Linke and George Biagi, San Francisco

Days 1 & 2: July 29-30

I left the house at 4:30 a.m. to take a taxi ride to the airport to meet George. The taxi driver really didn’t know the way, so he had to make a u-turn in the middle of 35th Street and, once on the freeway, had to swerve hard to take the right exit, and then sped up to about 80 mph, seemingly to make up for lost time. I thankfully arrived safely, albeit a bit queasy, to meet George at 4:50 a.m. We also ran into Brian Woolford and saw him at each stop along the way of our trip. George and I checked in and boarded our plane to Philadelphia with no problem. We met a nice woman, Tina, who sat in between us and was also flying to Cologne to watch her sister in a bicycle event. After talking to her a while, I tried to sleep but couldn’t, so I took the time to read my entire Nikon camera manual, which made for a productive flight!

We arrived in Philadelphia for our 3+-hour layover, and then boarded the flight to Munich. The moment had finally arrived that we had anticipated for months! After a bit of delay with take off, we were finally on our way to Germany after months of planning and buildup. The 7+ hour flight really wasn’t that bad. I occupied my time with the meal, then a long nap, then intermittent reading, listening to my iPod, and playing phone games. Unfortunately, the only downer was that the poor girl next to me was airsick the entire time. I ate my meal as she upchucked into a bag, and then I was awoken several hours later by three flight attendants who were helping her clean up more upchuck from her tray table and lap. It’s not that pleasant to write about, but it was even more unpleasant to live through.

Once we were in Munich for a 2+-hour layover, I had my first German meal: a sandwich with tomato, lettuce and delicious cheese (no condiments needed) and German potato salad. I was also excited to get a few free cappuccinos from the Lufthansa dispensers near our gate. After a short delay with boarding our third and final flight, we were on to the next phase of our adventure: Cologne! The flight was short and uneventful, and once we got our bags, we were relieved and excited that the trip was becoming a reality. But more adventure waited.

Next we had to figure out how to purchase the correct train ticket to get us from the airport to our hotel, and get ourselves onto the correct train. With the help of some very friendly Germans, we managed to do both, but not without holding up the ticket line and running to board the correct train. Once we exited into Cologne’s main train station, a very busy place, we were only minutes from our hotel, but were delayed by a labyrinth of road construction and a series of poorly labeled maps. Another friendly German in the tourist office helped us to locate our hotel on a map, and we had been walking with our bags in tow for almost an hour, we arrived to our “cozy” little rooms.

We spent the rest of the afternoon and night keeping ourselves awake by walking the city. We powered up with our first German pastry, and then walked across the “H” bridge to find the accreditation area, which ended up being quite a long hike, albeit interesting. We got accredited, and then crossed back over the bridge and walked along the Rhine River, ventured through a pedestrian shopping mall and the Neuhausen zone for our first beer, and then returned to the river area for a delicious Italian meal. We ended our day with a stroll to the cathedral, where we listened to a wonderful singer who was performing acoustic guitar and singing in the plaza. Today’s journey was long and tiring but has already created some lasting memories.

I’ve really enjoyed traveling with George and marvel at his ability to plan and manage a trip of this magnitude. And thanks to his outgoing nature, we’ve already met some nice people from various places in the US, Canada, and England and spotted athletes from other countries. This event is obviously a cultural event as much as a sporting event and I’m looking forward to seeing just what adventures lie ahead.