OSNABRUK to COLOGNE

We woke up around 7 30 today, and then again at 7 45, and then finally got out of bed around 8ish. The free breakfast only went from 7 30 to 8 30 so we couldn't sleep in. We went downstairs, grabbed some food, and then packed up our things. Checkout was at 9 am so we all said goodbye to the hostel and drove into Osnabruk to go to church. There was a small little church, pushed back from the main road with vines covering the cobblestone walls, that I wanted to go. The mass there wasn't until 11 15 and we didnt want to wait 2 hours for the mass. We went across the street to a Lutheran church which had a mass starting at 10. We could have gone to the cathedral further down the street, but it was raining and we didn't feel much like going all the way down the street to it. Plus, I had never been to a Lutheran mass and I was interested to see what it was like. We had a half hour to spare before mass so Meg and Tom sat in the church and waited. I decided to go for a little walk through the rain behind the small cobblestone church.

I walked along a path which separated a cemetery from a residential neighborhood. At the end of the path was a neighborhood playground that had a merry-go-round contraption, zip-line, rock climbing wall, sand area, and soccer/basketball court. I walked down the bike path through the park and then headed back. I walked through the cemetery, where it was very peaceful with all the trees and and falling rain.

The mass was similar to the Catholic mass, except for no kneelers and no Eucharist. The organzization of the mass, however, runs much like a Catholic mass. I had no idea what the minister was saying or what the readings were about, but the organ was very pleasant to listen to.

After mass we got in the car and began the next chapter of our trip: Cologne. Along the way, we ran into a little problem, which had grown a little bit by the time we got to Cologne. There was a little crack in the windshield which had grown to about 9 inches across the middle of the window. Meg called up Mike (our main contact in Germany who we are going to meet tomorrow). He called up the car rental agency and explained to them what had happened. He then told us to go to the agency's office in Cologne. It was the first thing we did when we got to the city and we turned in our Clio for a Fiesta... a Ford Fiesta. We said goodbye to our French vehicle and went looking for a hostel with our new American companion. We went to the hostel that was the same company as the one we stayed at in Osnabruk. It was a very nice place and had free parking and free breakfast. It was dorm style living, which meant that we would be in a large room with a lot of other people. We had no problem doing this but I was hoping to find someplace a little cheaper. We drove across the bridge so we were on the same side as the mighty Cathedral of Cologne. We stopped at the Tourist Information center and picked up a few pamphlets about hostels. We found one that looked alright so we went to check it out. It was cheaper than the other hostel but didnt have free parking. We ended up leaving the car in a parking garage and getting this hostel. Since we have to pay for parking, it is roughly the same price as the other one, just with a closer location to the cathedral (which has a tour at 10 30 tomorrow morning we will be taking) and the three of us got our own room. We went to the train station to get some groceries since all the supermarkets are closed here on Sundays. We picked up some pasta and hot dogs for dinner and cooked it in the kitchen in the hostel. We then roughly planned our day tomorrow. We are going to wake up early and watch the sunrise. It should be amazing to watch the colors changing on the facade of the cathedral as the sun rises. We are hoping for some beautiful pcitures.

The hostel here has free wireless internet and Tom brough his computer so that we could upload all of our pictures on it. So for tonight, we have free internet. But I am going to take a shower and go to bed now. Goodnight.