Cologne & Heidelberg

We made a short 1/2 day stop at Cologne to see the "highly acclaimed" Dom.. and boy it din disappoint one bit! (Ruoling & Lifang left Amsterdam earlier to visit the Chocolate Factory & some Tweety Bird Theme Park.. see Ruoling's blog for more!)

Dom == Cathedral... and this is a BIG Dom.

somewhat resembling the Notre Dame in Paris
(as do some of the churches in Europe)

Inside the Dom


its freaking huge i tell u...


A picnic outside the Dom, with our "usual spread"
of canned sausages, herring & bread.
(We're a bit difficult to spot.)

a walk along the super crowded streets...
& trying out some German pastries!
top right: Nougat-Pretzel Girl!!

The Rhine river..

the ppl here like to sit in the sun and lie on the grass...
i guess after 3-4 mths of winter.. one can really appreciate this..
(and u dun sweat!)

one last look at the Dom b4 leaving for Heidelberg

Heidelberg

the sunset greeted us as we exited our train station..

in our hostel, we met Kyung Bae, a Korean on a 1-yr exchange to University of Nottingham in UK. He was kind enough to be our tour guide for the night! =D

night view of Heidelberg Schloss (Schloss == Castle)

going up the castle is super tiring... x_x

no night pics.. scroll down for day ones..

group photo inside the Schloss.. Kyung Bae is the guy btwn SM & Yip

this gate got some special name one.. but i forgot..

inside the castle

Night view of the Neckar river from the castle gardens

its really a very nice place... different from the lights u see from the cities...
it somehow feels more serene..

baboonS... they say if u touch the metal one u'll hv good luck..
and if u slap the other one u'll feel real good too!

On the Old Bridge

view of the Schloss from the Old Bridge

lights along the river..

Next morning...

breakfast in the small garden behind our hostel

UP THE CASTLE STEPS... AGAIN!!!

really good morning exercise...

supposed to be a 'seh' shot.. but whatever la..

Inside the castle (again)

We love this broken tower so much EVERYONE took a solo photo.

at the I-forgot-the-name gate

day view of Heidelberg Old Town. The bridge u see is the Old Bridge.

sianz.. stupid construction.. I hate constructions!

top right : Hercules Column
(We had another picnic near here as well.. of cos with our usual spread.. heh)

Look at our fat grocery bags! full of good stuff!

After lunch, we crossed over to the opposite site of the Neckar River to the highly recommended Philosophenweg (Philosopher's Way)..

it is once a long long climb...
(even the super fit baboon oso chuan until wanna die..)

1/2-way up!

couple enjoying the peace & quiet (& the view)

finally at the top! and enjoying the view...

and relaxing our tired feet!

the smog spoilt the view... haiz.. but still quite nice la..

a small garden

back to the train station!

a 3-legged horse

on the train to Munich... and doing some really REALLY serious mugging...
and yes Mr. SM brought the 31428 Advanced Electromagnetics HARDCOVER textbook!

[will add more group photos when i get them from the rest]