Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Tried figuring out how to use the Philips-Senseo coffee/tea machine. Finally completed the LIDL sim card online setup, which was very difficult because I don't speak German. Activation took only about 20 minutes even though the web page said it could take 2 to 3 hours. Thank Google for Google Translate—I couldn't have done it without you. Breakfast in the hotel room from groceries: spelt flakes, lowfat milk (1.8%), yogurt (pear with chocolate shavings), a pink lady apple, hot earl gray tea. Yoga: seated warmup practice. Weight training: 3-minute planks. Realized that the activation still didn't work even though I thought it did because I received a notice saying that it was active. At Lidl I tried to get help for the sim card, but I was told that it could take up to 2 days to activate and that I could call a phone number on a poster if I needed help. I said that it appeared to activate but was still not working and that I didn't speak German and they said that they have English speakers as well. I called the number and asked if they speak English ... nein. I then remembered part of the instructions from the web form signup—I needed to turn my phone off then on again. I did that while in the store, and eventually the internet browsing started working but was very, very slow. I did a speed test and it was about 30 kbps. I explained how I got it working to the cashier who helped me, thanked her, and went on my way. Coincidentally, another customer was also there to get help getting her newly purchased sim card to work. She was planning to return the next day in case it still didn't work, so maybe my passing on the things I learned to the cashier will help. Lunch at Nordsee: breaded and grilled cod (kabeljaufilet sebuco) with scalloped potatoes, orange beverage, mineral water. At Richmodisturm I finally happened upon the two horse heads that the guide book mentioned from yesterday. Somewhere along the way I encountered a MUJI store. I had not seen this store in Tokyo when I was there on January 1, 2011, but I had heard about it from friends, so I visited. This is my first experience with it. Essentially, it's as though Japanese IKEA and American Apparel and The Container Store had a three-way baby. I have time to briefly visit only the 1st floor. I walked to Cologne Cathedral (Dom). There are a fair number of tourists taking photos or video with iPads, and they look really stupid. I toured the outside and inside, including the belfry hike. The climb to the top consists of a very steep, very narrow spiral staircase. You need to be in reasonably good shape to climb; there is no elevator. At several points you can look down through windows or openings, and it can be scary if you are afraid of heights. I have done climbs like this before, but this one was particularly challenging, inducing in me a bit of vertigo and panic. It would be a terrible place to be in an earthquake. The view from the top is, I'm certain, among the best in all of Cologne. Since the cathedral wasn't originally intended to be a tourist destination, the viewing platform appears to have been added to the outside of the southern tower. I was told that the round-trip climb and descent would take about 30 minutes, but I spent a little over an hour taking lots of photos. Walked back to the hotel mostly along Burgmauer then along Ehrenstraße. Stopped to shop for clothes at MEC until they kicked me out due to closing time. Again had difficulty getting dinner. I sat at Morgenstern Cafe for over 5 minutes, and no one came to take my order, so I left. I tried again eating at Bastard Cafe but they said they stopped serving food at 6 PM. I tried eating at Sushi Am Ring (Sushi on the Ring) which serves all-you-can-eat sushi for 23 euros on sushi track (which is like sushi boats with with a track instead of boats). Like most restaurants here there is no greeter and no one to show you to a seat, which makes it particularly problematic when you don't know if others are waiting ahead of you and you don't know the layout of a large restaurant. Another problem is that in this restaurant the man in charge wasn't dressed in the same uniform as the servers—he looked like anyone else off the street wanting to eat, so I didn't know he was in charge. We chatted for a bit, but it was clear that he could not find a seat for me, so I asked him what time they close (22:30 Monday to Thursday) and thanked him and left. I finally ate dinner at Hans Im Glück burger grill: veggie burger [abendrot: Oliven-Tomatenbratling mit Grillgemüse (grilled vegetables), rauke (rocket salad), parmesan], fries, schöfferhofer (grapefruit hefeweizen). Back to the hotel. Discovered while browsing the web that a gay dance party was happening right now and only 10 minutes by walking, so I prepared on short notice to go out. Celebrate! gay/mixed dance party at Loom Club (Hohenzollernring 92): 5 euros. 80s, 90s, charts, r&b, house. DJs GinaG and rowDee u.a. While waiting in line a very tall drag queen made her entrance via vintage taxicab—nice. Neither of the doormen bothered to check my ID. Upon entrance I was given a business-card-sized sheet of paper with perforations. It's a punch card for drinks. You order your drink and give the bartender your punch card. He or she punches the price of your drink and you settle your bill upon exiting the club. No messing with cash or credit cards for bartender or customer. Don't lose your punch card, I was told. Large dance floor, but it's very crowded: purses, elbows, etc. There are signs everywhere saying that the smoking area is downstairs, but the no smoking rule is not enforced at all. Many people smoked inside the club, on the dance floor, everywhere. Combined with the fog machine, it is difficult to tolerate. I recognized about half of the songs they played. Some were German songs that everyone knew but me. It could be just this moment of pop, but the DJ preferred playing songs that I thought weren't very danceable—better for listening to in a cafe or bar. For example, "Starships" by Nicki Minaj has about 40 seconds (2 times 20 seconds) where it's really danceable and the rest of the time you're just nodding your head and swaying. It's a very boring song for the dance floor, but everyone loves it and I don't know why. More examples: Good Feeling by Flo Rida, Without You by David Guetta. Mixing was mostly very good; I heard only one sloppy mix. To cover the 80s part of the advertised music genres, they played Joan Jett's "I Love Rock 'n' Roll." I didn't hear any other 80s songs, but perhaps some of the German songs were. The crowd was indeed mixed—mostly QUILTBAG and the rest straight friends. I stayed about 2 hours. Late snack at a small fast food restaurant that served döner kabap, 1-euro pizza slices, and french fries: small bowl of couscous, (the equivalent of) vitamin water. It's legal and common for people to drink alcohol in public, so I saw many people walking down the street drinking from beer bottles. Among men it seems fashionable to wear pants that are dark gold or yellow or golden brown or some hue among the three. Hotel. To bed.