Xerxes' Errata

Well the World Cup (or Weltmeisterschaft here in Germany, which sounds much more impressive than World Cup) is over. After 64 games in total Italy won (even though France creatied more chances) and one of the game's greats ended his career in a rush of blood to the head.

It wasn't the most entertaining final, but it still made for some good drama. And just like on Tuesday, the Italians here in town were partying like mad for hours. Can't say I blame them. No one expected the Azzuri to make it to the finals, what with the likelihood that some of the top teams in Italy (AC Milan, Juventus, Fiorentina, and Layio) will be forced into the lower divisions for next season.

And despite the fact that the home team only made third place, the German people all over the country are immensly proud of what their team accomplished. After their poor showing at the 2004 Euro's no one expected much from the German team either. But now things are different. After Germany clinched third place, there was a massive party in the town square which was repeated all over Germany. Jürgen Klinsman is now a national hero now people are already saying Germany will win in 2010 (we'll see). Also Franz "Der Kaiser" Beckenbauer (one of Germany's greatest ever player)is everywhere. He was at 46 of 64 games, he's been in a ton of commercials, a ton of interviews, and somehow he found the time to get married again before the knockout rounds.

Meanwhile, it finally cooled off here in Germany. Last week for a couple of days it was in the high 30's and I was sweating like a pig as I sat still. And in between the heat waves there was a nasty (yet entertaining) thunderstorm which lasted for hours and precious, cooling rain.

Anyway. Tomorrow, I'm making a little side trip to the town of Münster which, surprisingly enough, is where the Treaty of Westphalia was signed, thus ending the Thirty Years War and ushered in a n...

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I'm back from a trip to Cologne. I was there for a day and a half, but I could speend a week looking through all the various churches and other medieval remnants.

Naturally, I went to the Cathedral (der Kölner Dom in German). I reas somwhere that said that the cathredal seems to be reaching in vain to th heavens and I must say that's an accurate analysis. Coming into main train station in Köln, it is the first thing I saw, it so dominates the city's skyline. Despite it's obvious gothic exterior, the catherdal is also amazing to behold. It was then i began to wonder how it would look if it had survived WW2.

Then of course, there is the interior. Again, simply amaying. The statues and sculptures are wonderous as are the stained glass windows. What was unfortunate on the day I was there was that the part of teh sanctuary that houses the Shrine of the Three Magi was closed off and could only be seen from a distance and around a corner. Also closed off was the crypt which would have been very interesting. What wasn't closed though was the Church treasury, a showcase of the various relics and gifts given to the Bishropic of Cologne over the centuries. I've never seen so much gold and silver and jewels in my life. What was sad is that apparently in 1975, the treasury was broken into and many of the artifacts were either stolen or damaged.

After that I went up to the belfry, which also doubles as a death march there are so many stairs. Nevertheless, despite the threat of having one's legs falling off, the view from the top is worth it.

Also in Cologne are a dozen Romanesque churches. You can see most of these from the belfry of the cathedral and are worth seeing themselves.

Also, with Cologne being a former Roman city, there is larege Roman history museaum with a ton of neat artifacts and leftovers. There is a huge m...

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Well the dream is over here in Germany; Germany lost to Italy last night in a very tight game. It was weird listening to the game being announced in German, especaially after hearing the ubiquitous English accent in every soccer game I've ever watched.

Though, ther German in the town where I'm staying were still proud of their team. All over town people still had their German flags flaying crying 'Deutchland! Deutchland!' It was great to see. As one would expect, Germany shut itself down for the game around 7:00 local time and also as one would expect, every bar was full and the hotties were plentiful.

What was neat was the Italian reaction to the game. Apparently there are quite a few Italians here in Paderborn and boy were they happy. They were marching all over town for hours after the game, probably a bit too for long for the people who wanted to sleep away the anguish.

Apart from Germany's loss, my vacation is going great. But, as with any time you're in a place far from home, there are odd things you always notice. For instance, the wierd places you see English here. Like the other day I was in Burger King. There was a sign for some new burger they're promoting and the entire sign was in German (of course), but the BK slogan was in English. That, and everybody frakking smokes here. It's like they haven't got the word that it's bad for you.

Somehow I haven't been as screwed over by jet lag as on previous trips I've made (especially the last time I was in Germany when it took me a few days to get over it). As a result, I've already gotten some sightseeing done.


This is the Paderborner Döm which is officially the biggest church I've ever been in and I haven't even been to Cologne yet (I'm going on Thursday). Say what you will about the Catholic Church, they sure knew how to spend a lot of money towards the glory of God.


This is St. Michael's cloister which is also really neat to look at. What's ironic though it that right around the corner is a sex shop just in case the nuns need a little something something I suppose.

What's also neat here in Paderborn is there wre some recently excavated ruins that are most likely from the time of Charlemange. Apparently Karl der Große spen a lot of time in the area.

Til next time.....

Hi everybody!

If you didn't see my post before I am in Germany right now. Paderborn, im North-Rhein Westfallen to be exact.

One of these days, I think I am going to have to learn how to fall asleep on an airplane. Of course, I had been in seat that had actually been my size would have made the sleeping option a bit easier. Now I know what people are talking about when they rag on AirTransat. The seats were puny, the food sucked, and the movies sucked more. We were "treated" to the Shaggy Dog, The Pink Panther, and some cookie-cutter chick flick with Jennifer Anniston.

All that being said, it's nice to be here in Germany. The weather is awesome (though it makes for uncomfortable sleeping). I'd forgotten just how fast people drive here. My ride from the airport in Frankfurt was going 150 and people were still whipping by us.

I also have quicky realised just how rusty my German is. That being siad, this is going to be a fun vacation. Looking out my window right now, I can see a beautiful old church that I've never had the chance to see on previous trips to Germany. Hopefully I can get some pictures uploaded soon.

Til' next time.....