Monday morning took us back to central station. There we took a high-speed train toward our next destination, Frankfurt. I had taken a train like this from Frankfurt’s airport to Cologne when I first arrived in Germany, and I was pleased to return to those comfortable seats and free wifi.
After being rushed off of this first ride, we made a transfer into a train with only a few open seats. I bounced between sitting on the ground and standing by my luggage in a not-too-cramped open area by the bathroom. As I enjoyed the view from the window however, I noticed the temperature steadily increasing. At first I thought I might be coming down with something, but when the train halted just a few minutes before our stop, you could see everyone glancing around in the same panicked sweat.
By the time we checked in to the hotel, we were already decidedly hot and bothered. The pouring rain luckily waited for us to move in first, but our rooms were even hotter than the train was. Apparently this week is uncharacteristically brutal for the area, and air conditioning is not a standard. I immediately got very anxious about being in such a busy city. Cologne was very large, but every area I explored had some amount of peace to it. Our hotel’s location across from Frankfurt’s train station however, is more like your average NYC street corner.
Luckily I was able to cool off and calm down in a nearby Irish pub with some of the rest of our group. Most of the day since arriving, I was really missing Paderborn. I soon realized how much more there was to do here though, and so I found some peaceful sleep, despite the city heat.
