Ich bin muede, aber Bad Godesberg/Bonn/Koeln sind sehr toll!

Man, this week has been long. I'm actually glad I have class in the mornings though because then I have the whole afternoon free to wander around town, go grocery shopping, hang out, etc. I went to Bonn a few times this week, once to go to a few bars with Goethe people and the Zivis (CA-like people who live in the dorms and fix any problems we have), and once (yesterday) to see some of the Sehenswuerdigkeiten of the city, like Beethoven's house, the alte Rathaus, and the university. We walked around a lot, got coffee in the student cafe, and I bought some new earrings. I'm really glad I brought my ridiculous Evanston coat because it's been really cold here and everyone with smaller coats has been complaining about being cold all the time.

Last night we went out to dinner and then into Bonn and ended up at this bar that used to be a restaurant. It was super crowded and kind of expensive, but fun. When I woke up at 10 this morning to go to Koeln I wished I hadn't stayed up so late (not like I went to bed at 5 am or anything...), but I'm glad I woke up early and went. The first thing you see when you get there is the Koelner Dom (cathedral), which is really old and really cool. We paid the 2 euros to get into the treasury, which was totally worth it. There are old shiny religious things dating back to like 1400. There was a lot in the exhibits about the church's history too, like how construction began around 1100 but didn't finish until 1850 or so. That's a long project. Koeln has SO MANY STORES, and ALL of them have sales in January. Things in Germany only go on sale twice a year - in January and July. So everything is like 50-70% off, and it's killing me because I don't have any space to buy anything. I guess at least it is saving me money. I wish we'd had more time there because one day isn't nearly enough to see everything - there are so many museums and so much history. Maybe I'll go back sometime. I'll put up some pictures of Koeln and Bonn soon.

Tonight we are going to stay in and I think the Brazilian girls are going to teach us how to dance, because it's cold outside, snowing a lot, and they are good at dancing. Should be fun!