Pigeons and beer.

So, today.

I'm not inserting the pictures into the blog, so you'll have to follow along here: Linkity goodness.

I was feeling really homesick and crappy yesterday. I had cramps. I had jetlag. I had no one to talk to. I felt completely incompetent in the language (turned out to be just stress, because I was fine today), and just generally wanted to go home.

Fortunately, today was much, much better. I got a good night's rest and woke up at 3pm (twelve hours of sleep, yay!), so I promptly went outside and decided to explore and see if I could find a jacket or something, because it's much cooler here than it was back home. I stopped at the Bahnhof first and bought a map of the city (which I turned out to not need, because you can see the Dom from pretty much anywhere, and I can find my way back to the hotel easily from the Dom). There were some cool street artists outside - I took a few pictures of them. The chalk drawing guy was very talented, and there was an amusing kitty, which I liked very much. A guy was playing a big metal thing, which I wouldn't've known was an instrument, but he was making very interesting bell and percussion type music from it. There was also a living statue guy who was, as one might expect, very still. That done, I made my way into the shopping area.

Hurray for bakeries! They had all kinds of delicious things and were very busy, but I eventually decided on the "Pflaumenstreussel," a sort of bready-crumbley thing with sliced plums cooked in it. I managed to order it without embarrassing myself, which was an improvement over yesterday, and it turned out to be delicious. Kind of like rhubarb pie, actually, with the sour-ish fruit and the sweet sweet topping. So I ate that and then wandered around some, went in and out of a few shops, took some pictures. Mostly uneventful. I wound up after some walking at the Rhein, which was lovely. The bridge (Hohen-something?) is very nice. I have a minor thing for bridges. I'm not sure what's on the other side of the river - may try going over there tomorrow. There's also an interesting-looking Roman-German museum (I think :P) near the Dom that I might go to.

But anyway. I walked back to a pretty strip of eateries I'd found (I love the tall, thin, brightly-colored buildings) and bought a döner kebab and a bottle of kölsch beer. The kebab is slightly spicy shaved lamb meat with some cabbage and lettuce and a garlicky sauce in a really delicious soft pita-ish bread (freshly made, and nice and crispy outside, yum), and it was absolutely delicious. I want another one now, actually. The beer was pretty good too, surprisingly - usually I hate beer, but I figured I had to at least try the local stuff. I couldn't quite finish the bottle (half a liter is a lot of beer...), but I came close, and it was good, so I think I'll survive here. A pigeon helped me finish my doener (he ate some from my hand!), and I went back home. Passed the local brewery where they made the beer I drank on the way.

So, that's my day. Tomorrow I really do need to buy a jacket, so chastise me if I don't manage it.