change in the weather

Monday am:  sitting on the floor in the Brussels train station, munching on a chocolate croissant and feeling pleased to be here. Sleep eluded me most of the night and I was worried about schlepping my pack and figuring out where I was going, feeling lousy.  But today is better.

Each day that I leave a place, somehow I repack differently. I suppose by the end of the trip I'll have a perfect system worked out.  Already I want to shed a few things.  As always, the hardest thing is books.  I dread running out of reading material on some bus on the backroads of western China, or some other place where english language bookstores are scarce. So I have too many for this first half of the journey

pm: No surprise, but I slept through the German countryside on the way to Berlin.  It is overcast and cool here, not my favorite weather. My first train took me from Brussels to Cologne, where I had about an hour and a half before my train for Berlin.  I thought I would check in my pack for the hour but when I tried to operate the machine, I got nervous when I couldn't find the 'ok' button.  It is a sort of conveyor system- you put in your money, it opens a sort of vault, and you put your bag in and then you are supposed to hit 'ok', and then the 'close door' button.  I looked everywhere for a button marked OK, but could not find it.  When the door started to close with my bag inside, I decided that I would rather not take the chance.  I am sure I would have gotten it back eventually, but probably after my train had run.

I walked over to the Cathedral, an awe inspiring building due to its size and the incredible spans inside.  The clerestory windows of the Kings date from about 1310, as do other parts of the building.  The outside is dingy and coated with years of grime, but even with that you can see the incredible structure that it is.  Built during the Middle Ages, way before mechanized tools, cranes and various other things that would seem to be necessary for the construction of such a place.

The place I am staying in Berlin is a hostel, as in youth hostel.  I have a single room, with shared bathroom.  Three days, I hope this wasn't a mistake.  I am sitting in the bar now, because there is no internet access in the rooms.  At least these inhabitants are less likely to  be bothered by my constant sniffling, coughing and nose blowing than those in a nicer place.  More about Berlin in the next couple of days, I hope.