Köln (Cologne)

Today was split into two.

The morning I spent on my own visiting two of the main sights in Köln - the Dom (Cathedral) and the Romanische Historische Museum. Both were fantastic, particularly all the artefacts in the Roman History museum, and the view from the top of the Dom. There was just sooo much to see, and unfortunately I had limited time. The treasury at the Dom was also great, and definitely demonstrated just how much money the church has!

The afternoon was spent queuing for the Robbie Williams Concert with Bernd, Verena and 28 of their closest friends and relatives! No seriously, they bought 30 tickets and I was lucky to nab the last one! Considering the 160,000 tickets for Köln sold out in 1hr, I count myself very lucky! 80,000 people per day makes it the largest concert I've ever been to, and it definitely felt it.

We got there about 1:30pm, and already there were maybe 1000 people queueing. By 4pm when we were allowed it, the crowd had grown exponentially! Through a bizarre twist of fate we were in the right place at the right time and got "Wave 2" bands, which means no matter when we arrived we'd be allowed into the 2nd barrier, so really close! Makes all that queuing worthwhile

The concert itself was nothing short of spectacular. As much as I find Robbie annoying as a person, he can definitely entertain. The stage was specifically set up for him and was roofless, so had it rained (as it did in Munich the week before) everyone would have got wet! Even the venue was created just for the 2 nights!

Orson played first to a crowd that wasn't really interested, and as much as they tried, their music just didn't have that edge necessary. It just sounds all the same as everything else that's out there!

Basement Jaxx played next and were AWESOME!!! I've always wanted to see them live and they did not disappoint. They bought with them live bongos, singers and dancers and it was fantastic! Even their new music sounded great

Robbie was on (obviously) last and it was surprisingly great. He can really sing, and played all the 'hits' for over 2 hours! The best ones were the swing songs, done in duet with Johnny Wilks (no not the rugby player).

And to top it off I also got to try currywurst on the train home. Oh, and my special concoction - Sprite'n'Bread - made by strategically dropping a bread roll into a cup of sprite. Delicious...not!

PS: For photos of Koln & the concert, click here