Saying goodbye to Köln

The last few days in Köln were good fun. We spent some time packing boxes and wrapping paintings in bubble wrap. Josip was helping us and we wanted him to see a little of Köln during his stay, se we went out on the bicycles to see the city. It was quite warm and the sun came out for us. We rode round the town and Caroline showed us some of the places she knew well from her days at university, while she did some of the last tasks on her to-do-list. We decided we should include the cities Cathedral, the Dom, on our tour, which has been on Caroline and my list for ages too. The sky cleared as we arrived in the square and we parked the bikes and went in. It’s an impressive building and we climbed the endless steps to the top of the tower. It provides a fantastic view of the city and Caroline was obviously moved with the view and the moment, the last chance to see her city from this magnificent building, at least for the time being anyway.
On the Friday we moved the van to outside the flat and began the serious work of carrying boxes and loading the van. Lots of Caro’s friends turned up to help and soon I had a full time job in the van loading all the boxes and furniture. It was obvious it was going to be a tight fit and every possible space was filled in the van from floor to roof. In the end we had to leave a few things behind, but we managed to get everything important in. After cleaning the flat, we changed and went to Caro’s favourite bar, the Mexican, to meet her friends and say goodbye. It was a really fun evening with everyone turning up and chatting. They made me a Josip very welcome and spoke English all evening with us. Caroline was both happy to see them all and at the same time, sad to be leaving them. We got home quite late and went to bed to sleep on our mattresses and sleeping beds on the floor of the empty flat.
Josip got up early and left on his motor bike to ride bad to Sweden. We left a little later and started our first leg of our drive to Lubek. We stayed with her old school friend Anika and her man and family. It was a special evening as at midnight it was my Birthday. Me and Caro stayed awake and Caro gave me a wonderful present in the first minutes of the morning on my Birthday, it was a painting she had made especially for me… what a surprise, it was fantastic. She’s such a special girl and knows so well what I like. It was a perfect evening.