Hacienda El Rústico, Cologne

I went over to Cologne to go to a concert on the 24th.

My flight left Dublin at 6:45 pm on the 23rd, so it was late enough by the time I found my way to the Airbnb apartment I'd booked into. My host's father was there to hand over the keys, but wasn't sufficiently familiar with the neighbourhood to suggest somewhere I might feed myself. So the rest of Saturday was a waste, and I went to bed thinking that I'd made a mistake with my choice of accommodation.

All doubts went away the next morning. The apartment is right beside a U-Bahn stop (the building is in clear view from the station platform), and I found myself quickly in the centre of Cologne. It didn't take long to get my bearings and to find the Cathedral (it would be hard to miss it!) and the concert hall. I'd intended to pick up my ticket in advance so I wouldn't have to queue up at the box office before the concert in the evening, but the box office wasn't open when I got there.

Not to worry. Off I went exploring, finding my way down to the river and along the waterfront in the not very pleasant weather (dull and damp), and then up and into the narrow streets of the old town. I was in my element wandering around and taking whatever turn took my fancy. I came across this tableau having turned yet another corner. The camera had been handy all the time, of course, I'd been busily clicking away, and I came back with a few decent shots to show for it. This one really took my fancy when I got back, and it wasn't difficult to choose it as my blip.

After a bite to eat (really good and reasonably priced) I continued wandering through the old town and made my way back to the apartment for a lie-down before heading back in for the concert I'd come specially to attend. The Kölner Philharmonie is a wonderful concert venue, a fine 2000-seater hall with excellent acoustics and an ideal venue for the performance of Messiaen's Turangalîla Symphony, given by the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra under Gustavo Dudamel, their charismatic conductor. It was terrific!

After an abortive attempt to find a bar to have a beer, and becoming increasingly annoyed with the weather, I hopped on the U-Bahn and made my way back to the apartment. It had been a tiring day, but the concert made it all worth while.