Today the kids (and Olaf) went into Cologne to get their hair cut. They went to the same woman that Esther went to this past Tuesday because that's the only person that cuts Esther's hair the way she likes. Since they were already going to be going that direction, I left with them this morning after breakfast to do a little more exploring in the city.

I first headed toward Huemarkt, which isn't very far at all from Nuemarkt (where I've been dozens of times) but was still a new area to me. It was already 12 when I got there and I was supposed to be meeting back up with Olaf and the kids at 1:15, so I wasn't able to go very far or do a whole lot of wandering, but I saw some things that I want to go get a better look at when I have more time. I somehow managed to miss the Weihnachtsmarkt in Huemarkt, so I'll have to go back and find it before Christmas, but I did find the one at the Schokoladen Museum. So far it's my favorite. It's the Mittelalter Weihnachtsmarkt (Middle Ages Christmas Market) and it was kind of like a mini Renaissance Faire or Medieval Times. Everybody working there was wearing costumes (mostly dressed as peasants) and the shops were selling hand-made items that were produced using methods from the Middle Ages. There was a blacksmith, a leather worker, a pelt shop, all kinds of things. It's the only Weihnachtsmarkt in the city that you have to pay to get into, but I think it was worth the 3 Euro. It just felt so authentic, like maybe that's what the original Weihnachtsmarkts were like.

While I was at the Middle Ages market, this old guy started talking to me at the Maeuseroulett table (Mouse Roulette) because there were some Brits there that asked the woman working the table to speak in English for them (as if it were really that difficult to understand the concept). She was really self-concious about her English, but I told her that she actually did really well. That's when this guy started talking to me, asking me where I came from and what I was doing here, that sort of thing. The funny thing is that he was speaking in a Koelsch dialect, and he was so drunk that he was slurring his words, so for the most part I had no idea what he was saying. I was able to get the idea most of the time, but the rest of the time it was just smile and nod. It's not that he'd be able to tell the difference if I understood him or not. I do know, however, that he told me several derogitory Koelsch terms/jokes about Chinese people. No, I don't remember any of them, so don't ask. Anyway, he bought me a goblet of mead and told me that I have such beautiful dark eyes, and then I left to go meet with Olaf. So there you have it, Mom. My first encounter with a wierdo in Germany.

When I met back up with Olaf and the kids we were at Rudolfplatz, the place where I was on Wednesday that had the fairytale Christmas market. Olaf had the kids in the buggy and tried to steer them away from the carousel before they saw it so that we could look at all of the shops, but it was too late. Olaf knew that one time wasn't going to be enough, so he bought a bunch of tokens for them to ride on the carousel, and they went 7 times. Pauline threw such a fit when he went to take her out of the little car, so Gustav pushed her out. What a helpful brother. Then Gustav saw the chocolate covered bananas and he and Pauline both had to have one. Of course they only ate the chocolate and Olaf and I had to eat the bananas, but it made them happy for a little while. Unfortunately, though, this small group of people walked by and one guy scared the crap out of Pauline and she started crying and screaming. They didn't mean to scare her like that, and it probably wouldn't have been so bad if she wasn't so tired. They thought she was so cute, though, that they tried taking pictures of her, which didn't make her any happier. Olaf just kind of brushed it off and attributed it to the fact that they're Dutch.

Oh, and after passing by a fetish club and a bar that was advertising Frigay celebrations on Friday nights, I remembered about the night that I went out to Rudolfplatz with Barbra and asked Olaf if this was in fact the gay part of town. Olaf's response: Cologne is the gay part of town. Apperently Cologne is like a German San Francisco, and something like 10% of the male population in the city is gay. I had no idea.

For dinner tonight we had the fish that I bought yesterday with Pauline, along with boiled fennel, steamed potatoes and a really yummy sauce that Eshter made. I don't know everything that was in it, but it was a cream based sauce that had spicy Duesseldorfer mustard in it. Then we had homemade chocolate hazelnut ice cream for dessert. I love eating here.