It's sometimes called the second Paris because it is the fashion center of Germany. This is the town that blessed the world with Claudia Schiffer. Seeing the stores, and watching the people walking around, this was obvious.

It's an all right town, but not very remarkable apart from the fashion scene. This is the town where Robert Schumann, the great composer, tried to drown himself in the Rhine. His friend Felix Mendelssohn lived here too, but apparently got on better here as he never tried to find the bottom of the river.

Then it's back to Cologne. We are meeting one of our other fixers, Freerk, who wants to drop by to say good buy. Freerk was great - we all wanted to take him back with us. He fit right in with the network TV psychosis that we all seem to have. We get to Cologne around 5:30, and I head off for a little nap while the others go to see the Dom.

At 7:00 we all meet up in the lobby of the Mondial with dat guy Freerk. The idea was to go to Bonn for dinner. Again, not really to go to Bonn for something specific, but rather to go there for the sake of going there. I find a restaurant that looks promising in the Michelin guide, and we all pile into the Volvo wagon to drive down there. This was great fun as two of us had to sit in the back cargo area, which is very illegal in Germany. Everytime somebody saw a cop we had to hunker down low and pull the cargo shade over our heads. Carol was quite amazed how fast I could get small when I had to.

We make it to Bonn and find the restaurant, a little place in a home tucked away in a shady residential neighborhood with some smaller embassies. We go in and the food smells absolutely wonderful. The dining area is small, and I'm worried that we won't get a table. Sure enough, all booked up for the night. We are a little disappointed, but the restaurant suggests a different place about ten minutes walk away.

With a little searching we find it. The other place had called ahead to get us a table. This old tavern was older than my country! The food was great, the service not bad for Germany, and the atmosphere absolutely charming. There were postcards all over the walls, which is one of the things the tavern is famous for. So famous, they have a sheet explaining it all. Click to read it!