I then did a little bit of shopping, bought postcards, and went back to the hotel. We all met up in the lobby at noon, and went out to the airport. I said good bye to everyone, and went out in search of a car to rent for my next journey.

I wound up with a nice little Audi A3. My other choice was a Opel station wagon. Yuck! I started out driving, just to see everything, get a sense of the car and the roads and getting around. I went down the Rhine towards Koblenz, through the wine country. I went off on the back roads through all the vineyards that hug the steep hills and seem to want to slide down into the streams.

After a while I noticed that the car didn't come from the rental house with a full tank of gas. It was time for a little fill up. I pulled into the petrol station, got out, and the gas tank was locked. Well, I got back into the car and searched and searched for a button to open the tank. I couldn't find one, and decided to try the manual. Of course it was in German, but it had a proper little pictograph of a hand gently opening the tank. Something wasn't right with that picture.

I still had a quarter tank of gas so I decided to drive on a bit further. After a while I pulled into another petrol station and decided to have another go at it. Again, the same thing. Another Audi pulled up behind me, and I motioned for them to come over. They were Turkish, I think, and with some smiles and pointing and broken English they started tugging at the lid and couldn't figure it out either.

Now the mechanic at the station came out, and took a look at the situation. He asked me for the keys, and I started to get what the problem was. He went and unlocked the car door, and the tank unlocked with them! You see, when I fill up at home I lock the doors so nobody steals anything while I'm in the station paying! So I locked the gas tank too when I got out of the car! A little embarrassing, but at least this time I had the reverse gear figured out. Stupid European cars!!!

After that I started to make my way back to Cologne. I was going to crash at the house of one of our fixers. I went through Remagen on the way, where the Americans first crossed the Rhine into the heartland of Nazi Germany.

I made it back to Cologne, and now had the challenge of finding this house. It took quite a while, as the streets are not always well marked. Not to mention the unbelievable maze of one-way streets that can suddenly become one way in the other direction in the middle of the street!!

But I found it, and early enough that we could go out for some dinner. We then found our way up to Dusseldorf to an art exhibition, my friend had some work in it. And then to a bar that all the art and media crowd hang out at in Dusseldorf. Back to Cologne, and the challenge of finding a parking place, after the renewed challenge of finding the house! A full day, and a good start to the trip!