Needing a Hilton stay, I booked us into the
Hampton on Uhlandstrasse, where I've stayed a
few times before and which we both like well
enough. We got a nice upper floor room, spacious
by non-American standards.

There's a bar, 24/7, which is run by the front desk
staff when they're not checking anyone in. We stopped
by and found it pretty crowded - the prices are not
at all out of line, you get Hilton points for drinking,
and the location can't be beat. I got a pint of
Veltins Grevensteiner, a light, clean beer of no
particular distinction; Lilli had her usual red plonk.

In the neighborhood is the famous Tommi's Burgers,
an Icelandic chain that has recently invaded Germany
to much good press, so we decided to get Lilli's red
meat fix there. You place your order, sit down and wait
for a spell while the good grill smells waft into the
eating area, and then at last your name is called,
and you are presented with a nice medium-rare half-
pounder on a sweetish sturdy dark domed bun. The food
is quite good, going well with a mild slightly strange
tasting Eichbaumer? beer (500 mL, same price as other
brands' 330) and an almost as mild but less strange
Pilsner Urquell (there wasn't any wine). The food was
cheap but good and the beers inexpensive but okay.

Good night's sleep.

EW0005 TXL CGN 0850 1000 2DF

A quick walk uptown to Zoologischer Garten and the X10
bus to the airport, which got us there in plenty of time
to wonder why we couldn't get into the lounge for a second
breakfast (actually, we could have, but it was in a
different terminal). Lilli lost her money in a Coke machine,
but beating up on it yielded the cash back, which I
suggested she take to an actual manned counter, where as
it turns out the drinks were 50c cheaper anyway.

We took our flight, which was perfectly satisfactory, with
my getting a beer and she that French red, not too bad. Also
a little thing of Pringles and a stick of Jack Link jerky,
which nobody in his/her right mind would pay the E2 or 3
list price for, but it was free up front.

Easy transfer to the train (Google is bizarrely wrong
on this), a short walk all under shelter and on airport
premiess. You take it for a couple Euro, and it lets
you off right by the famous cathedral, from which it's
a five-minute walk to the Hilton Cologne, where we were
given a superb room with a church view. Our welcome
amenity was an ugly strange pastry that was somewhere
between custard and shortbread, quite tasty, and some
horrible but pretty fruit, one step aeay from waxworks.
Also some coupons for free drinks and discounts at the
bar-restaurant downstairs, which is called Konrad, I
redeemed a coupon for a lovely half liter of Sion Kolsch
and bought an order of pork belly with onion three ways,
which was utterly superb. Lilli took little bites of the
meat (not the onion, who knows whom she was planning to
kiss), and a brimfull glass of serviceable Montepulciano
d'Abruzzo.

Then we cast off to see the sights, which consisted of
the restaurant Reissdorf for a few glasses of Kolsch
(or in Lilli's case, a Spatburgunder or two). I had a
rather heavy snack of Himmel u. Aarde, potatoes and
apples stewed together and served with a black pudding,
close on a thousand Calories and the perfect way to
waste an afternoon.
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