I was in Amsterdam and Cologne in December 2015.  You know Amsterdam but might not have known Cologne until hearing about it in the news for the sexual assaults that occurred on New Year's Eve.  These assaults were attributed to recent immigrants that had entered the country as a result of the refugee crisis.  The weird thing is I noticed a lot of them hanging out in the city centre when I was there and it felt kind of odd, so it wasn't much of a surprise.  The news shouldn't take away from Cologne's beauty.  Or the beer at Fruh. Or the bridge over the Rhine River which is covered in locks of love, a romantic European tradition.

I stayed in the same hotel as Messi and Neymar and FC Barcelona who were playing in an European Cup match.  The place was surrounded by paparazzi and fans, morning, noon and night.  I expected Messi and Neymar to be bigger than what they were.  Shows how much I know!

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