16:50 CET
Lechenich
Settled in at The Cousin's place. A newly renovated, three story apartment house in a small burb a few minutes away from Köln. The Cousin owns the house and will rent the second and third floors; she's currently living in the second. I'm down here on the first. Cold and unfurnished, except for a futon. At least the bath is nice.

New place, new dog.

Robbie. (And it is purely a weird coincidence that both German Anka and Robbie were laying the same way).
Big, cute dog. A mix of a black lab and something shaggier (sheppard?). However, do not pet him when he's been given a bone to chew. Do. Not.

Cool (4-6 degrees C) outside but a strong wind and intermittent rain makes it worse. But all this and the rainless, snowless freezes the previous week are par for the course for this region and time of year. The real spirit-killer is the 4:30pm sunsets.

Unlike my Uncle's place, where I figured out that the DSL connection had wireless LAN too and got it to work, this house is Analog City. Only a telephone line and that jack is 15 feet away. Excuse me, 5 meters away. We'll visit the daughter (thump-thump) of The Cousin; she is a freelance architect. She and her boyfriend (thud) gots the hookup. So no updates 'til then.