Greetings from Cologne

Finally got the hotel internet access to work, so here are my first impressions of Cologne. Coming here by train (Eurostar to Brussels, express train to Cologne passing some impressive wind farms en route) was great, but the boy managed to pick up gastro-enteritis the morning we left so our enjoyment was curtailed by some top puking. He's now shared it with the rest of the family...

The big thing is cycling. There are bikes everywhere and shops even put cycle stands out on the pavement for their customers. There are some colosal cycle paths, loads of crossings and many of the one-way streets around our hotel are two-way for bikes (without any extra markings, just signs).

Apart from that, I was a little surprised that the green produce thing isn't more prevalent. I had to go to the Bio-markt for eco-friendly disposable nappies, but couldn't get them in any highstreet store. There are marginally more organic products around than in the UK, but not much.

I'll keep my eyes peeled for more.