Today was a free Saturday and the leaders were leaving so we had to go somewhere. What a bummer to be forced to go explore Europe. (Hear the sarcasm?) Our plans were to go in search of the birkenstock outlet. Now, I have refrained from buying into the shoes that everyone else on this planet owns thus far, but I can't turn down BARGAINS. So, I had to get some. We went to the market first to search for the live animals. After walking around for awhile, we finally found them. We saw a lot of birds, hamsters, rabbits, ferrets, and mice. They were so cute. We were going to catch a train from the Palais station in Verviers, which is closer than the Central station. That made us excited since it meant less walking. Our excitement was soon extinguished. The trains were not running on time and that confused us so we switched platforms while waiting, and then the train arrived on the other side. We tried to run to catch it, but missed it. We ran back to the other side for the other train, but also missed that. A lot of bad luck. We decided we were done with the silly Palais trains, so we walked to Central. That train arrived on time no problem. We rode that one to Aachen and then switched to one in Cologne. In Cologne, the train times were messed up and that confused us as well. We ended up getting on the wrong train but it stopped at a station that the correct train stopped at too, so we got off there. Once we found the right train, we took it too Bad Honnef, the location of the outlet. We started walking to the outlet, which was all just a guess and it seemed like an industrial area. I wasn't sure if it was right, but then we saw a huge Birkenstock sign. We started jumping and squealing just a bit. We had finally made it. We entered the store, which looked like a business building, and were welcomed with a hall of Birkenstock decor. The hallway opened up into a large room with hundreds of Birkenstocks. My eyes went wide. SO. MANY. SHOES. YAY! I quickly grabbed a couple pairs and started trying them on. This process took awhile because I liked too many of them. I finally settled on a brown pair with a sort of embossed floral pattern on them and a white platform pair. Together, they were the price of one of the more expensive outlet pairs. Still super cheap. I was pumped. We all were running around carrying multiple pairs and trying to decide what to buy, so when we finally checked out, we were all smiles. Our new purchases were worth the travel. They also gave us some free keychains. woot. Everyone put their new shoes on, but I just couldn't bring myself to subject my new beauties to the gross train stations and Belgian streets. So, I refrained. We made our way back to Cologne and on that train, we sat by a man from Cleveland who works for UPS and flies a lot to Cologne and surrounding cities. It is always fun to meet Americans here. We walked across the lock bridge in Cologne to the cathedral (Kölner Dom.) We went inside to see a grand stained glass window but they were having Saturday mass. The cathedral is still just as grand and breathtaking on the outside and, what we could see of the inside was beautiful too. It is very gothic, and very very pretty. After the cathedral, we went in search of some cheap dinner. Thanks to McDonald's, we were able to stay right under budget. Go us. Our next task was to wait for the next train back to Verviers. We sat on the steps outside the cathedral and people watched. There were SO MANY people there. Cologne is clearly the place to be on a Saturday night. I didn't really feel the same sentiments because I really dislike large crowds of people. And let me tell you, people were everywhere. There was a particular interesting thing to watch while waiting. There was a bachelor party group going up to people and charging 2 euros to rip a wax strip off the groom's chest. That was really gross and you know my luck. He approached my group and talked to who? Me of course. Ugh. The first time, I just turned away and ignored the weird man. The second time, he finally realized we don't speak German. Thanks to my dad, I knew the phrase, "Do you speak German?" in German. I said no and then they realized we were Americans. He still tried to get us to help him out with the waxing but in English. I just wanted to throw up and disappear. He eventually left, thankfully. Of course, the rest of the group loves my discomfort haha. We caught some trains back to Palais and finally back to the facility. We showed off our shoes, planned some more free travel, and drank some tea. I worked on reading, and then went to bed. It was a good day despite all the travel and crazy train schedules. I've got myself some good shoes and visited some new cities. What a day.

Fun Facts: We have a week of school left for the semester. How crazy is that? The workers at the outlet don't like it when you try on shoes without the little socky things.

Shoutout: My club, XBX. They are having their fall retreat this weekend, the best weekend of the year. I am so terribly distressed that I am missing my last one, especially when I know Ben and Amelia worked hard on it. However, I am very happy for everyone who gets to go and experience such an uplifting event.