Second nodermeet in Germany's most liberal city, hopefully this time not complicated by server outage.

The last time we attempted a nodermeet in Cologne, things got extremely complicated due to the big server outage of 2003 and the fact that the noders that confirmed their presence and had their tickets booked couldn't contact the rest of the meet's attendants and ended up alone in Cologne. This will not happen again, thanks to Livejournal, the invention of the cellular phone and email.

With Kohlcass living just 100km away from Cologne, me coming up (or is it down?) from New Zealand for three weeks to check out the northern hemisphere again, I thought the timing was right for another attempt at a nodermeet. Kohlcaesschen is apparently bringing Wntrmute with her, so it's going to be all jolly from the word 'go'.

As I have been living in this beautiful place (Cologne, that is) for 7 years, I get to choose the location, so I suggest the wonderful and utterly jolly Petersberger Hof, for years my second home and featuring a decent set of beers, above average pub food and an excellent beergarden.

What will we do?

For those who want to arrive earlier, I can play Fremdenfuehrer (tourguide) and show you some of the many highlights of this brillant city. Apart from that: eat, drink, be merry.


When will it happen?

Saturday, August 25, 2007, 16:00 MET

Where was that again?

Petersberger Hof, Petersberg Str.41, 50939 Cologne, Germany, http://petersbergerhof.de/

Who will be there?

Kohlcass, Wntrmute, Heisenberg, Sloebertje, Hazelnut, Kizor, Dimview, your name here,

How do I get there?

Köln Bonn Airport is currently hub of the low cost airlines TUIFLy and Germanwings, both offering regular services to London Stansted, Edinburgh, Birmingham and Manchester and pretty much the rest of the European Union. Düsseldorf Airport is only 60 km away and has a 20 minutes connection via train to Cologne Hauptbahnhof.

Regular airlines include Continental Airlines with a daily Newark flight, British Airways, KLM, Lufthansa, Easyjet, Iran Air (for our Teheran Noders), BMI and hundreds of others.

If you prefer Ryanair, Niederrhein Airport and Maastricht airport are ca 75 minutes away (bus and train connections excellent), and Frankfurt - Hahn Airport, Ryanair's Hub serving Scandinavia, Scotland, Italy, France and Spain, is only 90 minutes away via a regular buslink.

If you're in the Netherlands, Belgium, France or Germany, Cologne has excellent hourly InterCity Express connections to Bruxelles, Liege, Paris and Amsterdam.

When you arrive at Cologne's gorgeous Art Deco's main train station (that's Hauptbahnhof in German) you follow the icons towards the tram station that is under the Hauptbahnhof (follow th 'U' sign). Trams run at a mininum of every twenty minutes, so no worries about missing one. There you need to catch the Nr 18 tram to Klettenberg. After 12 minutes (remember, this is Germany: trams run on time) you have to get off at the stop 'Suelzburgstrasse'. Now enter the lovely treelined 'Siebengebirgsallee' and the first beergarden on the left is the Petersberger Hof. Look for a sunburned, bald man reading The Economist. Or, if you're not the first, try to find the only English speaking group.

I made a map that shows you specifically how to make the final 200 meters here: http://snarkenf.freeshell.org/pbh.jpg

Where will I sleep?

As my flat is currently unfortunately rented out, I will stay at the Intercontinental Cologne. Kohlcass is offering six spaces in Essen (although the Loveparade will apparently march under her window in the morning), which will involve an hour's travelling from the Petersberger Hof. In Cologne, there's myriads of cheap and cheerful pensions and of course more upmarket fare. If you have problems , just ask me.

Who has the audacity to not show up?

The Debutante, giving family as (an obvious illegitimate) reason
izubachi, who is allegedly in the Balkans (probably against his will)
Iwhosawtheface, even though there's women.
DonJaime: "Obviously illegitimate family reasons (my mother is visiting)".
Siobhan is playing Fremdenfuehrer in Switzerland
BlackPawn, as he seems to be sulking.
JellyfishGreen, for biological reasons


And it was fun: 5 hours of fun and noders. All in excellent form, everybody contributed to a great night:

  • Dimview stayed cool, observed and was motherly when necessary, but excelled in updating us on all things Sumo.
  • Kohlcass giggled and fell over laughing as soon she heard my voice. Repeatedly. It's a podcast thing, apparently.
  • Sloebertje documented the event thoroughly with the most amazing piece of camera hardware you could imagine but had time enough to advise me on my Dutch pronunciation.
  • Hazelnut roared and taught us the intricacies of French judicial texts.
  • Kizor entertained the crowd with his book of random wisdoms.
  • Wntrmute taught me the principles of n-dimensional space. And I think I got the first ten seconds.

Unfortunately I had to extract myself after 5 hours, but those 300 minutes were superb.

Thanks to all 6 present noders for the traveling and the hardship they endured to come to Cologne for the day!.

Pictures: http://web.mac.com/pilatdirk/iWeb/Site/Library.html
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sloebertje/sets/72157601703580849/
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2079551&page=3&l=0be1c&id=204503492
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=47881&page=2&id=547085135