4.1 MET: En Train to Luxor, Part Two

On the train to Luxor, there was a German family sitting behind me, parents with two boys who just loved the Rock-paper-scissors game. The funny thing is that when one boy played with his brother, he used German: Schere, Stein, Papier, while using French, pierre, papier, ciseaux, when he played with the dad. The dad, from Köln, said that French speaking boy lived in Belgium for a while, which accounted for his familiarity with the language.

Later, I commented on the grand Kölner Dom, but the dad was somehow bitter about it. He complained about the Allied bombing during the war which practically razed the city saving the cathedral. He considered the city was at its best in the 80's when artists flourished, but now most of them had moved on to Berlin. Even my Muslim seatmate picked up a sense of bitterness. Luckily the train was approaching the destination, and the conversation was saved by the horn.