Where are the bins?

Well in case the reader is curious, we found a hostel in Köln (AKA Cologne) instead of attempting to find our way to Bergheim like we had originally planned. On our walk to find a phone booth we saw a sign for the Station (which is a hostel a stones throw from the train station) which was a hostel, and actually turned out cheaper than the one in Bergheim. So end the suspense. We won't be sleeping on a park bench tonight. I'm actually typing this from the hostel. I love free internet!

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The following is a journal entry that was written late last night.

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Did you know there are no bins (AKA trash cans) in the Victoria train station? After wandering around London for a while (using the tube - which was a lot of fun, but you do have to watch out for the doors, they will close on you if you are not careful or fast enough) we exited the tube at the Victoria train station in order to catch a bus from the Victoria bus station to Stansted Airport. While there, we grabbed a bite to eat because it had been 7 hours since I had eaten lunch since the cookies I had on the bus to London didn't count as dinner in my opinion.

When we finished with our food, I went look for a trash can to throw away our trash.

You have to understand, the Victoria train station is a pretty open place. It has a few shops and stalls around the edges, but other than that, just a lot of empty room to accommodate the masses of people who travel through the station daily.

So I wandered around the edge of the station looking for the elusive trash bin, and I came across the public restrooms. It's late (roughly 11:30 by this time) and as I walk toward the restroom, I notice that there is a gate in front of it. Apparently in some public places (ie. public transport stations) you have to pay to use the facilities. (At least the next time I play Roller Coaster Tycoon, I won't feel as bad about charging the people $0.10 to use the restroom.) I decided I was not going to try and figure out the fee, and then pay it just to throw out some trash. So I walked away from the restroom and continued my search.

As I was walking away, the man standing by the restroom gate just told me to throw it on the floor. What? Litter? That can't be, the station looks clean, why would an employee encourage me to make a mess? I must have misheard him. So I asked him to repeat what he said. Turns out I heard him correctly the first time. He went on to clarify that there are no bins in the Victoria station.
So if you're ever in the Victoria train station in London, and you have trash that needs to be thrown away, you have three choices: leave it on the floor, attempt to throw it away in the bathroom (but it wouldn't surprise me if there were no bins in there either), or you can attempt to stuff it in the full bin right outside the door of Victoria.

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Now to wake Patrick up so he'll sleep tonight - he's had a 5 hour nap and it's dinner time. Otherwise he'll keep me up to all hours of the night wandering Köln. Should I try a wet washcloth or just poking him?