I just got back from Cologne last night. Flew in on Monday night, went through the health exam Tuesday Morning, and was back in the UK by dinner time. There was a liaison, Carl, that met me at the airport and got me situated to make things easy.
At the exam, I started with answering a ton of questions regarding my health history, family's health, liftestyle, etc., and they took basic vitals. Then they hooked me up to an EKG to check my heart beat, followed by an ultrasound of my vital organs to make sure everything was healthy. Finally, they drew 15 vials of blood samples (crap that was a lot of vials) for infectious disease testing. Fortunately I have gigantic veins that the techs love when they poke and prod.
I didn't learn too much more than what I already know from the literature they sent me ahead of the exam and through my own independent research. I think the only new thing of note to me that I learned was they add citric acid to my blood stream to prevent coagulation when they pull the stem cells, which will likely make my face and extremities tingle. They will counteract that with calcium during the donation.
Here's the building where they did the exam (the one with the giant "6" in front). The actual donation will be a couple buildings down. I wanted to take some pictures inside the clinic, but they politely asked me not to. Honestly, it wasn't all that interesting in there, but I at least wanted to take a picture during the ultrasound, as I've never done one before and have never "seen" my internal organs.
After I was done with the exam, I had a few hours to explore the city and grab lunch before heading back to the hotel. I roamed around the main cathedral area, about a 20 minute walk from the clinic, and scarfed down the best schnitzel I've ever had (been to Germany several times), promptly chased down with some tasty Kölsch brewed by the restaurant.
Now I wait to get the final green light after all the blood tests come back. I'm scheduled for mid-June, which will be about a week-long trip.