Cool Cologne
In and around Cologne, Germany
This weekend, Andrea, Steven, and I traveled up north to Cologne, Germany for the day on Saturday. Initially we thought we might end up being bored, but it turned out that we only had time to visit two places.
It was rainy the entire drive there, but we were hoping for clear skies once we got further away from Baumholder. Unfortunately, such was not the case. It was pretty overcast and sprinkling while we were in Cologne, too.
We parked under the enormous, gothic cathedral of Cologne and made that our first destination. Up until then, we had just popped in and out of churches, admiring the stained glass and statues on our way in and out. I was completely unprepared for what was in store for us at this cathedral (Kolner Dom). We spent a few hours in the very intricate, detailed, decorated church, including a half hour walk up and down one of the highest most towers. Let’s just say that none of us had to go the gym after that trek toward the heavens!
When we reached the top of the tower, we could view the huge tower bells right in front of us, luckily not ringing as we walked by. There was also a spectacular view of the foggy Cologne. By the time we got to the top, I was a little shaky, both from fear of the height and exhaustion. It was most definitely worth the tiny spiraling stairwell and almost throwing up from dizziness at the bottom! I can’t even describe the detail and intricacies of the towers that you can view when so close and so high in the sky.
After the Dom, we proceeded to stroll along the Rhine on our way to the chocolate museum. We didn’t know too much about it in advance, but we were all (especially Andrea!) very excited to be visiting anything to do with chocolate. It was so neat, and included the history, economy, and development of chocolate (cocoa bean). There were also rooms devoted to “chocolate culture,” which stored old packaging and old vending machines from long, long ago. The most interesting part was the factory part, where you could actually watch chocolate being made and then turned into the candy that we know and love. The samples were also a nice touch.
We were all very ready for some real food by the time we left, so we stopped at a local ice cream joint to indulge!
Route taken and entries by Real Traveler Liz Hamilton
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