Cologne, Germany

Last week my friend Penny and I journeyed to Cologne, Germany. It was a few hour train ride from The Hague. We had such a nice few days. We had great weather and saw great sites. As some of you may know, the summer weather in Holland is not very summer like, so it is always a plus to go someplace and be able to enjoy the sun. Cologne is famous for its massive cathedral which has gorgeous stained glass windows. We first went to check out the Cathedral and it was something beautiful to see. There is a museum underneath the cathedral with very old and valuable artifacts. Then we went to check out the local Dunkin Donuts, as it is always fun to see things that remind you of home. For some reason Germans like Dunkin Donuts, but there are none in Holland. We also walked across a bridge to get from one side of the city to the next to go to a building with an observation desk where you can see views of the whole city. It was beautiful. As we walked the bridge we saw many different color and shape locks attached to the walls. We later found out that it is a tradition to write your name and your loved ones names on a lock, attach it to the bridge, throw the key in the water and legend is your love will last forever. We started out second day in Cologne with the hop on hop off bus. We passed the old town and some of the old Roman walls which used to surround the city and passed by the zoo, many museums and saw the cable car that goes from one side of the city to the next. One site I was so excited to see in Cologne was the Chocolate Museum. Anyone who knows me knows how I love my junk food, so this is a heaven for people like me. You were able to learn about the history of chocolate making and see the process in motion. It was lots of fun. Then we sat in a café by the edge of the Rheine River and just enjoyed the nice weather. Afterwards we took a boat up the river to see some sites. It was a great day. Then on our last day, we went to two of the big art museums in Cologne. The first one is called Museum Ludwig. It has some of the largest collection of Pop Art in the world. I have never seen so many Warhol’s and Lichtenstein’s in one place. Afterwards we went to the Wallraf-Richartz Museum and saw some great paintings. One other amazing site we saw in Cologne was the excavation of an area that used to house the medieval Jewish community, which is one of the oldest in Europe. The town was building a parking lot when they came upon the ruins. Now they have been excavating the site and plan to have a museum here in the future. They found the old synagogue, Mikva (ritual bath) and homes belonging to the Jewish shop owners. It was so interesting to see that they even know who lived in these homes because they had records from these old days. I highly recommend this city to anyone who comes to Holland or Germany. Penny, thanks for a great trip!!! (One other interesting note- As we waited in the Cologne train station to go home, we saw a machine where you can check in your luggage for a few hours while you can go explore the city. I have never seen something like this. It is self-service and takes your luggage away and then stores in some place in the station and then you go back with a ticket to retrieve. I have seen places where you can store luggage, but never anything automatic. Was fascinating)