This past weekend I went to Köln, Germany with 4 other girls that I haven't traveled with yet - so this was a completely new experience! I didn't really know what to expect from Köln, but everyone I've talked to said that it was a great city to visit. So here's my first real German experience!
Saturday, 13 September 2014
I left for Luxembourg City early Saturday morning to meet up with my new friends Allison and Adrienne at the farmers market that happens every Saturday. As we met up, we realized that there was an issue with our hostel and had to cancel our original booking and find a new place. As we frantically worked away on our phones, I was 20 minutes away from having to pay a full price cancellation fee (thank God I got out of that) and the only other place we could find was a 2 person hotel room. It was about 6 euros cheaper, but less than half the size of what we originally planned. We knew that we were going to have to do some sneaking around to fit 5 people in a 2 person room... but we have a place to sleep, which is what matters!
We went to the farmers market and tried some of the fruit samples (yum - free food) and went on our way to the train station. We had a 27 minute layover in Koblenz, Germany, so we decided to take a bathroom break and grab something to eat. It was a full euro to use the toilet and .65 euro to buy a delicious pretzel. I would show you a picture of me and my pretzel, but I looked more like a character from Sesame Street with a dopey face than how I would imagine myself eating my first German pretzel.
We continued our trek to Köln and finally arrived. The train station was cool, but what really amazed me was the cathedral right outside of it. I really wasn't sure how to take it all in - there was so much going on! There was a huge square in front of the cathedral with steps leading up to it and so many people were sitting and relaxing. Some were playing music, eating snacks, and talking with friends, while others performed/begged for money or were just looking around like we were.
The actual cathedral was absolutely amazing in a beautifully scary sort of way. It was huge and had a lot of spiky looking things all around. It was dark and extremely detailed. I often caught myself wondering who in the world would have the time a patients to make something this extravagant and massive - but then I remembered the world didn't always have wifi. Here's a picture of when we first arrived and what the cathedral looked like. It doesn't really capture all the detail, but there's some pictures below that might be better.
We immediately went inside to see what this great building held, and we weren't disappointed! The inside was just as detailed and beautiful as the outside. There were so many stained glass windows and the stonework was stunning. It was so crowded it was hard to imagine that this was an actual place of worship. Although this place was absolutely gorgeous, I couldn't imagine calling it my parish. It didn't have the same 'homey' or welcoming feeling I'm used to when I go into a church. Nonetheless, I really wanted to attend a mass in this place!
After we were done exploring throughout the cathedral, we moved onto the daunting task of checking into our hotel which we knew next to nothing about. We found it without too much trouble (we went down the wrong street a couple of times, but I expect nothing more, especially during our first walkthrough of the city.
Adrienne and I went to check in while the others waited outside. There was nobody at the reception desk, so we rang the bell and a guy in his (maybe) late twenties came out and went through the process of checking us in. Somehow we got on the topic of how this was only his second day working at the hotel (yessss!)
We moved onto talking about one of the Nazi prison museums we heard about and he told us it was directly across the street - what luck! So we put our stuff down and met the other girls outside and decided to just go directly to the museum.
We got in the museum/prison and only had to pay two euros the explore the building. All of us were somewhat unsure of what exactly this place was - whether is was a prison FOR Nazis or if it was a place the Nazis used to hold their own prisoners. We went to the basement which was where all of the cells were and read some of the stories of the inmates. Turns out, it was a prison that the Gestapo used to take non-Jewish people for questioning and torturing. The cells were located in the basement in attempts to muffle the screams of prisoners from the locals walking the streets above. There were writings on the walls of past prisoners describing their time in the cell as well as short notes to their families and loved ones. Some wrote about how they didn't know why they were there, others wrote about how they were proud to have aided their Jewish neighbors.
It was absolutely astonishing to think of how they would keep upwards of thirty people in these small cells, torturing and killing some, while daily life continued for locals not fifty feet away. For me, its easier to think of these things happening far away from civilization in some remote area. To know that this was happening right in the middle of a city where people lived is hard to think about.
We moved on to the end of a hallway where there was a courtyard lined with mirrors. We read that this is were more than 400 people were executed. It was such a small space it was hard to believe that such horrific things happened there.
We all walked around for a little longer - there was a small exhibit of a Jewish artist who was liberated from a concentration camp and moved to the states to start his career. He had some very interesting pieces of artwork which were interesting to see.
Although we left the prison in a gloomy state, we all felt that it was a great experience. Heres some pictures below.
Saturday, 13 September 2014
I left for Luxembourg City early Saturday morning to meet up with my new friends Allison and Adrienne at the farmers market that happens every Saturday. As we met up, we realized that there was an issue with our hostel and had to cancel our original booking and find a new place. As we frantically worked away on our phones, I was 20 minutes away from having to pay a full price cancellation fee (thank God I got out of that) and the only other place we could find was a 2 person hotel room. It was about 6 euros cheaper, but less than half the size of what we originally planned. We knew that we were going to have to do some sneaking around to fit 5 people in a 2 person room... but we have a place to sleep, which is what matters!
We went to the farmers market and tried some of the fruit samples (yum - free food) and went on our way to the train station. We had a 27 minute layover in Koblenz, Germany, so we decided to take a bathroom break and grab something to eat. It was a full euro to use the toilet and .65 euro to buy a delicious pretzel. I would show you a picture of me and my pretzel, but I looked more like a character from Sesame Street with a dopey face than how I would imagine myself eating my first German pretzel.
We continued our trek to Köln and finally arrived. The train station was cool, but what really amazed me was the cathedral right outside of it. I really wasn't sure how to take it all in - there was so much going on! There was a huge square in front of the cathedral with steps leading up to it and so many people were sitting and relaxing. Some were playing music, eating snacks, and talking with friends, while others performed/begged for money or were just looking around like we were.
The actual cathedral was absolutely amazing in a beautifully scary sort of way. It was huge and had a lot of spiky looking things all around. It was dark and extremely detailed. I often caught myself wondering who in the world would have the time a patients to make something this extravagant and massive - but then I remembered the world didn't always have wifi. Here's a picture of when we first arrived and what the cathedral looked like. It doesn't really capture all the detail, but there's some pictures below that might be better.
We immediately went inside to see what this great building held, and we weren't disappointed! The inside was just as detailed and beautiful as the outside. There were so many stained glass windows and the stonework was stunning. It was so crowded it was hard to imagine that this was an actual place of worship. Although this place was absolutely gorgeous, I couldn't imagine calling it my parish. It didn't have the same 'homey' or welcoming feeling I'm used to when I go into a church. Nonetheless, I really wanted to attend a mass in this place!
After we were done exploring throughout the cathedral, we moved onto the daunting task of checking into our hotel which we knew next to nothing about. We found it without too much trouble (we went down the wrong street a couple of times, but I expect nothing more, especially during our first walkthrough of the city.
Adrienne and I went to check in while the others waited outside. There was nobody at the reception desk, so we rang the bell and a guy in his (maybe) late twenties came out and went through the process of checking us in. Somehow we got on the topic of how this was only his second day working at the hotel (yessss!)
We moved onto talking about one of the Nazi prison museums we heard about and he told us it was directly across the street - what luck! So we put our stuff down and met the other girls outside and decided to just go directly to the museum.
We got in the museum/prison and only had to pay two euros the explore the building. All of us were somewhat unsure of what exactly this place was - whether is was a prison FOR Nazis or if it was a place the Nazis used to hold their own prisoners. We went to the basement which was where all of the cells were and read some of the stories of the inmates. Turns out, it was a prison that the Gestapo used to take non-Jewish people for questioning and torturing. The cells were located in the basement in attempts to muffle the screams of prisoners from the locals walking the streets above. There were writings on the walls of past prisoners describing their time in the cell as well as short notes to their families and loved ones. Some wrote about how they didn't know why they were there, others wrote about how they were proud to have aided their Jewish neighbors.
It was absolutely astonishing to think of how they would keep upwards of thirty people in these small cells, torturing and killing some, while daily life continued for locals not fifty feet away. For me, its easier to think of these things happening far away from civilization in some remote area. To know that this was happening right in the middle of a city where people lived is hard to think about.
We moved on to the end of a hallway where there was a courtyard lined with mirrors. We read that this is were more than 400 people were executed. It was such a small space it was hard to believe that such horrific things happened there.
We all walked around for a little longer - there was a small exhibit of a Jewish artist who was liberated from a concentration camp and moved to the states to start his career. He had some very interesting pieces of artwork which were interesting to see.
Although we left the prison in a gloomy state, we all felt that it was a great experience. Heres some pictures below.
We all knew that we needed to something happy, so we went to the center of town and tried to find a restaurant to eat. We ended up exploring through a Nutcracker shop, running into the Rhine River, and finding a cool square with a bunch of outdoor seating which seemed to be the ultimate hangout for everyone in Köln.
We sat down and our waiter hectically yelled over to us "FIVE BEERS?!" We all just looked at each other, shrugged, and gave him a thumbs up. The menu was in German except the last page which was in English. The group next to us got this delicious looking dish that looked like Wienerschnitzel, but we didn't see it on the English menu. Looks like this place is holding out on us English speaking folk. But that didn't stop us! We got our Wienerschnitzel and it was a plate from heaven! Heres some pictures of our dinner :)
We sat down and our waiter hectically yelled over to us "FIVE BEERS?!" We all just looked at each other, shrugged, and gave him a thumbs up. The menu was in German except the last page which was in English. The group next to us got this delicious looking dish that looked like Wienerschnitzel, but we didn't see it on the English menu. Looks like this place is holding out on us English speaking folk. But that didn't stop us! We got our Wienerschnitzel and it was a plate from heaven! Heres some pictures of our dinner :)
After dinner, we were all so tired, we just went back to our hotel. Adrienne and I planned on talking to the receptionist while the other girls would come in about a minute later and just go straight up to the room.
When we got there, we started talking to the same receptionist that checked us in and began a conversation about wifi and water. When the other girls walked in, he gave them a weird look like he didn't know why they were there, but was too distracted by our conversation to call them out on it. We ended up learning that his name is Cedric and he studied International Business in Colorado for a year. He said that he works a 12-12 shift every day, and when we asked why he would do that to himself, he said, "Just need to bring in the Benjamins". It was hilarious to hear a German guy use that phrase.
Anyway, we all got in the room without getting 'caught' and we fit three people on the bed and two on the floor. It was crammed, but we were just there to sleep.
Sunday, 14 September 2014
We woke up and checked out without too much trouble. We all wanted to go to a cafe with wifi, but of course nowhere was open at 8am on a Sunday morning. We did some exploring and found a little bakery that had these great chocolate pretzel things with a sugar glaze and sliced almonds which were absolutely amazing - but there was no wifi. Soooo we had to wait for Starbucks to open at 8:30. We got some tea and coffee and checked our facebook, messaged our parents, and posted pictures to instagram.
Mass started at 9, which I was expecting to go to alone, but most of the girls wanted to come with me even though they weren't Catholic (which was so nice!) We walked to the cathedral and were told that the 9 mass would be in a small chapel to the side of the church. It was just as beautiful and it was nice to just sit there listening to a German priest talking about God knows what (literally). It interesting to see how each mass is almost exactly the same, even when everyone is speaking in a different language. All three cathedral masses I've been to I've known when to sit, stand, and kneel - so I at least I didn't look completely clueless.
After mass, we began to walk to the Botanical gardens which was a little over a mile down the road. When we got there, it was so nice and sunny and all the flowers were bloomed and vibrant. There was different trails we could walk on that led to different parts of the park - it was a lot bigger than I expected! Heres some pictures I took!
When we got there, we started talking to the same receptionist that checked us in and began a conversation about wifi and water. When the other girls walked in, he gave them a weird look like he didn't know why they were there, but was too distracted by our conversation to call them out on it. We ended up learning that his name is Cedric and he studied International Business in Colorado for a year. He said that he works a 12-12 shift every day, and when we asked why he would do that to himself, he said, "Just need to bring in the Benjamins". It was hilarious to hear a German guy use that phrase.
Anyway, we all got in the room without getting 'caught' and we fit three people on the bed and two on the floor. It was crammed, but we were just there to sleep.
Sunday, 14 September 2014
We woke up and checked out without too much trouble. We all wanted to go to a cafe with wifi, but of course nowhere was open at 8am on a Sunday morning. We did some exploring and found a little bakery that had these great chocolate pretzel things with a sugar glaze and sliced almonds which were absolutely amazing - but there was no wifi. Soooo we had to wait for Starbucks to open at 8:30. We got some tea and coffee and checked our facebook, messaged our parents, and posted pictures to instagram.
Mass started at 9, which I was expecting to go to alone, but most of the girls wanted to come with me even though they weren't Catholic (which was so nice!) We walked to the cathedral and were told that the 9 mass would be in a small chapel to the side of the church. It was just as beautiful and it was nice to just sit there listening to a German priest talking about God knows what (literally). It interesting to see how each mass is almost exactly the same, even when everyone is speaking in a different language. All three cathedral masses I've been to I've known when to sit, stand, and kneel - so I at least I didn't look completely clueless.
After mass, we began to walk to the Botanical gardens which was a little over a mile down the road. When we got there, it was so nice and sunny and all the flowers were bloomed and vibrant. There was different trails we could walk on that led to different parts of the park - it was a lot bigger than I expected! Heres some pictures I took!
When headed back towards the city center and got some lunch and gelato (which was soooo gooooood). Adrienne and Allison had to head back to Luxembourg, and the other two girls wanted to go shopping. So I decided to climb up to the Cathedral's observatory.
I heard there were a lot of steps and it looked pretty high, but I thought, 'why not'? So I bought a ticket for three euros and began my trek up to the top of one of the spires with my backpack full of all my belongings I brought for the weekend. There was a spiral staircase that went about half way up and people were going up and down at the same time. I got dizzy and tired after the first couple hundred steps. Thankfully they had the bell tower open to see the bells and take a break. Here's Big Marie II (Hunchback reference).
They had a separate set of stairs for the last leg of the hike. One set was for people going up and another set was for those going down. The set going up were more modern and weren't spiraled. However, they were grated stairs, so I could see how high I was getting... which freaked me out some. You can see a picture of them below.
Finally I made it to the top. I got such a great view of the city and a birds eye view of some lower parts of the Cathedral. It was so cool to see the city from a different perspective - it was definitely worth the three euros and sore calves.
I heard there were a lot of steps and it looked pretty high, but I thought, 'why not'? So I bought a ticket for three euros and began my trek up to the top of one of the spires with my backpack full of all my belongings I brought for the weekend. There was a spiral staircase that went about half way up and people were going up and down at the same time. I got dizzy and tired after the first couple hundred steps. Thankfully they had the bell tower open to see the bells and take a break. Here's Big Marie II (Hunchback reference).
They had a separate set of stairs for the last leg of the hike. One set was for people going up and another set was for those going down. The set going up were more modern and weren't spiraled. However, they were grated stairs, so I could see how high I was getting... which freaked me out some. You can see a picture of them below.
Finally I made it to the top. I got such a great view of the city and a birds eye view of some lower parts of the Cathedral. It was so cool to see the city from a different perspective - it was definitely worth the three euros and sore calves.
On my way back down, it was spiraled all the way and much more narrow than on the way up. I was shaking both from fear and overuse of my leg muscles. I was gripping both sides of the wall and the handrail like they were my lifeline. My palms were sweating so much I knew that if I ended up tripping, I wouldn't be able to properly grip anything. It was quite embarrassing when the little girl and her dad in front of me were descending the stairs faster than me and I couldn't catch up with them.
I finally reached the bottom in one piece and I had a hard time hiding the fact that my legs were uncontrollably shaking. I stood there for a couple minutes pretending to look at rosaries while I regained some of my dignity. I asked someone who worked there how many steps up there were and she said 533, but I counted 638, and a sign said 506 - so I don't know what to believe. I'm going with the 638 to make myself feel better. Going up took me about 20 minutes (and that includes stopping at the bell tower) and about 15 minutes going down. I plan on walking up the the Eiffel Tower in a couple weeks, so I guess this was good practice!
After that, I met back up with Anna and Beth, and we went to the Roman Artifact museum. It was filled with statues, jewelry, utensils, and anything else you can think of. I was amazed that some of the artifacts were preserved so well - some of the gold was more shiny than the stuff today! This museum was something that I didn't intend on going to when I first arrived in Köln, but I'm so happy we were able to make it! Here's some pics :)
I finally reached the bottom in one piece and I had a hard time hiding the fact that my legs were uncontrollably shaking. I stood there for a couple minutes pretending to look at rosaries while I regained some of my dignity. I asked someone who worked there how many steps up there were and she said 533, but I counted 638, and a sign said 506 - so I don't know what to believe. I'm going with the 638 to make myself feel better. Going up took me about 20 minutes (and that includes stopping at the bell tower) and about 15 minutes going down. I plan on walking up the the Eiffel Tower in a couple weeks, so I guess this was good practice!
After that, I met back up with Anna and Beth, and we went to the Roman Artifact museum. It was filled with statues, jewelry, utensils, and anything else you can think of. I was amazed that some of the artifacts were preserved so well - some of the gold was more shiny than the stuff today! This museum was something that I didn't intend on going to when I first arrived in Köln, but I'm so happy we were able to make it! Here's some pics :)
Overall, this trip was fantastic! Walked a lot, climbed some stairs, and met a guy named Cedric (I almost called him Diggory but I refrained). I learned a lot, too - including how to properly spell Köln - so I say this trip was a success!