We decided (after reasoning out Lille,Munich and Hamburg) that we would go to....Cologne! How did you guess? (Oh yeah, the title :). So we researched a bit and found a nice ticket deal - two persons, unlimited travel in one region in Germany for a whole day! Leuk! We planned a few things to see and talked with a few people from the area before departing.
I met Clara on the bus around 8:30AM on Saturday morning - too early for a Saturday, I know, but we had a long journey ahead and lots to see! I have actually wanted to go to Cologne since I was in Tilburg, but never had the opportunity. Now that I am in Maastricht, it is a bit closer. And it was nice to go with a friend (especially one who speaks German!).We took bus nummer 50 to Aachen, Germany, sprinted into the train station and barely caught our train leaving a few minutes later for Cologne. We were on the train for an hour or so before arriving in Cologne. We disembarked and maneuvered our way out of the station, stopping first to check the trains to Dusseldorf (where we planned to go later in the day).
Stepping out of the train station, we were met by the monstrous Koln Dom - the huge, magnificent cathedral in Cologne. Although we both agreed that we have seen a few too many cathedrals during our time in Europe, Clara and I agreed to step inside and check out the interior. It was really quite magnificent and quite reminded me of the Notre Dam Cathedral in Paris. With a "that was nice", we stepped out of the Dom into the sunny, chilly day! We took a few pictures of the cathedral and found our way to the shopping street.
Clara had done some nice research on things to do in see in Cologne. Among those on our list were 1.) Shopping, 2.) Starbucks, 3.) Beer. Our mission - enjoy the city! We started the day with a nice kopje koffie at Starbucks. Clara enjoyed a toffee nut latte while I had a yummy gingerbread latte - unfortunately, Starbucks in Europe does not sell pumpkin spice or peppermint white mocha. Say day. We enjoyed warming up with our Starbucks - so American - and finally decided to venture back outdoors into the chilly day. We made our way through the crowded shopping streets, peering in shop windows and checking out Christmas decor.
With our Starbucks and shopping goals fulfilled, we headed back toward the train station to find the older part of the city and the river. We made a big loop, and saw more of the city. We reached the station and managed to orient ourselves in the right direction. Then we stopped to purchase postcards at one of the tourist shoppes. Next door, we admired the Christmas market being installed for the coming months. Christmas markets are really a big deal in Germany - every major city has one. I am hoping to experience one firsthand, come December.
Next, we walked to the river to enjoy the magnificent view. After a few pictures, we noticed that we were both getting hungry, and decided to find something to eat. Of course, when you arrive at this decision, there is bound to be nothing yummy and delicious in sight to eat. We walked for twenty minutes or so, before deciding on a nice Kebab place to eat. I took a durum kebab and Clara had falafel. We enjoyed our Turkish lunch, although the table dynamics were a bit strange. This German family (?) had no place to sit, so they asked to sit at our large table with us. Of course, we said yes. But it was kind of weird - beside not understanding what they were saying, the little boy with them drank the woman's salad dressing that she did not use. Okay, random, strange, weird. Enough said. Moving on....
We left the Turkish place and walked around a bit more, looking for a place to complete our final "to-do" in Cologne - the Kolsch beer. We headed back in the direction of the river and found a small pub that offered this particular beer, brewed in Cologne. We each order a tall, test-tube like glass of the light beer. I must say, it was a bit watered down and reminded me somewhat of PBR....not such a nice beer in the States. We enjoyed it, nonetheless, and made our way out of the bar, back toward the train station. We had planned to catch a late afternoon train to Dusseldorf so that we would have a couple of hours to roam there before needing to head back to Maastricht.With a bit of scampering around the train station, searching for the correct platform, we managed to get on the correct train, which slowly but surely brought us to Dusseldorf. An hour later, we arrived in the huge train station, where honestly, we should have just stayed. Not because Dusseldorf isn't nice, I'm sure it is. But for someone unfamiliar with the city to arrive a night like that is a bit tricky. We opted to take the tram into the city, which turned out to be a fail initially, since we could not figure out which stop we should get off at. We took it way too far, and had to get back on to get back into the city. Finally, we made our way back to the stop where we needed to switch, but the guy at the tram stop told us that the trams were not running in the direction that we needed (according to the map, the direction of the ferris wheel). He said it was a ten minute walk to the city, so we wrapped our scarves a bit tighter and headed in the direction he pointed.
After a few minutes, we came across some McDonalds, H&Ms, NewYorker and a variety of other shops. But as it was nearing 7 o'clock, things were closing for the day. And we were kind of shopped out from earlier. So we looked for a place where we could have a small bite to eat or one of the Dusseldorf beers Clara had read about online. No such luck! After quite some more time of roaming, a nice guy offered help he said we had to walk just a bit further to reach a whole block of restaurants and pubs. But we were already worn out from walking and checking the time, we needed to head back to the train station soon so that we could get home before midnight (don't want to turn into a pumpkin!). We thanked him and headed back to where we thought the train station was. We took a final tram back to the station. Since we were a few minutes early, we decided to enjoy a mug of warm red wine, a German tradition, at a small stand outside the train station. The mug was bigger than it looked, and we slowly sipped the (hot!) wine, which turned into more of a chug at the end, as it was nearing time to board the train and we first wanted a bite to eat.
We returned our mugs and wobbled into the train station in a bit of a stupor due to the quick inhalation of the wine. We searched the train station for something to eat and decided on fried noodles from the Asian Wok place. Best decision all day - the noodles were amazing! Yum! We chowed down, giggling all the way from the wine, and packed our things for the ride home. I was super full from the noodles the whole train ride home. We got off the train an hour or so later in Aachen, and looked up the time for the bus back to Maas - enough time for a McFlurry! We headed back inside to the Macs and each had a McFlurry - snickers and mars. Yum! Then we boarded the bus for the remainder of the journey home.
Thankfully, the bus drops me off practically at my doorstep, so I walked briskly home in the chilly night. Since it was late and I was exhausted from all the walking, I showered, called Nishant, and went to sleep. And I slept so well!
All in all, it was a very nice day. While Cologne is not at the top of my list of favorite European cities, I am glad that I took the time to visit. We had a really nice day, and I always love the experience of just being in and seeing a place. And I wouldn't mind going back for the shopping or Starbucks. Plus, the Christmas market looked promising as well!
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