Cologne is an incredibly beautiful city. Right when you exit the train station you come face-to-face with with Kolner Dom (or, The Cathedral of Cologne). And it is quite the sight. It practically takes up an entire city block and is the beacon of the entire city. We spent an hour or so exploring the the Dom and the surrounding city center before checking into our hotel which was, conveniently, only about a block or two away from the Dom and the train station. Funny story: We definitely booked a "double" room, but apparently here that means "two rooms joined by a bathroom, each with a single bed" yea.... so... that was fun! We'll be double checking our hotels for the rest of our trips, ha! But that was really the only snag the whole weekend, so my vote? Success.
We spent the rest of Day 1 (Saturday, August 13th) exploring a few random sights all over the city including the ruins of St. Kolumba, a church that was bombed during WWII. It's significant because amidst all of the destruction, a statue of Mary holding baby Jesus (called "The Madonna") was found completely intact, and they built a new church around the statue.
On a lighter note, we then headed to the 4711 House, the home of the Eau de Cologne! Where they actually had a font-like thing (Kinda like a holy water font kind of thing... hah) that you could put your hand under and it smelled pretty nice! Perfect timing really because, you know, after walking around for a whole day... yea, some perfume was welcome :) Then, after some more time spent strolling around the city we decided it was time for a fantastic German dinner. And, man, was it EVER!
Beer, Bratwurst, and fried potatoes! (yea, the gym membership was a good idea) It doesn't get much more German than that! We had heard good things about the Fruh Hofbrauhaus (the restaurant), and it didn't disappoint! We ended our evening with a walk along the Rhein River (one of the longest rivers in Europe, but we didn't walk that far...) The weather was perfect, and even though I didn't think it was possible, the city is even more beautiful at night!
Our second day (Sunday) in Koln began quite epic-ly with Mass at the Dom! It was an excellent test of both our knowledge of the Mass and of my German language abilities. It was completely in German with some of the music in Latin, so most of the homily was lost on us. But I was actually able to pick out bits and pieces which gave me at least a general idea (which I relayed to Jason after the mass, haha!). I can't even begin to describe what it felt like to attend Mass in such an incredible place. So, even though we didn't understand much, some things just transcend language.
The rest of the day included stumbling upon a great little festival happening along the Rhein, a visit to the Schokoladen Museum (Chocolate Museum) where I found the perfect birthday present for Mom, and then our "Blind Date" at the "Unsicht-bar" (unsichtbar = invisible in German, so it's a play on words. Silly Germans) Everyone said it was something we had to try if we went to Cologne, and we were glad we did! I have to admit, it was a little unsettling at first. We picked our food in the lobby, but even the food choices were kind of like riddles, so you didn't know exactly what you'd be eating. We only knew if it would be Chicken, Lamb, Fish, or Vegetable. (I went with the Lamb menu and Jason had the Chicken) Then we met our waiter, Felice, who was very nice and very used to my slight apprehension. He was visually impaired, as are all the waiters at the restaurant, so it's actually easier for them to navigate the dark restaurant than it would be for us. Then he took us into a small room, turned down the lights, and lead us into the restaurant! The funniest part to me was that it just sounded like a normal restaurant! I guess I was expecting people to be quiet, or something, but it was just as hopping as any other place would be, filled with people who had already grown accustomed to their lack of vision! The food was delicious, but the hardest part of eating was knowing how much you had left on your plate so, I can admit, I used my hands for the majority of our 4-course meal! It really was quite the experience, and I'm really glad we did it!
Day 3 (Monday, Feast of the Assumption) began beautifully with a rosary in the church of St. Maria Himmelfahrt (St. Mary of the Assumption) which was practically right outside of our hotel. That was the best part about Cologne, everything we wanted to see and do was within walking distance, and from our (little) travel experience, it makes a big difference stress-wise! The outside of the church pales in comparison to the structure of the Dom, but the inside was just as gorgeous as I have come to expect from European churches. They'd had Eucharistic adoration that morning, so the entire church smelled of incense and gave the altar a beautiful kind of glow as the early morning sun shone in through the stained glass. And, strange though it may seem, it was probably one of the most memorable parts of the trip for us. It was just so peaceful and beautiful, and it's always amazing getting the chance for some intense prayer time with my husband :) Basically, perfect way to start our last day in Cologne!
Then we crossed the Hohenzollern bridge and headed for a little stroll through the gorgeous Rheinpark. It had sprinkled on and off the previous two days we were there, but today was all sunshine! The park was filled with lush gardens, a sandy beach area on the shore of the Rhein, and plenty of play areas for children. Sunshine, flowers, and childrens' laughter? Yes, please. We eventually reached the Kölner Seilbahn, a suspended cable car that takes it's passengers across the Rhein River. It's actually the only cable car in Germany that crosses a river. I was slightly apprehensive about this at first, but the promise of the most expansive city view quickly won me over. And it was great! We only took the one-way trip, and I was surprised that it only took about 5 minutes to get us across the river. And, yes, the view was definitely worth it.
And then, because we're crazy, we decided to walk back to the city center and climb the south tower of the Dom. All 533 steps of the tower. Phew! It was quite the jaunt, but there were a few well-placed pit stops along the way that kept our hamstrings from completely seizing. It was pretty crowded with people when we went, which made it a little more difficult, seeing as how the whole staircase was about 2 feet wide! The view from the top was, of course, gorgeous. As was the breeze! The staircase was so tiny and winding that it was almost harder going down than up because I started to get a bit dizzy! It was also a lot less crowed on the way down which made the whole jaunt down a lot more pleasant in general.
Finally, we decided the last thing we should do in Cologne was to head back to the Hohenzoller Bridge and put a Love Lock of our own on the bridge and throw away the key (into the Rhein!) So we did! We found a little shop that sold these cute red locks, asked them if we could borrow a permanent marker, and wrote our names and wedding date on it. We ended up finding a great place to lock it, and tried to take plenty of pictures of the location just in case we (or our children, or their children) ever want to go back and find it some day! The bridge was pretty crowded with everyone admiring the different ways people chose to "lock" their love. But in that moment, especially after we through our key off the bridge and into the Rhein, it definitely felt like we were the only two people on the bridge. Yes, we really are that romantic and cheesy. Jason also insists I tell this part of the story: During this wonderfully romantic moment we were having on the bridge, Jason leaned in to give me a kiss on the cheek. Simultaneously, a pigeon flew out from under the bridge and directly toward my head. Having the fantastic reflexes that I do (sarcasm), I jerked my head out of the way and, subsequently, ended up colliding with Jason's nose. Lessons: Romance can leave you with a sore nose, and pigeons are not fans of PDA.
Overall, Cologne beyond exceeded our expectations and has become my favorite place in Europe! (That list is a short one, mind you) It wasn't just a sight-seeing trip, but really an experience for us newlyweds. We could feel our love and our relationship growing, and we're so thankful to God for giving us all of these beautiful opportunities! We have a few smaller trips coming up, but our next big blog will probably be about our week-long trip to Italy at the end of September. Currently, we're entertaining our wonderful guest, Miss Ashley Sprangers, who arrived yesterday amidst the only thunderstorm we've seen since we've been here! (Apparently they're pretty rare here) I'm sure I'll have a post or two about our crazy adventures together around Belgium and the surrounding countries, so keep checking back!
As always, check out our facebook album of Cologne for more pictures from this amazing trip!
So much love to you all!
-The Newlyweds
