Globetrotting Airman: 27 Days Meandering Through Europe: Day 3

June 28, 2014 - Berlin, Germany

Good Morning from Cologne, Germany!

I roughly woke up at the same time today as yesterday. Before heading downstairs for breakfast, I prepared to depart the hostel. Before leaving Turkey, the backpack I chosen for the trip was packed specifically just over 50% full before the trip, roughly 40 litres, allowing future acquiring of goods and food. I practiced unpacking and packing the daily necessities with a goal of 10 minutes turnaround time to facilitate quick transit. The only thing I noticed I was missing and my back would suffer a bit for was the lack of a hip belt, somehow I separated that item from the backpack before I left for Turkey. After breakfast, I was ready to check out of the hostel.

Child touching locks on Hohenzollern Bridge "Locking Bridge"

Cologne Central Station

Most hostels in Europe have early check out times, the majority having 10-11 AM check outs. It doesn't allow a lot of time to dillydally with luggage, you have to be prepared to move, most actually prepare the night before for the next day departure. I was outside with everything I had at around 9:30 AM and started heading towards the main train station in Cologne near the cathedral. Luckily, most don't have to lug a heavy backpack everywhere after leaving the hostel. One can either pay a small fee to use a luggage locker at the train stations or slightly dicey proposition of leaving one's luggage in a shared storage room at the hostel, which some don't have. I just ended up using the train station locker for location conveniences sake because I needed to catch the train to Berlin from the station later in the day. I saw easy high-speed train access to Brussels, Paris, and Amsterdam only by traveling for a few hours. Although there were longer connections to Berlin, Copenhagen, Zurich, etc. Cologne is a nice staging city to explore northwestern Europe.

I just walked across the river on the train bridge, taking photography as I slowly crossed. The train station and cathedral area was abuzz with a lot of activity as I strolled inside to drop off my backpack for the day's sightseeing of Cologne. I took a short coffee/research on tablet break in Starbucks before seeing the cathedral and making my way through Old Town.

No wonder it took 632 years, look at the detail of this entry!

Cologne Cathedral, or Dom, is impressive at first glance since it dominates the skyline around it. There are no tall buildings around it so you really can't miss this structure. It's a UNESCO site and also, Germany's most visited landmark. Interestingly, construction started back in 1248 and stopped in 1473. It wasn't restarted until 1832 and finally completed in 1880, that's 632 years of construction! The church hosts relics from the Three Kings and is rightly a popular pilgrimage site for Roman Catholics. Even the general ground plan of the cathedral is laid out in a Latin cross. The interior showcases the height of the cathedral, with tall shafts edging up to a plain quad shaped arrangement on the ceiling. But all these descriptions are much better served by pictures later.

Cologne Cathedral, or Dom, is impressive at first glance since it dominates the skyline around it. There are no tall buildings around it so you really can't miss this structure.

Impressive Cologne Cathedral

Most of the souvenir shops around the Dom also sold postcards of the cathedral in the aftermath of World War II. The Allied bombing campaign literally leveled Cologne into an unrecognizable pulp, except the Dom remained standing. Hell, the cathedral took 14 bombs as collateral damage from the Allies hitting the nearby railway station.

After taking a lot of photographs and soaking in the awe of architecture that is the Cologne Dom, I walked south through Innerstadt, the Old Town. Old Town is packed with restaurants and various stores, but my ending destination was a bit more chocolaty... I was told of this chocolate museum before I left Turkey and all I knew it was south of the cathedral along the banks of the Rhine. It just happened to be ran by Lindt chocolate, the Swiss chocolate company. It was a nice little museum covering the history of chocolate and man, did they sell good chocolate... although it was cheap. I was saving to get the real deal down in Switzerland when the time did come.

Cologne in 1945, the Second World War only the Cathedral survived

By the time I left there, it was early afternoon and I was hungry. I sought out a restaurant in old town to scarf down food that wasn't cold. Unfortunately, most places were pretty crowded so I ate outside under an umbrella as it rained lightly at the time. I ordered some bratwurst. Towards the Starbucks, was this clown making different things with those tube-shaped balloons. There was even a dance off between the clown and a random young tourist. He gave some brilliant balloon toys to passing kids as well. It was good meal waiting entertainment. I was halfway through the meal when the worst thunderstorm ever occurred. Everyone was scattering, including that clown. It was a good, hearty meal, I won't lie as I downed like 4 Stagens.

Priest lighting candles inside the Cathedral

We waited 30 minutes until the rain began to subside, they looked at me with my finished meal and spoke, "What are you waiting for?" I replied as a matter of fact, "Waiting for the same thing you guys are... for it to stop."

Stagen Glass with Fruh Kolsch beer

Before I continue, one thing to note in Cologne, beer is served in small glasses called a "Stagen", of 0.2 litre volume. In this fashion, it serves two purposes, 1) Your beer is always served fresh and cold. and 2) Your waiter will frequently visit your table to give you another glass. Of course, 0.2 litre is ridiculously small you say and you want more! Don't worry! The restaurants in this city have honed this down to a fine art. The waiters are quite fast to give you a new glass of Stagen filled with Kolsch (local beer of Cologne) when you almost finish the one currently working on. Your bill is penciled on your coaster on how many Stagens you drink by your waiter. Sometimes, the waiter just hands you more Stagen without being asked. All of this is just specific to Cologne and Dusseldorf, although in Dusseldorf, the beer is an Alt, not Kolsch. Don't confuse the two since they have a beer rivalry going on. This is Germany, where consuming beer is serious business, even if it's in the smallest serving imaginable.

That ceiling though...

Anyhow, back to the story... I am trapped outside underneath a large umbrella eating a brautwurst with a knife (sorry, this waiter hated the rain and forgot the fork) and the rains is just coming down in sheets. People were scattering for cover and for everyone else trapped under the various umbrellas, the shifting to escape the angle of rain entry began in earnest. In the shifting under the umbrellas, some young Germans happened to shift into my umbrella and table. We waited 30 minutes until the rain began to subside, they looked at me with my finished meal and spoke, "What are you waiting for?" I replied as a matter of fact, "Waiting for the same thing you guys are... for it to stop." They laughed and asked me where I was from, replying the typical "I am from America." The three of them were from Freiburg, Germany, a nice looking town at the western edge of the Black Forest in Southwestern Germany. They grilled me about the World Cup, since the obvious Germany-USA matchup just a couple days fresh. The subject moved onto beer, and I conceded that German beer was fantastic and US beer was so bad, one had to be completely wasted before drinking it. Since it was raining, it reminded me of home and we talked about that for a bit. Typical Seattle weather I stated. I touched on traveling this region of the world so far and how Europe was pretty awesome, but knowing at the same time you know home is awesome as well.

Stained glass, pretty fantastic!

As we reminisced about our respective homes, our conservation ended and bade each other farewell. They walked into the crowds once again and I searched for a cheap umbrella as the rain continued to fall lightly. With all this rain, I called it a day here in Cologne and decided to catch the next train to Berlin. I took a regional train to Hamm to intercept an inbound ICE from Dusseldorf. Through the rain soaked central Germany, I eventually arrived in the capital of Germany around 8 PM.

Highways of track

Berlin Central Station is a multi-leveled maze that I quickly realized that I needed to explore fast before heading to the hostel. After the exploration, I hopped onto the S-bahn to get the next station, Friedrichstrabe, and from there I walked several blocks to the Heart of Gold Hostel. It seems like a good hostel with a nice common room with a lively atmosphere, a big change from the Jugendherberge network. I checked in, laid down my bags and checked out the latest World Cup match being shown in the common room as I downed a few Berliners from the tap. A good mixture of the world was in that room that night, I chatted with before I headed off to bed. French, Americans, Koreans, Chinese, Japanese... together watching the world's game.

Central Germany countryside by train to Berlin

So you might be wondering what I missed in Cologne that I should have seen while I was there but cut short because the dastardly rain ruined it all. If you have the extra time, here's what you should swing by to see.

Augustusburg Palace - Located just southwest of Cologne in Bruhl. A UNESCO site, designed by Balthasar Neumann who refined Baroque architecture. Stroll among the palace grounds and enjoy one the best palaces in Germany.

Interior of Augustusburg Palace

Dusseldorf - Cologne's smaller sister city. It has a heated beer rivalry between each other, proclaiming itself as the largest bar in the world on nights and weekends. There is like 260 bars in a one square kilometer area. Dusseldorf's old town was completely destroyed in World War 2, but they rebuilt it brick by brick to the way it was except for one building. Wait on getting a few glasses of 'Alt' dark beer and enjoy the company of people in Altstadt.

Haribo Factory Store - The world-famous candy company most known for those gut-bombing sugar-free gummy bears has it's headquarters in Bonn, Germany. Entering has a bit of a Charlie In the Chocolate Factory moment to it I've been told.

12 Romanesque Churches - Besides Cologne Cathedral, there are 12 classical churches scattered through Cologne. St. Kunibert, St. Severin, St. Maria Lyskirchen, St. Andreas, St. Aposteln, St. Gereon, St. Ursula, St. Pantaleon, St. Maria im Kapitol, St. Martin, St. George and St. Cäcilien. Some of these churches I know I just happened to cross by close proximity to the Cathedral like St. George.

St. George Church

Claudius Therme - Spa and massage is pretty popular in Cologne, this place is next to the Rhine. Has lots of pools and saunas that are both indoors and outdoors. What makes German saunas special is two-fold: 1) All sauna areas are mixed sexed. 2) Bathing outfits are banned. So that's means nudity, except bringing a robe for when outside of the sauna and a towel to not sweat on the wood. The staff expels gawkers and bath outfit wearing people, so it would have been an interesting experience to say the least.

More Pictures!