Euro Trip: Germany, Part 3; Koln/Cologne

Germany Part 3: Koln, Germany

When we woke up the next morning after practically being in a coma, I felt so gross. I basically ran to the shower so I could wash off a full day of travel. We made the mistake of showering during quiet hours. Oops. Hopefully we didn't wake anyone up! We didn't get any complaints so I guess that's a good sign.

Getting ready in our small room was kind of a challenge. Our backpacks took up most of the floor space. Parker and I kept smacking elbows and saying "excuse me" or "Oh sorry!" so many times it was comical. I reminded myself again, it's not about the size of the room since we weren't in it that long. After finally getting ourselves together, we went upstairs for breakfast. I had two pieces of toast and a cup of green tea. Yum! 

We then made our way to the train station so we could figure out how to go to Koln/Cologne. The flight attendant suggested we went there to see the world's oldest cathedral. After asking for help a few times (Dumb Americans, again) because we couldn't figure out what to do or where to go, we started to get the hang of it. We had a short ride to Koln and before I knew it, we had arrived! I was looking for a tourist office to see if we could get a map of the city to find the cathedral but figured we could find one right outside. 

Well, we found the cathedral. It was literally right outside of the train station. And it was the biggest thing I have ever seen. I mean this thing is huge. And old. Duh. When we walked out it must have been the top of the hour because the music was playing and it couldn't have been better timing. It was so cool! I took so many pictures on the camera, which you will not see, but that story will come later. 

This is only half of the cathedral The quality of the picture isn't so great so it doesn't capture everything :(

Anyways, Parker and I walked around the cathedral which took some time since we stopped and looked at all of the details. It was absolutely insane how much time and work must have been put into it. It was breathtakingly beautiful! We then found a little shopping area and decided to stroll around...with our 30 lb backpacks on, haha. We decided instead of eating at a restaurant, we would save money and buy lunch at a grocery store. We had bread and prosciutto and sat on bench inside and probably looked like hippies/broke travelers. But we didn't care. We were so hungry at that point that we would have sat on the ground. 

We went back outside and I got gelato. It was a strawberry and raspberry mix, so yummy! And it had little chunks of strawberries in it. It was the perfect dessert to eat while strolling around and looking at shops. 

We went back to the cathedral and sat down and people watched while I ate my gelato. Once again, everyone was so happy. We walked some more and watched some teenagers sing and perform outside of the cathedral. They sang a lot of popular American songs so I would sing along or hum. But quietly so I didn't scare away all of their "fans". 

After more walking and exploring, we decided to go into the cathedral. It looked huge on the outside, but was even bigger on the inside! And so pretty. It smelled of burning candles and there was a constant hum with all of the people inside. We walked around it and then sat down and people watched again. I love people watching. We also took in the cathedral. I was just speechless with all of the detail put into it. There wasn't a single inch that was plain; everything had added details. 

We decided to take the treasury tour and ascend the bell tower. They had so many gifts from royal families from all over the world. Many of the items dated back before the 1500s. And they were in perfect condition. I have never seen so much gold and silver in one place. Then it was time to go up the tower!!

The stair case was very skinny and made of stone. There was 537 steps. I know this because the man warned us before we bought our ticket to go up, haha. I was excited, Parker was nervous because he is afraid of heights. But we did it anyways and it was a tight squeeze. We didn't get too far and Parker was already commenting that he didn't like it. The staircase wasn't meant for two way traffic, but that was the case when we were climbing the stairs. After a lot of huffing and puffing, we made it up to the bells. The cathedral either has the oldest working bell or the largest working bell, I don't quite remember. Either way it was a big old bell in the middle. But it is only used for special occasions. 

Parker didn't want to go all the way to the top so he stayed down while I continued up the stairs. It was another winding stone stair case then I thought I made it. Well, I was wrong. You had to walk into the center of a room and climb a normal staircase that was made out of metal. Then climb the smalled iron staircase I have ever seen. I noticed my hands began to shake because I saw just how high I was. Let's just say I could barely see any people because they were so small. I just kept looking out towards the horizon which was beautiful!

Once I made it to the top, I took a lot of pictures and headed down because it was cold and windy and I was getting a little nervous. On my way down, the bells started to ring and I laughed to myself because I knew Parker was down there and probably was not happy about it. Sure enough, I got down there once they finished and he said "Lets go back down since I'm deaf now" haha. They were really loud! But I was bummed I couldn't witness it. But I guess you can't say you were in a bell tower, ABOVE the bells when they rang very often. 

We then decided to head back to Dusseldorf. We were taking a night train to Munich, so we weren't really in a hurry. Again, we couldn't figure out the trains. We felt so silly. We did however meet a really nice German man that was in his 20s and helped us out. We ended up talking to him on our whole train ride and he was so nice! And very well spoken. He worked for Bayer and travels every year. It would be great to see him again! 

Once we got back to Dusseldorf, it was dinner time. We strolled the train station and decided to sit in Starbucks for a little so we could get wifi and connect with the world again. We sat in Starbucks for hours. It was nice to relax since we were on our feet carrying our packs all day. I had blisters the size of China and I was convinced my pinkie toes were falling off if they had not already. But it was totally worth it. 

After Starbucks announced they were closing, we still had time to kill. Our train was not until after 11pm so we strolled the train station again. We could tell you all of the places there are to eat at. If I remember correctly, we had another bratwurst, haha! I also bought M&Ms and a beer for the train. The M&Ms were kind of like malt balls since the chocolate wasn't as sweet as they normally are. But they were tasty!

After waiting for hours, the train came and we got on, ready to sleep and wake up in Munich! 

Cheers to Germany!