Cologne.

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Cologne.
We arrived at Cologne at the main train station, in downtown. The train ride in was absolutely beautiful. Most of it was right along the banks of the Rhine River, there were castles across the river built into the steep hillside, and where there weren’t castles, there were vineyards going straight up the hill. When we got off the train and out of the station, I walked out of the door and looked straight up to see the most magnificent man made structure I have ever seen in my entire life. The Cologne Dome was built over 500 years ago, and it is more breath taking than any modern building that I’ve ever seen. It towers up above any building in downtown Cologne. Originally, it was an all white building, but pollution has turned it grey/white/bronze over time. More on that later though. We blindly made our way through downtown cologne, looking for our hostel. We came across it after about five minutes and checked in. It was very close to the train station, so that made it very convenient and easy to get around, and let people know where we were. We got our things settled into our room, and called Tim’s friend - Jarred. He plays professional soccer in Germany, and lives just outside the city. Tim knew he would show us a good time. We met up with him at the train station and made our way to a suitcase locker. He had to catch a plane at 4 that morning, so the plan was to party all night, and then take him back to the train station to get his stuff and see him off. He and his team were taking a trip to a place in Spain, that I can best describe as Panama City. He said it was just a party town, made for all day drinking and partying. So we got his luggage situation squared away, and just started walking all over the city. It was early in the afternoon, so we had some time to kill before we went out that night. We walked all over town, and he basically just told us about all the hot spots and what goes down with the Cologne night life. We talked about everything really, from professional soccer, to college football. Everyone here that I have met is interested about life in America, so it makes it very easy to hold a conversation. We went to eat dinner at one of his favorite spots in Koln, and drink some Kolsch. Kolsch is only brewed in or around Koln, and is more or less the only type of beer that they drink. As we sat down Jarred said: “I invite you to dinner.” which means that he’s paying. I just thought that phrase was funny. The waiter brought us our Kolsch, and although no German would ever admit it, I thought it tasted like bud light. I ordered Weiner Schnitzel, fries, and potato salad. It was absolutely delicious, probably the best meal I’ve had the entire trip. We ate, had a few more beers, and left. We continued to walk the streets of Koln until we came to a Mexican cocktail bar. It was one of Jared’s favorite spots as well, so we stopped and ordered a drink. We were basically just waiting for the night to come ... It came with a vengeance. The first spot we went to was a local bar by the river in the old city of Koln. A few of Jared’s teammates were meeting us there along with several locals that he was friends with. When we arrived, the table we walked up to was a wreck. They were outside drinking out of a 10 liter barrel of Kolsch. It was 3 older men in there mid 30’s and they were awesome. Just being loud and having a great time. If they were American, I would have thrown my best compliment out and said they were “good americans” but they were German so I’ll just say they were my kinda dudes. His teammates showed up and we all just hung out and drank out of barrels that were on the tables. One of the guys from Koln was to funny to describe. Its amazing that there is no language barrier in laughter. He was cracking everyone up and I didn’t even know what he was saying. This guys name was Hightower, and the way he acted had me in tears from laughing. I would have to calm down and breath for a minute and ask Tim what he was saying, then I would start laughing again. They were all great guys, and most of them spoke good english so it was easy to fit in and have fun. We stayed there for a pretty long time, then we went to another place. After the other place it was after 3 in the morning so we had to catch another cab and take Jared and his teammates back to the train station. We grabbed some Mcdonalds at the station, and TIm and I sat on the stairs at the base of the Koln Dome and ate Big Macs at 4 in the morning. It was a great first night in the city, and without a doubt the best night I have had so far in Germany. We all really got after it pretty hard. The next morning I fought of the headache and nausea and Tim and I hit the city once again. We went to get breakfast and ate it on a park bench right beside the church (not far from where we crushed the Big Macs about 5 hours earlier) We ate pretzel and water for breakfast and then went inside the church. Words nor pictures justify how breath taking the church was on the inside. towering, arching ceilings, sculptures, enormous stained glass windows, paintings. There was so much detail involved, I could write a book on it. It was amazing. Tim was once again on one of his rants about Catholicism so I decided to light a candle for him in hopes of saving his soul from eternal fire. We sat in there for nearly an hour just looking and walking around. We decided to climb to the top of the tower and check out the view. Bad decision. 506 steps later we made it to the top. We had to climb a spiral staircase all the way up, and it was so tight and cramped that ever I got a little Claustrophobic. Mike Levy would have shit himself, it was shoulders to walls all the way up which made it almost impossible for one way traffic but unfortuanitly there was only on staircase making it up and down. I was sweating straight booze and my legs were dying. However, when we got to the top, it was definitely worth the climb. We looked out over all of Koln, and the Rhine River in awe. It was also really cool, because you could see how much detail was involved in the making of the church even at the very top of it. There were statues tucked away in corners that you could only see from one certain spot of the top. It was very cool. We walked back down and went back into the church to cool off and relax for a while. It would have been very easy to just sit in there the entire day and just look around. I cannot stress enough how beautiful it was. We went back to Station Hostel and took a little nap and then tried to figure out what we were going to do that night. Jared and the boys had all left for their trip so we knew no one in the city. Tim and I ate dinner and then bought some booze and went and sat outside the church to figure out a plan. A few beers/shots later (yeah we were sitting outside the church still, public drinking is allowed here so we had to take advantage) we had devised a plan. The plan - walk around until we find a hoppin bar that looks like fun. We walked for probably an hour, and found an Irish Pub that was pretty crowded and doing Karaoke, so we thought they would be our kinda people. They were! We had a few drinks and ran into an Aussie and one of his german buddies. They were talking with a group of girls so we just slid in, ordered a few pitchers and went with the flow. There was a transvestite on stage pulling off quite possibly the worst performance of karaoke I have ever witnessed in my entire life. I thought it was the funniest damn thing I had ever seen, and you all know Tim and I so naturally we made friends with him/her. It was a really good time at the bar, but eventually we stumbled home at least 2 miles though the city. On the way back we stopped to get some late night grub. Unfortunately, Germany doesn’t do taco bell, so I settled for a turkish Doner(Gyro). A flatbread fold over stuffed with lamb, onions, corn, and a white sauce. All it needed was some Moe’s spicy ranch (which I will crush immediately when I get home) but it was very good. I think anything would have been good at that point though. We ate that in our late night spot, at the base of the dome, and then went home. It was a fantastic two nights in Cologne. Definitely the best city so far, other than Lorrach of course, which I won’t count because it seems like home more so than a tourist trip. Anyways, we definitely did it right for 2 days. Now, we are on a train to Bremen to visit Tim’s brother, Julian. I’m scared. Hopefully, everyone got an idea of how great Koln was, and I will have more on Bremen as soon as possible. Germany is still rockin and Tim and I are both having a great time. Hope all is well in America. Peace.
P & T

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Comments

[Mitzi Rouse]

Sunday update
Looks like you are having so much fun!!We missed you today at Natalie's reception; you would have loved the music. Please keep the blog coming! Its great to hear about all the places you are visiting and people you meet!! Love u!!

[Mark and Penny]

Der Schwartzewelt Ist Gut! Stay Safe!