Trip to Cologne

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Today our group got up at the crack of dawn to go to Cologne or "Köln." It is one of the largest cities in Germany and definitely one of the oldest. We had to take a 3 hour train ride to get there. During World War II it was bombed very badly and the only left in standing is this massive cathedral! It is a pretty amazing and LARGE building. We climbed to the very top which is something like 500 steps! It was quite the hike to the top, but totally worth it! Once at the top I could see the entire city which is located on the Rhine River. After that we went to this very German Brewery called the Colner Hofbrau which is famous for their Kolsch beer. Still not a big fan of beer, but it wasn't too painful to drink..after eating our next stop was the chocolate museum! The museum itself wasn't that great, but the chocolate was absolutely delicious!! I saw the history of chocolate as well as a "behind the scences" tour of the machines and factory work! I did get yelled at by one of the large German workers who saw me push the big red button that controls the production of the chocolate on the conveyer belt. Ooops! I was very impressed with Cologne! It is such a unique city full of history!

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Photos

Train Ride
On the train to Cologne at 6 am!!!

Blue Man
This is a statue man that was standing outside the Cathedral

Jump!
Some of our group Jumping in front of the Cathedral

Top View
A view from the top of the Cathedral..you can see the river from this photo.

German Chocolate lady
The lady that got mad at me for going back for seconds on the chocolate samples! They were good..

hmmmm
A few from our group being silly