Blogs from North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, Europe - page 28

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Europe » Germany » North Rhine-Westphalia » Cologne August 6th 2010

So the Rhineland.... absolutely gorgeous. The train I took today from Mainz to Köln follows the Rhine and it was nearly impossible to stop staring out the window. Honestly. I tried to start writing this entry on the train, but had to put down the iPhone. I was too afraid that I'd miss a castle or a chateau on the river bank, or miss seeing a small town with an amazing church.... or the vineyards that seem cut into the rock on the hills lining the river valley. I think this is probably the Germany of my imagination, and that's part of the reason I'm loving it so much. I had decided to head to Köln for the day today. I had no real plan other than to see the cathedral there, as I was in ... read more
Shrine of the three magi
West end

Europe » Germany » North Rhine-Westphalia » Bonn July 25th 2010

I am currently on my way back home from Bonn, where I spent a weekend with my friends Simone, Katrin, Anke, and Tom. On Friday, I was invited to my former employer’s summer party in Bonn. The party started off in the afternoon in the garden of the villa the company is based in. Some of my former colleagues still work with that company, but my friend Simone, for example, started working with a company that is based not far from Frankfurt, so she came all the way from there to attend the party. It was good to see my friends and former colleagues, and of course there were a lot of stories to tell. There was a great buffet, and a saxophone quartet played for us. Very nice. Some of us ended up in the ... read more
Simone & Tom
Simone & Katha

Europe » Germany » North Rhine-Westphalia July 25th 2010

Toilet water, Rhine water, holy water. Köln is a diverse city, and old city, a city of contrasts. Media capital of Germany, yet still dominated by the huge cathedral and graced with Romanesque churches. Köln is the media capital of Germany, and hosts numerous international trade shows annually, all of which came about as a result of the reconstruction after World War II. The city was subject to intense bombing, and by the end of the war the population was reduced by about 95%, and the central city was largely in rubble. The Cathedral was not totally spared, as is falsely claimed by the Lonely Planet guidebook, but did suffer relatively little damage. Good luck? Divine intervention? Deliberately spared to be used as a landmark for future bombing missions? The truth is unknown. Following the war ... read more
Cologne Cathedral gargoyles
Reliquary of the Three Magi
Glockengasse 4711

Europe » Germany » North Rhine-Westphalia » Neuss July 24th 2010

Und today ve vere und Germany! Jahhh. That was German, Nigel-style! Well, today was one of our most fun days so far! We had planned on going to Dusseldorf but at the last minute (actually, around 8am this morning) we reconsidered and found a nearby smaller city called Neuss (pronounced Noice). It was quite noice! sorry about that one... Rather than picking an attraction, we chose a city on the Rhein and decided to play it by ear! We found parking and then found a visitor's centre and got a map. We then just wandered around to see what we could see which turned out to be a lot! The city centre had a ton of history including ancient Roman battlements from 16 B.C. The city is over 2000 years old - amazing. Then it was ... read more
Old steam engine
Mmmm, Alt bier
Mini Steam locomotive

Europe » Germany » North Rhine-Westphalia » Aachen July 2nd 2010

Aachen was the city to explore on today’s schedule, with the cathedral as the target and getting a haircut also on the to-do list. I have no pictures of the haircut, but lots of cathedral pictures! First was the haircut. My professor recommended the place, and since I needed a haircut, I went to go check it out. While my hair is rather shorter than I am used to now, it is certainly neater than it was before, and already feels better with less hair in the heat today. Next was getting the cathedral, which was amazingly simple and fast. The cathedral was amazing, but the experience of visiting it was kind of disappointing, as you will shortly figure out. The site itself is a World Heritage site, which gives you some idea of its importance, ... read more
Outside of cathedral
Inside
Side corridors

Europe » Germany » North Rhine-Westphalia » Cologne July 1st 2010

Today I went to Cologne (or Köln as everyone over here seems to spell it) and saw the cathedral, the Roman Museum, and a Lego store. For Jacob, the highlight would probably be the Lego store, but the cathedral was probably the most stunning one I have seen so far. Everything at the Lego store was in German anyway. If one left the ceilings out of it, the outside of the cathedral would be more interesting than the inside. I walked around the building several times just looking at the incredible stonework done the entire height and length of the building. Once inside, the tombs and everything were interesting, but the soaring ceiling was the most awesome thing about the place. There evidently were some reliquaries there that I probably took pictures of, but there was ... read more
Above one of the doors outside
Inside the cathedral
The cathedral organ

Europe » Germany » North Rhine-Westphalia » Cologne June 26th 2010

I am so glad I decided to stay another day in Köln with Katja, I got pretty drunk last night and ended up sleeping in until 11 am. It was a very relaxed morning as we slowly got got ready for the BBQ. we set out with our bags full of everything we would need for the day. Katja had found this special spot right in the river side and under and big tree for shade, it was perfect. I´m not sure if we can do whar we there back in Canada. She had a little charcoal BBQ, we had three blankets set up on the ground, she lit the BBQ and we waited for the meat to show up. Her friend got there which I do not remember her name. She brought the meat with ... read more
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Europe » Germany » North Rhine-Westphalia » Dusseldorf June 25th 2010

The weather here in Europe has been amazing. Every country and city I go to the locals keep talking about how lucky I am for getting such good weather while I am here. I guess it can still get crappy and cold during this time which is normal anywhere. Today was an especially nice day very hot but enought that I can handle it. I set out this morning to hunt down the chocolate muesum. It was not that far of a walk, I just need to cross this huge bridge and wala I was there. The muesum was kind of neat, they take you through the whole process from how the get to cocoa nuts out of the trees all the way to how they ship it. The next room was the Lindt room where ... read more
This was outside the Olympic Musem
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Europe » Germany » North Rhine-Westphalia » Cologne June 24th 2010

Having a slight homesick day. I though being alone would be easier then is has been, it seems I repel people and that sucks. I got on the wrong train today, it was going to the write place but I need a reservation for it. The lady was really nice and gave me two choices: Get off at the next stop and get on another train or buy a ticket which would have been €50. I of course got off in Leige, Belgium. I had a hour wait before my next train came so a grabbed a sandwich and sat on some steps and waited. I was weird hearing french in Belgium but that is what they speak in parts of Belgium. I finally got on the right train so I took my seat in first ... read more
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Europe » Germany » North Rhine-Westphalia » Aachen June 16th 2010

Strom ist doch immer gleich. Zumindest gleich teuer. Oder etwa nicht? Stromvergleich lohnt sich auf jeden Fall, wenn man nicht grade Krösus ist. Sonst kann es nämlich passieren, dass man für Strom mehr bezahlt als nötig. Von daher sollte man sich die Zeit nehmen, sich verschiedene Stromanbieter und ihre Tarife genau anzusehen und dann zu entscheiden, was das günstigste ist. Wer viele Geräte im Betrieb oder vielleicht sogar im Dauerbetrieb hat, ist sicher mit einem speziellen Tarif für Vielnutzer besser bedient als mit einem Standard Tarif von Vattenfall. Wenn man also feststellt, dass man zu viel bezahlt, sollte man über einen Stromanbieterwechsel nachdenken. Bei den meisten Anbietern kann man heutzutage bereits ganz einfach o... read more




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