Cologne, Dusseldorf, Lennestadt, Martin

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Our next stop on the trip through Germany was to the town of Lennestadt to see my friend Martin. He was an exchange student in Harvard during my senior year and we became good friends. He and I played a lot of table tennis together and even won gold medals as doubles partners at the Cornhusker State Games. I last saw him two years ago when I was in the Czech Republic and we met in Prague.
As we drove towards Lennestadt, we made an unexpected, but very interesting stop. I noticed that Frankenstein castle was only 4km off of the road, so we made a quick exit and went to see for ourselves. The castle is thought to be the one that inspired Mary Shelley to write her novel. It was quite strange that although the castle gates were open, there was nobody to be found. We walked all through the castle without paying a fee or seeing anyone. In a way I suppose it made the visit more interesting. On our way North from Stuttgart, the weather became worse and worse until we were driving through rain and 50 degree weather. By the time we reached Martin's house it was very cold. We had a nice dinner however which made up for the weather.
We spent our day with Martin first in Cologne, where we visited the famous Cologne Dome church, which was really an amazing site. The church is one of the largest in the world and at one time was the tallest structure in the world. Additionally, it contains some very significant relics, including those of the Magi.
We next walked through the town for lunch, which was at the Fruh brewery, home to one of the best brands of Kolsch beer, which is native to Cologne. The lunch was one of the best meals I had in Germany.
After an afternoon in Cologne, we drove to Dusseldorf, which is where Martin recently got a new job. Dusseldorf is a nice city which is much less touristy than Cologne, but just as nice. As opposed to Kolsch beer in Cologne, Dusseldorf is the home of Alt beer, which is simliar though to although darker than Kolsch. We walked up the Dusseldort radio tower for a great view of the city before walking downtown to some of the more famous streets and the old town of Dusseldorf.
Our visit to Martin was very nice and it was great to catch up with one of my old friends.

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Photos

Frankenstein Castle Stairs
Me coming down from the castle tower.

Frankenstein Castle
The ruins of Frankenstein castle, which we explored.

Outside Frankenstein Castle
The castle was likely the inspiration for Mary Shelley's book.

Cologne Cathedral
Sylvia and I outside the cathedral, one of the largest churches in the world.

Cologne Lunch
This lunch was incredible. Saurkraut with potatoes and boiled ham. Also, several good Kolsch beers.

Half Timbering
Most half timbered houses have some sort of religious writing above the doorway. This house had one in German and one in Latin.

Half Timbered House
Another nice example of half timbering.

Cologne Cathedral
At one time, it was tallest building in the world before it was surpassed by the Washington Memorial

Shrine of the Magi
This is the shrine which is said to contain the relics of the Magi (the Three Kings from the bible). It it situated behind the altar.

Inside Cologne Cathedral
The inside of the church is massive and quite beautiful.

Sylvia in the Cathedral Tower
After walking up several hundred stairs, we arrived at the top of one of the cathedral's two spires.

Fruh Brewery
One of the famous Fruh Brewery houses, home to one of Cologne's best Kolsch styles of beer.

Dusseldorf Radio Tower
Sylvia looks across the Rhine river in front of Dusseldorf's famous radio tower.

Radio Tower
I had to lean over the angled glass to take this picture. Its strange to be so high up and yet able to see the bottom of the structure that you are inside.

Dusseldorf
Along one of Dusseldorf's famous streets. This is one of the most expensive shopping streets in Europe. I didn't buy anything.

Martin and I
My friend Martin Wagner who was a very nice host. It was good to see him.

Comments

[Allison]

You went to germany! I hope you are having a great time. It looks like you are. I was also in Cologne when I went last summer but not for very long. IF you went to the Netherlands from Cologne you probably went right by Miriam's house in Munster. ( : I also saw that you wrote on Anita's wall saying that you will be back to Europe twice in the next year. IF so, you should come visit me in Berlin, because I just found out that I was accepted to study there next year from January-July.Well, hope all is well -Allison

[anonymous]

it was a pleasure to have you here! Martin