I took a weekend trip to Cologne (Köln in German, pronounced kinda like "kooln") with a group of five friends from the dorm. It was my first train expedition in Germany (apart from the trip from the airport, which was an experience in itself) and I don't think I fully realize that I was actually on a train in a foreign country until we got rolling. I honestly loved it. I feel like it it such a practical way of regional travel. I don't see why it is so hard to implement a system like this in the states, but I digress. On to Cologne.
The minute we stepped out of the train station, we were hit with the sight of the Cologne Dom. A towering double-spired gothic cathedral that has turned black with time. It was a shock to see it just right there, across a large square full of pigeons and groups of people taking photos. It was a relatively chilly day and the sky was a flat grey color, which gave the Dom a foreboding yet still awe-inspiring feeling. We went to go find our hostel, and then headed back to the Dom.
Once inside, I realized that I had seen this cathedral before in my art history 151 class. There's a special stained glass window there that basically looks like it is comprised of pixels. The sun shone through a brief break in the clouds and streamed directly in through the window, casting splotches of color across the altar and pulpit. I've been in a couple cathedrals before, but nothing as big as this one. It seemed absolutely cavernous. I guess the Cologne Cathedral is known for it's verticality. So many vertical lines drew your eyes to the ceiling, which, despite being rather plain still had an etherial quality. Even with a ton of other people in there (and I mean a ton) you still felt strangely isolated. Everything seemed to draw you upwards, almost to the point where you get this floaty feeling in your stomach.
I guess that's what Gothic architecture is supposed to do to you though, make you feel like somewhere up there at the top of all those enormous arches and pillars is heaven or something. In terms of the architecture, it definitely made me appreciate what I had learned in my art history classes. I can remember being so interested in Gothic architecture when we would discuss it in class, which initially really surprised me because it sometimes comes across as being over the top. However, seeing it for myself was a different story. Gothic architecture seems to have a sense of rhythm with such elements as repetition, symmetry, triangulation, etc. And it's all there for a reason, in one way or another. Stepping into that cathedral really made me get it and really help me to wrap my mind around the incredible fact that actual human beings built such an incredibly enormous and ornate monument without modern machinery (the cathedral took 600+ years to build from 1248 to 1880), essentially all to achieve a sacred etherial feeling.
Wow, tangent there. Anyways, our time at the Dom ended the next morning when we decided to make the 519 step climb up the southern bell tower. Doesn't seem that bad, right? Oh yeah, we were all horribly hungover. Once up top, I had more chances to get all flustered at the sight of huge ornate Gothic arches, see some really big bells, take in the 360º view of Cologne, play with some pigeons, and be disappointed at the fact that almost every inch of open stone was covered in tourist graffiti. We then went down the 519 stairs (again, while hungover), waited for our legs to stop shaking and our vertigo to subside, and then trekked to the EL-DE Museum, because really, what better way to spend your hangover than standing for two hours in an old Nazi prison?
The EL-DE House, as I'll call it, was Cologne's Gestapo (Nazi secret police) headquarters before and during WWII. In the basement was a semi-secret prison where anti-nazi prisoners were kept, interrogated, and executed. It's now a museum where you can look into each concrete prison cell behind a pane of glass. On the wall they have stories about some of the prisoners, most of which were young communists from France, Russia, Holland, and Germany. The walls were covered in the inmate's handwriting and drawings. There were notes of defiance against the Third Reich, love poems to girlfriends, boyfriends and families, and haunting last words from people who knew they were about to be executed. Upstairs was an extensive exhibit that basically followed a timeline of Nazi Germany from it's inception to it's downfall. Considering the fact that half of it was without english subtitles, I found that I more or less understood what it was all about. And, as I have a habit of obtaining as much useless knowledge as humanly possible (thanks, Dad, for that gene) I found that I was able to ignore my shaking legs, my feverish disposition, and my need to pee and enjoy the exhibit (I use "enjoy" here for lack of a better term, as it is a Nazi prison, after all).
After the EL-DE House, I wanted to go shopping, as I had spied an H&M Men's the previous day. However, I was overruled by a vote of five to one (humph) in favor of a cable car trip across the Rhine River. I reluctantly gave in and we made our way across the northern part of the city to the cable cars. On our way there, my attitude about the city of Cologne seemed to change. Once we crossed though the old medieval city gate, everything seemed much less touristy and a little more real. Long parkways lined with towering townhouses in Baroque style, tree-lined pathways in the middle of cobblestone avenues, little boutiques, little cafés, little cars, little kids. This was the Cologne where people lived their lives and it all just seemed kinda…..perfect.
We eventually found our way back to the rhine and to the cable car, which costs 6€ with student ID. Once we got up in the cars and over the river, the whole city of Cologne was laid out before us in a panorama. The grey cloudy sky had started to break up a little, and sunbeams shone through. Shipping barges went up and down the river, carrying things like coal or rock, something I'd imagine you really only see on the Mississippi in the states. It was all really a pretty spectacular sight.
As the cable car began it's descent, I was met with another pleasant view: an immense park with some of the greenest grass I had ever seen. Literally, this grass was almost like someone had dyed it. It contrasted so much with the grey clouds and the leafless trees that I didn't believe it was real at first. It just looked so lush and picturesque and it was honestly very unexpected as we had no way of telling what was on the other side of the Rhine. We were briefly distracted by some naked people directly below us at some swimming pool/sauna club thing (I guess the Germans are known for bein' down with the nudeness), but we soon landed and eagerly hopped out of the cars down to the park.
We took time to really admire the many fields of daffodils that were everywhere, and Cat stuck true to her animal-loving ways and followed a pair of ducks around for about 20 minutes. We crossed the huge expanse of lush green grass to go sit on the Rhine's pebbled beach, where the sun decided to come out in full force for a few minutes and we basked in it's warmth as well as the glittering views of the Rhine and Dom's double spires rising in the distance. We then decided to head back across the river to find someplace to eat and then take a much needed nap before going out for the night.
We did some other things while in Cologne, but this pretty much sums up the big important points. We did visit the Chocolate museum, that I forgot about when beginning this entry. The fact that I forgot about it should tell you all you need to know (Also, I have a sneaky suspicion that Oompa Loompas are based on an extremely and stereotypically racist character).
There was also a whole different side to Cologne that I dare not include here because my Mother will be reading this, and I would hate for her to get the impression that all her son is doing here is drinking and making friends with random German soldiers who bought him drinks the whole night because he's American and insisted that he go out with them after everyone else he came to Cologne with went back to the hostel 2 hours ago and then wouldn't let him pay for his own Taxi ride back home. Yeah. I mean, everything is documented on Facebook anyways, though, right? So if you must know, go there.
So, Cologne in four words: Catholics know what's what.
Next trip: Paris, France.
Tschüss!
