01 February 2011

Köln, Deutschland! (28-30/01/11)

Or, in English: Cologne, Germany. Margaret and I ventured to continental Europe for the first time this year. We looked at cheap flights available through easyjet and decided on Germany. Margaret was relying on my not-so-great German skills, but we got by all right. 
I loved this sign. It says: "Walking/Going on the ice is forbidden! MORTAL DANGER"

the Rhine (Rhein auf Deutsch)

Schokoladenmuseum--the Chocolate Museum

Rhein

Hohestraße - a shopping street. Unfortunately, we discovered that NOTHING is open on Sundays...

Dunkin! They didn't have iced coffee....we were bummed.

the huge Cologne Cathedral (Kölner Dom auf Deutsch)

ich mit dem Kölnen Dom

We climbed up one of the towers of the cathedral--500 steps up a spiral staircase!!


"We were here on 30.6.2005"

Haha. "Kaputt" is the actual German word for "broken." (This is was near the top of the tower.)

From the top of the tower. The Rhine.


Graffiti on the cathedral.

The staircase up to the top.

In front of the cathedral were a lot of street performers, including this guy dressed up as a horse who upset this poor little dog. 

This guy was our favorite. He barked at people, pretended to bathe himself, wagged his tag when people talked to him, and generally made everyone laugh.

Inside the cathedral.


One of the stained glass windows had an amazing effect on the walls inside the cathedral.

the moderny stained-glass window

Creeping on a German couple.

On one of the bridges over the Rhine are loads of padlocks. Couples (either lovers or really good friends) put a lock on the bridge and then throw the key into the Rhine. It was really beautiful to see. We saw two couples actually adding their padlock to the bridge.



May you stay forever young...

A sculpture sticking out of the middle of the bridge.

On the opposite side of the river is a viewing tower. We went up and got great views over Cologne.



Sunset.

This was our favorite lock. It says: Wherever you go, I want to go too; where you stay, there I will also stay! (or something to that effect)

My sunshine and my heart.


"In eternal Love"


We walked back on the other side of the bridge, where there were considerably more locks.

Margaret interpreted this as "Some people's love is bigger than others." I interpreted it as "Some people need a bigger lock to hold their love together." Does that make me a cynic? 

A guy busking...with a grand piano.


Kölner Dom at night.

Hauptbahnhof--the central train station

the cathedral

Museum Ludwig - a great art museum with a lot of German expressionism/Picasso/etc.

a dog wearing sunglasses

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