We went to Cologne (Köln) to visit Eva, Ralph and Angelika’s daughter, and to see the famous cathedral.
Köln is the largest city in this Rhine region, with over one million people. It's also the fourth largest city in Germany. But it is not the capital of this region, Düsseldorf is. It took us about a half-hour to drive there.
Short History:
Cologne was started about 38 AD by the Romans. By the 1400s it was a walled city.
Then Köln was 95% destroyed in the Second World War. Restoration and rebuilding started in 1947 and took until the 1990s to complete.
So now you have a city that is an interesting mix of old and modern, side by side.
Officially, it is a UNESCO site and (surprising to me) the most visited landmark in Germany.
The towers are the second-tallest structures in the city.
But my favorite thing is the real claim to fame for the Köln Cathedral:
“...it holds the remains of the three kings...”
Yup.
Those three kings.
The ones that arrived on camels from the east to visit baby Jesus in the barn on December 29th, in the year 0000.
It gets better.
The relics of the three kings were "given" to the Cologne cathedral by the local Archbishop (better than a bishop, not as good as the pope) in 1164 after they were stolen from Milan.
You know, if your church just happens to have something like a piece of someone famous, it helps you raise money money from the poor illiterate peasants... raise money to build a tall cathedral perhaps? I'm sure the archbishop himself took a vow of poverty.
I guess chasing the tourism dollar, and fleecing the masses is not such a new idea, huh?
Or maybe lay on your back in the crowded square and risk getting stepped on.
I tried using the panorama on my iPhone, but just gave up and walked further back.
There are some good gargoyles across the front, about half-way up, but I didn't see any others hiding higher.
The "roses" that top the spires are massive, and one is down on the square for comparison.
Speaking of beer, Köln’s traditional beer is the Kölsch a top-fermented Pilsner beer, with a straw yellow color and thankfully served cold. We took a stop at a small beer place in a park (A beer-garden? I didn't see any growing...) and the Kölsch was good with a serving of traditional Belgian french fries, crisp and hot.
I have been to the Uerige pub with Ralph, and I like to tease him about the beer.
So I simply looked at him and said, "Ummm! This Kölsch is not like an Uerige!"
We met up with Eva down on the riverfront, by some really cool modern building called the cranes, because they are in the area where the cranes used to unload ships in the harbor. They look sort of like a crane as well. Eva said the one with apartments is where the millionaires live, and one famous football (soccer) star lives there.
As we walked we passed some more older buildings, and remnants of the city wall. There is one spot where the original Roman road is preserved, and you can walk on the real, original paving stones from 2000 years ago.
Eva took us on a walk through the city to some of the more modern neighborhoods, to the local hangouts and away from the tourist area. We went past cafes and stores and parks, and ended up in the Little Belgium neighborhood.
There is a lot of good graffiti and art around, and you can tell the Kölners have a good sense of humor.
We stopped by her flat, which was really modern and uncluttered, with that great interior storage that makes it appear spacious with such clean lines. It was interesting to compare the size and cost with San Francisco (about $900 vs $3000 a month for double the size). We dreamed about what it would be like to spend say a month or two just living in a city like this, for fun.
Anyway it was cool to see her place.
Gail discovered a brass "stumbling stone" like the ones we have seen other places in Europe. They mark the location of Jewish homes or businesses from before the war.
We were lucky: it was a warm day and many people were out, but not so many cars.
More information on Köln is here.