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| Kölner Dom, 2022 |
Okay, I'll be honest. We went to Cologne because we needed to go to Berlin, and the cost of the flight was so cheap by comparison (including the cross-country train cost) that it only made sense to choose it.
We were heading to Berlin for Pokemon Go Fest 2022. Our original plan was: we fly to Cologne (for €13 each), check in to our hotel - situated right in the train station we would depart from - sleep for 4 hours and then take a 5 hour train ride to Berlin. Yes, we were ambitious.
However, as life does, we woke up the same minute we were meant to be departing on our train. And while I do not know much about public transport in Germany, I knew two solid facts right then: we were not getting that train and we were definitely not getting a refund.
So what could we do except enjoy a wonderful day in Cologne while we waited for the next train!
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With only a few hours to spend in a new city (and the fact we already missed one train), you might be expecting we were hesitant about straying too far from our train station. Like I said, however, we were ambitious. We checked out of our hotel and went out exploring. We didn't need to venture too far at all, as our hotel was right beside the Kölner Dom, a magnificant Gothic cathedral in the centre of the city.
We took some pictures outside Kölner Dom, enjoying the sunshine and the atmosphere outside the building, before heading inside. When we got inside, it was absolutely beautiful. I didn't know that about myself, but I learned that day just how much I love to step into a cathedral and see the architecture inside as well outside of it. It should have been obvious to me considering how much I had previously marvelled at the Sagrada and Saint-Chapelle.
Inside the cathedral, rays of light flooded in through the stained glass closer to the ceiling, and illuminated the ground like a spotlight. I really liked the columns and arches across the ceiling of the cathedral, it was unusual to other cathedrals I had seen at the time and even since then.
In the top corner, closer to the alter area, there is great big organ at a height, blending into the beauty and chaos of the columns, arches and glass windows. It was striking, and beautiful. You can bet I took many photos here, and honestly I would have been the last person to get excited about architecture up to this trip.
After we left the cathedral, we started walking more into the town and found ourselves near a river - the funny thing about this is that we would not have seen the river Rhine unless we had come here. I thought that was cool. We grabbed some drinks and sat, looking out at the water, people-watching and taking in the views of the city, along with the stunning Hohenzollern Bridge that sat above the river in the distance.
A while later, we decided to walk up toward the bridge and see it more up-close. While we turned onto the bridge itself, we noticed it was COMPLETELY covered with locks. The bridge had both a pedestrian part and then part for trains to go by. I was in awe for two reasons here: 1) the volume of locks on this bridge was surreal, I am not exaggerating when I say it was completely covered. It was lovely, considering these locks represented love, whether between friendships or lovers, and 2) I saw a double-desker train crossing right in front of me. WHAT?! A DOUBLE-DESKER TRAIN!!! AHHH
If you haven't noticed by now, there are a lot of 'firsts' left for me, and I really do enjoy the little things in life. I hope this never fades.
To answer some questions you may have:
? Did we leave a lock on the bridge - no we did not. I am a firm believer in leaving no trace, while I will make as many footprints as I can. This world is only mine on loan.
? Did we make our second train - yes. We definitely made our second train. It was a 5 hour trip from Cologne to Berlin, and it was the most comfortable train ride I have ever taken in my life. Would definitely recommend...if taking cross-country trains is something you're into, that is.
One terrible thing that happened during this trip was in the cathedral itself. Shane saw there was a downstairs section into a crypt where previous religious figures have been burried. I decided not to go down as I have a really complicated relationship with death, I'll maybe talk about that another time, however I just stayed in the main part of the cathedral and continued to enjoy the architecture. There were people walking past and the atmosphere was pleasant.
At one point a man walked past me with a child sitting on his shoulders. It's important to understand that the atmosphere was pleasant, still and almost quiet or peaceful, there were murmurs in the background and sounds of people in the distance moving up and down pews, however it was quiet for the most part.
The man walked on by, and he got about 3 meters from me when the child fell background from his shoulder, head-first onto the ground. The 'tud' noise of his head hitting the concrete floor was deafening. It was stomach-churning. The panic that followed was almost as loud as the knock itself, security guards appeared from entrances and people ran to his attention. I don't think I will ever forget that noise, the blaring sound against such as hard surface. My parents always talk about putting children on your shoulders like that, this was a great example of why not to.
Happy thoughts however - Cologne was beautiful and completely by surprise was one of my favourite places to visit during this Travel to 10 coutries goal. 10/10 would recommend.
☐ Travel to 10 countries 🗺️ | 4/10
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