I realise that I’ve been a bad girl and have not updated since I got back from Germany. But, I still have a lot to say and I’ll try to remember as much as possible! Then I will try to get back onto updating on a regular basis.
Köln— the Furthest North I Got
I was told by many people that I needed to get up to Berlin and Hamburg, and as much as I wanted to, I just didn’t have the funds this time around. But, I did manage to get up to Köln (or Cologne, as most Americans know it) for a week where I got to experience the magic of Lindt chocolate, a BIG church, and behind the scenes primetime television.
Above all, it was a beautiful little city. It definitely felt small, though I have a feeling it’s bigger than Stuttgart.
It is the birthplace of scent for men— and you can even go visit the boutique that first made the stuff. That would’ve been a useless trip for me seeing that I have no sense of smell, but it’s an interesting piece of history… I would’ve thought that cologne was invented by the French! But no, it was the Germans that decided that men should be allowed to smell “pretty” too, so… surprise!
Köln lies on the Rhine River, and is pretty much split by it. I never made it to the East side, but I was told that it was pretty industrial and there wasn’t really that much to see out there. Actually, by the end of the week we made the conclusion that there wasn’t really that much to see anywhere in Köln, but I was happy to be there and to have a relaxing week, regardless.
There were a couple things definitely worth mentioning, though. And overall I liked the city— people were very friendly and I found that the dialect of German that was spoken was the clearest and the easiest for me to understand. In Stuttgart they mumble horrifically and throughout the entire semester I was definitely feeling like my German had come to a standstill until I went to Köln and found that I could understand almost everything! I did learn German!
Here are some of the highlights of the general city:
Looks like God dropped his ice cream cone… That sucks. 
To Finally Complete This Particular Church Could Mean The End of the World
The Kölner Dom is the main attraction in the city, and it’s easy to see why. It’s REALLY big. I mean, I remember seeing the tallest church in the world back in Ulm and thinking… wow, that’s really tall. But this was not only tall, but WIDE. I mean, it’s like a fortress. All in all, a very impressive church. The city likes it so much that you can buy things shaped like it— like a little square plush toy with two pointy rabbit ear-like towers sticking out of one end. I wanted one so badly, but I had no money.
I just like the expression of both the figures in this picture. The shiny gold bishop guy seems to be very concerned about who he lets in.
The church has lots of fun stuff in it, including a crypt that you can walk down into (but is ultimately not that impressive) and a swallow’s nest organ. There were also lots of crypts on the main floor where dead religious people have lain for hundreds of years. My favourite was of one that basically had this castle built around the statue of his body. It was painted and everything! There was another one that had these two little medieval animals at his feet looking up into the air in some sort of terrible fear (oh noes!). The massive front doors, made of solid iron or metal, were also worth mentioning because they were sculpted so nicely.
The other fun fact about the Dom is that there is this conspiracy concerning the construction of the site. Basically, it’s unfinished. The church we see today was first starting to be built in 1248, though it was always a religious site, at least since the Roman empire. Now, 800 years later, it’s still not done. The gist of the conspiracy is, that the day the cathedral is officially finished, is when the world will end. Well, we’ll see about that…
I thought that this particular apparatus looked like some sort of futuristic mechanical spider sitting in this medieval church… Just like in the game Obsidian (whatever happened to that? That was a kick ass game)!
Oh Chocolate, My Ultimate Weakness
Of course, Germany, Switzerland, and Austria are known for their really good chocolate, and of course, when we’re in a place that has a chocolate museum and we’re chocolate fiends, then we have to go. The Lindt chocolate museum (and small factory) is located in Köln, and it’s a pretty nice museum. It sits right on the river and they give you free samples. Definitely a must-do if you’re in Köln.
They showed you how they made all sorts of chocolate goodies, and also showed their football pride. It also of course told about the general history of chocolate, and then the history of German chocolate. This included little nerdy loves of mine such as the packaging histories of many of the chocolate brands that we see today. Many of those companies have been around for a VERY long time, and the logos and packaging take their evolutionary turns. I love seeing how the latest design differs and is similar to the original package that it was put in back in the 1700-1800s!
Here they’re moving little chocolate things from one tray to the next.
Here they’re making those big hollow chocolate things like bunnies, footballs, and bears:
Yum.
Car Flips
The couple that I was staying with were the parents of a friend of mine back in Canada, and their son works on the set of a popular German prime time crime drama. So, we got to go watch some of the stunts get filmed! We were going to watch a gas tanker explode, but the weather sucked so they just flipped cars and made everything crash into each other instead. Oh well. In any case, I think the photos/bad movies off of my little camera will explain it all better:
and some photos to supplement:
It turns out that the stuntwoman in the silver car was actually a grammar school teacher for her day job. Can you imagine being in grade 2 or 3 and seeing your teacher come to school with cuts, bruises, broken bones, and/or black eyes and missing limbs? I mean, it’s really COOL, but it’d also be potentially frightening for the kid!
Anyway, in the end, Köln was definitely worth visiting. I went for beautiful runs through Beethoven lake/park even though it was pouring rain and covered in swans (literally), and I could actually understand what everyone was saying to me in German because they speak much more clearly there than in the south. So, it was a good trip and a much needed week of relaxation (and schokolade).