Cologne

“Let me photograph you in this light
In case it is the last time” – Adele, When We Were Young

Day Three, we took the ICE train from Berlin to Cologne. In Cologne, we visted the love lock bridge, the Cathedral, the Chocolate Museum and finished the night seeing Adele live in concert!!

High-speed trains are one of my favorite services in Europe. The ICE trains can travel up to 300 km/hr (186 mph) and we traveled 477 kilometers (296 miles) in just four hours with only a handful of stops along the way.  Make sure you are aware of which direction the train will be moving. We accidentally choose seats facing backwards which can make you nauseous if you get motion sickness easily.

Arriving in Cologne was interesting, because the major sites are all so close to the train station. As you pull into the station, you can see all the locks along the bridge, and once you exit the station, the Cathedral is right there. I can get lost even in my hometown, which is why Justin has full navigational duties, so it was nice to know I would have been able to find everything easily on my own.

We stayed at the Hilton Cologne which was very close to the station, so after we checked in, we ventured back out to explore the city. Our first stop was the Cathedral. Since it’s in such a metropolitan area and very large (it is the tallest twin spired church in the world at 515 ft tall), the best location to snap the perfect photo is across the bridge. The posting of the visiting times weren’t clear, so if you can, it’s probably best to go first thing in the morning, after the first services are over as they close the church randomly throughout the day and make the tourists leave. Make sure you don’t miss the Shrine of the Three Kings, which is said to contain the bones of the Three Wise Men.

Cologne Cathedral From Across the Rhine River

Side View of the Cologne Cathedral

Shrine of the Three Kings Inside the Cologne Cathedral

Just outside the front door of the Cathedral were the remains of the Roman North gate which dates back to the 2nd century. This was one of the few entrances into Cologne after the Romans built a wall around the entire city.

Roman North Gate

Next stop was the love lock bridge. Since it’s a well traversed bridge, it is important to be aware of your surroundings when taking photos. We did not leave a lock of our own, which looking back, we regretted. However, we were able to take some good photos.

Love Lock Bridge

Locks on Love Lock Bridge

We took a lunch break, before heading to the Chocolate Museum. Once we arrived, I immediately regretted eating lunch somewhere else. There was a restaurant that served food, as well as a large variety of deserts (not just chocolate) that had a beautiful view of the river and the colorful buildings.

The museum itself was slightly disappointing for the price of the admission. The layout was a bit strange, it seemed to start with the growing of the beans themselves, move towards the creation of chocolate, and then end with the history of chocolate production. It did have stunning views of the river, and an offering of chocolate, served on a wafer from the chocolate fountain. If you’re on a very tight budget, I would skip the museum and have tea and desert in the restaurant instead (although that’s probably pricey as well).

Chocolate Museum

We wondered around the city for awhile, enjoying the weather. It was a cooler day, which was a nice change after the heat in Berlin. Then we parted ways, so that I could take a nap (I had pretty bad cold at this point). Justin spent some time taking photos , including some of the Cathedral from the vantage point across the river.

Later that night we met up again, so that we could go to the Adele concert at the Lanxess Arena. It was similar to concert venues I had been to before, with two very notable exceptions. One, Germans are punctual and it’s awesome. People were already in there seats close to showtime, instead of just starting to make their way. Two, all of the bathrooms are downstairs, which makes them very easy to find.

Adele Concert

Overall, I felt that Justin and I were really under-prepared for this city. We really didn’t have a clear plan in place, and didn’t do much research. We knew we weren’t going to be there very long, so we thought we had plenty planned. However, we did not count on everything being so close.