Coup de Foudre: Köln, Deutschland

Nice little 1 hour train ride through the countryside from Frankfurt to the city of Cologne. The train drops you off at Hohenzollern Bridge. As we crossed the bridge we got a spectacular view of the city with the most notable view of Kolner Dom. This cathedral is massive beyond belief.

Somehow I ended up finding a little hotel right outside of the cathedral. Pretty awesome location. Dropped off our bags right away and off to check out the cathedral. The chapel was decorated with intricate carvings and paintings, stained glass windows taller than multiple floors. Tanner said this was the most amazing cathedral he had ever seen. It was basically impossible to get a picture of us with the whole cathedral in the background, and yet I still continued to try.

Before making the climb to the top of the towers we needed to find lunch. Both of us were starving but found it difficult to find a place to eat. Not a bit of English in site we just picked a place and went for it. Ended up with an onion quiche and frikadeller (similar to a flattened meat ball) on a baguette. At the time of ordering we had no idea what we were getting but we had to eat (whether or not we knew what it was). Though it tasted decent, the black hair I pulled out of the meat made it hard for me to finish it.

To top it off we had been eyeing a sweet pastry and it was time to try it. This "nougat brezel" was a croissant like dough twisted into the shape of a brezel covered in milk & white chocolate then dipped in thinly sliced almonds. Holy smoly! We had at least 3 of those treats.

Hiking 500+ steps up a steep, spiral tower staircase made me winded.
And we paid to do this to our selves...

Worth the hike.

Apparently, German's love H&M. You could look down the stretch of shops and see at least 3 separate stores within a 100 yards of each other. Love H&M but since we have it here (and it's actually a bit cheaper), we tried out other European-only shops. Hello to a little place called Primark (so maybe not "little," it had 3 floors). They had decently priced options but it was when we found the "clearance" section that we decided to join in with the rest of the brown bags. Dresses, shirts, scarves for 2€ - 3€ each. Not too shabby.

Again with the two single beds pushed together. Come on guys, get it together.

Not just in Germany but throughout our stay in Europe, breakfast was a tad bit different. Of course everyone drinks their kaffee (the poor waitress was so confused when we told her we don't drink it). Yeah they have cereal (muesli and chocapic), yogurt, and fruit. What was different was how they eat a whole lot of deli meats and cheeses. I probably had a ham & cheese open faced sandwich every morning. Different but actually very satisfying.

Day 2. Musuem Ludwig houses a collection of modern art including one the largest Picasso collections in Europe. And since we were students, we got a discount. Hooray! There was a few neat exhibits and then a few oddies. Apparently I stepped too close to one of the pieces because a panicked guard started talking really fast to me and motioned to move back. Don't know what he said but I got the hint. I kept my distance. Sorry guy, I just have bad eyes and was trying to get a better view.

The museum is a pretty funky building that sits right next to the cathedral.

Of course we had to visit the Schokoladenmuseum that sits right on the Rhein river. Apparently it is said to be Germany's chocolate capital (and for good reason). As soon as we walked in the doors my tongue could taste the chocolate in the air. The museum shows the history of chocolate up to today's production. Giant chocolate fountain that a cookie is dipped in for you to try. Liquid chocolate. Yes thank you. It brought me back to days of tempering chocolate in Chef Di's class.

These babies. Strawberry cheesecake...took the cake. Ba ha.

During the tour we got to build our own custom chocolate bar. No I did not build one with hemp; they were already pre-made. Sheesh.

I especially enjoyed taking in the sights and smells that Cologne offered. Walking through the cobblestone streets as all the cafe's opened up for the evening, gah! It felt like I was in a movie. The states (especially Utah) don't have very many outside cafe's like that. It's a shame.