Across and along the River Rhine

Before leaving Cologne, we crossed the railroad bridge to the other side of the Rhine River to get the best views of the city. Take a look at this railroad bridge:

Kinda looks like a glass mosaic, doesn't it?  Or, at least, that was my first impression.  Now, look a little closer...

They're locks!  "Love locks," which I had never heard of, but are apparently a somewhat new but widespread tradition.  How sweet!  If only we had known!

Once across the bridge, Kevin took 75 photos that essentially amounted to this:

And, the previous night, we had also crossed and took the exact same photo, only it was dark:

During the day, while Kevin was taking his 75 pictures of Cologne, I became fascinated with a puppy trying desperately to get his person to play with him, while she was busy texting.  He stopped being as persistent as soon as I got out my camera, of course, but this is still pretty cute:

It was time to move on to Heidelberg, but not before the most exciting part of the trip so far (for Kevin): riding the train!

Waiting excitedly for the train.

We had decided it would be most economical and convenient to get a German Rail Pass.  Luckily, Deutsche Bahn had a promotion that allowed us to splurge for first-class for pretty much the same price as second-class, which came in super-handy with our two-weeks worth of luggage.  Kevin and I could both wax poetic about the convenience of European rail, but I think that's for another post.  

Tracie likes the train, too!

After her experience with German rail this summer, Kevin's cousin had strongly recommended reserving seats on the train (which costs a few euro extra), but we threw caution to the wind and had absolutely no problems (yet).  We were the only two in a first-class compartment for six, and it didn't seem that anyone needed to share with strangers.  Of course, this was a weekday during the (somewhat) low season, so it certainly might be different in the summer.

We took a longer, more scenic route along the Rhine to Heidelberg by making sure to route our trip through Mainz.  This was definitely worth it.  It took about an hour longer, but we passed through several scenic villages and a number of castles atop the hillside.  It was too late in the season for us to do a Rhine castle cruise (they seem to only run through October), but this was a pretty good substitute.

Next stop: Heidelberg!

Chocolate and Kolsch

And, we're back!  Internet was a little tricky in Heidelberg, and Kevin keeps hogging the computer.  :-P  But before we get to Heidelberg, let's finish up Cologne.

We went to the Schokoladenmuseum, which details the history and process making chocolate.  Pretty interesting!  Kevin was fascinated with the mechanical side of it.  At the end of the chocolate-making, they give you a taste from their elaborate chocolate fountain - yum!  We also found a mustard "museum," which was more of just a shop with a bunch of different kinds of mustards - and they weren't even that good, really.

On our way to the Schokoladenmuseum, we finally found "Old Town" Cologne, finally! We had liked modern Cologne well enough, but we always love quaint, historic areas.

Not really a prime example of Old Town architecture as much as attitude. :-)

According to one travel book, the best place to have a Kolsch.

We went to Peter's Brauhaus upon a travel book's recommendation for a Tuesday special on potato pancakes.  However, the book did not tell us that the special didn't start until after 5PM, and we were there at 3PM!  So, we settled for marinated beef, venison stew, and, of course....kolsch.

We came upon the Aldstadt (Old Town) Christmas Market, which we thought had much more charm than the one below the Cathedral.  Kevin finally satiated his desire for potato pancakes, while I tried some currywurst, which was just bratwurst cut up in a spiffy cutting machine and doused in a curry ketchup.  I actually liked it even more than I thought I would!    It might make an appearance at our next Oktoberfest, but I'll probably have to cut it by hand.

Here are some pictures of the charming Aldstadt Christmas Market...

Puppy worn out from the Christmas Market!

There was even a brass choir!

Once we got back towards the Cathedral Market, Kevin wanted to take even more photos of the Cathedral at night, so I left him to that and perused the Cathedral Market a little more.  We had agreed to meet "under the arch at the other side of the market" (my memory).  At the appointed time, I waited under the brightly-lit arch right at the entrance to the Market, and after 5 or so minutes in the cold and wind began cursing Kevin and wondering how long it could possibly take to take more pictures of an object he had already taken at least 50 pictures of.  Turns out, he was waiting under an unlit Roman arch and former city entrance  in the Cathedral courtyard, about 50 yards away.  It's quite reflective of us, really - I assume it's the pretty, bright (and obvious) arch, but Kevin is thinking of the structural arch that is less obvious and more complicated to find.  :-)

I leave you with a festive photo in front of the much more obvious meeting point.

Cologne, Day 2

Today, we toured the Cologne Cathedral.  It took over 600 years to finish construction on the cathedral, from 1248 to 1870, and there are some parts inside that still look like they might not be quite complete.  Talk about slow by little!  I hope Kevin doesn't start comparing his projects to that!

God is in the Cologne Cathedral.

After touring the cathedral and opting NOT to climb 500 steps to the tower (thank you, thank you, thank you!), we had lunch at Früh am Dom, where they make things really simple by serving one type of beer:  Früh Kölsch.  Also by just carrying what is essentially a basket of 0.2 liters around the restaurant and dropping a new one in front of anyone who doesn't have one.  Kevin narrowly avoided ordering pork knuckle, but then wondered if he was missing out.

Kevin loves his baby beer.

The small, not even half-pint 0.2 liter size is supposedly to prevent the beer from getting warm.  Kevin says that, when we get to Munich, they will give us a full liter but expect us to drink it just as fast as the 0.2 liter, so it doesn't get warm. 

Still a little jet-lagged, we headed back to the hotel and took and afternoon nap before heading out to the Cathedral Christmas Market.  We enjoyed our first mugs of glühwein .

Here is one of the more festive-looking stalls inside the Cathedral Market...

I had a bowl of mushrooms from this stand for dinner.  They have a giant griddle, and start at one end with fresh mushrooms, onions, and seasoning.  As it cooks, it gets pushed down to the other end and is served up as deliciousness with a slice of white bread.

Goodnight, Cathedral! Tomorrow, we're going to check out one of the two (yes, two) mustard museums and the chocolate museum!

And We're Back! ...in Germany!

After a several month hiatus, I decided that I couldn't pass up blogging our trip to Germany.

What??? We're in Germany?

Yup!

Kevin and I had been talking awhile about doing some belated honeymoon travel (we only had a "mini-moon" and our friends' wedding cruise - which didn't count.  :-)), and after considering such temperate destinations as New Zealand and Hawaii, we settled on gray, blustery Germany.  Ok, we've only been here a day, so it's not fair to say yet that it's cold and blustery - that might just be today.  But several years ago, I read an AAA article about German Christmas Market cruises, and we agreed it would be nice to do someday.  This fall just felt like "someday" to us, so here we are, touring the Germany Christmas Markets, only by train instead of boat - much less expensive.

Before sunrise this morning, we arrived in Köln (Cologne). Which is not as early as it sounds - the sun was just rising as our train pulled into the Hauptbahnhof at 8:12 AM.  After sleeping for less than 2 hours on the plane, we were so grateful that the nice folks at the Hilton Köln had a room available for us and let us check in at 8:30 AM.  And our room is just so awesome.  Sure, our window peers into the windows of an office building next door, but the room is really spacious, sleek and modern.  Maybe I'll post some pictures tomorrow after our bed is made - we took a four hour nap!

We plan to explore Köln more closely tomorrow (predicted to be sunny and seasonable), but here's a peek at what we previewed today:

I made this gingerbread house on the plane.  My mother-in-law would be so proud.

 This was an awesome little toy store with a special little door for it's young (and young-at-heart!) patrons.

 It's magic inside the Kölner Dom Christmas Market!  And SUPER CROWDED!

The other side of the gothic Kölner Dom looks pretty ominous at night!  Pretty cool picture, though!

Now that it's almost 10PM German time but my body thinks it's 4PM (or does it?), I think I'd better attempt to get it on schedule by getting some sleep!