As of this weekend, my number is officially eight. I’ve been to eight different countries in the world, and I don’t plan on stopping anytime soon!!
I had planned to spend four days in Amsterdam. My plans derailed when we decided to buy train tickets and see what Germany had to offer us! Because I live in London, I have an advantage that I speak the language, while I was in France I was able to get by with the little French I could pick up, but Dutch and German? Not a chance.
We got off of the train and walked to Cologne Cathedral, which was absolutely breathtaking! From 1880 until 1884, it was the tallest sta
nding structure in the world, and toda
y is the tallest building featuring Gothic architecture. It took more than six centuries to complete, but the finished product sure is worth the wait!!
After touring the cathedral we decided it was time for some classic German food! We had bratwurst, sauerkraut, potatoes, beer, and pretzels. Everything was delicious, and the stereotype that Germans only eat meat seems to be true, but I’m not entirely sure how “real” the meat actually was…
After that we toured Imhoff-Schokoladenmuseum, The Cologne Chocolate Museum. We walked through the factory, and although it was far less glamorous than Willy Wonka’s, it was interesting to see how the chocolate was made and we were able to snag a few pieces.
Our sight-seeing continued with the Hohenzollern Bridge, and about a two mile walk to the cable cars only to find out that they were closed that day.
The German people, for the most part, were all lovely and helpful to us, although not many of them spoke English. The only major chaos from this adventure our inability to read German resulting in us nearly missing our trains. There were a lot of protests at the train station the day that we were leaving (unfortunately, due to my rusty German, I really have no clue what they were protesting against). But Germany in my opinion is kind of an odd country. The entire day that I was there, I would say that about a quarter of the people I saw were all dressed up; now when I say dressed up, I don’t mean they looked fancy. I mean they were all in halloween costumes. At the bars, on the streets, getting on the train, everyone as in costumes. I think at that point I probably looked silly for not dressing up myself!
Tip if you plan on going to Cologne, Germany:bring a costume just in case.
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