Cologne: Romans, Lesbians, Giant Cake, and Tiny Beers

I took a Megabus for 15 euros to Cologne, which may have been the reason I went there in the first place- it was cheap to get there from Brussels and only three hours away. I knew I was going to Brussels for the class trip on Thursday, and I figured, why not make a trip out of it! So I rode sleepily through the Belgian and German countryside and as we approached Cologne I could see the Cathedral in the distance against the sunset.

I had originally planned to find my hostel from the Megabus stop and then go out for the night, maybe try to meet some people in the hostel bar. However it took me an hour of frustratedly figuring out the many different public transportation systems (isn't Germany supposed to be well-designed and user-friendly?) until I got on a subway across the city to Die Wohngemeinschaft and collapsed on a surprisingly comfortable bed. Actually the entire hostel was far nicer than I expected it to be for 20 euros a night, with free towels and coffee and tea and it was incredibly clean. I ended up curling up on my huge bunk bed and eating my Belgian chocolate, at which point I died and went to heaven. I also was ecstatic to find out that the internet worked on the iPod touch that my friend Zee gave me ages ago, which was very helpful while traveling.

Living in luxury

I can't even look at this photo without desperately wanting Belgian chocolate.

Cologne is famous for a few things: the crazy nightlife, Kölsch beer, its Roman history, pre-Lent Carneval, and being the largest city in the west of Germany. But the biggest (literally) and most famous part of Cologne is its Cathedral, the Köln Dom. It was the first thing I did the next morning, walking to the center, which wasn't hard as Cologne is another small city which can be crossed in an hour. While walking I started to realize that it is a lot like Rotterdam in that it is small and unassuming, and it was bombed by the British during World War II, leaving only the Cathedral standing in the rubble. They share the same "ugly", modern, experimental-architecture look of being rebuilt in the last century and lack a quaint, historic city center like Brussels has. Consequently, the Köln Dom sticks out even more impressively than it normally would as the largest Gothic church in Northern Europe, with the second tallest spires in the world.

Being alone it was easier to take my time visiting, and I spent a solid half hour just taking in the sculptural work on the outside of the church, fascinated by the gargoyles, weird door decorations, and stone representations of saints and scripture.

 One of my favorite places in New York is the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, which has a breathtaking interior, and the Dom certainly gave it competition. It was more decorative than St. John, with beautiful stained glass windows and a lot of gilt metal and artwork. My favorite part was in the organ gallery towards the back of the church, where the ceiling was painted with a mural by contemporary artist Agnus Dei, which after research I found to be the Four Creatures and angelic figures. They reminded me of my drawings of simple, open-mouthed, haunting figures. When finished exploring the inside I bought a ticket to climb up to the top of one of the spires, which was just as exhausting as you'd expect, but with a rewarding view of Cologne and the Rhein River.

In the afternoon it began to rain heavily, but I stuck outside for a while to watch a protest that had sprung up in the plaza around the Dom. I stared at the signs trying to figure out the German, and I figured it must have something to do with LGBT issues because a smaller group of protesters carrying rainbow flags and umbrellas had come to counter the larger group. Eventually I asked a young woman carrying a sign that had something to do with lesbians, and she told me the larger group was protesting a (potential?) decision to include homosexuality in (early?) school sex education, on the premise that it makes kids gay or their innocence should be protected. I joked with her about growing up with a gay mom and how ridiculous their argument was, and stayed a bit longer with the rainbow group in solidarity, though I wish I could have joined in their chants in German. It was also interesting watching how German police forces handle protests in comparison to New York- half of them were not armed, and some seemed mildly amused and nonchalant. 

For lunch I had a rather disappointing sandwich (vegetarianism is more difficult in Germany and with a language barrier) I went to the German-Roman Museum next to the Dom. It was small enough to do in an hour and I saw some interesting relics of when Cologne was Colonia and ruled by Rome. It was another thing my dad would have enjoyed a lot, as a Roman history buff, so I took plenty of photos. 

The archway to the entrance of Colonia, at the top it says "C C A A", or Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium.

Entrance to Colonia

Dionysian floor mosaic 

One of the Roman side entrance archways, still standing near the Dom.

A cellar which belonged to a wealthy Roman, next to the medieval foundation of the Dom.

For the rest of the afternoon I wandered around central Cologne, eating a Berliner at a Merzenich, a bakery that is everywhere in the city, I walked over the Hohenzollern Bridge covered in love locks, and meandered through a cute pedestrian district by the river with a lot of bars. There were a lot of circumstances against me enjoying Cologne then- it was cold and rainy and I didn't bring enough clothing, I was alone and thus bars seemed unfriendly places, and there was no Use It map made for this city (somebody get on that pronto). Thus I did not know where to eat yummy vegetarian food or find interesting alternative things to do indoors, but stuck where there were tourists and began to feel lonely again. I listened to my cold and tired body and made my way back to the hostel to take a nap.

The Germans know how to do pastries and bread.

All I had to do was have more faith in hostels as youthful, social places. As soon as I got back I met another student staying in my dorm named Dan, from Canada, and a woman named Cintia, from Mexico City. We were all traveling alone and therefore more eager to find friends to go out with that night, so we made plans to head to the hostel bar downstairs and then take Cologne by storm, after all the talk we heard about the nightlife there. The bar was packed with Germans and we felt a bit like the nerds at a party, so we left to walk around the area, which was filled with bars and restaurants humming on a Saturday night. Some seemed expensive, some empty, some filled with burly German laborers, but eventually we tried out a basement club with loud music, but it was full of mostly men who didn't seem to want to dance to the music that wasn't very danceable, so we left. We walked for another hour trying to find a Belgian bar which was empty, and then a famous Kölsch bar which we never found. We ended up back at Die Wohngemeinschaft, drinking Kölsch, which is Cologne's special beer that really just tastes like a weak pilsner and is served in tiny 7-ounce glasses which you buy in rounds of ten or more. By the end of the night we were sufficiently drunk and happy for a Saturday, though we never did find out where Cologne hides its parties. I never thought I'd be so glad to have people to talk to!

The next morning I set out by myself again, deciding that I love having friends for going out at night, but during the day I prefer exploring alone and untied. I walked to the center again to rent a bike, stumbling across yet another open-air market, this one full of only second-hand junk for miles along the river. It felt so good to be back on a bike after walking to the point of exhaustion each day, and the Dutchie in me was very happy to be back on two wheels. I biked north to the outskirts of the city where there is a small sculpture park, where my favorite piece was a series of circles of green turf in the grass which were scattered around the park, called "Paradise" by Karin Sander.

It was a circle on the ground, so of course I had to sit on it.

Then I biked south through parts of Cologne I hadn't seen yet, stumbling upon an old city gateway.

I made it to the Kolumba Museum, recommended by my lovely friend Bea who'd spent a lot of time in Germany. Kolumba may have been the highlight of Cologne, or at least that Sunday. It is a museum built around the ruins of the Church of St. Kolumba, inside which is built a new church, and the result is a breathtaking image of the old coexisting with the new. The museum also had an amazing collection of contemporary art alongside historical religious art, making for an interesting mix with a theme of spirituality. 

The museum as a shell around the ruins

I could hear singing in the chapel and could just see the priest through the window, on a Sunday.

After Kolumba I gave up trying to find dinner and instead had some very German "kaffee und kuchen"- coffee and cake, which should normally be consumed for a mid-afternoon sugar rush. I'd read about it briefly and it seemed to be confirmed by the packed cafes with windows full of cake slices eight inches high, Berliners (jelly donuts), and pretzels covered in nougat and almonds. Though maybe this was just Cologne dutifully fulfilling the expectations of tourists like me. 

I went to HBF, Cologne's central station ready to board my 19:20 train to Rotterdam only to find out I needed to switch trains at Utrecht (fine, okay), but then this train was almost 45 minutes late. When I arrived late in Utrecht I thought I'd be home-bound on a train to Rotterdam, which changed to Den Haag, which then changed to not even reaching Rotterdam but only going to Woorden, at which point I got off to get on a bus to Gouda (yes, like the cheese, HGOW-DA) and then finally get on one last train to Rotterdam Centraal where I caught the last tram home at 12:30 in the morning, two hours late. 

What a nightmare. Good thing I made friends with two Dutch kids and a nice German lady who were doing the same thing. Some things I learned on this weekend trip: Never trust the train system any more than you trust the subway in New York. Don't try to act cool- always make friends with other young people, especially in a crisis. Hostels are full of young, single, student travelers just like you who need people to hang out with, so talk to them. That's the whole point of youth hostels. Don't expect to have a crazy night out by yourself. Plan every detail of your trip ahead of time, especially if you don't have a Use It map for that city. You are your own best friend when you expect to do everything you want. Take photos for your parents. Learn basic food words in that language. Listen to your body- if you're tired, sit your ass down.

All in all I'm quite proud of myself for traveling alone someplace for the first time and having a great time, despite a lot of trial and error. I know what to expect for my upcoming trip to Spain, and I'm appreciating how much Rotterdam feels like home now that I've left it.