My friends Heather, Colette, and Nico, and I spent three days in Köln (Cologne) the last weekend of February. Here’s a rundown of our adventures!
Friday
Our first major trip that we orchestrated ourselves began in the early morning. Our FlixTrain departed from Hamburg-Altona, so that was Step One: Arrive at Hamburg-Altona. However, transportation mishaps struck yet again. Our train into Hamburg sat outside the station (for reasons unknown) long enough to throw us off schedule. It was an 11-minute S-Bahn ride to Hamburg-Altona, and it was already around 08:15. Our train was set to depart at 08:31. We knew our FlixTrain would stop at the Hamburg Hauptbahnhof (HBF), but we were uncertain if we could board somewhere else other than what listed on our ticket. We took the chance and it worked; no one checked our tickets until we were far from Hamburg.
Once in Köln, we checked in at our AirBnB. It was about a 30-minute ride outside the city, which required an S-Bahn and a bus (remember this – it will be important later). We spent some time recharging before exploring. First up: the Kölner Dom (Cologne Cathedral), the city’s most famous landmark. I cannot believe how massive the cathedral is – especially since its construction started in 1248. Construction stopped in the 16th century, as funds and interest ran out, but it began again in the 19th, finally finished in 1880. Miraculously, it survived WWII.
We admired its beauty for a long time, as the golden sunset shone through the stained-glass windows. Colette, our resident Catholic, explained the iconography. I knew Catholicism used symbolism and rituals, but I never understood exactly how much Catholicism relies on it. (We also made some jokes about the holy bouncers standing outside of the Adoration Chapel – the priests were actually wearing earpieces!)
After that, we had dinner at Früh am Dom, a restaurant and brewery. It was getting late, so we wandered back to the HBF to go home, passing the cathedral again. It is even more imposing (and slightly creepy) in the dark! At our AirBnB, we waited for Nico to arrive, which ended day one in Köln.
Saturday
We got a late start to Saturday morning, so we decided to get brunch at the Funkhaus Café-Bar-Restaurant. We got “American style” pancakes (they were smaller than actual American pancakes, but they got the sweetness right), delicious scrambled eggs, and hot chocolates.
As most of trips had gone, there was minor planning of activities; however, Museum Ludwig was on our list. It’s a modern art museum, with works from the Pop Art, Abstract, and Surrealism movements. The museum is also home to one of the largest Picasso collections in Europe. I enjoyed the Pop Art exhibit.
We finished touring the museum in the late afternoon, a.k.a. the perfect time for cake back at Funkhaus. Then we explored Köln on foot, found the Rathaus (slightly underwhelming) and did some shopping. We had fun trying on Drindl and Karneval costumes, as Karneval began the next weekend. We still saw plenty of fun costumes (without the drunken crowds). For dinner, we bought tortellini and sauce to cook at our AirBnB – a great (and cheap) idea.
Sunday
Sunday morning also began slowly. Colette wanted to go to Mass, so our ragtag team of religious diversity went to noon Mass at the Kölner Dom. It is probably my favorite thing we did. First, it was absolutely breathtaking. Rays of sunshine shone through the pixelated stained-glass across the altar, casting pastel shadows on the priests and stone pillars. Second, I loved imagining hundreds of thousands of Masses that have been celebrated over the cathedral’s lifespan. I thought about the conflict religion has caused, and I wondered how the bishops and priests who presided over the cathedral handled events like the Reformation and all that. Lastly, the Mass was in German. I didn’t understand all of it, because I lacked the vocabulary, but everything was spoken clearly, so it was enjoyable to listen to. I also learned so much about Catholic tradition from Colette.
Despite being bigger than Lüneburg, most businesses and shops were still closed on Sunday in Köln. We found a pizza place that was open, and we had the whole restaurant to ourselves. After lunch, we visited to the Roman-Germanic Museum. The permanent exhibit was closed for renovations, but they offered 20-minute tours of the Dionysus Mosaic. We hadn’t considered that the tour was only in German, but it was still incredible to see. The museum, originally a third century villa, was built around the mosaic. Along with the mosaic, there is a reconstructed sepulture of legionary Poblicius from around A.D. 40.
We had some time to kill before we had to leave, so we walked across bridge along the Rhine. It was gorgeous day, blue skies and no cold wind. I enjoyed the sun on my face so much! We kept an eye on the time, because we still needed to run to our AirBnB, pick up our stuff, and run back to the HBF.
Remember what I said earlier about needing to take a S-Bahn and a bus? It’s important now. We timed it out perfectly. We arrived at our AirBnB at 17:45, which gave us half an hour before the next bus at 18:14 to the S-Bahn station. We’d take the 18:31 S-Bahn to the HBF, arriving 15 minutes before our 19:01 departure.
While waiting for the S-Bahn, there was a PA announcement about our train; the same announcement scrolled across the overheard screen. We didn’t know what ausfallen meant, so I looked it up: canceled. The train was canceled. How do they cancel a whole train? Where did it go? We were baffled, then the realization set it. The next S-Bahn came at 19:03, two minutes after our train would roll out of the station – we were going to miss it. Immediately we jumped into problem-solving mode. Dropping €89-103 on a new ticket would be the worst thing that could happen. A bummer, but not the end of the world.
We figured a taxi would be cheaper than a new ticket, provided we made it in time. Heather found a taxi company on Google Maps and put it on speaker phone. We requested the taxi, all in German, only to be told the number we called wasn’t a taxi service. Um, what? Time was ticking and we didn’t know what to do. Calling a taxi in German is hard enough, but with the stress of possibly missing our train, it felt impossible.
Fortunately, an older gentleman was sitting on the bench behind us. He apologized for listening in, then he asked if we knew enough German to call a taxi. We sheepishly said no. He offered to speak to the taxi people for us if we called them again. Graciously, we accepted and dialed a new number. He explained that there were 3 American girls who needed to get to the HBF. We thanked him profusely, and ran down to the parking lot and waited for the taxi, fully aware of each minute creeping by.
The taxi arrived and we piled in. No one spoke. My attention moved from the price meter in the rearview mirror and the time on my phone. Please let our train be delayed, please let our train be delayed. Finally, the taxi pulled up to the station. Colette – who was smart and pulled out cash while we were driving to cover the fare – handed the driver the money and told him to keep the 60 cents.
Our train was on Platform 2 – the other side of the station. Suddenly, we were those people – dodging and weaving through throngs of people to catch our train. We made it atop the platform, and the departure board listed our train as incoming. It wasn’t there. I strained to hear the PA announcement – it was about our train – but it was too noisy. A train pulled into the platform behind us – it was our train. We boarded as quickly as we could, anxious to be seated.
We sat down in the free seating area, and we collectively exhaled the breath we had been holding. We made it!! We were on our train! The first hour of our train flew by, as we were all high on adrenaline and disbelief.
The train ride home was also a trip. Long story short, we had an entertaining announcer named Eddie. It was clear that German was not Eddie’s first language, because he had trouble explaining the reasons for the delays (“disturbed signals”) in technical terms. Colette theorized that Eddie learned technical terms in German that had no English equivalent. At one point, he was clarifying the details of the delay when someone else – presumably the conductor – interrupted him in rapid-fire German. He excused himself and said he would be back in a few minutes. Eddie did not come back until at least half an hour later. He also had to list which toilets were working in which wagons, in both German and English, concluding with “I’m sorry I had to resort to this.” I think we were a little slap-happy, because we found all of his announcements hilarious. We finally made it back to Lüneburg around 00:30, and I was back at my host family’s around 01:00.
Despite being bookended by transportation stress, I had a great weekend in Köln. It’s a beautiful city, easily walkable, and filled with cool things to see and do.
#SammyAufDeutsch #Germany #Kö#Cologne #Travel
Beautiful pictures and an adventurous weekend you will never forget!