Germany Trip, Cologne

I am checking out from the hotel and go to the city centre to see something interesting... 

By the way, here is the facade of my hotel at the daylight. It looks very simple as any hotel from the same chain.

I would say, Dusseldorf is not as grand as Hamburg. To my mind, the architecture is quite plain here. But maybe in summer time the city looks much better.

I am next to the city hall now. It does not look big, but it has its own charm. The oldest part of Rathaus is the tower, which was built around 1570 and it stands about 50 meters tall, blending Renaissance and Baroque styles.

In front of the Dusseldorf’s Rathaus is placed the Jan-Wellem equestrian bronze statue, representing the beloved ruler of the late 1600s and early 1700s, who made Dusseldorf his main residence, supported the arts and helped shape the city’s culture and Baroque architecture.

Dusseldorf (and particularly its Altstadt) is often associated with "the longest bar in the world", because it has over 260 pubs and bars in one small area. Maybe another time I will check these places and will prepare the short review about nightlife here.

I am going now to my final destination, the city of Cologne, to see its main sight, so-called "Crown of the Rhine".

Honestly, I know only one fact about Cologne. It is about its main cathedral, which is actually the main reason why I am arriving there.

The first wow-effect I experienced when I was exiting the train station. The cathedral is placed just in several meters. The thing is that when planning the new 19th-century railway station the city strongly wanted to put it in the central area near the cathedral, because it ensured commercial activity and maintained the station’s connection with the city’s medieval core.

And the second wow-emotion I felt when I was standing in front of the cathedral and started looking on the facade from down to up.

So, the Cologne Cathedral with its two towers is reaching height of 157 meters, making it one of the tallest churches in the world. Its Gothic facade is covered with thousands of detailed stone carvings of saints, biblical scenes and gargoyles. But the massive exterior features over 12000 statues and intricate buttresses that support the soaring structure. Approximately 1000000 stone blocks were used in the churches' construction. Very impressive!

Inside the Cologne Cathedral, you stand in a huge hall about 45 meters high with bright stained-glass windows. In the center is the golden Shrine of the Three Kings, nearly 2 meters long (it is said to hold the bones of the Biblical Three Wise Men who visited Jesus). And the whole cathedral is about 144 meters long, with many small chapels and old artworks along the sides.

My mission is complete. And I can go home finally. But first, I will have the lunch at some traditional restaurant.

Brauhaus Paffgen. They are serving Kolsch here, the Cologne’s signature beer, which is very unique in both how it is made and how it is served.

Kolsch is a light, crisp, top-fermented beer brewed only in and around Cologne. It looks like a lager, but it is fermented warm like an ale and then stored cold like a lager (hybrid style). It is served in a tall, narrow 0.2l glass called a Stange ("rod"). So, small size keeps the beer fresh and cold.

And for the food I have chosen herring in a cream sauce, which is served cold. Very strange taste, but I liked it very much.

When I finished the first glass, the waiter without any questions put on the table another beer, and then he repeated it again. I think, it is kind of a tradition to bring continuously Kolsch to the table. Luckily, I have asked the bill before finishing my third glass. And after paying I headed back to the train station.

Back to Dusseldorf, and then going to Prague by airplane. It is only one hour flight. And both airports in Prague and Dusseldorf are conveniently accessible from the city centre. The only thing, the airport in Dusseldorf looks boring, so it is better to arrive here just on time.

It was the short trip, but at the same time it was very intensive. Four cities in four days! Complete satisfaction and desire to return to some places in future.