My next adventure was an opportunistic trip – cheap flights and a free place to stay for a few days meant I was off to Köln, Cologne. Upon arrival I met with my brother and we took the train into the centre of the city and promptly found a fantastic flea market along the banks of the Rhine. The flea market takes place every Sunday and was a wonderful start to the trip. All sorts can be found at reasonable prices and I would recommend it to any traveller to Köln. After taking in my fill we proceeded to walk around the city’s inner circle to arrive at my new home for the next five days. The rest of the day was spent catching up with my brother and experiencing a Brauhaus and Kölsch, a style of beer that originates in Köln, which I must admit is rather nice. Once you finish your Kölsch you must put your beer mat on top to show that you do not want another, otherwise a second, third and fourth Kölsch will soon be delivered to you!
The next day I awoke around 6am and set off for the centre once more. Early morning walks are without a doubt the best time to take in the sites without many tourists around and with Köln cathedral being the most visited attraction in Germany it was important to get there early! Walking around Köln I would describe it as a typical city with shops and such that come with. The major attractions dotted around are the cathedral, the Hohenzollern Bridge and some of the beautiful old buildings that survived the WWII fire bombings along the river bank. The cathedral was not so lucky in the war and sustained at least 14 hits from bombs though it remained standing amongst the devastation. The cathedral was fully repaired by the mid 1950’s and was declared a World UNESCO Heritage site in 1996. The Hohenzollern Bridge was also hit multiple times in WWII however remained functional until it was purposely destroyed by the Germans to try and halt the Allied advance. Rebuilt, the Hohenzollern Bridge is a magnificent structure to behold and is a direct route into the city via train and pedestrian walkways. Interestingly, adorned on the pedestrian side are thousands of love locks left by couples over many years. After many photos of these iconic structures I set off on a walk down the Rhine and back. The afternoon was filled with meeting some of my brother’s friends and enjoying a few beers.
During my walk round the city on the second day I crossed the Hohenzollern Bridge to the Köln Triangle. It is a tall building with a 360 degree panoramic viewing platform from the top. From there one can see back across the Rhine, the Hohenzollern Bridge and Köln cathedral in all its glory. Excited by the prospect of the pictures I could get from the top I made my way back the next day only, to my dismay, to find it shut for the next two weeks! There had been no warning the day before and I was very frustrated. However, undeterred I made my way back into the town and began hunting for a museum or art gallery to visit. Unlike Madrid, Köln’s museums and art galleries had no free entry at any point of the day, sadly the entry fees were also rather steep too so I set myself to pick just one art gallery to visit. Naturally this meant I had a quick Google search to see if there were any Rembrandt paintings in Köln, and my luck was in at Wallraf-Richartz Museum. Rembrandt’s Laugh was one such painting the Wallraf-Richartz had in their possession and I was happy to tick another off from my list.
A trip to Bonn was on the agenda the next day and the brother and I took the train for roughly 20 minutes. Upon arrival the heavens opened and we quickly dashed into a cafe for coffee and some breakfast. Soon the weather had calmed, not before we had both been soaked through, and we headed out to explore the former West Germany capital. Bonn is not large for a previous capital city though it does hold fame as the birthplace of Beethoven, so naturally a trip to his house was certainly on the list. A somewhat underwhelming experience, as the house was undergoing refurbishment, though I’ll admit, it was an old house, what did I expect? However, the church found close to the house certainly made up for any feelings of disappointment. The church itself called, Stiftung Namen-Jesu-Kirche, which I believe means Holy Name Church, though my German is reliant on Google translate, was a wonderful little gem in the city and well worth a visit. After we were finished we made our way down to the Rhine and popped into the Bonn Egypt Museum which was a rather interesting find. Once at the Rhine one has a lovely view of the Siebengebirge hill range where the cities of Koenigswinter and Bad Honne are at the base. If I were to return to the area I would very much like to visit and have a few nice walks.
My final day in Köln was dedicated to visiting Köln zoo, as they keep hippopotamuses and lets be honest, who doesn’t like hippos? Köln zoo is home to over 10,000 animals all of which have relatively ample space to roam. As well as hippos there are different kinds of bears, elephants, birds and many others. As someone who used to work for a zoo I can safely say that Köln zoo is very much worth a visit. Most of the day was taken by the zoo but I still had time to pop back into the city centre and up the cathedral tower to take shots of the city from above. I was once again frustrated by the Köln Triangle being shut as it is somewhat difficult to take panoramic pictures of the cathedral at height when the only place you can get high enough is the cathedral itself! However, the cathedral was indeed a great place to get such pictures and I left feeling satisfied with my snaps.
Overall Köln is a nice place to visit, though in my time there I did find the extortionate museums and art galleries meant there was not much to see unless you were willing to pay. It seemed to me that the city itself was thought to be more of a party scene with numerous bars and hang out areas for people. So if you are looking for culture at a knock down price I wouldn’t recommend a visit unless you are willing to pay, on the other hand if you are looking for a location for your friend’s stag do, Köln is the place for you!
195wanderer.com 