Day 5: Koln (Cologne) (Eric)

Day 5: June 1st, 2019. Today we went to Koln (translated as Cologne in English). Of the places we have been so far this was my least favorite. To be fair, it was the hottest day we’ve experienced so far, and as I mentioned in a previous post, it’s a holiday weekend, so the crowd was probably larger than normal. Battling the crowds and the heat almost certainly colored my perceptions of the city, but despite these factors, I will say that I enjoyed what we saw.

We started at the Koln Cathedral. This cathedral is quite impressive and happens to be the most visited landmark in all of Germany, attracting an average of 20,000 people a day. This had to be an above average day given the holiday weekend. It was worth battling the crowds to see both the inside and outside. The initial construction of this amazing piece of Gothic architecture began in 1248 and took over 200 years to complete. It has the second tallest spire in Europe and the third tallest in the world. It was built to house the reliquary of the Three Kings (see the last two pictures). The photographs won’t do the place justice, but here you go:

And a visit to Europe would not be complete without climbing 550 steps to the top of an incredibly tall church. I would not recommend this part of touring the cathedral if you’re claustrophobic, afraid of heights,

or out of shape. But being gluttons for punishment, we paid the 5 Euro fee to climb to the top. You pass through the bell tower on the way up, and once to the top, the views are spectacular. However, the crowds and the heat made the whole experience a tad uncomfortable. Enjoy the pics:

Next, we were off to the Lindt Chocolate Museum. This was a fun experience, but on a warm day, I must warn you that Europe doesn’t do air conditioning like the States. It was still interesting to see the history of chocolate making as well as actual demonstrations of the chocolate making process, and of course, the price of admission includes several samples of Lindt chocolate. More pics:

We finished our day in Koln with a walk through the old town and a stroll across the Hohenzollern Bridge. Both were cool to see except for the aforementioned crowds and heat. The bridge is the most heavily used railway bridge in Germany, and locals and tourists profess their love for each other by placing a lock on the pedestrian section of the bridge. It must also be a tradition for brides-to-be as we must have seen no less than 10 bachelorette parties strolling through the area. Final pics of the day:

Day 4: Rudesheim and the Rhine (Eric)

Day 4: May 31st, 2019. Today was absolutely fabulous, but we’re also exhausted. I’m writing this on the train ride back to Frankfurt at 9:47 pm local time. 

I’m going to summarize today as best I can and then post some pics. We road a train to the town of Rudesheim which is a fun little German town with a lot of atmosphere. We stopped at Eis Cafe Engel, a local cafe, and Jenny sampled the Rudesheim Coffee (a local brandy mixed with coffee), and we shared an amazing apple strudel. While there, We struck up a conversation with some Australians and Netherlanders - meeting new people is one of the joys of travel. Afterwards, we rode a gondola up to the top of a hill where there is massive monument built in the 1870’s to 80’s to commemorate the unification of Germany. The views from the top were amazing. 

Then we hopped on a ferry to travel down the Rhine river to the town of Bacharach. On the ride, Jenny got to practice her Spanish with a large group of people from northern Spain. They were a fun and rowdy group and were extremely excited to meet someone who spoke Spanish. The town of Bacharach has some ruins of a Gothic chapel and a castle that’s been converted into a hostel. The town itself was a cool place to spend a few hours. We also met a couple from Oregon. It was a day for meeting new people. 

After lunch, we got back on the ferry to continue down river to Koblanz. Along the way, we were treated to views of numerous castles, churches, quaint little German towns, and fabulous scenery. Jenny called it “the poor man’s river cruise.” The whole ferry trip cost around 88 Euro. It was a fabulous way to explore this part of the country. 

In Koblenz, we rode a cable car across the Rhine to the top of another hill and were treated to a panoramic view of the city. Even the train ride back to Frankfurt has been interesting because the train is traveling back along the Rhine, and we’re seeing a lot of the same sights we saw from the ferry. And now pictures:

Rudesheim

Bacharach

The Poor Man’s River Cruise

Koblenz

Day 3: Heidelberg (Eric)

Day 3: May 30th, 2019. Well, I lost steam to blog about our day in Heidelberg last night, but we’re on another train to Rudesheim, so I have a few minutes to write now. 

We got up early to catch a train to Heidelberg. I highly recommend a EuRail pass if you’re going to do any decent amount of train travel in Europe. It’s far more cost effective and convenient. You simply hop on the train to your destination with no need to purchase tickets, and as I mentioned in yesterday’s post, it can be tricky to navigate at times. 

Anyway, we arrived in Heidelberg and started walking towards the old town. We should’ve looked at taking local transportation because the walk to the scenic part of the town ended up being over a mile. This doesn’t sound too bad, but then our walking day really began. We walked along the longest pedestrian walkway in Europe (which is also about a mile or so I would guess). Then to see Heidelberg Castle, we had to climb a steep trail some 300+ feet. After that, we climbed another 300+ feet to get to the Philosopher’s Way Path (a paved walkway where you get some amazing panoramic views of Heidelberg). Despite being exhausted by the end of the day, I highly recommend a trip to Heidelberg if you’re anywhere near the area. It’s a magical place. 

Now, a few more details about what we saw on our journey through Heidelberg. Our first stop was at Heidelberg University where we visited the student prison. Yes, the University had it’s own prison for 200 years (1700 until 1914) which was used for unruly students (being drunk in public, releasing pigs into the streets, etc.), and a student could be assigned a day up to an entire month. It became a rite of passage for students to spend at least some time in the prison, and the students would leave their mark by drawing on the walls. Included in the visit to the prison was a visit to a lecture hall and a university museum. Both were interesting. I recommend the whole experience. Now pictures,

Next, we climbed the steep trail to Heidelberg Castle. There is also a funicular train which you can use to get there if you don’t want to walk. The castle’s grounds and structures are awesome, and the history of the place is amazing. I’m not going to go into detail, but if you’re interested, it’s worth reading about online. But I’m just going to let the pictures speak for themselves:

Our final leg of the trip (after lunch) was to cross the Old Heidelberg Bridge and climb to Philosopher’s Way. Both destinations are worth seeing and extremely picturesque: 

We found a bus to take us back to the train station which was a smart way to end a fabulous day in Heidelberg. I’m up to date for now. I’ll try to blog about today’s adventures a little later. We’re off to Rudesheim and a ferry ride up the Rhine. Take care.