Germany was a load of fun. Köln (or Cologne) is a laid back city with loads of young, colourful people. A refreshing change after soaking up the sun in the South of France with a predominantly over 50s crowd.

German nosh - Fantastic!

We went to Köln to visit our Wellington friends Nina and Rob, and attend their wedding. As a bonus we were able to stay in Nina and Rob’s flat which meant we got to live like real locals, using the trams to get around, eating from local markets and drinking Kölsch. Kölsch is a beer that is only allowed to be brewed in Köln, it tastes fine, and the interesting thing is how it is served: the special waiter (Köbes) carries around a tray of a dozen little glasses (nick-named test-tubes) and keeps replacing your empty glass until you put a coaster on top of it to say you’ve had enough. It’s served everywhere and a good social ativity for tourists and locals to share at any time of the day.

The cosy ascent is not reccomended for oversized individuals.

Climbing to the top of the Dom was a highlight of the Dom in the city centre was a highlight. My vertigo is getting tested time and time again on this holiday, but nonetheless I made it to the top of the 500-and-something rickety steps to look out over the Rhine and the 360-degree landscape view.

A Dominating view

I got my animal fix at Köln Zoo where I was surprised to see Okapi for the second time in less than a year. An orangutan creating artwork on the window using “available materials” had us intrigued for ages. It’s amazing what can be done with a bamboo leaf, lips and faeces.

Nina, Rob, Ben, louise, penguins.

The wedding guests looked sharp!

Nina and Rob’s wedding was a hoot, in an ancient building we sampled the best selection of German cakes, let off red balloons and danced in an old cellar till the early hours drinking Kölsch. Congratulations Nina and Rob on a great day. Topped it off, with our first exhilerating taxi ride home on the Auto Bahn.

 Walking back down the hill past this guys house.

As new honorary Kennedy family members, Louise and I were able to join in the post wedding activities to see some more sights. One day we went for a big boat ride up the river to go for a Cog Train ride to the top of a hill. We explored relics and heard the local legend told by a puppet dragon who came out of his cave when a euro was put in. Walking back down to the village through the forest was a real treat. We wound our way down through the tall beech trees, catching glimpses of elaborate castles and donkeys.  

The Locals.

We thoroughly enjoyed our German holiday, and look forward to returning someday, not only to Köln, but also to the great Berlin that we heard so much about, and perhaps Munich in October.

Dom

The cheapest way for us to leave our south coast paradise to head to our friends’  (Nina and Rob) wedding in Germany, was to book an overnight train to Paris, then switch onto the super fast Thalys that would go direct to Koln (Cologne). We ended up spending our last day in Cannes, as there are few luggage storage spaces in France. I think they are wary of bombings as to get our luggage locked in a locker in Cannes we had to go through a security scanner into a separate room and lock our gear up for the day. Then we headed back out into the sunny beaches of Cannes, and looked out for more movie stars. We broke the snacking rule and had a picnic on the beach, then wandered the old town. We tried to book a ticket to a movie, not part of the official selection but still part of the festival for the general public – we were just a bit too late to take part in Cannes movie history!

We got on our night train in Cannes, 2 hours late, and after a debacle with finding our sleeper carriage and no lights, we had a luxurious nights sleep in the quiet and comfortable train – v different to Vietnam, but not as exciting either. We were worried we would miss our connection to Germany as we had to use the Paris metro to cross town from Gare d’Austerlitz to Gare du Nord. Now that we were experienced metro goers however it was no problem and we navigated the system, crossing Paris to our next train. Out of the window we got our last French view for a while, of the Seine with the dappling water and bushy spring trees, and old concrete buildings. It was so romantic!

We had to break the snacking rule again as we had a croissant and coffee waiting for our last train. Everything is better in Paris as the croissant tasted light and puffy, and the black coffee in a tiny cup was a perfect wake up.

The Thalys is the fast train from Paris to Cologne, it goes up to 300km an hour! It was only a few hours and we were in Cologne for lunch, being picked up by Nina’s friend. It was so nice to be picked up in a big strange city, and she took us by tram to their flat where we’ve been staying for a week! We have a lot of hospitality to repay once we settle down.