Cologne/Köln

The day before classes began we got to go and visit cologne on a day trip! While still absolutely freezing - Texas heat i miss you so so much - it was an incredible day trip. The day began taking a train up to cologne form Bonn (about half an hour) as soon as you walk out the train station you are immediately dwarfed by the magnitude of this cathedral right in front of you! I don't know if this reaction was more a result of the shock of the cathedral being right there or shock of just how big it really was. We had a wonderful tour guide who met us in front of the cathedral. He was incredibly knowledgable, funny and particularly good at drawing multiple ideas and events together to showcase a larger theme. We explored the cathedral; learned of the origin of stinking rich, learned of the most frequently stolen house number, learned of various restoration techniques and methodologies. We explored Cologne as a city; learned and saw the old roman walls, mosaics and homes, learned of the original cologne perfume, learned of tax laws on windows for water-front properties, learned of life in olden Cologne. After our walking tour it was time to warm up with some traditional german food and Kolsch! Be warned: don't have the blood sausage. After words we walked to the El-De House, an old gestapo prison during the time of Nazi Germany. It was rather harrowing to be standing in the place of so much evil and destruction. We stood in the cells of prisoners being interrogated and even were ushered in to a courtyard where 100s of people were shot and killed. Sad to think that a region of the world so rich in history also is pained with such dark history everywhere as well. After this we moved to a lighter event and got a rooftop tour of the cathedral! This was one of the coolest experiences for me. Seeing the cathedral from up how and getting an inside look on its construction and renovation efforts. While not an engineer, and it is hard not to be intrigued by how they figured out how to build something as grand as this and how they continue to figure out how to keep it looking its best. The only downside of this tour was we took it as the sun was setting... you thought I was cold during the day... just imagine me on top of a giant cathedral in the wind at night. Brrr!