Koln: Kolsch Beer and More

Day 9 of our Euro Road Trip: Koln
Leaving France was not too difficult, since the drive through Belgium back to Germany was just as beautiful.  The tiny towns along the way and the green fields were just breathtaking.  There were also fields of yellow "flowers" that were pretty, even though they are actually fields of weeds, they still look great with the greenery everywhere.

When we finally made it to Germany we stopped in Koln, or known to Americans as Cologne, to spend some time enjoying one of Germany's famous cities.  Finding our hotel and parking was a cake walk compared to the trouble we had in Marseille and Paris.  It felt like we were back home (I guess for Justin and me we kind of were).

Koln is absolutely GORGEOUS!  I love everything about the city so much!  Unfortunately, my camera was about to die, so my pictures are sparse :(

Our first stop was Koln's landmark.

Kolner Dom

This cathedral was amazing!  It was by far the most impressive cathedral we saw during our road trip (and believe me, we saw a LOT of cathedrals).  It was just so tall and incredibly intricate.  It took over 600 years to build this bad boy.  The inside was just as spectacular as the outside.  Pictures do not do it justice.

Stain glass windows and extremely high ceilings

Shrine of the Three Magi

After visiting the Kolner Dom, we walked down a super crowded shopping street, Hohn Strasse.  Nicole and I found some really cute German stores while the boys decided to drink a bit.

We had dinner at the Fruh am Dom.  This restaurant and brewery is know for its kolsch beer.  I guess the whole city is known for its kolsch beer since it originated in Koln (hence the name).  The Fruh was such a fun restaurant because it only serves kolsch beer in small 0.2 liter glasses.  The waiters have a cute little carrying case for all the tiny glass of beer and are constantly walking around handing out new glasses.  It was quite a unique experience!  After being used to drinking liters of beer in Germany this was also quite a change.

0.2 liters of goodness

The waiter would put taller marks on Greg's coaster for every glass of beer we ordered at our table.  The beers were small and cheap (1.80 euro a glass), so by the end of dinner, playing some card games, and just enjoying our company, we ended up filling the entire outside circle of the coaster with 56 beers total!  We were quite proud, and our waiter was impressed, too!

Then we went to the Gaffel am Dom to watch a soccer game on the big screen with the locals and to check out a new kolsch beer.  We were lucky to find a table, so we started new tally marks and had some pretzels and cheese (very German).  Here we only racked up 20 tallies.  It sounds like a lot, but really it wasn't as bad as the high number might suggest.  76 beers for the night, divided between 4 people, so 19 beers each.  But remember those beers are 0.2 liters, so really.....

An average of 3.8 liters each
Ok, kind of a lot ;)

The night was still young, so we decided to cross the Hohenzollernbrucke (bridge) to see the Kolner Dom lit up at night.  It was quite an adventure because there was construction on the bridge and on the streets in the area near the bridge, but we eventually found a good spot to enjoy the view of the Kolner Dom, the bridge, and the Rhine River.

View of the Kolner Dom before crossing the bridge

View of the Kolner Dom and the Hohenzollernbrucke

View from the other side of the bridge
And then our camera died :(

After finally finding the views we were looking for we headed back to the hotel for the night.  Though we just got a very brief taste of Koln, we already fell in love.

Day 10: Koln
The next day we walked around the downtown area a bit, but since it was Sunday not much was open.  We saw the Rathaus, Gross St. Martin, Deutzer Brucke (bridge), Severinsbrucke, the Rhine Port, and many cute German buildings and streets.  I'm sad and sorry I don't have pictures, but the memory of the morning was a good one.  We even saw an old German man pull off to the side of the sidewalk in the middle of his morning run to pee on the wall.  Sunday morning fun.  We had breakfast at a local cafe before heading out for our trek back home to Grafenwohr.  

The End
Germany, Austria (briefly), Switzerland, France, Belgium (for a few hours), and back to Germany made for quite a fun Euro road trip!  My husband, brother, and sister-in-law made the laughs, memories, and long hours in the car so much more enjoyable!  What a great way to start our summer months here in Europe!  Prosit!