First Impressions of Cologne Continued

When we stepped off of the train into Cologne, the view was spectacular. The very first thing I saw was the Rhine River. Toward my left were ferryboats and in the distance I could see a ferris wheel along the shore. Steve told me that our apartment was directly across the river and that at night we could see the ferris wheel from our balcony. Wow!

Steve at the Train Station

We took a second train a short distance farther into the city and when we walked out of the train station I was expecting something similar to what we saw in Dusseldorf...chaos...people everywhere...cars and busses and trains in the streets. But instead, we climbed up a few steps and when we got to the top, right directly in front of me was the biggest most beautiful cathedral I have ever laid my eyes on. It was so magnificant that I stopped dead in my tracks. It was so beautiful. Steve was smiling from ear to ear. He said, "I thought you might like it...now you know why I've been staring it all week." I said, "Now I know why you've been waiting so long to go inside!"

Andee Along the Rhine River

The cathedral is literally the focal point of the city and the streets pretty much are easy to navigate from the peaks of the cathedral. If you can figure out where you are in reference to the cathedral, then you can't get lost too fast (well, at least that's what Steve says), I haven't tested the theory myself yet!

Anyway, once we walked past the cathedral and the stone steps and the courtyard surrounding it, we walked along the streets toward our hotel. The streets were NOTHING like the streets of Dusseldorf. There were clean...no trash, not a single cigarette butt. In Michigan, people drop their butts everywhere and only ½ the people smoke. In Cologne 95% of the people smoke but there are trash receptacles all over so no one litters. I guess smoking is allowed in every public place but it is still amazing how clean it is everywhere you walk.

The Dom Cathedral

In addition to how clean the streets are, they are quiet. The busses and trains only run on the main streets through the city. The side streets have little traffic and there are no cars parked in the streets. There are still a lot of bikes and bicyclist still have the right of way over pedestrians but that is to be expected especially when they have their own bike path and your walking right in the middle of it!

On our trek to the hotel (again with 100 lbs. of luggage and my 18 lb. backpack) we witnessed some very interesting things. We got our first glimpse of the German police and they are nothing like the police we are used to seeing in Michigan. They are dressed in deep green jumpsuits and they were belts with pistols and several other items I couldn't recognize. They wear white helmets and big boots with shin shields up to their knees. They look more like storm troopers than anything else. The most interesting thing we noticed, 50% of them are women and they are all petite, blonde, very attractive. Most cops back home do not look like this! Not that our policewomen are all ugly, but actually they kind of are compared to the ones we've seen here!

Protest March

On our walk from the train station to the hotel, we must have seen over a hundred police officers hanging around the city (very strange since Steve said he hasn't seen one since he's been here). We soon discovered as we continued walking that there was protest march going on in one of the squares. Of course, I wanted to go closer to find out what was going on, but Steve wouldn't let me..."Are you crazy?", he said. So I just took pictures instead! Then even more surprising, just 3 blocks away from the riot we saw going we saw a wedding reception. On one of the side streets, people were gathered in tuxedos and we watched them release pigeons into the air. From a riot to a wedding in nearly 3 blocks of each other. This place is unbelievable! Steve and haven't been in Germany together more than 24 hours yet and I've already seen more than most people will see in a lifetime. The adventure has truly begun!

Preparing for a Riot?

Downtown Cologne

Yes, They Have McDonalds Here

Shopping in Neumarkt

Beautiful Path Along the Rhine

Cafes Along the Rhine

Quaint Side Street