Ausflug nach Köln (Cologne)

On Saturday (13 Nov.) we took a day trip to Cologne, which is on the Rhine River and is about 2 hours away.  We hopped on the train (literally - we got to the train station with 5 minutes to spare.  We didn't realize our street car ran on a different schedule before 8:00 a.m. on Sat.), ate our picnic breakfast and looked at the scenery.  We were hoping that the weather report of rain for the day was wrong, but NOT!  It rained the whole day.  What we did notice is that weather doesn't stop anyone.  The Germans were out, the tourists were out.  People were a little soggy, but they didn't let the weather stop them. 

When one arrives in Köln, upon stepping out of the train station one sees this amazing, overwhelmingly huge  cathedral, right next door.  It is a very famous landmark; the construction began in 1248 and it was not finished until 1848.  We toured the church and took in the dampness, the beauty, the history, the awe.  It is very interesting because it took so long to build, there are windows and architectures of many different eras (go ahead and Google it).  Wanling took a picture of our favorite window, a contemporary one by German artist Gerhard Richter.  After the Dom (Cathedral), we rode a "Bimmel Bahn" (see the little green train in the pictures) to get a tour of Cologne.  It dropped us at the Lindt Chocolate Factory - this is relatively new, and was a wonderful presentation - from the history of eating chocolate to fair trade to processing to pop culture.  They also have a mini-factory set up, where one can see all the steps of production all the way to eating it. This museum is built jutting out onto the Rhine, and you can see the worker handing out samples, with the golden chocolate fountain in back of her and the Rhine in back of that. Wanling is standing next to a gigantic Kinderüberaschung (Child's Surprise) which is her favorite kind of candy - a chocolate egg with a toy inside.  You can also see Gary (and a bishop) gazing out onto the Rhine, wishing the rain would stop.  At the end of the day we hopped a  train which followed the Rhine, and as dusk was setting in we searched for the many castles that dot the landscape as one travels this stretch of the river.  It was too dark and bumpy so no photos.