Day 9

What an exciting Tuesday!! I spent the day in Köln with Hartwig and Su. Right next to the train station was the Cologne Cathedral, or Kölner Dom. I couldn’t help but stare it was sooooo big!! I immediately thought of my classes with Ms. Secord. Seeing the cathedral is sooo much better in real life. J

Our tour with Hartwig didn’t begin with the cathedral, however it did begin in the basement of a car garage haha. There stood the old wall, built by the Romans that surrounded Köln. So crazy that something so ancient is in a car garage! Thank goodness Su and I had Hartwig to show us all of Köln’s hidden treasures. J

We went through the city visiting all sorts of old Roman ruins, old houses and even stopped for lunch in a restaurant that first opened in 1318!!!!! We had the restaurant’s special dish called Sion Sudpfannenputzer. It was a super long Bratwurst lol and was awesome!

Hartwig took the time to tell us about Köln’s history and explained some of the fountains and statues through out the city, like Tunnes and Schal, (picture) some German cartoon characters. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tünnes_and_Schäl

You’re supposed to rub Tunnes’ nose and wipe your foot on his shoe for good luck, like I am! Haha!!

Hartwig also showed us some postcards that show what Köln looked like after the war. I can’t imagine being in the city at that time; there literally was nothing there! This website is mostly of the cathedral but the second pic on the right side is the best I could find: http://www.sacred-destinations.com/germany/cologne-cathedral

We met an older woman at one of the fountains, while Hartwig told another interesting tale of Köln, that told us how she was here at the time and that everything was destroyed.  I was a little surprised that she told us her memory of the war, since I (like most Americans) believed that it was such a hard topic that no one spoke much about it, but it doesn’t seem to be as extreme as I thought.

At the end of the day Su and I climbed to the top of the cathedral. 533 stairs!!! It was quite a trek but it was more than worth it. I can’t wait to go back. J

Tschüß!!