Out and about in Cologne, Germany

Located approximately 200KM (125 miles) away from our home in Brussels lies the picturesque city of Cologne, Germany. Located along the banks of the Rhine river, Cologne (or Koln, as it is known to the Germans) is the 4th largest city in Germany, offers a great mix of things to do and is an easy weekend destination from Brussels.

I briefly visited Cologne on a business trip with Toyota earlier this year. But, after seeing the Cologne Cathedral for the first time, I knew that Jo Ann would really enjoy it. It really is an awesome site!

Besides being home to the largest bell in the world ("Big Pete" at over 24 tons!), Cologne Cathedral has a spiral staircase that visitors can climb up to the top of the cathedral towers.

I was perfectly willing to believe the signs that said there were 509 steps, but Jo Ann decided that our trip would not be complete unless we confirmed it. So after paying the admission, we headed up the narrow staircase, with me holding DS' hand and PS being handled by mommy. But, after about a dozen steps, PS decides that she would rather be carried by daddy. Holy crap! (oh sorry, I forgot we are in a church!)

After countless revolutions around the staircase, the girls and their "sweat-drenched" daddy made it up 3/4 of the way up, all the way to the bell platform, where I decide to "throw in the towel". Jo Ann figures that she has come this far and presses on to the summit. After reaching the top, she stopped to take some pictures and came back down to meet us at the bell platform.

Next to the towers, the next best view of the city is from the skyway that carries passengers across the river. The skyway lets off at a park across the river bank, where DS and PS enjoyed the greenery of the park and the vast playground. Which reminds me, the playgrounds in Europe are typically much nicer than those in the US. The play areas are much more challenging and the equipment seems to be very well kept. And they are huge. Space doesn't seem to be at a premium when it comes to parks in Europe...

During our visit to Cologne, we had heard that the ice cream in Germany was excellent, and we were not disappointed. The flavors were rich and creamy and even the cones were light and flaky. All this for the rock-bottom price of 1 EUR ($1.50)

It's just the thing after climbing 500 steps up a spiral tower. (Well, almost 500).

Click here for Christmas Markets in Cologne...

Christmas Markets in Germany

Probably one of the most common words of travel advice we have received since moving to Europe is "you just HAVE to visit the Christmas Markets in Germany!" And although Jo and I had a chance to see a couple of the Belgian Christmas Markets last winter, we have been politely told that no one does them as well as the Germans...

So we were quite excited to spend an extended weekend in nearby Cologne, Germany to check out the festivities. There are literally hundreds of Christmas Markets held all over Deutschland, with many of the larger cities having more than one. In fact, Cologne has six this year, including a floating Christmas Market, held on a river boat!

Christmas Markets are basically very large outdoor winter parties that attract huge crowds. People show up in snow, rain or shine to gather with family and friends and kick off the holiday season.

We found that the crowds can be especially large during the prime weekend hours, but luckily our girls are early-risers, so we usually beat the crowd in the morning. However, by midday, it becomes very difficult to make our way through, with the girls and our stroller in tow.

Food and warm alcoholic drinks are a big part of the Christmas Market experience. Hundreds of vendors set up booths to sell such delectables as candies, baked goods, pretzels, candied nuts, barbequed meats and strudels. Our favorites were the wonderful roasted bratwursts, spiced (and spiked!) hot cider served in colorful festive mugs and baked apples stuffed with nuts and cranberries, served warm from the oven, drizzled with a sweet vanilla sauce.

The Cologne cathedral served as a dramatic backdrop to one of the Christmas markets held in Cologne.

Nothing like a candy apple break to keep the girls occupied...



The girls were able to enjoy the many rides at the Christmas market.

All in all, we had a very nice weekend in Cologne getting into the festive Holiday spirit. As an added bonus, St. Nicolas eve fell on this weekend. On this special night celebrated all over Europe, children who were good all year were visited by St. Nicolas and received a nice gift. The kids that were bad during the year received something, shall we say, not so nice.

Our girls woke up to find that St. Nicolas was able to come by the 3rd floor of the Cologne Marriott and left two nice gifts in front of our door. We knew he would bring one, but were surprised to actually see two gifts.

I guess PS got lucky this year...

High-Tailing it in Germany

When I think of Germany, I think of Sausages, Beer and the Autobahn. (but not necessarily in that order). So when Lexus Europe asked me to visit Germany, I (literally) jumped at the chance...

The German city of Cologne is less than 2 hours driving time from Brussels. I figured even less, behind the wheel of a Lexus GS hybrid, that I borrowed specially for this trip. What better way to introduce myself to the no speed limit world of German highways in a new Lexus hybrid? Fast AND environmentally friendly!!!

Once we crossed the German border, I floored it to 230 KPH (approx 145 mph). That's when one of the Japan staffers with me mentioned that he didn't think the Autobahn started until we were further into Germany! What a party pooper...

The first evening, our German host took us to dinner to Muhlen Kolsch, a restaurant/brewery. Kolsch is a style of beer that is only made within Cologne and this restaurant is the only place you can get Muhlen on tap. Everyplace else gets it in bottles (but to tell you the truth, I had never even heard of this beer before...)

Traditional German food is a meat and potato eater's paradise. Steaks, sausages, bratwurst, ham shanks, spare ribs, wienerschnitzel - it was all there. Plus, every kind of potato and sauerkraut you can think of was ordered. Oh, and did I mention they had all you can drink Muhlen beer? The waiter kept on bringing refills until we begged him to stop. I honestly lost count how many we had...



After dinner, a walk in the surrounding area is a must. The restaurant is adjacent to a nice shopping and entertainment plaza that overlooked the Rhine River.



Next to the shopping plaza was Cologne Cathedral, the most famous landmark in Cologne.

Construction began in 1248 and was completed over 600 years later in 1880. (probably the same crew that built H3 in Hawaii).

In WWII, it was the only building left standing in Cologne, after the allied bombing attacks. Say what you will, but for this building to survive, there must have been some divine intervention.

Anyways, I look forward to more visits to Germany, with Jo and the girls. As soon as I find out exactly where the autobahn starts....

Doing Dusseldorf...

The nice thing about living in Brussels is that we are right at the "gateway" to Western Europe and many countries are very close by. And, although we had just visited Cologne the weekend before, we headed back to Germany for another weekend getaway.

Just a short two-hour trip across the border lies Dusseldorf, Germany. (Actually, across two borders, because you cross just briefly into the Netherlands, on your way into Germany...)

We were also surprised to discover that Dusseldorf has the third-largest population of Japanese in Europe, just after London and Paris. In fact, the first nihonjin arrived in Dusseldorf way back in 1905...

During World War II, Dusseldorf was a prime target for Allied bombers due to its industrial centers and the city was practically leveled from the daily bomb raids. As a result, nearly all of the historical buildings in the city were lost and later rebuilt following the war.

First stop on our agenda was "Nordpark", which houses the Aqua Zoo. Following a nice lunch outdoors at the adjoining Cafe Restaurant, we spent a few hours visiting the marine exhibits and other interesting wildlife at Aqua Zoo.

Then, we checked into our hotel and tried to go swimming in the hotel pool, but unfortunately, PS was too young to use the facility. She was sooo sad that she was turned away, but the promise of a special snack helped her get over her rejection. DS and daddy still enjoyed the pool though!

The next day, we went to Old Town, Alstadt. There we saw famous Dusseldof landmarks such as St. Lambertus, Schlossturm (castle tower) and walked along the Rhine Promenade.

Speaking of St. Lambertus church, it has a tower that twists and curves, supposedly due to being constructed from lumber that was still wet. Although we are not sure if this is entirely true, it is an interesting tower to see, and you can't help but wonder how DID they get the wood to curve like that?...

There is also an area in Rheinpark that is known as the "longest bar in the world", due to its many bars and pubs lined up one after another. We found a restaurant called "Ham Ham" which specialized in (you guessed it!) pork! Here we are enjoying a nice German meal of Weinerschnitzel and roast chicken.

Dusseldorf is really a very pretty place, with lots of nice restaurants, shopping and things to see.

Jo's obsession with waffles means that she wants to try waffles at the different places we visit. We tried the ones from a local waffle/crepe shop in Dusseldorf, but we found that Belgian waffles still rule! At least we know that we won't have to drive two hours for a good waffle!