Cologne (Köln): Mon 2 – Thurs 5 Sept: Accommodation
Mon 2nd Sept
It was another glorious morning for our drive up to Köln and Mark squeezed in a bike ride before we left and I enjoyed a final walk around Luxembourg. We were heading higher, latitude-wise, but it was still forecast to be hot in Köln with a maximum of 29 degrees. We had planned this trip around with the aim of staying up higher within Europe for the first few weeks thereby hoping to avoid much of the heat but that plan seems to have failed.
We had a bit of time on our way from Luxembourg to Köln and so we called in to Vianden which was supposed to be a pretty village with a beautiful Castle and that turned out to be a very accurate assessment. The township lined either side of a narrow road that wound down to a valley floor and across a river, with the castle perched on a hill high above. The houses and building were typically more German here even though we were still in Luxembourg.
We caught a chair lift from the bottom of the village that took us higher than the Castle so then it was about 600 m of navigating a downhill, winding rocky trail to reach the Castle. I wouldn’t recommend this to anyone unless they were wearing sturdy shoes as the it can just as easily be reached from walking uphill from the the town. The Castle was well worth the visit though and we took the audio guide option which I would highly recommend. You need to allocate around 90 minutes to explore the Castle fully but we only really had an hour.
Vianden Castle was built between the 11th and 14th centuries and is considered one of the most beautiful castles surviving in Europe. The most amazing fact I picked up was that in 1820 King William 1 of Holland sold the castle off, bit by bit, and the place fell into complete ruin, and was not far off being a pile of rubble, until ownership was transferred back to the city of Luxembourg in 1977. It has since been restored to its glory but the images of the depleted Castle were just awful. We left the Castle and headed back down the road into the lower village, stopping off for lunch at one of the cafes, before continuing on our drive to Köln. The drive was very pretty as it was primarily through lush green farmland for much of the time, with tractors as companions on the road as much as cars and trucks.
It was 4:30 pm by the time we made it up to our room in our hotel in Köln and it was still over 30°. It was so nice to just pull up, check in, park easily and make our way to our accommodation. Hotels do have a lot going for them! It was after 5 pm by the time we ventured back out and we made our way up to inspect the Cathedral but it was closed for the day. So we drifted back down towards our hotel and the popular Heumarkt area where we had booked for dinner. Restaurant Gilden im Zims was doing busy trade but this wasn’t the case for the many other restaurants on this huge square. Maybe it was a Monday night thing? The restaurant had come highly reviewed on Google but it was a rather touristy joint which was ok for our first night, as it wasn’t too far from our hotel, but I would not recommend. More research would be needed for subsequent nights. We were both rather tired after our big day of travel so it was back to the hotel bar for a drink and then on to bed. We had a 2.5 hr walking tomorrow of Köln at midday.
Tue 3rd Sept
It was a slow start to the day for us as we were both feeling a bit tired and overwhelmed; we can’t seem to keep the same pace that we have been used to on previous journeys! It’s almost like we’re getting old or something? Yesterday we’d pondered how we would fill in the time before our midday walking tour but, today, I was now wondering if we would make it on time!
Our 2.5 hr walking tour with Simon from Free Tours Cologne was excellent. He was a young, enthusiastic, entertaining and very knowledgeable guide for our large group of around 40 tourists and I would highly recommend him, and this particular city tour, if you’re ever in Cologne (Köln). He explained that the name of this city probably derived from the word ‘colony’ as the city was initially a colony of the Roman Empire although no one seems to know why the English version of the name has a ‘g’ included. Whilst the tour was excellent, neither of us were very energized by Köln; it didn’t have the character and charm of other German cities that we had visited. When you walked down the Main Street in the Old Town you could be anywhere in the world; there was nothing defining the place as an especially German city. This is not a city we would suggest as a must visit.
It was almost 3 pm by the time our tour finished so we stopped off for a drink and a sandwich before heading back to the hotel for a rest as we were both still rather weary. We didn’t set out again until almost 6 pm for a 25 min walk down to dinner at Haus Muller. I had found this place recommended on this food blog and it was a great suggestion. We had a lovely meal in a lovely setting and the walk there and back did us good. We stopped off at our hotel bar to redeem our free drinks, that were issued for forgoing a service of our room. I was pleased to do this so that the staff didn’t turn off our room air conditioning as the hotel was not really coping with these unusually elevated temperatures. Tomorrow we had a river cruise and tour of the Köln Cathedral booked.
Wed 4th Sept
It was an overcast morning and, despite the drizzle, we headed out on a morning walk to the Cathedral with the hope of getting one photo without the masses of people that usually mill around the venue and, as luck would have it, we were successful. It was our last full day in Köln and, knowing it was likely to be raining at various points throughout the day, we had booked the undercover activities of a 90 minute river cruise for 11 am and a guided tour of the inside of the Cathedral for 2 pm.
Our river cruise turned out to be just okay and not something I would suggest as a must-do activity if you’re ever in Köln but worth the while in bad weather. We had a short break after our cruise before heading onto the 60 minute guided tour of the Cathedral. This tour was excellent as our guide, Yvonne, discussed different aspects of the Cathedral and pointed out particularly interesting features about the stained glass windows. The windows are always a favourite for me and there were an enormous number of windows in this Gothic Cathedral. The oldest stained glass window dates back to 1250 and the newest one was from 2007. I would definitely recommend doing a guided tour of the Cathedral if you are ever in Köln as you are granted special access to the main altar area when you can better view the oldest 1250 window in the Cathedral and the spectacular golden shrine that houses the supposed relics of the three wise men. Yvonne explained that carbon dating of the relics puts them a century or two out from being possible contenders for the three wise men but who is going to let a few facts get in the way of a good story. The Cathedral is the main tourist attraction in Köln so they all just go along with the claim.
After our tour Mark went on to climb the 533 steps of the tower of the Cathedral and I went on to explore the newer part of Köln and to find Lululemon. I always like to inspect the various Lululemon shops around the place to see what different types of stock they keep. The Köln one was rather small and underwhelming compared to what you see in other cities and compared to the scale of many of the other shops in the area. I was not surprised one bit though as you would be hard pressed to find anyone out and about wearing active wear which stands in stark contrast to the ‘athleisure’ vibe that dominates much of Sydney and some other cites. I wore Lululemon leggings today given the wet weather and activities we were doing but I did feel a little out of place LOL! That’s not to say that people in Köln dress smartly or well. In fact it’s quite the opposite with even Mark noting how glum and drab the general dress sense here was.
We met up back at the hotel where Mark reported that his climb to the top tower had been hard work. I had a much more pleasant time strolling along the main shopping malls for a couple of kilometers and checking out all the shops. It was almost 6 pm before we headed out for dinner on our last night in Köln and we went to Peters Brauhaus as this had also been recommended in the food blog I had mentioned above. Unfortunately, the same joy was not experienced as our previous night. I have come to realize that Brauhaus venues place zero value on the enjoyment of the customer. Our food was ok but the staff were rude and treated customers with something bordering on what I could only describe as contempt. Never again! We’d made a reservation already for a Brauhaus in Heidelberg, at our next destination, but that has very quickly been cancelled. These venues think they can serve mediocre food with absolutely no regard for the customer whatsoever. It made me realize how lucky we are to live in Australia with our high level of food and service and it made me a bit homesick. I could get much better food with much more humane and civil service back home, as well as see the family. Why was I spending $$$$ to be here?! It put a bit of a sour taste in my mouth to end our last night but I wasn’t going to let that spoil the whole trip.
Despite some rather ordinary restaurant experiences, Mark and I had enjoyed our 3 night stay in Köln although it wasn’t a place we would urge others to visit. We think this was as much to do with the fact we had stayed in one spot for three nights rather than the two-night stays we’d had with our first four stops of this trip. The fast pace of moving had taken its toll on both of us, but especially for Mark as he was doing all of the driving. It had been a salient lesson for us with the planning of any future trips; we need to try and base ourselves in venues for 3 or more days as a minimum. Having said all that; we are off to Heidelberg tomorrow for two nights! LOL! It’s too late to change our plans for this particular trip.
