Cologne: History and beer on the Rhine

Exciting awesome weekend!... Fail.

Despite good intentions, this weekend may very well have ended up being even more boring than the last one.  More housecleaning (I found a Swiffer mop with wet and dry cloths!), gym (both days!), making food for the week (chicken vindaloo), and yes... TPS Reports, emails, and planning.  I am actually getting a class observed tomorrow, so Monday's guaranteed to be a great fucking day and not at all stressful.  Good thing my last class is five minutes away from the best cocktails in Kassel, at the one PentaHotel.

(I wanted to put a clip here of Nora Charles saying "All right, will you bring me five more martinis?  You can line them right up here."  Sadly youtube only has longer montages of The Thin Man, which would ruin my clever joke.)

Next weekend I am taking a day trip if it kills me.

Set the way-back machine to three whole weeks ago!  My final day in Köln.

Got a little bit of a later start on Sunday.  Saturday night, I hadn't wanted to eat a full dinner after my gigantic, filling, and late lunch, so just got something called a frikadelle, which is basically a small German hamburger patty.  It was tasty enough but just really heavy and greasy, and it didn't sit well in my stomach from the get-go.  'Course, come 4:00 AM Sunday morning, I had the intense privilege of climbing down from my creaky, squeaky top bunk so I could go and be sick in the room's ensuite.  When enjoying a hostel stay, there are just a few things beyond your control that you just pretty much hope will never happen to you.  Bedbugs are one.  Having to barf where the entire room can hear you, after your bunk exit has doubtless woken everyone up at 4:00 in the morning, is another.

Eventually got back to sleep.  And thank goodness, when I woke up at about 9:00, everyone else in the room had already checked out so I was spared any additional embarrassment.  Small favors.

Coffee in the cafe again, and out to see more of beautiful Cologne before my 4:00 train.

The first thing I wanted to see was the NS-Dokumentationszentrum, or National Socialism Documentation Center.  The site was a Gestapo headquarters during WWII.  But it was closed until 11:00 (Sunday, I'm glad it was open at all), so I walked down the street to check out the Kölnisches Stadtmuseum, which documents the history of the city from Medieval times up to WWII.  It hadn't been on my list, but yesterday I'd bought Cologne's Museum Pass, which meant both the Stadtmuseum and the NS-D were free!

The Stadtmuseum was pretty interesting.  They offered audioguides free of charge, and usually I'm not an audioguide person but I went for it and it ended up making the museum much more worthwhile.  Killed a pleasant hour here before circling back to the NS-D.

 
My auidioguide told me a fun little story about the "Inquisitive Tailor's Wife".  Apparently once upon a time, goblins would visit Cologne and do nice things without ever being seen.  However, one night the Tailor's Wife tried to trick the goblins into showing themselves, and as a result the little guys have deserted Cologne forever.

At the NS-Dokumentationszentrum, there isn't much on the ground floor.  The basement, however, had been used as a prison when this was a Gestapo headquarters, and they've preserved this as a museum.

This site was, unquestionably, one of the ugliest and most unsettling places I have ever been.

Many of the cell walls are covered in graffiti, and reading the translations was heartbreaking.  It's just hard to imagine that something like this could ever have even been allowed to happen.  And that in some parts of the world, it is still happening.

This is something you should not miss in Cologne.  It's important to remember that this ugly reality was really not all that long ago.  Just be prepared to leave feeling very chilled.  I was affected more strongly than I thought I would be, and was very grateful to emerge back out into the sunshine and 2014.

After the NS-D, I took a walk to the cathedral to reset my head, and decided I'd like to try my last-minute luck at taking a short river cruisetour on the Rhine.  I walked along the river and soon found an open kiosk selling tickets (most are still closed for the season), and they had a boat that was leaving in literally two minutes.  Last-minute luck extreme success!  I walked onboard and thought how sweet it would be if the boat happened to have drinks.  Sipping a glass of breakfast/lunch Kölsch while watching Cologne slip by sounded just about ideal.  And wouldn't you know, not three minutes I sat down, a waiter made a circuit and I got my glass of Kölsch.  Didn't even have to leave my seat!! :)

The tour was an hour, the sun was shining, it it was all-around a fantastic way to get some gorgeous views of the city and pick up a little extra history.

Medieval tower sandwiched between modern apartment blocks.

Post-cruisetour, I realized I had made a really stupid error by leaving Persephone at the hostel.  I was literally five minutes from the train station, and simply could have stashed her in a locker there.  Instead, I had to make an hour-long round trip to the hostel and back, which of course was an hour lost seeing the city.  Dumb.  I could have knocked out another church or two!  But I decided that, rather than rush at the end, I'd go get the backpack now, and eat lunch after.  So that happened.  I was worried I'd have to rush through my last meal in Köln, but I ended up having plenty of time.

For said last meal, I wanted to visit a Rick Steves-recommended place, Peter's Brauhaus.  I'm really glad I did.

Pork... leg(?), sauerkraut, mashed potatoes

This traditional German feast of a meal is one I won't soon forget.  How often do you get to say that sauerkraut was the highlight of any meal???  This sauerkraut was amazing.  So flavorful, with little bits of bacon!  The mashed potatoes and pork were delicious too.  Pair all this with a couple glasses of Kölsch, and Peter's Brauhaus was a very, very delightful was to say Auf Wiedersehen to Köln.

A beautiful city, and a great -- if exhausting -- experience.

Where to next, you ask?  Not sure, but Thuringia is looking pretty attractive.

Cologne: museums, churches, beer, and one very questionable condiment

Adulthood once again rears its boring head in Kassel!  This weekend has included:  the laundromat, the gym (only on Sunday, half a success), the housecleaning, the German tax form, the mending (socks and buttons), the grocery shopping (once again I forgot exactly how much a "kilo" of ground beef actually is, and will be having a friend for hamburgers tomorrow), and -- of course -- the TPS Report, the work-related emails (MANY), and the lesson planning.  And the blog, in progress.

The highlight of this weekend was Friday, where plans to make dinner at my place for a friend as a thank-you for a favor turned into my making dinner at his place for him and his roommate, and then, finally, dinner for friend, roommate friend, and two of her friends.  I made teriyaki salmon, cold sesame noodles, avocado crostini, and a green salad with strawberries, walnuts, and blue cheese.  I think it came out pretty well.  Go me.  It was very chill and laid back, and surprisingly not stressful at all.  Just some good wine and food and conversation with friends.  Home before midnight, whoop whoop.

Saturday and Sunday, unfortunately, were less fun.  But them's the breaks.  Shit is accomplished.

However, LAST weekend was pretty overflowing with awesome, so things balance out.  I went to go check out beautiful Köln, or as we Americans like to say, Cologne.

I couldn't leave Kassel until the evening on Friday, so ended up getting into Cologne at about 11:00 PM.  I came out of the Hauptbanhof looking for the sign for the metro, and got the surprise of my life as I found myself staring at the dark hulking gothic behemoth that is Kölner Dom.  "OH!" I said aloud, and stopped dead in my tracks, staring up, mouth open.  Highly uncool of me, and also possibly unsafe as surely I did not look tough, savvy, and unapproachable right just then.  (Germany so far has been almost weirdly safe, btw.  Of all the countries I've visited, Germany has offered the least harassment and shenanigans. [They make up for this with regulations, forms, and shock at jaywalking.])

I shook myself out of my tourist stupor and metroed to my hostel.  Weltempfänger Backpacker Hostel is pretty boss, I have to say.  There is a very adorable cafe/bar on the ground floor, complete with chandeliers, antique couches, indie rock on the PA, and -- of course -- bottles of Kölsch beer for the quite attractive price of 1.50 euro.  The rest of the hostel is clean and pretty quiet.  There's a nice common room/full kitchen on the 1st floor; it would be pretty easy to cook a cheap backpacker meal here, although I didn't.  I stayed in a co-ed 4-bed dorm with an ensuite (this will unfortunately become relevant later), and overall don't think I could find one thing to complain about here.  Staff were pretty great.  And hey -- no bedbugs! (That I know of.)  Highly recommended.

Saturday morning, I woke up at 7:30 AM for some reason.  Weird, but it meant I got myself a very nice early start.  Got some coffee downstairs in the cafe and planned my day.  When I asked the on-duty staffer for recommendations, she said that if she wasn't working, she'd be going to this flea market that happens on Saturdays, and gave me directions.  Now, I am not an "other people's crap" kind of person, but she seemed very emphatic and since it was still pretty early... I went to check it out.  I figured it'd be a nice step away from the de rigueur of museums and churches, at any rate.

Yup.  It was a big parking lot filled with... other people's crap.  Lots of books.  Tons of shoes, for some reason.  Clothes.  Crystal and china.  Antique cell phones and other defunct electronics.  Random creepy stuff.  I suppose if I were to ever actually put down roots somewhere, and had an apartment bigger than a shoebox, it might be cool to comb through a place like this and look for random funky touches to give my home some character.  But for my life right now... not so much.  I did a quick circuit and was probably on my way again in less than 20 minutes.  Enough deviating from the pattern!  I was off to see a church... and some museums.

Now, I have seen something like quite a few churches in my day.  Notable, famous, ancient, breathtakingly beautiful churches.  Kölner Dom, however, is just really something else.  It's the most visited site in Germany, and standing there in the platz and just looking up and up at this, it's obvious as to why.  The year it was finished, 1880, it was the tallest building in the world.  It is mind-blowingly, breathtakingly beautiful.  My favorite church ever.  Hands down.

I'd brought Rick Steves with me to Köln, mainly because of his very detailed descriptions of all the hidden gems and historical goodies inside the Dom.  I did not want to miss anything.

However.  Yet another travel disappointment here.  The back part of the church, were most of said goodies are, was closed when I was there.  According to Rick, this should not be the case as it usually only closes for confession which is in the afternoon and it was very much still morning, but oh well.  If I hadn't brought Rick along, I never would have even known what I was missing.  Ignorance is bliss.

Rick did point out this crucifix from the 10th century, very awesome.

And even with a significant part being blocked off, it was still very much full of awesome.

Back outside, it had turned into spring!  The sun was shining and it was 60 degrees at least.  I went around to the side of the Dom and sat for a little while, people-watching and cathedral-ogling.

Right next to the Dom is the Römisch-Germanisches Museum, which, as you might expect from its name, houses Roman artifacts excavated from the region.  The highlight is a mosaic floor, which was left in its original place and the museum built up around it.

The museum was cool enough but really pretty dry.  They had a large jewelry exhibit which was impressive.  But my favorite thing was a photography installation of works by Alfred Seiland.

Seiland has traveled from the Middle East to Hadrian's Wall, photographing Roman ruins juxtaposed, sometimes jarringly, sometimes whimsically, against some aspect of mundane modernity.  I got a kick out of this one:

This, ladies and gents, is a photo of a photo of an exhibit in the museum where the photograph is displayed.  I think I just broke my brain with irony.

Speaking of irony, it was time for some... modern art!  (Eve would be ready to kill me right about now, I expect.)  Also right next to the Dom is the Museum Ludwig, an impressive collection of modern art from the early impressionists up to contemporary installations.  I wish I knew more about modern art.  I didn't recognize many of the names here, although there is a truly noteworthy Picasso collection, as well  as a smattering of the greats -- Man Ray, Mondrian, Duchamp, even Giacometti.  On the top floor, they have a lot of Warhol and Lichtenstein but pop art is not my thing.  I did not find any of my beloved Arte Povera here sadly.

Picasso

After the RGM and the Ludwig, I was seriously museumed-out.  I walked along the Rhine for a bit, and soon found myself at... the doors of -- yes, another church.  The 10th century Romanesque Groß St. Martin.

This church reminded me so much of a Georgian Orthodox church for some reason.  I especially loved how you could see remains of frescoes on the walls, sometimes barely discernible.  For .50 euro, you could go down into the basement where Roman ruins have been excavated.

Now, I still had not eaten that day, unless coffee counts as food.  I began my strolling search to find a promising prospect for breakfast/lunch/dinner (it was about 3:30).  I walked through a very cute square next to the Rathaus, but the sun and warmth had brought every Kölner out in force!"  Not a table to be had here.

Rathaus

Haha

 

However, because of the freakishly amazing weather, when I did settle on a place, I was able to sit outside at this very cute little cafe near(ish) the river and ordered up some Kölsch and some "Kölner tapas".

Before you, you see:  bacon, fried onion straws, a lil chicken schnitzel, liverwurst, blood sausage, lentils, gouda cheese, some very pretty garnish... and a ball of lard.

First off, I want to say that this lunch was very, very good.  It is hard to fuck up bacon and fried onions, although Georgians have tried.  I even really liked the liverwurst, which has not been my favorite in times past.

However.  I had never tried blood sausage before, because frankly the concept sounds really gross.  But I am a big fan of Anthony Bourdain's "No Reservations", and Tony never lets a chance slip by to tell me how fucking amazing blood sausage is.  Besides -- Germany.  I had to give it a go.

And now I know.  And I never have to eat blood sausage again.  Sorry Tony.

The other memorable lowlight of my otherwise fantastic lunch was that little white golf ball sitting between the liverwurst and the gouda.  I didn't know what it was, but my adventurous soul cut out a little sliver and put it in my mouth.  Yep, that was one giant tasteless, sticky, oil slick of an experiment.  Um... seriously Germany???  A ball of lard?  How is this in any way a good idea?  EVER???

After lunch, I was pretty tired and also pretty freaking full of Kölsch and German tapas.  I walked along the river some more, with no real plan or destination, for what ended up being quite a while.  Poked my head into yet another church (pretty unmemorable), just for kicks.

My own poor attempt at a Seiland-style photo

And then it was time to head back to the hostel for some much-needed downtime and yeah, another Kölsch.  My day had worn me out.  But my hostel had kindly provided me with a small local map of the area, that included vetted nightspots.  I felt like I couldn't just sit in the hostel all night, so at around 8:00 I headed out and checked out a few.  Had a pretty good time, as good as solo low-key barhopping can get.  It's just basically me and my kindle or my journal, ignoring everyone and everything around me, pretty much exactly what I'd be doing if I had stayed at the hostel.  Headed back before too late.  Had more on my list for tomorrow before my train at 4:00!

And that, lovers, was my very full day in Cologne.  I loved it, and the gorgeous weather certainly did not hurt.  At the very least, an extremely worthy follow-up to the success of Heidelburg.  Stay tuned for day two!

Fulda: Day trip to the Balkans

I know, I know.  Another blog post without first taking a month-long break?  Craziness.  This might have something to do with the fact that I've decided to try a Facebook Divorce for a while, having finally gotten sufficiently disgusted with myself over the staggering amount of time I waste scrolling down on a daily and weekly basis.

Work schedule looks like it just may be picking up; I have German to study and a gym to force myself to go to.  Dinners to make, in some form or fashion.  (Recent successes have included pasta primavera, chicken coconut curry, and chicken-broccoli stir-fry.  This past week I made the curry a second time, and actually had a friend for dinner!)  Anyway.  The point is I just don't have the bountifully-flowing buckets of free time the way I might have once had (I'm looking at you, Poti).  My time has become valuable in a way I haven't seen in a while, and since I am too tired to lesson plan (any more) or study German... instead I'm going to tell you about my most recent German adventure -- a day trip to the nearby town of Fulda.

Fulda was specifically recommended to me by a good friend when I asked (via Facebook) about German gems I should be sure not to miss.  I got a surprisingly long list of suggestions, and will be doing my best to work through them.  (Ahem... stay tuned for an upcoming post about Cologne!  Trip happening this weekend.)

But Fulda stood out to me mainly because it is only 30 minutes away by train, and is a super small little town, all of which meant no need for a hostel, and seeing as I am still meticulously inspecting every random tiny piece of lint to make sure it isn't moving, and scrutinizing my skin every time I have an itch (thank you SO much, Steff's Hostel and your bedbug mascots), a hostel-less adventure seemed pretty damn ideal.  And hey -- also cheaper.  Bonus.  (Going to have to conquer my latest neurosis come Friday...)

I kind of failed at getting out the door that morning though.  Delayed my trip for an hour so I could charge my iPhone as I'd forgotten to do that the night before, and then eventually left with said iPhone still plugged in and sitting on the windowsill.  Also forgot an assortment of other small but helpful items, such as my umbrella (it definitely rained on me).  Ah well.  If I am ever to learn to be an impulsive traveler, I must learn that these things can always be left behind!

The first thing I did in Fulda was, natch, check out a church.

And then, keeping true to form, I then swung by an old building/museum, the Stadtschloss.

The Stadtschloss was built in the early 18th century for the city's "prince-abbots (whatever those are).  It's now largely a municipal office building, but several rooms on different floors have been restored and are open to the public.  The layout was rather confusing honestly, spread out over four floors kind of randomly, and now looking back through my Lonely Planet, I see I did indeed miss climbing up to the Schlossturm, or tower.  Oh well.  The rooms were beautifully restored and the ticket wasn't expensive.  My favorite room was the one in the last picture, the aptly-named "Mirror Room".

After the Stadtschloss, I walked across the street for... another church!  Yaaaay!  This one was the Fulda Dom, or cathedral, and was quite beautiful.

I had a huge letdown at the Dom though, because there is a museum here that is supposed to be pretty cool, but I discovered it was closed for a month through February 15.  I was there on... February 15.

Also had another, slightly smaller disappointment as Michaelskirche, which sits next to the Dom and dates from the 9th century, was closed when I stopped by.  Pushing on in the face of failure!

Speaking of things I missed while in Fulda, my friend who had recommended the place to me had also given me the address of an apparently very cool vinyl shop downtown.  Which, of course, I had stored on the iPhone that was currently sitting attached to a charger on a windowsill in my apartment.  I guess the fates were just telling me I'd have to make another trip to Fulda someday.

After the Dom, I wandered a little in the pretty park that is next to the Stadtschloss, and then went into the downtown in search of lunch.

Fulda has no shortage of cool-looking restaurants.  I passed a bunch that looked like they would be excellent, but (as always) I was kind of on a budget so resisted.  I walked around Fulda's pretty downtown for a while, and eventually settled on an interesting-looking Balkan restaurant called Hansa-Keller, which is, indeed, in a cellar.

The restaurant itself was completely charming however, and the staff incredibly nice.  The menu was in German though, and there are few things more futile than trying to read a menu full of unfamiliar dishes written in a language you don't understand.  Eventually I ordered this combo-plate thing, and (natch) a mug of beer that I hadn't tried before.

What I ended up getting was a skewer of pork medallions, and four meatball/sausage hybrid thingies that were delicious.  This was a seriously excellent meal.  (And not totally unhealthy -- a salad had come out first!)  After I finished, my waiter gave me this little ampule of a strangely strong, strangely banana liqueur.

Without question, the high point of the trip!

The inevitable downside to all of this was that as I left the restaurant, I was completely ready for a nap.  Instead I explored downtown Fulda some more, and hit the Vonderau Museum.

The Vonderau Museum was interesting enough, but in keeping with the theme of the day, was also quite random.  It sure is easier to get through museums faster when the cards and descriptions are only in a language you can't read!

And after the Vonderau, it was about 4:00 and I decided to head back.  I'd seen the major sites, and the options left to me appeared to be shopping (not bloody likely), or finding a pub (more likely, but again with the budget).  So I walked back to the train station and ended up enjoying a very pleasant and quiet Saturday night in.

And that, my dears, was Fulda.  Decidedly picturesque, and very much worth an afternoon jaunt in my humble opinion.

Next up:  Cologne!