Hi everyone,

The week has absolutely flown by way too quickly, it’s already December! Won’t get ridiculed for having my Christmas lights up on my window anymore 😂

I am fast running out of time to do these roadtrip reflections so I’m going to merge some of the next few together. But for Cologne (Köln in German) I can’t do that because it’s worth one whole post on its own and also because Cologne is often regarded as Germany’s most popular tourist destination.

Cologne’s skyline is dominated by the twin spires of its Cathedral. It’s almost as if you can see the spires everywhere you go around Cologne. Though the best view of it is just across the Rhine River along the Rheinpromenade Köln Deutz outside Hyatt.

Here, you’ll get an almost unobstructed view of the cathedral along with the TV tower and the Hohenzollern Bridge.

Alternatively, you could go onto the Deutzer Brücke and you’ll see this but this wouldn’t give you the best view of the cathedral though.

The Deutzer Brücke also affords you a view of the Kranhaus (crane house) if you’ve got a zoom lens that is.

I had another day to roam around Cologne so I wasn’t in a rush to get everything crammed in. So this was just a taste of what more there was to see the next day.

Still wouldn’t pass up the chance to take a night shot with the cathedral and the Hohenzollern Bridge though.

This is one that you might have seen if you’ve Googled Cologne for images. Google probably has way better photos of this though… That said, the night view of this is a lot better than it was in the day!

Onto day 2 then… Starting off right where the symbol of Cologne is.

The skies that morning were really pretty so this shot of the twin spires was made to look better than it actually was.

The interior of the cathedral was also really impressive. Among the stained glass, this was the most peculiar one because it’s got a very modern look about it and the “pixels” seem to give the illusion of a blur effect. Designed by German visual artist, Gerhard Richter, this stained glass window has 72 colours and is made up of over 11,000 pixel squares:

Something else that catches your eye is the very special church organ here, known as the “swallow’s nest organ”. The nave organ was built in 1998 in celebration of the cathedral’s 750th anniversary.

Don’t be fooled by the blue skies. It was raining intermittently all morning and so we hid in the cathedral for shelter before coming back out again, just as the sun began to come out too.

Roaming around eventually got us to the Church of Great St Martin and the colourful houses around the Fischmarkt, along the banks of the Rhine River.

And before long, the grey clouds were back but I found the perfect spot for us to take a family photo with the cathedral towering behind us.

Despite having seen it from afar, I had to see the crane houses close up to admire them properly. This is considered the rear view of it. The one that’s in the foreground (Kranhaus North) looks quite different from the other 2 and it’s presumably the one that’s fully residential. The one in the centre is called Kranhaus Eins (one) and the furthest one away is Kranhaus South.

The crane houses are found in the area of Rheinhaufen which underwent an urban regeneration from 2002. It also includes the Imhoff-Schokoladenmuseum that’s surely a highlight for any chocolate lover!

You know what? As far as famous landmarks go, that’s it for Cologne!

Fans of pubs will like Cologne because it claims to have the most pubs per capita in Germany! Didn’t actually take notice of that though.

I’m starting to forget what I’ve actually done during the roadtrip because it’s going to be almost 3 months ago now! I’ll do my best to catch up over the next few posts because I really have to. But in between them, will be a more recent visit to Winter Wonderland 2017 in Hyde Park. I’ll do my best to keep the posts short from now.

Anyway, the first Advent Sunday is this Sunday! That means it’s 4 Sundays before Christmas! 🎄

Have a blessed weekend ahead! 🌈