Oh yes…….the Germans certainly know how to bake! If this photo of a shop window doesn’t make your mouth water, how about this one of some French toast [or eggy-bread to us commoners!] with fruit….
Or maybe this glorious Apfelstrudel…..
and this delicious cheese omelette was to die for!
You will notice that even this came with a gigantic slice of toast – they really can’t help themselves. I was beset, bewitched and besotted with glorious breads, cakes and pastries everywhere I went in Cologne recently. It really appears they can’t stop cooking no matter what they are doing…..
OK, I am hoping none of my food came from a naked man in a sauna, but I didn’t ask – just in case.
So, this is just a small section of the old town [Altstadt], with cafes marked – If I knew how to I would also have added all the restaurants, bakeries, beer houses, supermarkets… it’s like a foodie heaven.
Alas, I digress. The reason I was in Cologne was for a much more boring reason – an academic conference on the Dative case. I did attend, honestly, but – ok – I skipped the final day’s talks to shop and sight see; a day well spent I reckon.
I didn’t know much about Cologne apart from that it had a cathedral and my mum always had bottles of 4711 eau-de-cologne, which I was sometimes allowed to have a small splash from if I’d been good. [And, of course, that was all the time ?!?!?!] So, you may think I am dim, but I wasn’t really sure if 4711 did actually come from Cologne. Well, Brussels sprouts don’t grow in Brussels. I know, I’ve been! Anyway, I now know for sure.
This beautiful building IS no 4711, Cologne. It’s the flagship and origin of the aforementioned scent. Inside is a veritable palace in honour of cologne [with a small-case ‘c’] and there is this lovely tapestry depicting how the number came about.
When Napoleonic forces had conquered the city, an order was given to number every single building consecutively – the place where a small scented-water industry was based became number 4711 and that, dear readers, is how the name came about.
I loved this chandelier – it is made of empty cologne bottles, and it is HUGE!
Sadly, because of cabin baggage restrictions I couldn’t buy anything for myself from there, but I did go shopping HERE……..
Yep, good old Woolies 🙂 🙂 :). It’s not quite like I remember it, but it was wonderful to mooch about there,and a rather nice jumper and pair of boots did just happen to land in my shopping basket I don’t mind admitting.
http://blog.steve-calvert.co.uk/2018/08/04/woolworths-germany/
Another place I found, which I adored, [though hung on to my Euros] was this pick and weigh[t] vintage clothes shop:
There are also all the usual shops, including a rather strange Primark:
So, tearing myself away from the retail delights, I carried on to the cathedral, Hohenzollern Bridge and other such attractions. I felt a little sorry for the magnificent cathedral. It has the most delicate stonework, it was the highest building in the world for a while and it has wonderful stained glass windows, but it did feel a little unloved.
On the outside it seemed to be begging for a thorough clean, and although I felt it deserved to be set in a beautiful garden or similar location, it was right next to a very busy train station and was besieged on all sides by concrete.
Behind it is a wonderful, yet rather ugly, modernistic museum, and this particular sculpture [?] sort of insults it, I feel:
It’s a pile of concrete blocks with a small slit in the centre through which you can get a very narrow view of the cathedral. I don’t know who decided to put it there, but I hope they’re ashamed of themselves!
On the slopes down towards the river I spied this group of tourists in a segue convoy – that DID look fun 🙂
Please don’t get me wrong, though,there are some lovely parts of the city, both old and modern. By the river near the cathedral and Old Town I found this lovely water feature. From what I understood, it seems to have been made in honour of a visit by Pope Benedict for Children’s day. It was lovely, and there were quite a few children playing round it, so it serves its purpose admirably.
There were also a few Roman remains: the first picture is the ancient North gate, the second is, according to the sign, a sewer.
There were almost as many churches as bakeries: [these are just a sample]
There were statues, the Hohenzollern bridge [covered in padlocks – am I the only one who doesn’t find this romantic?], colourful houses and colourful trees:
There were buskers,
…amazing views from what they call the Triangle [despite it being a decidedly oval shape to my thinking] 
…a sculpture of a fairy story – apparently gnomes used to do all the city inhabitants’ house-work at night until one lady decided to stay up late and catch them. They vanished…if you should find a few, send them to me, please.
…a rather perilously-perched cormorant by the river….
…a couple of academic geese-type birds at the University…
…a tongue twister of a street named after a beloved writer and media personality…
…a wonderful rice barn in a folk heritage museum…
…. and a few hats in a glass case in a street, of course.
I stayed in a place I found on AirBnB, and very comfortable it was, too – I even had a friendly key ring during my stay!
Yes, Cologne has some beautiful areas and is definitely worth a visit, but you do need to work [and walk] hard to discover it all. The ‘concreteness’ of the place was summed up by my first view of the city – I had to change from a train to a bus here to get to the centre [and returning it was about 6am, pitch dark!] Nice.
The Travelling Hamster 