Germany City Tour #3 - Cologne

Wednesday 18^th October

Getting to Munich Hauptbahnhof was pretty simple, although finding our way through the roadworks into the station and to the correct platform was a little more challenging! Our train had changed platforms but we boarded without too much hassle and settled into our seats (first class again, naturally!) I spent the journey writing up our Munich adventures. The train was delayed arriving into Cologne Messe-Deutz station – not the main station, but one on the east side of the city. Another confusing station, we eventually found the right platform to take us to our hotel.

We generally found the transport in Cologne a bit head-scratching – it was difficult to know what was a train, what was a bus, what was S-Bahn and what was U-Bahn. Everything seemed to run off the same platforms, which was great when you were changing trains, but sometimes a bit scary knowing whether you were definitely on the right train! We checked into our room at the Trip Inn Conti around 3pm. The room was a little bigger (and we had separate beds which was a nice change) but the bathroom was teeny! As in, I don’t know how anyone taller than me could sit on the loo without their knees bashing the wall in front of them!

Mia fancied a big, fat, dirty burger, and TripAdvisor guided us to Lord Of The Grillz, a medieval themed restaurant. Apple Maps guidance was less impressive, taking us through back streets and (I think) a university building. It was one of those walks where you’re thinking, “this is fine in daylight, but there must be a better way when it’s dark.”

We were pleased to arrive and opened the imposing door into the candlelit restaurant. When I asked the waiter who greeted us if he could speak English, his reply was, “well, I suppose we could take in the invaders.” We were led to the dungeon – his acting was unnervingly convincing, and the dungeon was dimly lit and a bit chilly but well furnished with chairs and benches covered in animal pelts. We had only just arrived after opening so it was quiet, but we were joined by a large party with a birthday boy who was seated on the grandest chair, crowned and proffered a sword.

We were served drinks in earthenware (even a tiny shot glass which I really wanted to steal or buy!). There was no English menu but I could decipher most of the ingredients on the list of burgers on offer. I plumped for one with bacon, egg and cheese along with the beef patty. It was absolutely delicious – as well as being a lot of fun the food was excellent. I also treated myself to a molten chocolate dessert. We weren’t up for a late night, so after despite the early hour we returned back to the hotel after dinner to rest.

Thursday 19^th October

While we had been resting the night before, I looked up the Fragrance Museum which I very much fancied seeing - where else to learn about Eau de Cologne than Cologne! You could only visit on guided tours, and as a number of tours showed as sold out, I thought we’d better get that booked in. Our tour was set for midday, so the plan for the morning was to make the best of the good weather and investigate Cologne on foot. We were again staying only a mile from the centre, so decided transport wasn’t necessary. We wound our way past Roman walls, a golden, winged car on top of the StadtMuseum (a “temporary” artwork from 1991) and finally arrived at the imposing Cathedral. It’s one of those buildings which can be seen from just about anywhere in the city. We walked around the back towards the Rhine which I found surprisingly wide and rapidly flowing. It was nice to walk along the river in the sunshine, it was much warmer than the weather had been in Munich. We turned west away from the river through Heumarkt and the magnificent statue of King Friedrich Wilhelm III, King of Prussia from 1770-1840.

Then to Farina House, the home of the DuftMuseum in time for our midday tour. We had a spritz of the fragrance as we were ushered to the starting point – it is fresh and citrussy, not musky as many would expect.  Our guide was a very enthusiastic Italian lady who described with great joy the life of Johann Maria Farina. Farina was an Italian who had an incredibly sensitive nose and moved to Cologne as a young man. At a time where people took few baths and generally coated themselves in perfume, he developed a unique scent, the original Eau de Cologne. He named it after the city as a thank you in return for them granting him citizenship. It was interesting to hear that, while the scent has remained the same since Farina created it, the recipe changes as the qualities of the ingredients change. The Farina family still oversees the production and formulation of the perfume (they are waiting to see if the next generation has the nose talent for it!).

The tour was about an hour and we got a mini bottle of the perfume included – given that the tour cost €8 and the bottle sells for €8, you actually get the tour for free! I treated myself to a bigger bottle as I have been needing new perfume for a while and I really liked it.

It was time for a rest and food – proper lunch rather than just cake today! We had sausage and beer in Peter’s Brauhaus, it was nice to go somewhere for a relatively small portion! We knew the weather was going to be wet tomorrow and I wanted to climb up the cathedral spire so we headed back to the cathedral – just as it started raining. We had been debating whether to go inside today or tomorrow, and the rain made our minds up. Cologne Cathedral is far more masculine than Munich’s dedication to Mary, darker and more imposing.

Climbing 533 steps was not on Mia’s list of “things to do”, so she went to a bar while I ventured up. There’s no denying that it was a long way up the spiral stairs of the south tower, made more difficult by people using the same narrow staircase to go up and down! About 300 steps in you get a rest to observe St Peter’s Bell, then the steps continue in a zig-zag. I’ll be honest, I was getting a bit shaky. Partly from the exertion, partly because I was getting a sense of just how high up I was getting. I was really hoping that the viewing platform was well and truly fenced in! The final stretch is a narrower, one way spiral, then you are out on the viewing platform, 97 metres above the ground.

Despite the cloud and rain, it was a spectacular view. I also always enjoy seeing bits of the building close up, so seeing across to the north tower was really cool. I circled the top twice (I was making all that effort worthwhile!) before descending. And that’s when you realise that it’s no easier taking the inside route of a spiral staircase when passing others when you are going down!

Mia had found a seat at a bar which had steadfastly not served her for 30 minutes, so I arrived just when she was ready to give up and leave. I was determined to get some good cake, so we went to Café Printen Schmitz. I had a delicious roulade with lots of praline – basically a large, cake version of a Ferrero Rocher – and a mulled wine. Mia wanted a hot chocolate with rum, but despite us both asking for the rum three times, she sadly didn’t get any.

After a rest at the hotel, we decided we were hungry at 8pm. While this was probably the least good hotel, the location was right in the centre of Cologne’s Belgian Quarter, a bohemian, arty area and a hive of nightlife. I picked out tapas from TripAdvisor – as much as I was enjoying the German food, it’s a little monotonous and heavy, and the variety of the world cuisine we had enjoyed was providing a good contrast.

Tapeo & Co also served fabulous cocktails alongside their food. I impressed myself by passing as German when asking for a table – they were very apologetic when I asked for an English menu! We weren’t quite the last customers to leave, but there was only one staff member left when we finished our third cocktails. Mia wanted another drink so we stopped at Herr Pinnock, just across from our hotel. Yup, this was a pretty cool area, I would definitely recommend staying around this part of Cologne if you wanted a taste of the nightlife.

Friday 20^th October

It was wet! We’ve been fairly lucky with the weather so far – it’s been changeable, but apart from a bit of rain in Berlin it’s mostly been dry. We knew today was going to be a bit of a washout though, so we sought a museum or two to keep us occupied. There are a lot of art galleries in Cologne but art isn’t really Mia’s thing and there’s nothing worse than viewing art with someone who isn’t really into it (definitely a place I could revisit on my own).

The Chocolate Museum was on our list for later, and I saw two museums that were just 10 minute walk away from our hotel. It turned out they were in the same building, so we bought a combi-ticket for the Rautenstrauch-Joest Museum and Museum Schnütgen. The foyer is dominated by a 7.5m high rice granary from Sulawesi which was reconstructed by Indonesian craftsmen.

The Rautenstrauch-Joest Museum is a huge collection of ethnological objects from around the world. As their website says;

“The exhibition is divided into two sections. The thematic complex ‘Grasping the World’ presents the European perspective on other cultures – as reflected in travelogues, art and museums. The complex ‘Shaping the World’ showcases different ways of life around the world.”

It very much has in mind how that European perspective can often devalue the objects and the people who made them. It purposely provokes conversation about how these objects, many of which are sacred, came to European soil, and how we often view the creators as being unaware of the aesthetic qualities (as if only a European eye could have such appreciation). In this context you can feel that the objects – reflecting life, warfare, religion and death – are treated with respect. The I MISS YOU exhibition focuses on objects looted from Benin by British soldiers in 1897. Many of these objects are in the process of being returned to Nigeria, meaning the exhibition will continue to change over the coming years.

We only allowed ourselves 45 minutes around the attached Museum Schnütgen, a collection of medieval Christian sculpture, stained glass and other artworks in the church of St Cecilia. The first part was in an adjoining building, and it felt odd to see so much of it outside of the context of a church. Even once you entered the church, it still felt more like a collection of statues rather than anything worshipful. There was also a weird audio work being played around the building, where seemingly random words in German kept being said over a series of loudspeakers. I think this also detracted from any potential atmosphere that the artworks might create. I don’t think we really felt the need to spend long here, even if we didn’t have one final thing to tick off our tourist list!

Our very last thing to do was the Schokoladen Museum on the banks of the Rhine. We wanted to do the museum before the café but we were hungry. There was a van outside the museum selling sausage and chips – finally I got a currywurst! I wolfed it down in the drizzle, then we went in.

We were given a Lindt truffle (the red ones!) as we went in. The first part of the museum talked of where chocolate comes from, with a lot of focus on the difficulties that cocoa production faces with regard to fair trade, sustainability and climate change. Then the science bit – how chocolate is made! There’s a mini factory where the rectangular “Naps” are made. You can eat one fresh off the production line, and also eat a wafer coated in melted chocolate from their chocolate fountain. The museum continues with a look at how chocolate is moulded, then a history of the culture of chocolate.

I would have loved to have spent a little longer but I was starting to struggle with being on my feet. 6 hours of solid museum walking and standing, at the end of 10 days of touristing had caught up with me. It seemed entirely fitting that we should finish our trip with cake from the café. I had the Blackforest gateau (does it count as a fruit portion?) and Mia the mousse cake. We both had boozy hot chocolate. It was very, very delicious and a great place to reflect on our holiday.

I did my biggest souvenir shop in the Lindt shop (which is probably ridiculous, I’m sure I could get all this at home) and we trudged back to the hotel. Thinking that we knew the way, we took a couple of wrong turns. I offered a stop for a drink, but Mia was at the point where, if she stopped, she might not get started again. Back at the hotel and neither of us felt the need to go out for a final meal. We rested and packed, ready to depart for our respective homes the next morning.