So this weekend I've been in Cologne with Kathi on another of my growing number of spontaneous trips. I think maybe from all my travel experience so far, Cologne may be one of my favouritest cities ever, simply because its interesting and dynamic in a London sort of way, but its also loaded with culture and history and general good vibes. All this makes it a winner in my books, as I've only ever been there twice and still bum it.
I guess the first thing that never fails to amaze me is Cologne cathedral, or the Dom. No picture will do this building justice. If you haven't seen it in the flesh (in the brick?), then it's the kind of building that might make you say ".. magnificent" out loud. Its that good.
The unnerving thing was there were more police than you could shake a stick at, what with the increased terror threat in Deutschland. Pretty much the entire Dom and Bahnhof were surrounded by patrol cars, surveillance vans and guys in flak vests with submachine guns.
On saturday there was also a big rally protesting against attacks against Christians in Iraq. Only this wasn't immediately obvious; their placards were more in the way of big Iraqi flags than banners with slogans. So a 200 strong crowd of chanting people brandishing Iraqi flags while the armed police shift about a little nervously at the sidelines. It was tense, despite the obvious lack of a threat.
The other main highlight would have to be the Christmas Market. I had bratwurst, currywurst, Gluhwein and all the other special things that they have. It was pretty awesome, even if it was damn cold. Other than this, there seems to be anti-christmas sentiment, such as an effigy of Santa strung up on a lamppost. This wouldn't look out of place in the Middle-East.
And after this we went to see the latest Harry Potter in German. This was actually better than expected; I reckon I understood about 50% of everything that was said. I'm planning on seeing it again sometime in English if possible but until then you can read a more dedicated review here
I'm now back in Neuerburg, where the snow has finally arrived. We ventured outside on friday when there was a gay kind of sleet going on, but now its proper snow and it looks cold and you're gonna have to wait for pictures.
