We're on the train to Praha (Prague) now, winding along the Rhine and passing through steep hills with rows and rows of hand-cultivated vineyards surrounding quaint, beautiful villages.
Our taste of Köln (Cologne) was brief but satisfying. We checked into our small bed-and-breakfast near Barbarossaplatz around nine Wednesday morning, ready to sleep but still having the entire day ahead of us. The sun had never set during our flight from New York to Düsseldorf...the horizon glowed red as the sun dipped down and the sky darkened, but it burned that same brilliant red until we landed and the sun rose again. It was weird. I'm not sure how the Alaskans handle it.
The German train system seemed relatively simple to navigate until we discovered that there were multiple stations with similar names and we had jumped off three stops too early. After waylaying some poor locals and testing their English, we managed to figure out the proper train and clamber aboard, but the exit door was broken and we were forced to switch cars. I pushed into the next car and found it quite overcrowded: turning back, I saw the first hilarious incident of our trip - Carly, stuck with the car's doors trying to shut between her and her backpack. I don't think I'll forget that face.
"You're stuck," I said, dumbly.
"I know," she said, not breaking eye contact, unable to budge or even twist to asses the situation.
I grabbed her straps and with a few solid yanks she was clear and we were off to explore Köln, meeting our host Dieter on the way to drop off our packs. The first thing that struck us about this region of Germany was how orderly everything is, how efficient, and how clean. The architecture is pleasant, matching the landscape, and many of the buildings displayed window boxes to compliment the trees interspersed around and amongst the towns. The large amount of greenery gave the air a clear crispness that instantly refreshed us.
Köln is nestled stoutly against the Rhine, with some of its old architecture still remaining. Much of the city was destroyed during the bombings of World War II, and much of the new developments are flat-fronted, pastel-colored buildings lacking personality. It appeared to me to be a rather fashionable place (but what do I know); the people wore tight, tailored shirts with long skinny pants and dramatic hairstyles: flat tops and pompadours for the guys and pixie cuts and tight ponytails for the gals.
As we neared the Rhine river towards the center of the city, the tall retail stores lining the old cobblestone path broke away to reveal a giant cobbled square. On the river side of the square, an incomprehensible cathedral rose from the bricks like a disproportionate hallucination. I had been looking the other way when we first entered the square, so that when I turned at Carly's exclamation I was hit with the entirety of its massiveness all at once. Everything about it stood in stark contrast to the modern stores beneath it: the burnt, blackened stones; the staggered, ornate spires; the wise and sympathetic saints, watching over their city with stony vigilance.
To describe the intensity and MASSIVENESS of the cathedral would be impossible. Nothing about it was to scale with the rest of the city - it seemed to have been dropped in from ancient space, burnt and scorched by the heat of the atmosphere and forever stretching upwards towards the eternal sky. Gargoyles barked from its parapets and beggars crouched at its doors. The tops of the city's buildings barely reached the arc of its doorways, and its broad width and depth was disguised by the incredible upward sweep of its spires; up, up, up, and when you think you should see the top, more spires appeared and continued to draw the entire structure farther and farther from earth until the whole building seemed tall and narrow and impossibly airy amongst the heavy, broken clouds. Inside, the expanse of its stained windows, the delicate detail of its sculpted relics, and the solemnity of old saints' tombs are not really explicable - it was more of an emotional experience evicted by the devotion of a past age.
After that experience the rest of the tour seemed a bit trite - but we finished out the day beside the Rhine with fine dining: sausage, sauerkraut, and beer.
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