Cologne, Germany July 23, 2012

Today we will leave Belgium and start our German adventure. Belgium was extremely good to us. We boarded our two car train for our trip to Aachen, Germany. There was one first class car and one second class car. We learned yesterday that the cars are marked on the outside and on the inside doors. We sat in first class yesterday and had to move or pay more. We moved, because as far as I could tell the second class car was going just as fast as the first class one. They are all pretty comfortable and we enjoyed our first class apple strudel pies that we bought yesterday.

Aachen

We arrived in Aachen at 8:30 A.M. and decided to store our packs at the station locker for an easier walk. Some museums make you store your packs and such anyway so it was a pay now (no lugging weight) or pay later and carry full packs through town kind of thing. We took out more moolah from the ATM and were on our way. Found the way no problem and went for a small stroll around the town waiting for the Aachen Cathedral Treasury to open. We looked for the town hall (Rathaus) and didn’t find it, then wandered back a different way and walked right into its plaza. The front of the hall has statues of all the Holy Roman Empire. Aachen was the seat of the Holy Roman Empire in 800 when Charlemagne was crowned emperor. From the 10th to the 14th century all German kings were crowned here.

Forearm of Charlemagne

The treasury holds all kinds of relics and other religious artifacts. The golden arm relic contains the forearm bone of Charlemagne. It still freaks Carol out looking at bones, skin, and hair from saints that were like trophies for the different churches as they came into power. We next went to the Aachen Cathedral, a world heritage site, that was built from 786-800 and where the gold encased shrine of Charlemagne has the rest of his remains. The church is beautiful with lots of gold mosaics, relics, and the marble throne that Charlemagne used. Only the nobility were allowed to attend Mass here. We walked back to the train station where a train to Cologne (Koln) was leaving in 5 minutes so we rushed to get our packs out of the locker and managed to make the train.

Back of Cathedral

This put us into Cologne at 1:15 and we walked out of the train station into a square with the biggest cathedral we had ever seen. The cathedral in Cologne is the biggest cathedral in Germany. I do not know for sure if it is bigger than St. Peters in Rome but with its gothic spires high in the air it sure looked like it was. The church was begun in 1248 and inaugurated in 1322. Then funding dried up and it sat unfinished for 300 years. Then in 1842, the Prussians decided to finish it. 700 workers finished it in just 38 years. During WWII it was hit by 15 bombs but the structure held up. The glass and art had been removed to bomb shelters in anticipation of the bombings. The inside of the cathedral makes you feel small. I think it can hold about 30,000 people.

Three Wise Men Relic

It contains an incredible wooden crucifix carved about 970 as well as the shrine of the Magi that contains the bones of the three kings. Words cannot describe the immensity of this cathedral. It was truly amazing. From here it was a small adventure trying to find our room for the night. With no map and a series of written directions with pictures we wound our way down to the Rhine and back into town, passed by the check in address 3 times as it was between two bars. We were early so we buzzed the apartment and received a buzz that opened the door. No one was there so we start climbing these narrow winding stairs with our packs. 4 flights later we buzz the door that says BNB Long and an oriental guy says, do you have this room, let me see your papers. I tell him we reserved a room but were told to come here to pick up keys and then he goes are you Carol. We say that we are Carol and Charles and he says this is not your room, it is around the corner. At least he knew we had a room and we climb back down the stairs, walk around the block and up three flights of stairs to our room. It is very nice and clean, part of a flat, and we share a bathroom with the other room. All checked in, we go out for a stroll to look for a place to eat. While walking, we discover that we are only a pretty straight shot walk from the train station and cathedral so tomorrow will be less of a hike through town. We do not know why the directions from the Bnbs site took us the way they did.

First German Dinner

We settle on a place to eat called Brauerei Zur Malzmuehle, a local place I had read about on trip advisor. The food was excellent and reasonable. A meatloaf dinner, pork dinner, and two beers for 27 Euros. One dinner had spaetzle and a salad, the other had red cabbage and potato croquets. Waiter was very friendly and helped us decipher the specials on the menu. Beers are small and light here compared to what we had in Belgium but were just right with the food. They are served in tall narrow glasses that they carry on a tray that holds them and they keep bringing you more unless you put a coaster over your glass when it is empty. I had read about that somewhere so we were prepared for it . They write your meals and then add the beers you drink on another coaster which they leave on the table, add it all up with you when your done and collect the bill. Very interesting. Time to relax some as tomorrow, we leave for our Rhine adventure.

Expenses                                                                                                                                                    17.20 E- Train ticket Liege to Aachen                                                                                                          3 E  Storage locker at train station                                                                                                        10E- Aachen Cathedral Treasury.                                                                                                           .60E  To take care of business ( toilet)                                                                                                        55E- Downtown Hotel Cologne                                                                                                                  26.80 E  2 dinners and 4 beers                                                                                                                     Miles walked – 7.2 miles