Cologne, Germany - Aug 13, 2009

On Friday we went to Koln (Cologne) for the day. It is about a 1 hour train ride from Essen. This is definitely the highlight of Germany so far. What an amazing city! As soon as we stepped off the train we were greeted by the Dom (Cathedral). This is the largest cathedral in Germany. It is MASSIVE! I had to back up a couple blocks away from it to fit it all in the shot! We spent the morning walking along the downtown area, stopping to take pictures of the old buildings and churches.

Just as our day was getting started, disaster struck and our camera stopped working!! It had been giving us problems since Mexico and it finally decided to stop working. We continued checking out the sights without it. We were pretty pissed off at the camera, and then it started to rain... Luckily it didn't last long. The sun broke through and it turned into a beautiful afternoon.

Edgar had to write an exam in the morning, but when he was finished he met up with us. He was kind enough to head back to his apartment and grab his camera before joining us, so we were able to continue taking pictures.

We checked out an old market. The area was packed with great architecture, old churches, and a ton of restaurants and pubs. We made our way along the cobblestone roads down to the river. There is a Chocolate factory and museum along the river, but it was already closed for the day when we got there.

Since we were in Germany, of course we had to have some sausage!

Cologne is famous for a type of beer that is brewed throughout the city, called Kolsch. We had to stop for a glass! Edgar guided us to a world famous pub. The beer was pretty tasty, but we didn't have time to sit around drinking!

After exploring the old town market, we walked through the new market. It was full of shops similar to Konig Sallee in Dusseldorf. It was like a giant outdoor shopping mall. The best shop was definitely, hands down, without a doubt, the Lego Store!!! They had every lego set currently offered. Plus you could buy retro lego men and sets from the 70s/80s/90s. They also have pick-a-brick areas where you just fill a container with whatever parts you want and pay a flat fee like $15 per container. This leads me to some great news! We're going to Legoland!!!! It is about 45 minutes away from Munich, so Carolina agreed to take me while we are there! There is a very good chance that I will blow my entire trip's budget on lego, catch a cheap flight home and live in my parents basement building castles for the rest of the summer. If the blog suddenly stops, you'll know why...