home Russian citizenship Cologne independent travel. Independent trip to Cologne

Cologne independent travel. Independent trip to Cologne

Cologne Cathedral is not only the main attraction of Cologne, but also the most convenient starting point for walking around the city. The main train station is located right next to the cathedral, so for tourists who travel by public transport, arriving in Cologne by railway– the most rational option.

German sketches

Part V. Walk around Cologne

The Cologne Cathedral, which I talked about in the previous part of the report, is not only the most important attraction of Cologne, but also the most convenient starting point for walking around the city.

Cologne's main train station is located right next to the cathedral, so for tourists who travel by public transport, coming to Cologne by rail is the most rational option. Since the cathedral and the railway station are located in the very center of the Old City, every tourist, depending on their range of interests, can choose a route and leisurely walk to any attraction, since the historical part of the city is not at all large in area. Alternatively, instead of walking through the Old Town, you can take a ride on this tourist train.

Those whom Old city not interested, they can go from the cathedral, which stands practically on the very bank of the Rhine, along the pedestrian part of the Hohenzollern railway bridge to the other bank and from the observation deck located on the roof of one of the high-rise buildings, admire the panorama of the city.

However, in order to admire the city from above, it is not at all necessary to cross to the other side - there is another observation deck on one of the towers cathedral. But it has one drawback - due to the lack of an elevator, you need to climb the tower on foot, overcoming more than 500 steps.

Museum lovers can visit the Romano-Germanic Museum and the Ludwig Museum located next to the cathedral. In the Romano-Germanic Museum you can see artifacts dating back to the Roman era - after all, Cologne is one of ancient cities Europe. It was founded by the ancient Romans more than 2000 years ago as a fortification on the border with the territory inhabited by Germanic tribes, and was then called Oppidum Ubiorum after the name of the Germanic tribe of the Ubii, friendly to the Romans. The Romano-Germanic Museum, among other things, exhibits a unique collection of glassware from that time and a well-preserved mosaic floor from one of the Roman villas.

The Ludwig Museum, on the other hand, is a collection of contemporary art.

We do not consider ourselves among the connoisseurs and connoisseurs of high art and, as a rule, when arriving in an unfamiliar city, we give preference walking. Therefore, after getting acquainted with the cathedral, we went down to the Hohenzollern Bridge and, turning right, went along the Rhine embankment towards the Deutschebrücke Bridge.

It was an everyday, active day tourist season It had not yet started, so there were relatively few people walking on the embankment. We arrived in Cologne the day after the end of the famous annual Cologne Carnival and the city was obviously resting after seven days of unbridled fun.

There are berths for river passenger ships near the Hohenzollern Bridge.

From Cologne you can take a boat downstream to Düsseldorf, or upstream to Bonn and Koblenz. Rhine is the most big river Germany, glorified in poems, songs and legends. If in Russia the most important and beloved river by the people is the Mother Volga, then in Germany, without a doubt, it is the Father Rhine.

After short walk Along the embankment we came to the Church of St. Martin, or, as it is popularly called, Great St. Martin. This church is probably the most famous and most beautiful of the Romanesque churches in Cologne. And, if I'm not mistaken, the highest.

Before the Second World War, there were 40 Romanesque churches in Cologne. All these churches were built before the 12th century, when the Romanesque style was replaced by Gothic. After the Second World War, when the completely destroyed city was reborn from ruins and ashes, only 12 of the 40 churches mentioned were restored and reconstructed. The oldest of them, the Church of St. Gereon, was built in the 4th century. I was very curious to look at it, but, unfortunately, we didn’t get to it. But we examined the largest (although not the tallest) of the Romanesque churches standing next to Neumarkt Square - the Church of the Holy Apostles.

We came across other churches along our route; there are quite a few of them in the Old Town of Cologne.

By the way, upon arrival in Germany, one feature immediately caught my eye - on the spiers of most churches, instead of crosses, there are cockerels installed.

In Holland, where we traveled from Germany by bus sightseeing tour, the same thing is observed. To my question about cockerels on church spiers, the guide replied that this feature is inherent mainly in Protestant churches. Upon returning from the trip, I looked for the answer to this question on the Internet - I did not find anything intelligible. Although the rooster has long been considered one of the symbols of Christianity, the guide’s answer seems quite plausible - after all, Northern Germany and Holland are territories populated predominantly by Protestants.

However, let's continue about Cologne. Considering that the city was completely destroyed during the Second World War, the concept of “Old Town” in Cologne is very relative. The buildings, even the “antique” stylized ones, were built relatively recently, such as these cute houses next to the Church of St. Martin.

Having examined these houses and the church, we turned in the direction opposite to the embankment, and, passing through the courtyards, came out onto Alter Markt Square, where the building of the old city hall is located.

Although, to be precise, the back side of the building looks at Alter Markt, and its facade with the main entrance faces another square - Rathausplatz, which is now all dug up during archaeological excavations.

Cologne City Hall is remarkable in many ways. Firstly, it is considered the oldest in all of Germany. Secondly, its main tower is decorated with 124 sculptural images. Among the personalities depicted in the sculptures are popes, kings, emperors, archbishops, the most famous citizens and patron saints of Cologne.

The pedestal of one of the sculptures - Archbishop Konrad von Hochstaden of Cologne (the one who founded the cathedral) is made in an openly obscene manner. By this, the author obviously expressed the dislike of the residents of Cologne for this historical character. It is known that in the Middle Ages the townspeople waged a long, stubborn struggle to free themselves from the power of their lords, the archbishops of Cologne. Their struggle was crowned with success in 1288 as a result of the Battle of Warringen, which I already mentioned in one of the previous parts of the report. De facto, after this battle, Cologne became free imperial city, although de jure for almost 200 years it was still considered the possession of the archbishops.

Another episode of the Cologne people’s struggle for their rights and freedoms is depicted on the bas-relief above the main entrance to the town hall. The author of the bas-relief depicted the duel between the burgomaster of Cologne, Hermann Grün, and a lion.

Briefly this story is like this. Hermann Grün was one of the most implacable opponents of the archbishop. The archbishop's vassals lured him into a trap and released a lion on him. The courageous burgomaster did not give up and, like a gladiator on the stage of a Roman circus, fought with a lion and killed him. The tyrant archbishop and his associates were left with nothing, and the cause of the struggle for freedom and democracy triumphed. In general, a happy ending, almost like in a Hollywood movie.

And finally, the third feature of the Cologne Town Hall. On the side facing the Alter Markt square there is a clock, an integral part of which is a bearded head. At the beginning of each hour, when the clock begins to strike, the head sticks out its tongue and teases everyone who looks at it.

In the end, someone got tired of this and this someone installed something no less vulgar on one of the buildings standing on the opposite side of the square, to spite the vulgar head.

And on Alter Markt Square there is a monument to a very popular historical character in Cologne - General Johann (Jan) von Werth. On the route of our walk we saw quite a lot of interesting monuments and even more fountains, which are real works of art. In this part of the report I will not be distracted by their description, but rather will devote the entire next part to this topic.

From Alter Markt we went for a walk through the streets and squares of Cologne completely randomly, as they say, wherever our eyes look. Here and there the consequences of the annual Cologne Carnival that had just passed were visible. Judging by the large amount of garbage left at the former carnival grounds, townspeople and guests of the city simply had a great time.

Obviously, after a week of general wild fun, it is difficult for the employees of the city improvement service to quickly adjust to the usual work rhythm. Who else, if not the Russians, have been celebrating for two weeks? New Year, understand their feelings and sensations.
I was surprised at first a large number of small bottles - "bastards" - lying on the pavement.

Everything became clear when in the window of one of the stores we saw a carnival “bandolier” belt loaded with a large number of such bottles. But it’s really convenient! A participant in carnival events taking place on the streets of the city only needs to wear such a “bandolier” to have fun non-stop and keep himself in good shape, without being distracted by visiting bars and restaurants.

In general, as I already said, the Old Town of Cologne does not seem old. True, on one of the streets we came to a place where there is a Roman watchtower miraculously preserved to this day,

and not far from Neumarkt Square we examined the medieval fortress gates of the 13th century.

Most of the buildings in the Old City are buildings modern architecture, however, this does not make a walk through the historical center of Cologne any less interesting.

Of course, for local residents everything here seems familiar and ordinary, but for us, Russian tourists, any European city no matter how big or small it is, it is a source of new positive experiences. Here, literally at every step, there is something to grab your attention - along the route of the walk you will always come across something funny, surprising or unusual.

This tower is part of a large mansion that previously stood on this site. Her story is connected with one of the urban legends of Cologne. The legend, in turn, is based on completely real events. In the 14th century, the wealthy patrician Mengis von Aducht lived and lived in the mentioned mansion. More than anything in the world, he loved his wife, the beautiful Richmodis. During the plague epidemic, Richmodis died. The inconsolable husband ordered that all her jewelry and jewelry be placed in the coffin. The gravediggers, knowing this, decided to make money and dug up the grave at night after the funeral. Opening the lid of the coffin, they saw that Richmodis had moved and opened her eyes. Maddened with horror, the scoundrels rushed as fast as they could to inform her husband about this. Richmodis climbed out of the coffin and followed them home. By the time the gravediggers woke up and alarmed the entire house of Mengis von Aducht, she had already approached the gate, began knocking on it and asking to be let inside. At this time, the horses neighed loudly in the stable. The patrician, shaking with fear, shouted: “Get away, ghost! I would rather believe that these horses can climb to the top of the tower of the house than that you are my wife!” And immediately after these words, two horses broke out of the stable and galloped across spiral staircase straight into the room at the very top of the tower and, opening the shutters, stuck their heads out of the window. And then everyone believed that Richmodis was alive. To perpetuate this miracle, the happy husband Richmodis ordered to make a sculpture with two horse heads and install it at the top of the tower. Of course, you and I understand that Richmodis was in a lethargic sleep, and the story with the horses is just a beautiful fiction. But if there were no such inventions, our life would be very boring.

Numerous street musicians also help you maintain a positive attitude while walking around the city. In Cologne they suit every taste and color.

Cheerful organ grinder

Of course, a short walk around Cologne is not enough to get a more or less complete picture of it. In order to get acquainted with its most interesting places, you need at least three to four days. Those who have this time should definitely climb observation decks and admire the city from a bird's eye view, take a funicular ride from one bank of the Rhine to the other, visit the famous chocolate and cologne museums, river walk by boat on the Rhine. Judging by the reviews on the Internet, Cologne is also very good for shopping lovers - in the historical center on several neighboring streets not far from the cathedral, there are many shops with goods from all the world's most famous brands very compactly located.

This is not the end of the story about Cologne. In the next part, as I already said, I will talk about the numerous monuments and fountains of Cologne.

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An amazing city - Cologne, the more time passes since that cold winter day when we visited it, the more I want to return there.

We arrived in Cologne by train from Dusseldorf, where we were on business. The trip from Düsseldorf to Cologne takes only 20 minutes, but the ticket machine at the station offered to pay about 30 euros per person.

We sighed and were about to pay, but then a German veteran intervened. The old man showed us how to buy a ticket for regional lines. This ticket is bought one for everyone and costs about 40 euros, there were three of us and therefore there was a significant saving.

Despite the fact that Cologne was almost completely destroyed by the Allies during the Second World War, you can feel that this is a city with its own history.

A little bit from the history of Cologne.

The name of the city comes from the Latin “colone” - i.e. colony. It was the personal patrimony (colony) of Agrippina, Nero's mother. Her personal private town. Although by Northern European standards of that time it was not small at all, as many as 10,000 inhabitants. The profiles of Agrippina and Nero adorn the town hall building.

In general, the town hall and the square located nearby are perhaps the most interesting sights in the city. The Germans are currently excavating this site. They want to dig up an old Roman city, the city of Agrippina and Nero.

There is an old Jewish well here, what it means is a mystery to me. But it looks like an ordinary ruin.

The city hall, which was destroyed during the war and subsequently rebuilt, contains statues of Cologne's most honorable citizens. Among them is a statue of Johann Maria Farina, the Italian who founded Cologne. It was he who created cologne.

Cologne is the main attraction of Cologne.

Johann Maria Farina was a hereditary perfumer. The history of its appearance in German city very banal. In the 18th century, Cologne was a rich craft city. The brother of perfumer Giovanni Batista Farina founded a company in Cologne at the beginning of the century, the main activity of which is the trade in luxury goods (silk and haberdashery).

In those days there was no industrial revolution yet and in order to engage in crafts, you had to be. And only indigenous residents of Cologne could participate in the workshops. Foreigners could only engage in trade in industries that did not compete with local artisans. Trade in luxury goods was just such an activity.

Brother Farin's marketing was simple. He realized that Johann made some good water. Then he gave every buyer of a luxury item in the Farina house as a gift a handkerchief soaked in perfume. This perfume was reminiscent of the smell of a spring Italian morning and was suitable for both men and women.

As a result, Johann's water quickly gained popularity. Farina's perfume was appreciated by Voltaire and Goethe, not to mention high-ranking persons.

The majestic and cold Cologne Cathedral did not impress us. It's too dark and cold inside. I prefer

Cologne is the third largest city in Germany. It is very ancient; excavations show that people lived here 5,000 years ago. For a long time, this city was a colony of the Roman Empire and its name in English will be Cologne, which actually means a colony, it’s just that this colony never received its name, thus remaining just a colony.

Unfortunately, during World War II the city was almost wiped off the face of the earth by Allied air forces. Only the famous Cologne Cathedral survived; they say it served as a good landmark for Allied aircraft and they did not bomb it, although three shells still hit it, they did not cause the collapse of the entire structure of the cathedral. The rest of the city was rebuilt on the old foundations and it shows.

Cologne after the war

Naturally, Cologne Cathedral is the main attraction of Cologne and most tourists come to this city precisely for this cathedral.

Of course, Cologne is full of museums, the most famous are the chocolate museum, the beer museum, the Louis Museum (modern art), the Roman-Germanic Museum, the perfume museum, but there are plenty of chocolate and beer museums in this world, and the Cologne Cathedral is unique and unique.

There are plenty of parking lots in the center of Cologne. There are several multi-level parking lots near Cologne Cathedral. The price everywhere is 2 euros per hour, not cheap, but travel is public transport round trip for 4 people will be more expensive. They say there are cheaper parking spots in front of the Hohenzohler Bridge. The payment scheme is as follows: when you arrive, take a ticket and go for a walk, when you return, insert the ticket into the machine, it takes money from you and the receipt will be your pass to exit.

Of course, we immediately went to inspect the cathedral, which ranks third in the list of the tallest churches in the world and is one of the world's monuments cultural heritage. The tallest cathedral in the entire Christian world is located in, also worthy of all attention.

The cathedral, fortunately, was not damaged during the Second World War, but Cologne itself was almost completely destroyed by Allied aircraft; there are post-war photographs in the cathedral.

Indeed, “Cologne House”, that’s what they call it local residents, huge and majestic. The cathedral is the pinnacle of Gothic construction and took almost 500 years to build.

They tell a typical German legend about the construction of the cathedral. They say the chief architect of the cathedral was in difficulty and made an agreement with the devil for help in construction, for this the devil, naturally, wanted the immortal soul of the architect, but the architect’s wife overheard them. And deceived the devil. Similar legends are told in almost all German cathedrals, and in Frauenkirche, we even saw the supposed trace of the devil.

You can explore the cathedral absolutely free, you can take an audio guide for an additional fee, you can take a leaflet with a tour in Russian, you just need to put 1 euro in a special box, everything is built on trust and arrange a tour for your family on your own.

Main shrine The cathedral is the shrine of the three wise men (they are also three magicians or three kings, different sources call them differently), the same ones who first came to worship Jesus in Bethlehem. It was for this shrine that such a grandiose cathedral was actually built. The relics have been kept in the cathedral since 1184; before that they were kept in Milan, and even earlier in Constantinople, according to the official historical version.

It is difficult to say whether the relics are genuine and the attitude towards them in Orthodoxy is not clear, but the sarcophagus itself is of great artistic and historical value; it was made in the 12th century. For those interested in history, I highly recommend reading about the sarcophagus in the book BIBLICAL Rus' (G.V. Nosovsky, A.T. Fomenko), the book is available on the Internet for free. It goes into great detail about who is depicted on the sarcophagus and how, and what the sarcophagus looked like before. As a primer, I will say that the third magician Melchior is depicted on the sarcophagus as a woman; many of the characters were rearranged during the strange restoration undertaken in the 17th century, and some had their heads changed, for example, King Solomon was given a male head with a beard on a female body with breasts. All the figures were removed from the second and fourth rows; they had been there before, this can be seen from the ancient drawings.

Gero's Crucifix is also an important treasure of the cathedral. This crucifix is named after the Cologne Archbishop Gero (he was an archbishop around 969-976). It was under him that this crucifix was made, which is why it is so valuable, it is more than 1000 years old. In the book BIBLICAL Rus' it is also written very interestingly about him

During the war, valuable relics of the cathedral were kept in a secluded place.

Gero's Crucifixion

The silence room is located in the basement of the cathedral.

Altar of St. Clara (1350-60) is the oldest surviving folded altar image, which also contains a tabernacle (tabernacle). This folding triptych has three types of opening thanks to double doors and was made for the Franciscan convent of St. Clara in Cologne and moved to the cathedral in 1811.

Altar of St. Clara (1350-60)

You can also climb the tower of the cathedral, a family ticket costs 6 euros, you will have to climb on foot, almost like in St. Isaac's Cathedral in St. Petersburg. It was an arduous five hundred plus spiral steps. Some felt dizzy. You can explore the bell rooms. View the cathedral's carvings through the windows and enjoy the panoramic view of Cologne from the cathedral tower.

View from the cathedral tower to the stone lace of the external decoration

Riverboat ride along the Rhine

Next we took a walk to water bus(25 euros family ticket). By this time my legs were seriously tired, I wanted to sit down. The tour is read in German and English languages. In English, the text is so primitive that it was 100% understandable.

There we met more Russian Germans and they kindly took pictures of all four of us. The ship sailed along the Rhine before turning around and sailing back. There really are a lot of whirlpools in the Rhine, we saw this personally.

After visiting the cathedral and taking a boat trip along the Rhine, we still had some time left and decided to visit the Roman-Germanic Museum, it is located next to the cathedral, and there is also a Louis Museum, but we are not fans of modern art, so we decided to immerse ourselves in the history of Cologne under wing of the Roman Empire.

Tickets again cost reasonable money, with a student ticket only 2 euros, cheaper than a child ticket (4 euros), an adult ticket 9 euros.

Excavations are constantly underway in Cologne; in front of the town hall we saw an active excavation site with archaeologists working in it. Much of what has already been found is exhibited in the Roman-German Museum. The most significant exhibit is considered to be the floor of Dionysus. Despite the obvious value of the exhibit, there is a photograph on the museum’s website of G8 sitting on this floor.

Floor of Dionysus, top view

Another significant exhibit of the museum is the tombstone of a Roman legionnaire. The legionnaires of the Roman Empire did not live badly if they could afford such a huge marble tombstone, almost a mausoleum, two floors high in the museum.

Tombstone of a retired Roman legionnaire

Model of ancient Cologne

The museum's collection is rich and varied, there are also Scythian things from the Black Sea region, almost like in the Hermitage, but still most The collection consists of exhibits found in Cologne and the surrounding area.

Cologne embankment

Then we walked along the embankment and stopped near a small children's attraction. I don’t know what to call it correctly, there are streams and stones in them right on the embankment, children jump on the stones and sooner or later fall into the stream, but prudent Cologne parents take out a dry change of clothes and change them.

This children's playground reminded me of the joke fountains of Peterhof, also a water attraction for which it would be a good idea to bring a change of clothes for the children.

The houses on the embankment, of course, do not look like ancient ones; their ideal shape is very striking, even though they were restored on ancient foundations and tried to repeat their former appearance.

P.S.

Cologne is an ideal city for one day. In my opinion, the Cologne Cathedral, a river bus ride along the Rhine and the Roman-German Museum is an almost ideal plan for exploring Cologne.

It might be worth visiting the spirit house or Farina's house. This man founded the world's first perfume factory in 1709 and organized the production of the first cologne called “Cologne Water,” and skillful businessmen also produced a counterfeit of “Cologne Water,” which became an independent brand called “4711.” You don’t have to go to a museum to smell these perfumes; every souvenir shop offers these colognes. You can buy them as a Cologne souvenir.

(2 ratings, average: 4,50 out of 5)

Consent for a business trip to Dusseldorf was given immediately, since it is only 21 minutes by train from railway station Dusseldorf is locatedcity of Cologne.

The main attraction of Cologne is Cologne Cathedral. The cathedral is located just 50 meters from the railway station. Cologne Cathedral was founded in 1248 and today is one of the tallest cathedrals in the world. The height of Cologne Cathedral is 157 meters. The exterior gray and black tones of the cathedral provide a direct reference to architectural style- gothic. The internal high halls of the cathedral are decorated with mosaics, and massive organ pipes are located on four sides inside. Daily masses in the Cologne Cathedral are accompanied by grandiose organ music, immersing the listener in low-frequency gothic...

Cologne Cathedral from the side historical center.

Cologne Cathedral (facade).

The most high tower Cologne Cathedral close-up.

Distance between Dusseldorf and Cologne 50 km is covered at a speed of 160 km/h on regular trains for Germany, running throughout the country. Electric trains going to Cologne and back run around the clock with an interval of about 30 minutes. This knowledge contributed to the fact that walking in this beautiful city You can stay all night and not be afraid of missing the last train. In view of this, it is not at all necessary to stay in very expensive hotels in Cologne - you can save money and live in Dusseldorf, for example, next to the station and go for a walk in Cologne - a third of an hour on a comfortable German train and you are there!

The business trip to Germany lasted only one week, but there were plenty of opportunities to explore Cologne thoroughly and walk the streets of its historical center more than once, as happens with me in a new city. In the evening at about 16:00 and at 18:00 I got on the train and, without having time to look back, I already found myself in Cologne - I walked during the day, and in the evening, and at night. Cologne is a small town and attracts masses of tourists solely due to the cathedral. In my opinion, it’s not worth seeing anything else unusual in Cologne and coming here for more than 2 days.

Cologne Cathedral

It's nice that Cologne Cathedral opens its massive doors to everyone for free, that is, there is no charge for entering the cathedral. However, in the morning hours until a maximum of 13:00 there is a unusual excursion— climbing the cathedral towers to the massive bells. If the desire to see and hear the bell at arm's length does not overcome you, then you can simply go inside, admire the mosaics on the windows, listen to the organ or take part in the mass.

Photo inside Cologne Cathedral.

Cologne Cathedral inside.

Cologne Cathedral and colorful mosaics inside.

Cologne Cathedral does not let you go, not when you sit inside, not when you stand and soar your gaze at the entire Gothic style of the building. Here in every line, in every element it is revealed centuries-old history and, being there, you want to plunge into it as deeply as possible - and you’re waiting for Joan of Arc to run out around the corner or for someone to chase you to cut off your head...

Some photos of Cologne Cathedral from the outside look very mystical.

To capture the entire 157-meter height of the cathedral, you have to look for a good angle for a very long time, bend and lie down on the asphalt. However, nevertheless, some photographs appear to be two-dimensional without the effect of space. The best photos are taken on the square opposite the station square!

Cologne Cathedral from the square.

In this photo, the Cologne Cathedral fits completely.

Having walked around the Cologne Cathedral from all sides, taken great photos and taken a great selfie, you can go on a walk around Cologne through Hohenzollern Bridge, thrown across the Rhine, further along the embankment and return along the opposite bridge to the center, drink the traditional Cologne beer - Kolsch and go on further travels.

Circular route around Cologne

To get to know tourist and non-tourist Cologne, a circular route of 5 km was enough for me. I had a chance to see the work and leisure of ordinary Germans, the cleanliness and order on the streets and the normality of life on the other side of the Rhine: offices - houses - cars - business people...

Circular route around Cologne for one day.

Hohenzollern Bridge, thrown over Rhine- another attraction of Cologne. No, nothing unusual, steel railroad bridge almost 410 meters long with two-way traffic for trains and pedestrians. Trains from Belgium, Dusseldorf and other cities and countries arrive here through this bridge. A resident of St. Petersburg was vividly reminded of the Finland Railway Bridge across the Neva. Along the entire length of the bridge there is no free space on the fence - everything is hung with locks of newlyweds and tourists - a cult place, however. From the Hohenzollern Bridge and on the way to it you get good photos Cologne Cathedral.

Cologne Cathedral from the Hohenzollern Bridge.

Hohenzollern Bridge in Cologne.

Photo of the Rhine from the Hohenzollern Bridge.

“And on the other side my fire did not go out, but on the other side everything happened for the first time...”

As you move deeper into Siegburger Strasse and approach non-tourist Cologne, you see young people peacefully resting on the embankment and on the grass. Reminds me of the beach of the Peter and Paul Fortress...

Cologne architecture.

Photos of the streets of Cologne.

On the street in Cologne.

FedEx plane in the sky of Cologne.

It is noteworthy that Cologne - small town, maybe a little larger than Kolpino, but has its own international Airport— the planes here fly quite low and, with a keen eye, you can see the details of the livery and even the landing gear!

By plane to Cologne! By the way, a Eurowings flight from Havana (Cuba) lands in Cologne - by the way, how cheap it is to fly to Cuba...

Cologne Cathedral is visible from all bridges - a sort of Gothic skyscraper! Later he began to call it “turrets”!

The Rhine embankment in Cologne (on the left is the cathedral, on the horizon is the Hohenzollern Bridge).

In the top photo, behind the white building on the right there is a small island in the shape of a ship. Here is located Cologne Chocolate Museum— I didn’t know how to try and get there (open until 18:00). I wasn’t very upset, but walking around the glass structure I was able to see molds for chocolate and some mechanisms - it would be great if during the excursion they actually showed the process of creating chocolate and candies of different shapes.

I didn’t like that inside the glass building there was, apparently, a restaurant of immensely gourmet cuisine and everything would have been fine, but the sight of laid tables with plates, napkins, cutlery and... tiny candies in golden wrapper gave me acceleration and I retreated. Well, how come, such a chic restaurant in such a place, and they saved a fortune on sweets...

A further walk along the embankment along the refreshing breath of the Rhine took me to the already well-known historical center with an abundance of beer gardens.

Houses along the Rhine in Cologne.

The center of Cologne abounds in beer gardens and restaurants, but the prices...

Some streets in Cologne host a beer festival right in the middle of the week!

The central square of the historical center in Cologne.

Having purchased Kölsch And traditional German sausages, sit on a bench in the square and wait for the sunset, and then rush to the Cologne Cathedral to photograph it and yourself.

Cologne Cathedral.

In person opposite the Cologne Cathedral in full view (some tourists carefully try to ensure that the main tower of the cathedral fits into the frame).