christmas – Travels with Owen

A Cathedral, Cologne and Chocolate in Köln.

The beautiful cathedral is a landmark that stands out even among the Christmas markets

It is hard to capture it in a viewfinder

It’s almost unimaginable that this architectural masterpiece was started in 1248, long before modern building tools and equipment were available.

After being left unfinished in 1473 for hundreds of years it was finally completed in 1880. Now the most visited landmark in Germany, it survived bombing during World War II although it was badly damaged. Still, almost everything surrounding it was flattened, and it was restored in 1956. Since then, maintenance repairs are continual. The Cologne Cathedral has an extensive and interesting history.

Cologne also has a more fragrant history. Some might say that it is the birthplace of fragrance as eau de Cologne has been made here since 1709 by the Farina House. The house still has a small collection of scents, including ones based on astrological signs but it is most notable for hosting the Fragrance Museum.

The museum is only open on guided tours (currently 5 euros). While they are offered in several languages, reservations are a must. You can make them online or in person.

Cologne is also home to the classic German 4771 cologne.

Since around 1799, the spicy citrus notes of 4771 have delighted fragrance lovers. It still has a flagship store in Cologne.

The eye-catching “The Golden Bird” artwork atop the Cologne City Museum arrived in 1991. The museum itself is much older, as it is housed in a former armory from the 6th century.

Instead of “when pigs fly”, “when cars fly.”

There are lots of interesting museums in Cologne, from Roman artifacts to a mustard museum. I’d like to come back here and spend a week exploring, and museum hopping.

One museum I took time to see was the Chocolate Museum, a well curated and informative museum for all ages. Yes, I got free samples. We also topped off our visit with hot chocolate in the Chocolate cage

The chocolate mascot guides kids to kid friendly displays

A chocolate fountain where the lady dipped wafers in warm chocolate for guests

They also had the option of purchasing a custom chocolate bar specifically for you. Yum. 45 minute wait for that–just enough time to drink a hot chocolate.

Another museum had a display of Oskar, the friendly policeman public relations art.

And of course there were multiple Christmas markets. The fun details were adorable.

Lots of Christmas tents in front of chocolate museum

Pastry, Pens, and Pizza

Ray and I overslept and missed breakfast at our hotel. So we compensated by rolls and coffee at a nearby candy/cafe shop and cafe. The marmalade was great and the rolls were incredible. My coffee was a hot chocolate with espresso, drizzled with chocolate. The shop was a chocolate lover’s delight.

Lots of truffles in boxes, fancy pineapple shaped boxes, and more

Those cakes we’re enough to make one hungry even if you’d just eaten

As part of the Christmas celebration, they made an ice rink with these little pelikans to help beginning skaters

Really nice staff. Pens were primarily Mont Blanc, Caran d’ache, Lamy, and Parker

Street food sausages and glühwein (hot mulled wine)

We went back to the hotel for a while, and then, because it was raining pretty hard, went to an Italian restaurant a few doors down for pizza and beer. Their door had a master card logo on it but when we went to pay, they said no credit cards. Fortunately, we had euros. And the pizza was excellent.

Christmas in Koblenz

Not only are we in Germany for the Christmas markets, as these pictures attest, but we were here for a very important holiday recognizing Sinter Klass, a German version of Santa Clauss who arrives on December 6 and puts treats in the freshly polished shoes of little children. I’m not sure how the popularity of athletic shoes affects the custom, and my seat mate couldn’t tell me.