I went to Cologne yesterday, all by myself, and from the
beginning it was an adventure. The train was late, and when it arrived, I had
to learn very quickly that trains in Germany only stop for a few seconds before
going again: I moved very quickly from the station to the train door. I boarded
and sat in a booth by myself. I wasn’t joined by anyone until about halfway
through.
The train ride was beautiful; we passed by castles and
houses and miles and miles of vineyards. But it was still a train ride, and so
by the time we arrived in Cologne, I was
ready to stretch a little bit.
I followed the crowd off of the platform and took off down
the station, desperate to get outside and see what Cologne really looked like.
As soon as I was out the door and had made a left turn, I legitimately almost
passed out. I stopped dead in my tracks. If you’ve never seen the Cologne
Cathedral before, you should look it up, but then multiply the size in the
picture by ten. It was the largest building I’ve ever seen, and it was
absolutely beautiful from every angle. Every time you saw it from the city, you
had to stop and stare for at least a few seconds.
I left the Cathedral and traveled to Museum Ludwig, a nearby
art museum. I went in, bought my ticket and started up the stairs to the
gallery when I was stopped by an old man who told me using only gestures that I
had to leave my backpack downstairs. I went to the desk and asked for a locker
key, and then spent the next ten minutes trying to figure out how European
locker systems work. After that frustration, I went inside and took in some of
the strangest art I’ve ever seen in my life, including a picture of a slice of
bread worth over half of a million dollars. Modern art.
The bridge goes over the Rhine River, so I made my way down
to the side and then walked up the river to a new district, complete with an
incredibly ornate cathedral and colorful buildings. I kept finding bakeries at
every corner, so I finally stopped and ate a traditional German streudel. Wow.
Up a ways, I finally found what I was searching for: the
Belgian Quarter, a district of historical and adorable buildings. I ate a
burger there, which was neither historical nor adorable, but it was delicious.
On the way back into the Old Town, where the Cathedral was,
I picked up some Cookies ‘n’ Cream ice cream, because the ice cream here is
unbelievable (and unbelievably cheap), and visited a few souvenir shops so that
people would believe that I went.
Back at the Cathedral, I was able to walk inside and see the
monuments, the statues, the altars, and inscriptions, the ornate candles, the
paintings, and the stained glass. It was absolutely awe-inspiring. I visited
the crypt, where an archbishop was buried, and then overheard that you can go
up the steeple and see Cologne from the top. I decided that was what I was
going to do.
Fifteen straight minutes of climbing a tiny spiral staircase
later, I found myself at the highest point in the Cathedral, and it was well
worth it.
I came down and rested for a bit, before hopping back on the
train to Vallendar.
On the train, I experienced my first scary moment of the
trip. A group of middle-aged men, so drunk they couldn’t stand and clearly in
the middle of a bachelor party, boarded the same train I was on. They were
extremely loud and wild, dancing all over the train and yelling all sorts of
words. They would sing these loud songs, surprisingly in unison and well-harmonized,
and then go back to their dancing. One of them sat by me, leaned over and in
broken English asked if I would do something that I didn’t understand. He kept
asking and I kept saying “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” until he
was frustrated. Luckily, I looked over my shoulder and saw we were stopped at
Vallendar, so I immediately ran.
Quite a day.
--Follow Hunter as he studies business in Germany at https://heartoverseas.wordpress.com/
For more internship and study abroad opportunities within Walton College, visit http://walton.uark.edu/global/index.ph
