Koln/ Cologne

This weekend I went to Cologne with my friend Ellie. We took a noon train and arrived about 3:00. We went to her hair appointment that was right down the street, then all met (her boyfriend, her and I) and we got some pizza for dinner and some Kolch (a popular German beer). We watched some episodes of "How I Met Your Mother" and then Ellie and I started out getting a drink at a little corner pub. We then all met up and went to a place called "Max" for a drink (nice interior- lit with red lights, decorated with a disco ball, and a nice drink selection). After this, we decided to skip a party we had tickets to because it was about 30 minutes away by tram then had to transfer to the private bus to the event and we decided to just hang close to the house the first night). We ended up going to "Cubana" (a latin music bar) and randomly started talking to (then dancing with) a group of Belgium guys that were on a group trip for the end of college. They were nice, and pretty funny in general! We stayed out until about 6 am then walked home with the sunrise and fell asleep until noon.

Saturday we walked the "love lock bridge"over the Rhein River. There are thousands of padlocks across the fencing of the Hohenzollernbrucke bridge. When couples get engaged (or married) they come here and lock in their love (with their names or initials on the locks) then throw the key off the bridge into the water symbolizing everlasting love, a very sweet idea.

I made a joke about finding my name on a few different ones- apparently I am going to marry a "Jan, Frank, or Jose" hah! We also saw the outside (and inside) of the famous church named "Dom" and also saw the Cologne Cathedral, near central station which is quite impressive as well.

After this, we grabbed some snacks and then got ready for the 14th annual Lights Festival that was to take place later that night on the Rhein River, under the Lock Bridge. There were a lot of people who attended the festival- the bridge was packed, as were the walls and rivers edge below. We luckily managed to squeeze into the front to see the parade of lit up boats cruise along the river under the bridge, and it was a sight to see all the sparklers on the bridge too. Along with the boat parade and tons of food vendors, there were two sets of fireworks- a very nice display too! I thought at one point it was the finale but we had only reached the middle! ...And low and behold, who did we end up running into within the swarms of thousands of people? Yep, the Belgians from last night!!


Round 2 at Cubana bar, again a 6am ending but this time complete with chair dancing, our own "VIP" table per the owner, and it was a night for Hogs (a drink w champagne and mint).  Lots of memories made!


Sunday it was drizzly all day so we had a lazy afternoon and watched more of "How I Met Your Mother" which, yes, is one of my new favorites.  Also, a great little Italian restaurant, small, crowded but excellent food right around the corner from M's house.