Wandering along the windy streets
Tintin mural along the wall
Manneken pis
The Grand Place
Great view as we headed back to Morgan’s place
Brussels Palace of Justice in the background, still under construction
Perfect day for lazing on a park
After a three hour bus ride from Cologne to Brussels, I met up with Morgan from AIESEC ULB. We took the tram from the bus station to her home, and I was surprised to see that we rode in the very same type of trams during the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, connecting to Granville Island. It was an aha moment, I remembered that Vancouver had borrowed it from Belgium for use only during the Olympics.
After settling into her cozy apartment, she said she had to go to class at Université Libre de Bruxelles and asked whether I wanted to come along. Why not, I thought. It was a two-hour philosophy class for 500 students, but it seemed that less than 200 students were there. The professor spoke in French, and unfortunately, much too fast for me to understand. After about one hour, I could not keep my eyes awake and left to take a walk around the campus. However, I think even if I understood French, I probably still would have not understood anything considering that other students around me were dozing off, including Morgan!
One of the faculty buildings on campus
Being my last day in Cologne, Ricarda’s mother prepared schnitzel for dinner, as I was not to leave Germany without eating this typical German meal. During the course of the meal, she asked whether I had tried Kölsch yet, the local beer Spezialität brewed in Cologne.
In fact I had tried Kölsch when Ricarda and I went to the movies to watch Der Name Der Leute a day earlier. Initially, I refused when she asked if I wanted to drink anything during the movie, since I thought she meant pop. When she returned holding a bottle of beer in her hand, I looked at her incredulously with wide eyes and asked, “You can drink beer in the movies?!”. Immediately (with a huge grin on my face), I went to get one of my own.
Kölsch beer at a local pub
However, she said bottled Kölsch was not good enough, and I had to try it off the tap. So we went to a local pub to have a round of Kölsch. After finishing my glass, me being the last to empty it, I was satisfied and was ready to return home. But no, the night was not over yet — ”A pub crawl!”, they gleefully announced to me. Amused, I followed them to a couple of other pubs to try each of their own special version of Kölsch, some sweeter and some darker. It was a great way to end my stay in Cologne, drinking the local Cologne experience!
Seeing this lone maibaum, a declaration of love, strapped in front of this apartment building made me smile
As Ricarda and I walked back to her home, I saw this and thought how quirky it was
Sprucing it up with a little bit of graffiti
Bicycles heavily used as mode of transportation
Ricarda took me into the city, where we had Maultaschen and Spätzle for lunch. I’m definitely enjoying eating the typical German meals! Originally, we intended to walk up the stairs of the Dom Cathedral to get a view of the city, but after eating that hearty meal, we felt a bit sleepy/lazy. Instead, we headed off to one of the skyscrapers on the other side of the river, where we could take an elevator up and get a view of the city.
Along the way, we wandered along the Hohenzollern bridge, where thousands of padlocks were clipped along the fence between the sidewalk and the rails in declaration of their love. I know there’s more sights to see and explore in the rest of Europe, but as I looked back and saw the Dom Cathedral in the background, I had an epiphany moment and it was then that I fell in love with the city! Perhaps I should have brought a padlock and clipped one on to the railing as well, to declare my love for Cologne. I might have to hold on to the key though, as there are more cities to visit in the rest of my trip.
Maultaschen for lunch
Thousands of padlocks along the fence
This big one in particular made us laugh
View of the city from one of the few skyscrapers in Cologne
Ricarda’s mother took me on a tour of the churches around the city, making it into four of the almost 300 churches in Cologne. I liked that she had little tidbits of information about little things, some which I would not have known if I went by myself. Eventually, we arrived the Dom cathedral, this massive structure that honestly took my breath away when I first saw it from afar. These pictures and video truly do not express this overwhelming feeling when you look up and feel how tiny you are in comparison!
A video showing the exterior of the church
The breathtaking Dom cathedral, towering so high that I had difficulty fitting it into the frame
The view from the altar
Detailed mosaic on the floor
The beautiful stained glass windows, notice how small the people are in comparison
I ventured around Cologne on a bicycle by myself today, and although I was armed with a map, I got lost no less than 5 minutes from leaving Ricarda’s place. I was also having some problems using her bicycle, because I wasn’t used to her model where you brake by pedaling backwards. I stopped on the bike lane to inspect and get accustomed to the bike since I didn’t realize where the brakes were, and this man came up to me asking if my bicycle was alright. Trying to evade answering the question that no, it’s me who is having the problems, not the bicycle, I redirected a question to him, “Wo ist Vorgerbirgstrasse?“, asking him for directions on finding a certain street. Coincedentally, it was the street right in front of me. Well, way to avoid looking like an outsider.
Many things to find at the Flohmarkt
I explored yet another flea market. There were so many things I wanted to bring back to Vancouver, but I knew I didn’t have that much my space in my bag, unfortunately. Then I decided to take a look at the Universität zu Köln, with the intention of finding the main building. I couldn’t find it though, and it wasn’t only until I got back that Ricarda told me there was no main building. Well, at least I know that it wasn’t because of my bad directions that I could not find it.
Enjoying the sun at Volksgarten
One of the train stations
Finally, I’ve arrived at Cologne, Germany, my final flight destination. I met up with my friend from high school, Ricarda, who was an exchange student from Germany. It has been great so far experiencing the city from a local’s perspective, from eating 1,80 euro falafels from a local hole-in-the-wall to jogging along the Rhine river.
It is so different here in Europe compared to Vancouver, especially when it comes to bicycles. We went a flea market by bicycle, and I was so amazed at how easy it was to bike around. I’d be terrified to bike on the streets of Vancouver, but here it is normal, and probably the most convenient form of transportation.
One of the old walls we passed by while jogging in the morning
At the Flohmarkt
We always talk about culture shock and preparing well for arriving into a new country, but there’s really no way feel it than actually experiencing it. I arrived at Schiphol airport in Amsterdam at 8:00 am after a nine hour flight, and upon exiting the plane, I was immediately surprised to hear a completely foreign language, Dutch. Obviously, I knew I was going to the Netherlands, but the thing is, and my friend Celina has said the same thing, it didn’t really hit me that I had arrived in Europe until the plane actually landed there.
I had eight hours in Amsterdam. I could have either taken a really long but well-needed nap, or go into the city. Tough choice, isn’t it?
I made my way alone through immigration, bought myself a two-way ticket to Amsterdam Centraal, and soon enough, arrived in the beautiful city of Amsterdam. It was, to be honest, one the most terrifying and hectic, but rewarding experiences I have had. After taking a tour of the canal and getting lost walking around (trying to look for Anne Frank’s house, only to find a 45-minute lineup), I fell in love with the city, with its beautiful canals, quaint buildings, and the many bicycles lining the streets.
One of the many canals in Amsterdam
Oh you know, just waiting to get run over by a train
Wooden shoes everywhere
Having lunch along the canal
