Come with me to Cologne

Yesterday and today Izzy and I visited the wonderful city of Cologne, Germany. Now, would it be traveling if there wasn't something crazy that happened? No sir! Let me just share how this entire experience went.

We decided to go to Cologne ultimately because it was extremely cheap to take a bus there. Like in America, Megabus exists in Europe. For a 3 hour bus ride to Cologne and back to Brussels, you only paid 15 euros. Yeah, you heard me - 15 euros! So of course Izzy and I said, "why not? let's do it!" We booked a bus that left Brussels at 6:15 a.m. Because it always rains in Belgium, of course it poured the morning we left. We hopped (more like dragged) ourselves out of bed at 4:15 a.m. to make the 5 a.m. train to Brussels from Leuven. Upon arriving at the Brussels North station with 15 minutes to spare, we searched for our bus. We walked out of the station where all the buses park, and ours was nowhere to be found. We walked around for 10 minutes, trying to search for it. Nothing. Mind you, while this was happening, it down poured, it was windy, and it was just plain miserable. Eventually, we found someone trying to get on the same bus as us - and we stood miserably in the cold together. 6:15 rolls around, and it's still nowhere in sight. We asked an employee and a police officer if we were in the right place, and they said we were exactly where we needed to be.

Eventually, I gave up and went inside. Thank goodness my phone connected to wifi, because I pulled up an email informing me our bus was going to be an hour and a half late due to bad weather. 8:15 a.m. rolls around and we finally get on. At this point I'm already wiped out, my hair is a horrible mess, and I'm about ready to take a nap. So that's exactly what I did.

3 hours later, we wake up to arriving in Cologne! The Megabus drops you off at the airport, forcing us to take the train to make it in the city. This was also not an easy feat. I don't speak a lick of German, and trying to figure out how the heck we were going to get from the airport to the city with no help around us was an adventure in itself. Ultimately, we got on a train and hoped for the best, and thankfully the best happened. We arrived in the city, full hearts and empty stomachs - ready for a new adventure.

I have a newfound love for train stations.

There's nothing like visiting a new city. I thrive off of the uncertainty and the opportunity to explore. As soon as we stepped off the platform, we were greeted by the fourth tallest cathedral in the world, Kölner Dom.  It is the most visited site in Germany, with an average of 20,000 visitors daily. Construction started in 1248, but ended for quite some time in 1473. It wasn't completely finished until 1880. I've had the opportunity to see Notre Dame and Westminster Abbey, but gosh was this church just magnificent. We even walked inside to see a service happening. You could just see and feel the structure reaching up towards the heavens, it was absolutely beautiful. I'm so happy to have had the chance to take in the beauty of this building.

I couldn't even fit the entire church in one shot!

Selfie stick in hand, happily enjoying our Dunkin' Donuts pick-me-up.

Unfortunately, I had no wifi the entire time we were were there. Thankfully, Izzy could connect in one spot - the information/tourism center, so we had the chance to plop ourselves down here to figure out our game plan. We couldn't check into our hostel until 3, so we decided to walk around and explore the city for awhile. 

Two of my favorite photos from our walk are pictured above. The first was around this adorable alleyway full of different colored buildings and cobblestone paths to walk through. It was lovely. The photo below that showcases a picture Izzy snapped of me thanks to Pinterest! I originally had no plans on finding this place, we just came across it and it was the perfect photo opportunity to capture the charm of Cologne (or Köln, as the Germans pronounce it). This street reminded me of a Wes Anderson film (if you've seen the Grand Budapest Hotel, Fantastic Mr. Fox, or Moonrise Kingdom, you know what I mean). Extremely pastel, colorful, and quirky - it embodied the style of his movies. 

Eventually, we looped around and made it to the Hohenzollern Bridge, known for the tens of thousands of love locks attached to the structure - very similar to the ones in Paris. It's so neat to look at them all and to see how far back some of them date to. 

After, we checked into our hostel. I didn't end up taking pictures -- just because it wasn't that exciting, but the place was modern, clean, and comfortable, which was all that mattered to me. Another must-see in Cologne is their chocolate museum. While much of it was just reading about the history of chocolate, half of the museum is a Lindt Factory where you can see how the company makes their delicious sweet goodies. 

They even had a chocolatier serving waffers covered in chocolately goodness. You can see in the photo there was a fountain full of the molten yumminess. To say I was in heaven would be an understatement. 

We finished the day off with pretzels and that was that! All in all, an extremely fun time exploring a new city. Megabus kept its consistency, as our bus was delayed coming back to Brussels. We were flexible though, and patiently waited to arrive home. 

Auf Wiedersehen, Cologne!