Breaking it Up: Köln (Cologne)

In Köln, a town of monks and bones,

And pavement fang'd with murderous stones,

And rags and hags, and hideous wenches,

I counted two-and-seventy stenches,

All well defined, and several stinks!

Ye nymphs that reign o'er sewers and sinks,

The River Rhine, it is well known,

Doth wash your city of Cologne;

But tell me, nymphs! what power divine

Shall henceforth wash the river Rhine?

--Samuel Taylor Coleridge, "Cologne"

Fair warning: this break happened four months and one country ago and at the time I was caught up in the constant, ongoing internal debate I was waging with myself about the Peace Corps and my place as a volunteer with them. So some of the details of this trip may just have to be a little fuzzy. But here are the bare bones of my time with my fellow volunteers Cait and Christian in the city that Coleridge derisively (but also kind of fondly?) refers to as "the city of monks and bones".

I'm assuming one of the reasons he gives it that name is for the Church of St. Ursula which unfortunately we never got around to actually locating. We attempted it a couple times but couldn't really seem to get ourselves together, which is kind of the theme of our time in Cologne. Who knew visiting a small, predominantly Christian city on Christmas Eve/Day would leave us scrambling to find things that were open? Surprises!

We arrived!

We walked past this museum multiple times. I'm not sure if it's visible in this photo but the wings on the top of that tower are attached to a car. Also we spent a LOT of time puzzling over exactly what those numbers meant on the parking signs that we saw at various spots around town.

Our Air BnB was a really great studio apartment located behind an independent record store. This delightful decoration was set up in the courtyard between store and apartment.

I also loved this poster, in the corridor to our apartment. I want to see this movie. I need to see this movie.

I think I just photographed this because I was sad this store was closed and I wanted to buy all of these.

By the time we arrived (after staying the night in Prishtina, leaving for the airport before dawn, flying to Frankfurt then taking a bus to Cologne) and dropped our stuff at the apartment, we were ready for food. And we wanted something hard to find in Kosovo. But we also had to settle for what was open on Christmas Eve. So we ended up in the restaurant on the second floor in this picture, a Chinese food restaurant with overpriced but sufficient-if-mediocre fare. Also, I am not proud to admit we may have visited the McDonald's below this restaurant during our time in Cologne.

I'm not saying we didn't eat everything though.

One of our first disappointments: walking around to find the famous Cologne Christmas Markets

were completely closed and desolate. We found out later they re-opened for NYE, after we had already departed for our next destination.

Hiç.

Semmi.

Asgjë.

Nichts.

Nada.

The Rhine!

Seen  in an otherwise empty plaza.

Cait standing next to one of the pieces of the church for scale. The big church, as it turns out, is big.

Fun vertical panoramic photo to give you an idea of the height!

The next day, Christmas day, we headed back to the church to see if it was doing a Christmas mass or was open. Although we didn't end up attending a service we did pay to go in and look around.

Worth it. It's really a beautiful church.

I also enjoyed the crèche diorama set up at the front of the church.

Some interesting street art seen while wandering around hoping to find St. Ursula. I'm assuming it's political.

I think honestly we just spent time decompressing and relaxing in Cologne, so I don't have many photos of our doings. We visited the church, we went to a beer hall, we walked around a fair bit, we ate at several restaurants including a German Panera-type place and the Chinese place... We walked across this bridge?

Crossing the bridge.

Love locks, the scourge of modern engineering.

 Looking back at Cologne.

One more random photo: while walking around I enjoyed this storefront. Our time in Cologne was kind of a struggle because of the Christmas standstill but I still enjoyed it anyway. The city is very pretty and it was a nice, slow start to the trip.