Cologne (Germany)

On 11.11.11 Gary and I went to Cologne, Germany for the day with a couple from our church. I hadn't been there since I was a little girl with my parents and sisters. In general I hadn't been to Germany in a long time. I love Germans. They're very similar to Belgians (at least the Dutch speaking Belgians) and I guess that's why I love them. We seem to live very similar lives in similar cultures.

Cologne is a 2,5 hour drive from Gent. On our way there we saw the most beautiful sunrise. The sun looked like a huge ball of fire in the sky.

This picture does not do it justice.

Gary can fall asleep anytime and any place he wants. That's talent.

Panoramic picture of the Cologne cathedral.

After visiting the cathedral we headed to the Hohenzollern bridge.

In the 5 minutes of preparing this trip I had read online that people attach padlocks to the bridge as a token of their love. I love this idea! So a few days earlier we bought a lock and once in Cologne we wrote our names on it, attached it to the bridge and took one million pictures. The tradition then goes that you throw the key in the river and so we did.

The rest of the day was spent strolling through the city, exploring, window shopping and eating Dunkin' Donuts (a revelation). This particular day there was a carnaval in the city and that was the only thing I didn't like. I don't enjoy drunk people puking in the streets at 11 in the morning. Call me a party pooper. My hometown Ronse has an annual carnaval in January and in my almost 24 years I've dressed up and walked in it once. I don't enjoy it.

One last look at the cathedral before driving home. Another panoramic picture.

View of the Hohenzollern bridge from the river bank.

In the car home we spotted the full moon. (Funny note: I just spelled that as 'fool moon'. Ha!) It appeared red and huge. The space nerd in me loved that.

We were back in Gent around 8.30 PM and went to De Orchidee for dinner. After that we said goodbye to our friends and we each went our way.

Such a lovely day. I've learned that Gary and I do quite well when we visit places. We both love to learn and explore but in a relaxed way. Gary travelled to 3 countries (France, the Netherlands and Germany) this past month. A personal record for him. Now on to our next destination!