My Germany: Day 10 Cologne to Frankfurt ... & Home

Very, very early in the morning we were kindly sent by Mojgan to Koln Hbf for our ICE train that runs straight on to Frankfurt Airport for our flight home.

Arriving early at the Frankfurt am Main Flughafen (CNB 2014)

A rather long wait at Frankfurt Airport (CNB 2014)

Leaving Germany in very cloudy weather (CNB 2014)

All in all we enjoyed Germany very much because it was surprisingly easy to go about the country. Because it was winter, we concentrated on visiting the cities. But I would love to return in summer to hike in the Black Forest and cruise on the River Rhine.

My Germany: Day 9 Cologne

At the start of the day, after breakfast at home, we took the quaint train/tram from the city centre to the Chocolate Museum. A museum for chocolate? Reminds me of Roald Dahl's  'Willy Wonka and the chocolate factory'. 

The quaint train that takes you to the Choc Museum (CNB 2014)

It was truly remarkable, this Lindt Chocolate Museum. There is the history of chocolate from the time it was discovered to how its now processed into yummylicious chocolate in every form. A must visit for every chocolate aficionado. You also get to sample chocolate covered wafers straight from the chocolate fountain. Everyone goes for seconds!

Awaiting wafers dipped in yummy chocolate (CNB 2014)

A & an antique chocolate bar vending machine
 that still works! Just put in 1 Euro. (CNB 2014)

In the city centre once again we browsed the streets turned pedestrian walkways. There were many buskers and they usually had attentive audiences who were generous. We stepped into the department store of Galeria Kaufhof and found it having a sale. But we did not really find anything we liked, and they did not have Black Forest cuckoo clocks which we were interested in.

Galeria Kaufhof (CNB 2014)

In the evening, Tahereh cooked a sumptuous dinner of my favourite Estamboli or Lubia Polo, which we ate before going out much later to the Apadana Club/Restaurant - where the Persian community of Koln congregate to enjoy good food and dance the night away.

Tahereh's delectable estamboli (CNB 2014)

Good food and hand dancing at the Apadana (AB 2014)

Cologne/Koln 6-9 Feb 2014

My Germany: Day 8 Cologne

Tahereh drove us to the Koln city centre for us to see the sights of the city. From her residence, we crossed the River Rhine on a cloudy afternoon.

At the Koln Dom, there were strong gusts of wind and then it rained for the most part of the day. There were many visitors to the cathedral, including school groups. We thought we could go up the towers to view the city from above, but ... nah, it was too wet and windy. This cathedral is supposed to be the oldest in Germany, and has beautiful stained glass windows.

One of our surprise finds in Koln was Eau de Cologne. We came across a whole shop of it (in fact there is a whole factory too). The familiar gold and turquoise label and the figures 4711 bring back childhood memories of the time when my father used this cologne, way back in the 50's. So now I know that the eau de cologne is (perfumed) water of Koln! And it was launched in 1709 by a Giovanni Maria Farina, an Italian who named his fragrance in honour of his new hometown. Jolly interesting!

Anyway with all the walking about, it was time for coffee and cakes again. And there are plenty of shops that serve them. Cakes, breads, pastries, whatever you fancy.

We also found the Hard Rock Cafe of Cologne, but Hard Rock cafes seem the same wherever they are. Serving the same kind of food to mostly American expats. We had a huge serving of nachos there before going home. At Tahereh's there was even more to eat. We are truly blessed.

Cologne 6-9 Feb

My Germany: Day 7 Berlin to Cologne

We say goodbye to Berlin and its pink and blue pipes as our taxi took us to the Hauptbahnhof. We may or may not visit again, but if we do maybe the pipes will have been removed. After all they are only temporary while Berlin gets on with more construction/development.

At the ever busy Hauptbahnhof, we spot many trains. Again we took the ICE train, this time to Cologne or its proper name Koln (where the o has two dots on top. I am still trying to work out where on my keyboard can I find the o with two dots! Help!). This time we got our 25% discount on the train tickets because we'd applied and got our Gold Bahn Card. We also did not reserve seats because its low season and the trains are not full.

As the train sped by, the countryside this time do not show signs of snow. The fields were very green and the villages pristine looking. (Can villages look pristine? Or is pristine only used to describe beaches?) Never mind, from afar, they look very neat and orderly.

Then we started spotting wind turbines. Lots and lots of them. I guess this must be farming land we were traversing through.

We arrived at Koln Hbf in the late afternoon at 5.09 pm. The train was late for like 7 or 8 minutes (Horrors! What's happening with German efficiency? Just joking!), and from my observation, the fastest it went was 223 kilometers per hour.

Anyway, in Koln, we stayed with M's niece Tahereh and family. They live on the outskirts of Koln and kindly put us up for the three nights we were there. Kheily mamnun! It was good to be able to catch up with family from on the other side.

Cologne 6-9 February

My Germany: Day 6 Berlin

We were up early again to catch the bus to explore the area around the Bundestag/Reichstag buildings and the Brandenburger Tor or Brandenburg Gate. There was a queue already for the Reichstag Dome visit so we were only scheduled for the 1.00 o'clock slot. Good thing the Berlin Pavillon cafe/restaurant was nearby so we started the day with rich, delicious apple pie and coffee.

Then it was off to the Brandenburg Gate for lots of photo opportunities - of the historic Gate, of people, of selfies, and of the buildings nearby. The Hotel Adlon gained (more) fame because it was from his room balcony here that Michael Jackson dangled his son! Today it seems more popular than ever with many celebrities staying here for the 64th Internationale Filmfestspiele Berline. We know George Clooney came for this Film Festival but he may have stayed elsewhere. Not that we were on the lookout for him, mind you!

By 1.00 pm we took our place in the queue to visit the dome of the Reichstag building. This very modern glass dome that replaced the old (destroyed by war and fire), is the work of architect Norman Foster. Somehow the classic facade of the Reichstag and its glass dome fit together. It was pretty bizarre walking up the dome and wondering at the enormity of this fantastic glass and steel structure. (Better still, there is no access fee!)

We left the Reichstag building to walk the park nearby and discovered the 'memorial to the Sinti and Roma of  Europe murdered under national socialism'.  A little further on we found the Holocaust memorial or 'memorial to the murdered European  Jews'. The former has a pond with fresh  flowers placed in the middle and music playing in the background.  While the latter has rows upon rows of very grey concrete 'coffins'. But both serve as stark reminders of the atrocities of war/genocide. 

We walked along the Unter den Linden, the boulevard of beautiful historic buildings including the Humboldt University. There seemed to be a book sale there, so how can the librarian in me not stop by, and buy!

From here we took the bus again, this time to check out 'Berlin's most famous trademark department store', the KaDeWe (Kaufhaus des Westens). Founded in 1907, its 6th floor huge food hall was very much recommended, so we headed there for Kaffee und Kuchen (coffee and cakes) again at one of the many miniature restaurants; to have the sinfully rich and delicious Schwarzwalder Kirschtorte (Black Forest gateau) with coffee/tea.

Berlin 3-6 Feb 2014

My Germany: Day 5 Berlin

We woke up to a beautiful Berlin dawn but waited till it got lighter before walking down Prenzlauer Allee towards Alexander Platz. Like in Frankfurt, we thought we would be doing a lot of walking, until we realised that Berlin is huge - nearly ten times the size of Paris (or so it is said).

Down Prenzlauer Allee we could see the Berlin Fernsehturm or TV tower, tallest building in Germany. We would have dinner there later but for now we were heading for the Berlin Tours bus to get an idea of what this German capital city had to offer.

We passed by a biergarten, quite 'desolate' on a winter morning. Come evening perhaps it will have customers. (Come October it may be bursting with a beer guzzling crowd, I am guessing only.)

We also came across another Buddy Bear in front of Ramada and another at the hotel where we boarded the Berlin Tours sightseeing bus.

Our very first stop on the tour was the Berlin Wall East Side Gallery, the longest surviving stretch of the Wall. We thought a half hour would be enough to browse the Wall, instead we spent two hours doing so, being quite fascinated with what we saw. Art? Grafitti? Graffiti art? Whatever you decide. Some staid, some controversial, all interesting. But the history behind the Wall adds the haunting factor.

The river nearby had floating ice in its waters though the sun was shining bright. A bright day but still very chilly. Brrr... Time for a cuppa! Or as the locals say, Kaffee und Kuchen (coffee and cakes).

We had coffee and cakes at a cafe by the riverside before we spotted our vegetarian guide Corrina having pommes (fries) at the 'original currywurst' stall. The tour bus had come around a second time so we rejoined it and were taken to see more sights of Berlin, including the Victory tower, Bundestag (Parliament), etc., etc.

Pic: Dinner at revolving restaurant of Fernsehturm (TV tower)
Berlin 3-6 Feb 2014