Cologne, The Rhine Valley, and Bastogne

We got back on the Thalys on Friday, April 4th, this time from Paris to Cologne, Germany. The trip between the two cities is about three hours and forty-five minutes with very few stops along the way. I purposefully booked us a hotel that was within walking distance of the train station since we wouldn't have a car until Eric arrived later that evening.

My parents and I took a break from all the sightseeing we had been doing and just relaxed at the hotel for the afternoon. Eric left work that evening and made the three-hour car ride to Cologne. When he arrived, he picked us up and we headed out for dinner. We chose a local beer tavern, Haus Töller, for some authentic local grub, and this place didn't disappoint. I think Eric and my Dad decided this place was on the "good list" about 30 seconds after we sat down when the waiter brought 4 beers without even asking. The beer is called Kölsch and is a specialty of Cologne, Germany. It comes in 0.2litre glasses, which are smaller than pint glasses, and they just keep bringing you more beer until you make them stop. I think that also solidified in Eric and my Dad's book that we chose our dinner establishment well.

I don't have a picture of the menu for you, but I do have a picture of the most interesting entree choice of the evening. My Mom was very brave and ordered horse. I think the rest of us were boring and ordered pork dishes. I passed on the pork knuckle. Once was enough for me.

Here's Mom enjoying her horse:
And Dad with his really enormous porkchop:
And all of us:

I think my Mom's take on the horse was that it was interesting to try, but not something she'll probably have again. I thought the texture was weird. It seemed dry even though it was doused in gravy. I suppose that's probably because the meat is very low fat.

The next morning we visited the Cologne Cathedral. Construction began on this cathedral in 1248, but was not fully completed until 1880. It is the largest Gothic cathedral in not only Germany, but in all of northern Europe, and was originally built to house the relics of the three Magi which were brought to Cologne in 1164 by Archbishop Reinald von Dassel.

It's two spires are each 515 feet tall, making its facade the largest of any church in the world. And, I must say, it is quite impressive. Here are a few pictures of the outside:




Surprisingly, the cathedral escaped WWII virtually unharmed even though the entire area around it was destroyed. Supposedly, the Allies used the cathedral as a landmark to guide them to military targets, but could not bring themselves to destroy such an architectural beauty. Who knows if that's true, but I'm just glad this church survived.

There are also a couple of neat finds inside the cathedral too. The Schmuckmadonna, or Jeweled Madonna, is said to have miraculous powers. You can see all the jewels pinned onto the statue. Those are offerings of thanks brought to Mary by the believers whose prayers for assistance were heard. You can also see in the first picture some of the many votive candles that have been lit in worship and prayer.


And a picture of the floor mosaic from 1885 that shows Archbishop Hildebold holding a model of the older cathedral, which existed before 1248.

This is the Gero-Crucifix, which was donated to the cathedral by Archbishop Gero (who died in 976). It is carved from oak and is the oldest remaining monumental crucifix of the western world. According to legend, Archbishop Gero stopped a crack that was developing in the wooden head by putting a piece of communion host in it. It's also believed that because of the host, the cross was later able to work miracles, and thus became the second miraculous relic in the cathedral.


And finally, the most noteworthy find, the Shrine of the Three Magi, which dates from around 1190. It is the largest reliquary of the Middle Ages and is in the form of a silver and gold sarcophagus. When it was opened in 1864, the bones and clothes of the three wise men were discovered.

Outside the cathedral in the dismal weather:


After the Cathedral we got back in the car and headed down the Rhine towards St. Goar. We stopped in a little town on the Rhine called Boppard to stretch our legs a little and look around. We found these old remains (of a castle I think) and areas around them being excavated, but all the explanations were in German, so we could only look on and wonder:

Then we meandered down to the center of Boppard and found their church, St. Severus. Inside there was a good explanation of the findings from the excavation which took place in the mid 1960's underneath the church. Remains of the late Roman city wall and of the thermal baths of the castle of Bodobriga were found under the church floor. Parts of the walls of the bath (dating from the 6th century) were used to build the oldest church in Boppard. Inside the church there are black markings on the floor to indicate where an early (5th or 6th century) Christian baptismal font existed below the groundlevel.


After exploring a little we decided to stop for a light lunch and chose a cute little cafe along the main pedestrian street. Inside was a very sweet German lady who spoke excellent English. She was very friendly and had been to the U.S. several years back to visit a friend. Turns out she works in the front of the shop, and her father (who we barely caught a peak of) makes all the cakes and treats from scratch each morning in the back. We decided to take a few treats with us and she helped us pick out a few. I recognized one of the treats (called a Berliner) as something we'd gotten at a bakery in Antwerp before, and told her I liked them very much, but that when we'd had them before, they had a creamy custard inside rather than the jam I saw in theirs. She seemed quite shocked by this and insisted that the jam was the traditional, and only true way to make them. She then proceeded to take one out, cut it in five pieces and come around our table and FEED EACH ONE OF US A PIECE. And, of course, one piece for her! She was really funny and sweet and would not let us pay for that treat. After we left, I decided I needed to have a picture of her to remember her, so I went back and asked if I could take her picture. She happily posed for it and then we were off. Now I feel terrible because after we left I realized I never caught her name. So this is a picture of the very sweet lady at the awesome bakery in Boppard, Germany:
And a picture of their bakery:

We got back in the car and drove further down the Rhine to St. Goar where we would be staying that night. We took my parents to Burg Rheinfels where Eric and I had visited early in the year. You can read all about it at this blog entry, so I won't bore you with the details again. Just a few pictures of us at the Castle:


We stopped for an afternoon beer/coffee at a cute little ice cream shop in St. Goar.


Then we checked into the hotel, rested for a while then had a lovely dinner at Hotel am Markt. This is the hotel where Eric and I had tried to stay in February when we came, but they hadn't opened for the season yet. Mom and Dad enjoying their meals:


The next morning we attempted to go to mass at the church in Saint Goar. Eric and I remembered from our last visit that mass was at 11am on Sunday mornings. When we got there, it seemed strangely quiet and easy to find parking. Then we saw the sign (in German) that said, this week mass would be at 8:30am. Figures. Oh well, we tried. Back in the car, we drove further down the Rhine, letting M & D see the beautiful scenery and neat cliffside castles. Unfortunately, the weather was pretty crummy, and the castles we were passing required a steep climb to get to them. I didn't like the idea of M & D climbing any hills in the wet weather, so we decided to head back north, stopping through Bastogne, Belgium where the Battle of the Bulge happened in WWII. Both my Dad and Eric wanted to visit the memorial and museum there, so off we went.

Part of our drive was through the Ardennes. Just as we were entering the forest, it began to snow heavily. Suddenly we found ourselves in a beautiful land of white. Eric and I had driven through part of the Ardennes on our way to Luxembourg in February, but it was a totally different feeling when all covered in snow. It was a real treat!



We enjoyed our visit to the Bastogne Historical Center - another great, informative museum where I learned so much about history and WWII. We had planned to drive through Holler, Luxembourg on the way home, but when we came out of the museum, the weather was so bad, we decided it was best to just head home. Another fun weekend exploring new countries!