With four siblings, all with significant others, and many sets of parents across the bunch, it can be difficult to find time to all be together during Thanksgiving. Last year, in 2019, my younger sister and I decided we’d forego the traditional family get together, and spend the holiday in Europe. Thanksgiving can be a great time to travel – flights out of the US are cheap, crowds are minimal, and in most cases, it’s an easy time to take a week off of work.
I decided to go a bit earlier and spend some extra time in Germany before meeting my sister in Brussels. After spending a day in Frankfurt, I took the train to Cologne, a quick hour trip away. If you’re going to be spending time in Germany and/or Europe, I suggest downloading the Deutsche Bahn app, which will allow you to quickly purchase and track your train tickets in one place.
I checked into the Cologne Marriott Hotel, which was a quick walk from the train station. I dropped my things off, and headed right into town. To get to the center of old town from the hotel, you walk along the river, and then up the stairs towards the beautiful Cologne Cathedral.
The Cologne Cathedral is definitely the most well known landmark in the city, and is absolutely breathtaking. Even more beautiful, was the fact that the Cologne Christmas Market was set up right in front of the church.
The Christmas Market in Cologne was probably my favorite of any of the cities I visited. I wish I had taken more photos while I was there – there were stands for everything; food, drinks, sweets, ornaments, gifts, and my favorite, the ceramic Christmas houses with space inside for lights. I didn’t know much about the markets prior to my visit, and I definitely would take an entire trip back to Germany just to tour as many Christmas Markets as possible across the country. It was my initial plan to go back in 2020, had COVID not happened, so it looks like I’ll be planning a trip in 2021 now!
My next stop was Früh am Dom, a brewery/restaurant right in the heart of old town Cologne. Cologne is known for Klösch beer, and Früh is one of the most famous places to get it. I had also read that this was the spot to try to traditional German dish of Himmel und Erde, which means “Heaven and Earth” in English. It was honestly one of the most delicious things I’ve ever eaten, and I search for it in every German restaurant now. Fried black pudding over a mixture of mashed potatoes and applesauce, topped with fried onions. My mouth is watering just THINKING about this dish.
After a massive meal, I headed back through the Christmas Market to the hotel for a nightcap at the hotel bar PLÜSH on the second floor. I lucked out being able to catch some American football on the TV there, as the bartender ended up being a huge NFL fan.
Day 2:
The next morning I grabbed a coffee at the hotel, and headed back out past the Cologne Cathedral to Hohe Straße, a famous shopping street in the main area of town.
After walking around and shopping for a bit, I headed to lunch at Peters Brauhaus, the second place that had been recommended to me for Kölsch beer in Cologne. In most bars in Germany, you end up getting beer in a MASSIVE stein of at least a liter. Kölsch on the other hand, comes in a small thin glass, and is served that way on purpose to ensure that the beer doesn’t get warm over time in the glass. They come around frequently with large trays of beer, and make a small tally mark on your coaster for each glass to keep track until you’re ready to close out the beer.
I’d been told that another dish I had to try in Cologne was Halve Hahn, which is rye bread with smoked gouda cheese, butter, and raw onion. I initially ordered this as my meal thinking it was more of a sandwich, and quickly realized I’d need more sustenance for the day ahead.
My second item was this incredible brat with an egg potato salad. It went great with my second (or third) Kölsch.
After a hearty lunch, I walked back out to the Hohenzollern Bridge, and crossed over the Rhine River to the other side of Cologne. The bridge is beautiful, and in typical European fashion, covered in padlocks. There are train tracks in the middle of the bridge, and it’s super cool to watch the trains pass while you’re walking across.
My destination on the other side was the Köln Triangle building, which has a Panorama viewing deck on top of the building. The photo of the bridge above was taken from the top. Unfortunately it was pretty cloudy the day I was there, so my photos didn’t turn out quite as I’d hoped. Inside the building it was a bit difficult to find the entrance to the Panorama, and I ended up getting a bit lost and found myself in this beautiful staircase. It definitely went to offices and not the roof, but I couldn’t help snapping a photo of the cool architecture.
After the views, I walked back across the bridge to the NS Documentation Centre Museum. There was no photography in the museum, and I highly recommend finding time to visit if you’re in Cologne. The building was the headquarters for the Gestapo during the war, and held both offices as well as prisons, and was known for the number of executions that happened in the back courtyard. It’s a sobering and educational museum that remains largely unchanged from its original architecture.
After the museum visit, I walked back to the hotel to grab my bags and head off to my next destination, Düsseldorf. I’ll definitely be heading back to Germany in 2021 for more food, museums, Christmas markets, and exploring. Let me know if there are any must-see destinations!
