A friend and I decided to make a weekend out of it and travel to Frankfurt, which is only about a two hour train ride from Cologne. We arrived early in the day on Saturday, and quickly checked into our hostel so we could explore the city. For those that aren't familiar with hostels, they are accommodation businesses with dormitory type living arrangements. They are a cheaper alternative to hotels and are marketed towards students and budget travelers. We did manage to get a very nice room with two beds and a full bath.
Unfortunately, it rained all day on Saturday, so our first order of business was to buy umbrellas. We headed towards the city center since that is where the majority of the shops would be and quickly scored the cheapest options we could find. It was by far the best purchase of the weekend, although it didn't prevent the rain from saturating my shoes and socks! It's very interesting to try and walk through a sea of people all of whom are holding an umbrella. As you pass people you hold your umbrella up really high to get by them. You kind of feel like Mary Poppins getting ready for take off.
Frankfurt is the most modern German city I have visited so far. It has a distinct downtown area with skyscrapers, much like the United States. This is juxtaposed to an old town that has the old fashioned churches and timber buildings. Like most of Germany, Frankfurt was leveled during WWII, so that helps explain some of the modernity. The river Main (pronounced mine) flows through the middle of Frankfurt, and I was told that the proper name of the city is actually Frankfurt am Main (Frankfurt on the Main).
We walked throughout the city, braving the rain, and doing some mean window shopping. We ate some great food, and stopped back at the hostel to take a rest and dry off a bit. At night, we found a really small pub, and watched some soccer with a handful of locals. I'm not the biggest soccer fan, but if you watch it in the proper setting with people that are knowledgeable about it, then it isn't half bad. After that, we found an Irish pub where we had a Black and Tan, and enjoyed some live music, before heading back to the hostel for the night.
The next day we ate some breakfast at the hostel, checked out, and explored the city a bit more. Looking back on it, a day trip to Frankfurt would have probably sufficed. I think part of us just wanted to get out of Cologne for a night. The weather was remarkably better today, and like most cities, the majority of the shops were closed because it was Sunday. We did have a chance to tour Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's house (author of Faust), and a history museum of Frankfurt. We also scaled (took an elevator) to the top of one of the skyscrapers to get a wonderful glimpse of the city.
The train ride to and from Frankfurt was very scenic, and we got the chance to see some of the smaller towns in Germany out the window. Part of you almost wants to skip the big cities and see what the smaller towns have to offer. It was quite beautiful. On one side of the train you had large hills / small mountains, and on the other side you had the river, and then the town on the other side. Sometimes the scenes felt like they were straight out of a movie.
At the conclusion of the weekend, I was happy to see Cologne (and not ride a train for at least the rest of the day). The city is starting to feel like home to me, and I'm finding it easier to get around every day. I really enjoy my classes and am looking forward to class this week as well. I have a heavy travel itinerary for the month of May, and need to start figuring out living accommodations. I went a little crazy this past week hunting for and purchasing discount airline tickets. I have a feeling the next month is going to be quite the adventure!
Unfortunately, it rained all day on Saturday, so our first order of business was to buy umbrellas. We headed towards the city center since that is where the majority of the shops would be and quickly scored the cheapest options we could find. It was by far the best purchase of the weekend, although it didn't prevent the rain from saturating my shoes and socks! It's very interesting to try and walk through a sea of people all of whom are holding an umbrella. As you pass people you hold your umbrella up really high to get by them. You kind of feel like Mary Poppins getting ready for take off.
Frankfurt is the most modern German city I have visited so far. It has a distinct downtown area with skyscrapers, much like the United States. This is juxtaposed to an old town that has the old fashioned churches and timber buildings. Like most of Germany, Frankfurt was leveled during WWII, so that helps explain some of the modernity. The river Main (pronounced mine) flows through the middle of Frankfurt, and I was told that the proper name of the city is actually Frankfurt am Main (Frankfurt on the Main).We walked throughout the city, braving the rain, and doing some mean window shopping. We ate some great food, and stopped back at the hostel to take a rest and dry off a bit. At night, we found a really small pub, and watched some soccer with a handful of locals. I'm not the biggest soccer fan, but if you watch it in the proper setting with people that are knowledgeable about it, then it isn't half bad. After that, we found an Irish pub where we had a Black and Tan, and enjoyed some live music, before heading back to the hostel for the night.
The next day we ate some breakfast at the hostel, checked out, and explored the city a bit more. Looking back on it, a day trip to Frankfurt would have probably sufficed. I think part of us just wanted to get out of Cologne for a night. The weather was remarkably better today, and like most cities, the majority of the shops were closed because it was Sunday. We did have a chance to tour Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's house (author of Faust), and a history museum of Frankfurt. We also scaled (took an elevator) to the top of one of the skyscrapers to get a wonderful glimpse of the city.The train ride to and from Frankfurt was very scenic, and we got the chance to see some of the smaller towns in Germany out the window. Part of you almost wants to skip the big cities and see what the smaller towns have to offer. It was quite beautiful. On one side of the train you had large hills / small mountains, and on the other side you had the river, and then the town on the other side. Sometimes the scenes felt like they were straight out of a movie.
At the conclusion of the weekend, I was happy to see Cologne (and not ride a train for at least the rest of the day). The city is starting to feel like home to me, and I'm finding it easier to get around every day. I really enjoy my classes and am looking forward to class this week as well. I have a heavy travel itinerary for the month of May, and need to start figuring out living accommodations. I went a little crazy this past week hunting for and purchasing discount airline tickets. I have a feeling the next month is going to be quite the adventure!
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