Rick Steves says you could do Cologne in a day, and he isn’t wrong. While we originally planned for two days, I got very sick with a bad cold, so we decided to leave almost 10 hours early. We missed nothing.
Taking the train from Kaiserslautern to Cologne, we arrived around 11:30 AM. We started at the Cologne cathedral right outside the train station. I must admit William thought it was hilarious how I pulled out Google maps in the train station when the cathedral was impossible to miss. It is, after all, the third tallest church in the world.
The church’s 1st stone was placed in 1248, but construction continued until 1880. Such a historical artifact that the allies during World War II were told to avoid bombing it. I’m exceedingly glad because it is inspiring. William and I spent an hour inside, taking in the craftsmanship. One of the more notable items includes the shrine of the 3 kings, which contains relics from the magi who visited Jesus after his birth. After our time there, we continue to admire it from the outside. It’s covered in different sculptures and statues. There’s always somewhere to look and see something new.
We then headed to the river, which we walked along until we came to the fish market (pictured at the top). Honestly, you could probably skip this period since it’s not really anything except a photo op area. We much more enjoyed the little cobblestone streets we took from the fish market to the Great Saint Martin cathedral. We ended up not going into Saint Martin’s since there was a service, though we did see one person go in. From there, we went down to the old Saint Alban church. Bombed during World War II, this one was left as it was with a statue inside called the morning parents. A memorial to all who died in the war.
We then walked to an archeological museum. Cologne was originally a Roman city, so the archeological museum is a must. The museum has artifacts that go well before Rome founded the town in 38 BC. Gravestones show how names became more Roman from originally Germanic or Celtic names. Small and precise tools and lifelike busts are all the more beautiful, considering they have survived for over 1700 years. The museum does an excellent job of setting up the founding of Cologne. It has enough written in English that it is effortless to follow along with what you see. When traveling around Cologne, you will regularly be confronted with structures left behind by Rome, so the museum is a great place to start a visit to the city.
After we finished the museum, we went ahead and headed back to great Saint Martin’s and walked around inside. One of my favorite things about the church is that it was built upon old Roman ruins, so if you go into the crypt, they actually have an archeological dig. This is actually really common in Cologne; there are 12 churches with similar ruins beneath them.
At this point, my plan had ended. But the night was still young. So we decided to walk around and explore more of the streets. We found several Christmas markets which were beautiful. The 1st one we went to was angel-themed. Interestingly, they had hot cocktails to include Ukrainian mules, of course, William and I tried them. Continuing to walk around, we also found a very Edwardian or Victorian Christmas market. Men and top hats running around, absent being sold, and even a glögg house in a pretend stave church. Our 3rd Christmas market was located in the shadow of Cologne cathedral. While the music was terrific, we didn’t stay long because it was so crowded.
While we could have walked back to our hostel, it would have been a 45-minute walk, and I had already marched 12 miles with my full backpack. So we attempted to take the train. I’m still not sure we didn’t break the law, so don’t ask me how to use the train there because I just don’t know. Please note we did buy tickets; however, I don’t think we did it right.
Once we got back to our hostel, we realized it was a little crazy. There were several busloads of British children, probably around middle school age. They were monsters. Thankfully we didn’t have to be with them very much, but their bus driver disliked them. He told me that as much himself.
The following day I woke up very sick. William is such a sweetheart. He took us to the apothecary so we could get some medicine. Did you know that they don’t sell Benadryl inside Germany? We ended up with something else, which kind of works, so we decided to try to hit a few more churches.
The 1st church we went to was Saint Ursula’s. She is one of the patron saints of the city. Apparently, inside the church, there is a room decorated solely in bones covered in gold from Saint Ursula and her 11,000 virgins who were murdered by the Huns. That particular room was not open when we tried to go in, but it was still a gorgeous church, and we lit a candle for her.
Afterward, we headed to Saint Gereon, a patron Saint of Cologne. He was an Egyptian within the Roman army who was stationed in Cologne. Similar to Saint Ursula, he died in Cologne. He lost his head because of his faith, and his body remains within the church. This church, similar to others, was once built upon Roman ruins, so of course, we went into the crypt. While not as old as Roman ruins, gorgeous floors showcased Samuel’s story. We were very moved.
At this point, I had gone through a whole bag of Ricola. So William and I decided to get an earlier train back home. Our original train was meant to leave at 6 o’clock PM, but it was only noon when we decided to go. We honestly don’t feel like we missed anything, although we would be interested in returning for the carnival.
Cheers,
William and Amanda
The Wandering Mcs 
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