The Rhineland...

This past weekend, I took a trip up to the Köln (Cologne), Düsseldorf area of Germany to visit a couple of old friends and see a different part of this beautiful country. Here are a few pictures from the trip.

*click photo to enlarge*

First stop, the train station (complete with an automated ticket machine)...

 One of the most impressive cathedrals I have ever seen, the Kölner Dom in Köln. It's the second tallest church in the world at 157 meters, holds the record for the largest church facade in the world, and took over 600 years to complete (construction began 1248)...

We took the 533 steps to the top to get a view of the city (Köln is the 4th largest city in Germany)...

View from the cathedral of the Rhine River and Hohenzollern Bridge...

The graffiti at the top of the church. Very unfortunate that it's there, but it does make for an interesting picture...

The inside of one of the spires...

This was so cool - along the Hohenzollern Bridge are thousands and thousands of little padlocks. Apparently people attach locks to the bridge to symbolize a commitment in a friendship or relationship. Looks pretty cool, eh?...

Here's a brief look at one of the Weihnachtsmarkt (Christmas markets) in the city. The word for Christmas here is Weihnachten (or "Holy Night"). Around the beginning of the Advent season, many of the cities put up these traditional Christmas markets to celebrate the season (and they come ALIVE at night). You can buy anything from ornaments, hats/gloves, toys, and woodcarvings to bratwurst and glühwein (a festive hot wine typical for this time of year). In short, Germany does the whole Christmas spirit thing very, very well...

This is Tünnes and Schäl, two figures from the puppet theater of Köln. Tünnes represents a good natured/common sense/farmer-type of personality while Schäl takes on more of a two-faced/well-to-do nature. I was told that these two characters play a pretty big role in the culture and humor of the city. Many jokes are made that reference them...

 Meet Andy - my tour guide for Köln and old friend from travels in New Zealand. He's originally from the Köln area. He enlightened me on the "Köln Karnival" which begins every year on November 11th at 11:11am. During this time, people dress up in crazy costumes and act ridiculous. We went into one of these "Karnival" stores to look at the costumes and try on hats...

Did a little hike up to the Drachenfels ruins along the Rhine River. Apparently, there was a dragon who lived here in a nearby cave. Unfortunately, he was slain by Siegfried (hero of the epic Nibelungenlied, classic Grimm Brothers stuff), so he wasn't able to make an appearance while I was there. How sad...

View from the Drachenfels. So beautiful...

Spent a day in Düsseldorf, the 7th largest city in Germany. It was pretty heavily bombed during the second world war...

Meet Eva, a German exchange student who studied with me at Harrisburg High School. It was so good to be able to spend some time with her as well during the weekend...