WW Tour 2009, Day 6-7 - Germany

While not totally relevant to the trip I'm currently on, Andrea and I are planning on going to Germany this summer to celebrate our 10th anniversary. I haven't hadn't been back to Germany since my parents and I left 30 years ago. Despite realizing now (as a father of a two year old) that very little from that time could still be making any kind of an impression, I have had a strong desire to return to the land of my birth. Needless to say, the opportunity to spend a day (even an abbreviated one) in Germany was a chance I couldn't pass up, I'm glad I didn't.

Köln was my overnight stop, Frankfurt (by many accounts) wasn't interesting enough to spend a day in and an hour long train ride got me to a place of wonder. I actually risk babbling on this post as I felt like a kid at an amusement park for the first time- major sensory overload. I'm not sure what follows will be overly well written, but I'm not sure I will ever be able to rationally remember my first 22 hours back in Germany.

ICE (Inter-City Express) Train from Frankfurt airport to Köln
This was the fastest I've ever been overland (186 mph/300 kmph), passing the previous record held on Redlands High School Homecoming night in 1994 (160 mph in Charla Krebbs Cadillac). Everything was enchanting about the ride. The landscape was a rolling hill country, not dissimilar to places I've been in Pennsylvania or Wisconsin, but the forest was a mix of deciduous and evergreen trees. There seemed to be a stream or lake everywhere I thought, "It would be über-gorgeous if there was a stream or lake between these hills or next to that town." I'm know I'm getting ga-ga over something silly, but I was hardly coherent at some point, I was so excited.

Arrival and Check-In
Here's where Andrea's mandate about a picture for every post is more useful than a hastily written paragraph. I didn't take this picture from the train, but that is the sight that greets you upon arrival. In the foreground is the train bridge into the train station and in the background is the world's largest gothic cathedral. From a distance it is impressive, up close it is nearly overwhelming in beauty. I can't even begin to describe it. Especially impressive about the cathedral is the fact that it was built over hundreds of years, completely without modern tools such as cranes and power tools. Too bad time travel isn't possible, I think it would be fascinating to travel back in time to when the cathedral was being built. Imagine the pride of the residents of the city as the cathedral grew to dwarf everything in the region. If ever you get a chance to go to that region of Germany, Köln is definately worth the just to see the cathedral.

Admittedly, I was extremely nervous about going to Germany. Andrea thought I was being strange since I was happy and content to traipse around Shanghai last August but freaking about being in Germany. After my fourth or fifth interaction with a German who assumed I was German, I realized why I was so nervous. In China, I knew nobody would mistake me for a native so they either ignored me or spoke English. In Germany, people assumed I was German. Luckily everyone there is German and speaks more than one language (their English being at least serviceable). My nervousness was overkill, Andrea was right (again).

Wandering and Wonderings
Thank goodness for phones with GPS for I spent five hours wandering around the city of Köln, never once getting so lost that I couldn't find my back to my hotel. Other than the cathedral, Köln has some of the oldest Roman ruins in Germany, a number of other pretty churches, and German charm to spare. I'm sure what fascinated me wasn't extraordinary but rather very ordinary everyday things. It was the small parks hidden between buildings with moms watching their kids play. I loved following the winding cobblestone streets and accidentally running into the old city wall. And I missed my wife, my grandfather, and my parents when I passed old couples walking arm in arm.

Long before I was ready to go, my time was up and I was back on the ICE train to Frankfurt to catch my flight to Delhi. It was a thrilling 22 hours, well worth the price of admission. I can hardly wait for my next trip in June, I hope to wander the streets with Andrea and see the old parks where my mom used to watch me play.

From the chaos of the streets of Delhi, I sign off with new sights, sounds, smells, and spices swirling into an exotic mix that I can hardly wait to write about.