Had a 7:00am wake up call at the hotel and was packed and down at breakfast by 7:30am and out by ten of eight so I could catch the 8:20am train from Luxembourg direct to Cologne, Germany a three hour and 20 minute very relaxing and beautiful ride along the Rhine River and past the multitude of grape vineyards for the famous Rhine wine.
It still overcast and although I didn't see the sun while I was in Luxembourg it was still a fabulous trip and well worth a visit and two or three days maximum to see the whole town.
I arrived in Cologne early and settled into the Callas hotel right down the street from the train station and only a block or so past the Cathedral which is a magnificent site although it really needs a good washing. The entire cathedral, with the largest church façade in the world, is covered in a think layer of soot and grime with the exception of a small area in the front bottom left corner where they clearly tested out what it would look like if they cleaned it. I was told during my travels that some churches don't want to do the wash because it's not good for the stone but really the grim certainly can't be good for it either and you can't see all the gorgeous details in the ornate sculptures that adorn the entire façade.
I did the hop-on-hop-off bus for two days which is always a good idea especially when you know nothing about a place and as I walked to the ticket office I went past the Cathedral again and this time lots of little kids were running about dressed in outfits reminiscent of the Three Kings so it being only a few days before the Epiphany or the Feast of the Three Kings I made the presumption they were beginning the celebration early. And then I saw the Cardinal coming down the walkway toward a black sedan with a church representative dressed in a red choir gown holding the door open as another one held an umbrella over the Cardinal's head as he greeted and shook hands with parishioners. He even motioned to another of his group to hand a homeless man some change which his colleague did. You can see him dressed in red in the picture and in the other picture some of the kids walking across the street in the their costumes. According to the man who sold me the tour bus ticket, each year during this week the kids get dressed up and go around town singing and colleting money for the Cathedral I imagine and the reason why the Feast of the Three Kings is so big here is because, and I didn't know this until I was on the tour bus, the actual remains of each of the three kings is entombed here in the Cathedral so as you can imagine this is a pretty big week for this city.And it's amazing to me that of all places I could have chosen to go after Luxembourg I just happened to pick Cologne and only because the women at the train station yesterday when I went to buy a ticket for today said that they had a promotional price for going direct from Luxembourg to Cologne this week, it was only 19 Euros which was great so I took the deal and then found an inexpensive hotel near the train station without any problems so here I am just a block or so from the three kings just three days before we celebrate their incredible journey to Bethlehem to bring the Baby Jesus gifts. It's so great how things just work out this way sometimes. And Cologne it turns out is a wonderful city with a rich history dating back centuries and with beautiful architecture and about 250 churches which amazed me when I heard that bit of information on the tour as well.
nia,
meaning "colony." And from what I gathered looking up the above online the name "toilet water" simply came about because it was a liquid you used in the bath to freshen up. The first eau de Cologne was called 4711 after the number of the street where the shop was on and still called that today. I stopped in to the shop and the scent is very soft and clean like you've just had a bath and it's very inexpensive at only 5.50 euros for a pretty decent size bottle but since I just can't carry anymore stuff, perfume included, I didn't get any but nice to know where it all began and that all this time later people still buy the same formula. According to a legend, on 8 October 1792 a Carthusian monk made the merchant Wilhelm Muelhens (1762-1841) a wedding gift: the secret recipe of a so-called "aqua mirabilis", a "miracle water" for internal and external use. Muelhens then founded a small factory at Cologne's "Glockengasse" and established the first "Eau de Cologne" as a remedy. In the early 18th century, the Italian expatriate Johann Maria Farina (1685–1766) created a new fragrance and named it Eau de Cologne ("water from Cologne"), after his new residence, Cologne. Over the course of the century, the fragrance became increasingly popular."
After doing the full tour I got off the bus and walked around for about 2 and half hours enjoying the craziness of the city pace with oh so many locals and tourists crowding all the streets, shops and little cafes. you can see from the picture the masses of people which is nice and it was so warm, almost 60 degrees so it only made sense for people to be out and about.
I visited a few churches today including the Cathedral which I mentioned above and here is more detail on it including some pictures I got online, one of this amazing modern art multicolored stain glass window that just took my breath away. It's a mixture of tiny squares in varying rainbow colors, just fabulous. "It can be seen from nearly every point in the city centre and from many places elsewhere: The magnificent Cologne Cathedral hovers above the roofs and chimneys of the city. It is not only used as a point of orientation but is the pride of the people in Cologne. The panorama of the city has been dominated by the Cathedral's gigantic pair of towers (the North Tower (157.38 m) is 7 cm higher than the South Tower) since their completion in 1880. The Cathedral is still the second highest building in Cologne after the telecommunications tower. Its footprint is no less impressive, with the full length of the Cathedral measuring 145 m and the cross nave 86 m. In comparison, a football pitch is "only" around 100 by 70 m. The total area of the Cathedral measures almost 8000 square metres and has room for more than 20,000 people.
Building historyThe foundation stone of the Gothic Cathedral was laid on 15 August 1248 on the celebration of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. Apparently the Old Cathedral was no longer sufficiently representative to house the mortal remains of the Three Kings, which Archbishop Rainald von Dassel brought back to the cathedral city in 1164 from the conquered city of Milan. These relics made the Cathedral one of the most important pilgrimage destinations in Europe. In the early 16th century, building was stopped - partly due to lack of money, partly due to lack of interest.At this point the chancel, the lower section of the South Tower with bell tower as well as the long nave and the cross nave were completed up to the lower arcades. The North Tower was almost completely nonexistent. For more than 300 years, the city's panorama was dominated by the mighty torso with a huge building crane on the incomplete South Tower.
Around the turn of the 19th century the supporters of the German Romantic movement reawakened public interest in the completion of the Cathedral thanks to their enthusiasm for the Middle Ages. Continuation and completion of the building now became a matter of national interest to the Germans. In 1842 King Friedrich Wilhelm IV laid the foundation stone marking the continuation of building work. The Cathedral was completed in 1880 - in accordance with the plan originating from the Middle Ages - in a record time of just 38 years.
It is nothing short of a miracle that, although badly damaged, Cologne Cathedral survived the Second World War in spite of extensive bombing. Nowadays the main factors affecting the Cathedral are weather and environmental influences. Over 80 stonemasons, glaziers, roofers and other specialists are constantly at work on the maintenance and restoration of the Cathedral building."
I also visited "St. Maria in der Kupfergasse, a Baroque church in Cologne, western Germany, in the district of Innenstadt. The pilgrimage church is dedicated to St. Mary, the Black Madonna. It was completed in 1715 and measures 37.20 meters in length and 17.30 metres in width.Maria in der Kupfergasse or Mary of Copper Street is a lime-wood statue blackened over time like that of Loreto and many others. It has been in Cologne undoubtedly since 1630, the date at which it was brought there by some Carmelite nuns driven out of Holland. As soon as it arrived in Cologne, this statue of the Madonna was greatly venerated and began receiving the visit of a constant stream of pilgrims. During the Second World War, this affluence increased to the point that the image of Mary of Copper Street is now the most venerated Marian image in all Germany. "
The church is small but very beautiful with an incredibly ornate and magnificent carved wood alter with life sized carved statues and the Black Madonna and Child is so peaceful in their own small chapel that you pass going into the main church. It's a very moving and serine place to pray or just sit quietly and contemplate life.
I walked a bit more and then stopped around the corner from my hotel for pizza and soup and then back to the hotel to rest. I look forward to exploring Cologne again tomorrow and perhaps we'll even have some sunshine.
