Love locks, wise men, and missed baskets
Jeff is still sick. Kaya is still a terrible walker. So, Breezy and I took a stroll this morning, just the two of us. Like old times.
Here are some snapshots from this beautiful spring day in Cologne/Koeln/Köln.
It all begins with a nice view of the city, just begging us to get our booties outside.
Our first tour stop of the day was the Kolner Dom, the famous Cologne cathedral, which is the largest Gothic church in Northern Europe. Seeing this never gets old to me. And I see it from our hotel room window everyday.
The Kolner Dom.
Some details on the church: Construction of this behemoth began in 1248, and it was left incomplete in 1428. Work recommenced in 1880 to “finish” construction per the original plan. Our new friend, “German Nick” told us on our tour two Sundays ago that the church is never actually finished for fear that Armageddon will come. So, the locals are always finding new renovation projects. WWII definitely helped with that. Fortunately, during the war, some wise soul was smart enough to remove the stained glass to prevent shattering from all the vibrations, and the beautiful windows were re-installed during a more peaceful time.
The Dom is perhaps best well-known for housing the relics of the Three Kings (or Three Wise Men), which were stolen from Italy many hundreds of years ago. Creepy, but cool.
Here’s another shot.
The rear view of the Kolner Dom (and this poor horse).
Breezy and I then waddled along to the riverfront, where we enjoyed some people-watching and springy sights.
Rhine riverfront, Cologne.
Here we are, just chillin'.
Then over to the Hohenzollernbrücke railway bridge, which is adorned with love locks — a symbol of romance and eternal love. This is my favorite shot … these people must have been really in love, and clearly understood that when it comes to padlocks (and ever being able to identify your love lock again), size surely does matter.
I also got a kick out of this strange fence ornament. This fella has padlocks for earrings. I’ve met some people with lobes like these.
I really do love the colors and this description from a much better writer than myself:
“They stretch from one side of the river to the other, as far as the eye can focus, a metallic rainbow of colour in a variety of shapes, encrusted with gems and emblazoned with terms of endearment. Bicycle chains, horseshoes, strings of padlocks, handcuffs the splash of colour contrasting with the sombre materials of the bridge. Fixed there by married couples, single-sex couples, young or old couples, as diverse as the padlocks themselves, an ‘eternal’ testament to their commitment to one another.” — Mallory on Travel
Another view of the love locks.
I’ve only seen this once before — love locks on the Ponte Vecchio bridge in Florence, Italy. I’ll have to dig up some pictures at another time. Apparently, it’s quite European to express your love in this way. For what reason, I know not.
Breezy and I then attempted to cross the bridge over to the slightly “seedier” side of Cologne — at least according to locals. The vibrations were just too much for this sensitive pooch, so we stayed west and snapped a few more pictures.
Spring has finally arrived.
The main train station, HBF.
And then we were greeted with a dose of reality. I’m always surprised seeing garbage in this city, which sits within such an environmentally conscious country.
I'm thinking the Germans aren't very good at basketball.
Breezy and I then made our way back to the hotel room and nursed sick Jeffy with green tea and a sandwich. Beezer is now happily napping, and this is my windowsill view for blogging.
11th floor writing sill. From here, I must suppress my inner spaz. Butt firmly planted.
Medieval Toilets (and the Marskburg Fortress)
It’s true. I am overly fascinated with the johns of the middle ages. It began last summer in Copenhagen and is a trend that has fortunately (or unfortunately) followed me to Germany. Lucky for me, there are lots of old-time dwellings down the Rhine.
We visited one of them — Marksburg Castle in Braubach — last weekend during another pilots’ friends-and-family field trip (also organized by Deb McLauchlin). Marskburg is the only knight’s castle along the Rhine that is still standing in its original form, never having been destroyed by fire or war. After trekking the enormous hill to get there, I wouldn’t be surprised if the enemies just gave up and opted for a castle closer to river-level.
Here it is, the marvel on the hill, with the original part of the tower built in the 1200s. A number of families took ownership of, and subsequently expanded, the original building. For a number of years, the castle served as a state prison.
The castle is actually still home to the head of the German Castles Association today and is complete with modern living quarters, which unfortunately were not a part of our tour. Can you imagine inviting your friends over for a cookout — in a castle!?!
I wonder if they still use this kitchen for their dinner parties. Check out this Gothic Hall fireplace, large enough to accommodate an entire ox on a spit. Those were some hungry knights.
Our English-speaking tour guide explained to us that it was considered rude to excuse yourself from dinner conversation, even to use the latrine. So, the toilet was located right next to the table, and when one had to go, he simply went to the bathroom — with the door WIDE open –and continued on with the dinner conversation. (This strange dinner custom seemed slightly less odd to me after learning on a castle tour in Denmark that during 24-course royal meals, servants would provide buckets — yes, barf buckets — so that diners could make room for additional dishes. It was considered impolite not to finish … but somehow, vomiting at the table was deemed acceptable).
This is me, posing with the toilette.
You might ask, “sans modern-day plumbing, where does ‘it’ flow?” The answer, “to the ground below!” (Actually, kind of into the garden.). Honestly, the servants of the middle ages had it pretty rough. (Another shout-out to Denmark…in some Danish castles, people would just relieve themselves on the floor, and then — like stable hands — housekeepers would quite literally ‘muck’ the castle floors.)
One of my favorite parts of the tour was this enormous wine cellar, with barrel after barrel of vino.
After the toilet, the torture chamber was my next favorite part of the tour — not because of what happened here, but because I consider anything with shock value to be extremely entertaining. Everything from devices that would attach to and squeeze your thumbs (shown below), to tables, ropes and weights that would stretch your body until, well, your bones no longer connected at the joints — they had it all. Terrible. If castle-cleaners had it rough back then, criminals had it even worse!
Breezy and Kaya stayed home for this trip, but in case you were wondering, dogs ARE allowed — so long as they don’t use the trail up to the castle as a “dog toilet.”
Translation: “The way is not a dog toilet.”
Following the tour, we had some local cuisine in the cute town of Braubach, and I had my first wienerschnitzel (basically, a breaded and fried pork cutlet). This of course came with french fries, or “frittes.”
This is one of my favorite shots from town — old socks, and a sneaker, being used as planters.
We ended the trip with gelato that was possibly more delicious than anything I’ve sampled in Italy — and for only 70-cents a scoop! (Compare that to 2.50 Euro for a single scoop in Koeln).
Looking forward to more day trips. We have a lot of castles to check off our list.
Today, we’re off to IKEA (well, maybe, if Jeff feels better). However, at IKEA, we will be searching for furniture that will last us not 800 years, but at least two.
A European Adventure 