Did you know that Eau de Cologne or just Cologne originated from Cologne, Germany? Well, I didn't know until we actually visited Cologne! Cologne had been on the cards for some time, but we decided to postpone it until the carnival week which started sometime towards the end of February. The Karneval is supposed to be the German version of Mardi Gras, and a chance for people to party wildly! Situated on the river Rhein, Cologne is the fourth-largest city in Germany in terms of inhabitants after Berlin, Hamburg and Munich.
We arrived in Köln on a wet Sunday noon. Just before the train pulled into the central railway station we crossed the river Rhein, and across the river we were greeted by the sight of the magnificent Köln Cathedral towering high above. It almost took our breath away. On alighting from the train we were came across huge crowds of people dressed up in costumes! We too had brought some props - devil's horns, pirate hats etc. But our preparation looked miniscule before the riot of colours that lay before us!
We got out of the station, and decided to take a peek into the Kölner Dom - the cathedral which we saw from the train. It was an awesome piece of architecture! Its towering height, and beautifully carved interiors captivated us. The peace and calm that prevailed inside the cathedral was soothing. Next we picked up some maps from the tourist information center. Because of the carnival most of the places of tourist interest like the museums were closed.
We walked around in the city, looking at people dressed as flowers, butterflies, superman, fairies and even ghosts! We walked toward the bridge to take a closer look at the river. It got windy near the river side but the skyline looked really beautiful. Coming back towards the city we decided to take our places before the processions began. It was beginning to get crowded with more and more people pouring in. We also bought some Pommes Frites (French fries) to feed our hungry selves! We perched atop some seats placed higher up on some temporarily created covered platforms on either side of the road. There began our wait for that day's parade - which was supposed to be the school children's procession.
It was the most in terms of variety and combination of colours that I had ever seem. Groups of children, accompanied by adults were dressed up in costumes and carried floats depicting a variety of themes. The atmosphere was vibrant, with the colourful exhbits, and people in the parade throwing chocolates and other little items to the people sitting on either side. We were so high up that we barely managed to get a few toffees. Children sitting closer to the road carried away bag loads of chocolates and other gifts!
After a couple of hours, with the procession still going on, we decided to stretch our legs and explore a little bit more of the carnival city. We were a group of 3 girls and 3 guys and the girls seemed to be more enthusiatic about trying out new things :) One such thing was the Kölsch beer which we had heard much about. In the crowds the guys somehow managed to get lost and we 3 girls merrily headed toward one such stall with served the Kölsch beer. I was told that it wasn't as bitter as the normal beer, but somehow couldn't agree! The huge mug that each one of us got was too much, so had to pour away a quite a bit into the drainage :( We also managed to locate a souvenir shop and I got myself the famed Eau de Cologne from Cologne!
Time was up, and we started getting calls from the guys asking us where we were! Well, they had already reached the station and were waiting for us. So deciding not to cause anymore grief to them we headed back to the station and boarded our train back to Frankfurt!
