Köln in the rain

Here we are, wet and bedraggled, in our beautiful room at the four-star Lindner Hotel Dom Residence in Köln, Germany. I am sitting on our king-sized bed … which has individual duvets, freshly starched and folded neatly on each side of the mattress: his and hers. Billy is registering our Internet account. It costs €9.95/day. There is a pretty bottle of water on the nightstand which costs €5.50, and the smaller bottles in the mini-bar are priced at €2.50. We’ll probably be drinking most of our German water right out of the tap.

The brochure in our room describes the hotel as: “between Cathedral and trade fair. Future-oriented business hotel and residence for art lovers. Cologne Cathedral nearby and the vibrating [sic] Old Town and the central railway station just around the corner.” Downstairs, the hotel has a beautiful restaurant and lounge, which is “an elegant communication bar as meeting point for between whiles.” I love Europe.

But let me start at the beginning.

Our flight on Singapore Airlines from JFK to Frankfurt was, in a word, miserable. The plane, a 747, was absolutely full (okay, there may have been 10 empty seats in the 660-seat economy section … first and business class were upstairs with a bouncer guarding access) and the seats were small and tightly packed together. We had an aisle and middle seat in the four-seat center section … with a German couple in the other two seats. The plane sat on the runway for over an hour before we were cleared to take off (lots of traffic). Suffice it to say that conditions were claustrophobic and hot.

But there were some good points. The female flight attendants were exotic 20-somethings wearing floor-length sarongs with matching fitted tops and coordinating sandals … very feminine. They all had their dark hair done up in French twists. The stewards wore suits and ties … the entire seven-hour flight. We got hot towels twice (a cool towel would have been nice). We had menus and a choice of dinner entrée, which was served at midnight! Billy and I both had General Tso’s Chicken with white rice and interesting vegetables (“What is this?” Bill asked, holding up a long skinny green thing that looked like a limp cabbage. “I think it’s a limp cabbage,” I said, munching on something that might have been a mushroom, except it was purple.) The wine was complimentary and decent (not oaked chardonnay), and they served another meal at 3 a.m. (choice of spaghetti with turkey sauce or Chinese noodles … I am not making that up).

The best part of the flight was when we landed and got the heck off the plane. Bill adds a comment: "I don't totally agree that it was the worst flight ever. 24 hours in the middle seat of a 707 on the way to Viet Nam was way worse. I suppose the best or worst of anything is all relevant to one's perspective".

We cleared customs so easily that it was like not even going through customs at all. We went out a door marked “Nothing to Declare” and then we were out in the main terminal. My computer carry-on popped a brass fitting and the shoulder strap fell off in mid-trek between terminals, so Bill took over lugging the darn thing for me. We walked from the flughaven (airport) to the bahnhof (train station), located our track, and sat down to wait over coffee (me) and beer (Bill).


The trains are so precise, modern, clean and efficient that it caused me to ponder the state of public transportation in the U.S. Why are we so far behind in this regard? Our train from Frankfurt to Cologne sped through the countryside at 257 kph (about 160 mph). It was a joy … and very relaxing and pleasant to watch fields of flowers and little towns fly by. It took less than an hour to get to Cologne (Köln in German), and when we stepped off the train, it was raining steadily. We walked two blocks to our hotel, me falling behind while I gazed rapturously at the magnificent Cologne Cathedral.

It’s gigantic; its towers rise into the sky as lacy black stone spires. The exterior is heavily black with soot because Cologne is actually an industrial town, right on the Rhine River. After we checked into our hotel, we returned in the rain to the cathedral and entered the main door, passing a beggar with a dog sitting on the cobblestones right outside the entrance.

We had completed only about 1/3 of the self-guided tour and were in the first of seven ambulatory chapels when the priests kicked us out so they could conduct Mass … we were too tired to stay. It’s so embarrassing when we fall asleep and slide off the pew (wink). We did, however, see the beautiful 14th century altar of the Poor Clares (“the oldest remaining sacrament altar with a permanently fixed tabernacle”) and a crucifix donated by Archbishop Gero (ca. 976 CE), which is “the oldest remaining monumental crucifix of the Western World”). It’s quite remarkable. I will post more on the history of the cathedral tomorrow after we return from Aachen. Tonight, my brain is a little slow from jet lag and lack of sleep.

Altar of the Poor Clares

Random gorgeous window

After we left the cathedral, we walked in the rain down to the Rhein Promenade (the walk along the Rhine River) to find a place to eat. There were three Thai restaurants in a row, a Chinese restaurant and several Italian places. Bill wanted German food so we ate at an international place, outside under an awning in the rain, warmed by a heater. We’re back in the hotel now … Bill is trying to get my brand new world phone to work (it won’t) and I’m blearily writing my journal. Bill adds a comment: : "I did get it working, after calling AT&T International and getting them to do what I told the guy in the AT&T store in Jax to do a month ago".

Every time I travel, I am aware how privileged I am to see some of the wonders of the world. I am so grateful to be here!

More tomorrow. Until then … good night!