Cologne

When we went to Cologne we only had a short layover in between our train time so we just explored the cathedral. Let me tell you, that was a feat enough… it is HUGE.

The cathedral was small in the 1000s, but when one of the priests brought a bunch of relics the cathedral was turned into a major pilgrimage sights. Because so many saints came to the cathedral the pope wanted to make the cathedral worthy of the trip, so he began construction on the new cathedral. It took roughly 600 years to build!

The inside ceilings are so tall. There are stained glass windows on either side of the cathedral and benches throughout the middle.

Then… you go downstairs and you can see all the treasure. You couldn’t take pictures unfortunately, but it was amazing! There were relics, golden staffs, rings, robes, and more. It was probable hundreds of millions dollars worth of church paraphernalia.

After touring the cathedral we still had about a half an hour so I had my first white bratwurst. They serve it with a roll and fries, it was pretty dang good; very authentic German.

Heidelberg

Heidelberg… oh man. Heidelberg is so pretty. We got off the train around 7 in the evening; after checking into the hotel we decided to walk around the city. We walked down to the bridge that goes over the river and it was the perfect time of night. Just look…

 

We got some delicious Chinese food at this great restaurant. It was delicious! Who knew Chinese food in Germany could be so delicious? Then because you can never have too much food we decided to get Gelato. Also delicious (vanilla + lemon = perfect combination.)

The next morning we went on a tour of Heidelberg Castle- it is AMAZING! On our tour we learned that the castle was destroyed three times, that each ruler added a new wing to the castle, and that during WWII the US purposely didn’t bomb Heidelberg because they wanted to use it as a military base.