Viva Colonia!

Cologne, Germany is a very nice city.  The buildings are beautiful and the people are so nice (when I was on the train from Salzburg to Munich, I met a German girl that said Cologne is probably where the nicest German people live).

The first night in town, I went out with a group of German people to a couple pubs and a dance club :)  Even though they only spoke a little bit of English, the people treated me like one of them.  They also taught me about a song called Viva Colonia that they sing at sporting events and in clubs and jump around and have fun while doing it!

The rest of the city is also beautiful.  The cathedral there, Kolner Dom, is stunning.  It has the fourth highest spires in the world (interesting tidbit - The highest spires are in Ulm at the Ulm Minster which I saw on the train ride from Heidelberg to Cologne)  The stained glass windows inside are very intricate and beautiful.

Around the area of the cathedral, there is a bridge that the trains cross to get to the main train station and there are pedestrian paths across the bridge too.  Along those paths people who get married will put a lock along the fence there which is really cool to see.

Around the area of the city hall, there are large open places with restaurants and brew halls all around.  The weather was very nice so they would have tables all over the plazas with people filling them.

This is the last new place of my journey and I have to say, it has gone by too fast.  I will be glad to get back home and see friends and family, but I will also miss the people that I became friends with.

This is what the finial at the top of the spires look like up close.  They are huge!

Kolner Dom.  The largest church facade in the worl... i think.

One of the stained glass window inside.

Notice the intricate glass design.

One side of the cathedral.

Cathedral with the afore mentioned train/pedestrian bridge in front.  You can see the locks there across the bottom.

Closer view of the locks... There are probably over a quarter-million locks!

Rathshaus.  City hall building tower.