C is for Cologne... and Chocolate, but not Kölsch.

I'm all for Cologne. And I'm a big fan of Chocolate. However Kölsch... they can keep the Kölsch. Sorry to all my Cologne friends but I really struggled with your local drop. It tasted of water, and very bubbly.

My plan for Cologne with simple. Chocolate Museum and the Dom. Didn't need to know much more about Cologne.

Alas it turned really cold when I got to Cologne so I rugged up as much as I could. And I thought it was supposed to be the middle of Spring! Implementing the plan for Cologne was also my strategy to warm up. Eat chocolate, and then climb the 520 stairs to the top of the Dom.

The first part of the strategy worked fine. I found that if you just keep going to the girl at the chocolate fountain she'll just keep giving you more wafers dipped in chocolate. Not just any chocolate. This was the Lindt Chocolate Museum. By the time I left for destination 2 of my 2 stop Cologne tour I was on a sugar high and ready to go anywhere.

Now, don't get me wrong,  I enjoy the physical challenge of climbing stairs every time there's a historic church I'm exploring. What I don't enjoy is the smart little 10 year old kids who are playing their little mind tricks on me. Just cruising up the 520 stairs non-stop. Without any sign of it being physically draining. There I was trying to gasp for air, wanting to expel my lungs of a verbal diarrhea along the lines of whoever in their right mind would decided to build such a tiny winding stairwell. But no I couldn't. I had to hold in my unhappy thoughts to not disturb the happy chirpy kids bounding up behind me. Putting the pressure on to keep going every time I motioned to stop and catch my breath. I couldn't show them I was broken.

The view down was mind blowing. Thankfully they didn't have any open ledges to peer over. I was fine with peering through the fence holes. 

Anyway after completing this my travels around Cologne contained a lot of walking around. Lots of walking. After the Dom though I kept it to flat land. Explored a few historical point including the Nazi Documentation Museum. Which was basically a former Gestapo centre where they interrogated and tortured people. And then unwound with a gondola ride over the river and back for the view. Alas it would have been even better during the summer. The beer garden over the other side would have been open. Perhaps they served Altbier there.