Köln, Germany
50° 56' N 6° 56' E
Jul 04, 2009 19:58
Distance 35km

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A great week with Sabine in Cologne

Sabine is a former exchange student, from Hannover, who lived with the Andersons in Portland many years ago and has stayed in touch with them ever since.  I've known Sabine since 1996, when Alise and I graduated from SOSC and held our graduation party together.  I saw her later when she returned to the US for occasional visits and we all had a great time together last year at Alise and Jan's wedding.  Now, Sabine lives and teaches high school P.E. in the Cologne area and has a nice one-bedroom near the university and just across the street from the city park.  On the top floor of a 5-story building (without elevators), it does take a bit of walking to get up there, but the open floor plan, extra light, big balcony and view over the treetops are definitely worth it!

In the six days I stayed in Cologne, we had such a fun time!  This was my second time to the city, as I had spent two months there in 1996, studying German.  Now, 13 years later, I got to rediscover it all over again -- and see the city from Sabine's point of view.  We rode bikes almost everyday, through the city center and along the Rhein river, taking in the sights.  Wandered through the incredible Kölner Dom cathedral (didn't climb to the top of the spire, though, as I had done that before), the botanical gardens and the sculpture park, lunched at the Boothaus Alte Liebe (a floating boathouse restaurant, right on the Rhein), visited the original No. 4711 Cologne house, BBQed with her super nice teacher friends in Hiroshima-Nagasaki Park, took in a quirky, funny play called "Holzers Peepshow" at the small theater house -- Theater im Bauturm, sampled hot, dipped chocolate goodies at the Lindt Schokoladen Fabrik (chocolate factory) and much, much more!  And, on the last day, I even got to meet the man in her life, Dominic, who had been away on business most fo the week.  

We were lucky to get wonderfully warm weather almost everyday, which made sightseeing fun.  On the one freakishly stormy afternoon, we had been cycling, but at the time actually happened to be touring the Sculpture Garden and dashed inside a nearby cafe to drink hot tea and observe the wind and rain, safe and warm, through walls of glass. 

It was a superb week in one of my favorite cities in Germany and I can't thank Sabine enough for her wonderful hospitality and for taking the time to enjoy it with me! I only hope that I can host her someday. =D  

Here are some links to places I visited:

Holzers Peepshow (in German) --  http://theater-im-bauturm.de/php/repertoire.php?menrep=170

The Cologne Dom in 360 -- http://panoramas.dk/fullscreen5/f51-koeln-dom.html

4711-Haus --  http://www.4711.com/index.php?id=4&L=1

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