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A trip in Cologne
It has been a long time since I wrote a blog about the place I travelled to. This time I really want to write something about Cologne
Author: Sholmes
Cologne is a place with rich cultural heritages, and it has been a long time since I wrote a blog about the place I travelled to. This time I really want to write something about Cologne, because it has greatly impressed me.
The Dom
I visited Cologne during September, 2015. When we were still kilometers away from the city, we could already see the magnificent Kölner Dom. It was the sole reason that I wanted to travel there, because the Dom is so high that it is “closest to God”. Therefore, there is no surprise that the train station Hauptbahnhof besides the Dom is the station that is also “closest to God”. I came to know this landmark from World Cyber Game once held there.
Football
I had a very interesting experience at the bar located right opposite the Dom, called Gaffel am Dom. When I walked inside, I found that the place was full of football fans, who were all very excited. When I was wondering the reason of their excitedness, two of the fans approached me, and told me that Koln just won the Derby with Mönchengladbach! Being a huge football fan myself, I had no idea that there was a Bundesliga game going on right there. The friendly fans also told me the mascot of Koln, unlike that of other clubs, is a real goat, and before the game this goat will walk on the pitch. The goat soon becomes famous and is a star of the local zoo. I had a great chat with the fans since I am a football fan myself, and I support Real Madrid, instead of FC Bayern Munich (they all seemed to dislike Bayern).
Rhine River
Besides the Dom, the Rhine River was also very beautiful. I could never be bored while walking along the river because of its beauty, which reminded me of Chang Jiang (There was a KTV with a Chinese name on the river bank, which almost made me believe that I was in China). All the unhappyness went away when I looked across the river, watching the salient flow of the water. Like the lyrics in Comming Home:
Let the rain wash away all the pain of yesterday
I did not go into the Chocolate Museum, because the queue was too long. Instead, I visited Wallraf-Richartz-Museum to appreciate the impressionist paintings. There was a ongoing show about the paintings themed The Seine.
A detective novel writer
Frank Schätzing is a German writer born in Cologne, whose novels are more popular than Harry Potter in Germany. He has won the 2005 Deutscher Krimi Preis, which is the most prestigious prize for crime novels in Germany. His detective novels include The Tyranny of the Butterfly media link, which is set in California, involving the hottest topic nowadays: artificial intelligence.
Conclusion
Football, river, art, music, not to mention mystery, make Cologne such a great place. I was shocked when I heard the riot and attack happened there some time later. It is really hard to imagine such a peaceful place, full of music, art, and traditional German food, would be associated with riot and violence. I do hope that everything will be fine soon.
