Two weekends ago, we hopped an early morning flight to Cologne, Germany to see our sweet friend Paula. Paula is the girlfriend of my classmate and friend Ankur; whom DC now calls “my friend, Ankur” so you can see how successful the relationship has been! Below is my early morning excitement to find a Starbucks Chai Tea Latte at the airport as well as a good shot of my cute new bag from Florence!
Anywho, we looked at the famous Dom first thing and were then treated to an amazing German meal of grilled sausage and potatoes washed down with some Kolsch, little mini beers served in test tube-like glasses. Apparently, this is a big deal in Cologne and that was just fine with us!
Post-lunch, we wandered along the Rhein before having drinks at a fun 60's bar and dinner at an Indonesian restaurant. As much as I love Italian and German food, it was nice to have a bit of spice!
The next morning, having promised Paula we would call her just as soon as we woke up, we promptly slept in until 10:20. Lazy bums. She was very sweet about the delay but I’m afraid she got me back with a terrifying gondola ride across the Rhein. I had no reason to be alarmed as we walked up to buy our tickets. The gondola is right across from the zoo and the line was filled with children. Even as I was climbing into the teensy tiny car there was something about “German engineering” floating through my head. And then we got up high. Really high. And David decided he needed to stand up to take photos of whatever beautiful things we were flying over. The kicker was that as we were descending onto the “wrong” side of the river, we went over a lovely nudist colony for what appeared to be the geriatric crowd. Don’t worry; no photos will be displayed here.
We spent the afternoon in the park and had Mother’s Day brunch on the Rhein in the sunshine (see Ankur, there is sunshine!). Much to my chagrin, we had to take the gondola back across the river. Obviously, we survived, but I’m afraid Paula may think differently (i.e., less) of me now!
We spent the remainder of the afternoon at Kolumba, a local art museum that combines place, collection, and architecture to create what was truly one of my favorite museum visits ever. I’ve proven that by the ridiculous amount of photos I am posting.
The architecture combines the ruins of the late Gothic church St. Kolumba, the chapel, Madonna in the Ruins, and a new building designed by the Swiss architect Peter Zumthor. The museum does a fantastic job with the lighting and the "white space" around each piece and it is so proud of the design that it doesn't even install information plates below each piece. Realizing that is not very practical, that's so my style.
On the top floor of the museum, there is this little wood-paneled library with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the city. We disturbed the quiet a bit with our massive photo shoot.
Oh, and if you're still with me, this is my favorite painting. Ever. I'd pay good money for this guy to be hanging on a charcoal wall in my house.
2 comments:
Love it! Cant wait to hear all the stories about your trip in person! missing you both!
aww, looks like a fun time! and i do like your new florence bag. while the quarter flew by, it feels like you've been gone forever! can't wait til you're back!
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