Kölner Lichter

Saturday, 7/9

If it was breezy in Bacharach, then Köln is the windy city of West Germany. We had left Bacharach after one last plate of waffles and arrived in the city by 11am. As we circled the Dom, we were whipped around by fierce gusts of wind, so we quickly set sight seeing aside and took refuge in a pub to grab some soup and a sandwich. Back in the elements, we realized we had seen most of what we had come to Köln for (mainly the cathedral whose dark facade towers eerily above the main square and surrounding fountains) and we'd be back in the city in the evening for the festival of lights. Driving in the city was none to easy. Though we've been loving the GPS, problem is she doesn't know whether she is driving you into a pedestrian zone or a parking lot full of wedding guests, and when a town is full to the max for a huge festival, the car is better left out of the equation. It seemed the time had come to find our hotel and park the car. We followed the GPS directions thirty minutes outside the city and found our hotel past another expansive central park, past bulk shopping centers and furniture stores, in an industrial park. Though we were so far from the city central, we reminded ourselves these were the only accommodations we could find anywhere near to Koln on the night of the festival in our price range (and we booked this over six months ago). The nice thing about the hotel was that is was very new feeling, impeccably clean, and the design scheme had a modern flair (a true contrast to our last B and B whose flowery crocheted curtains reminded me very precisely of my great great Aunt Florence's mobile home decor). Once settled in with the luggage, Greg and I poured over maps and tourist information trying to sculpt a plan for the evening. We eventually decided to leave the car behind, it would be impossible to maneuver it in the dense crowds and to find parking. We found a subway stop (actually the vehicle never went underground while we were riding it, so it was more of a long bus on tracks) which was about 800 meters to walk to from our hotel. Once on public transit, the car kept filling as we got closer to the city center, we began to understand the term "packed as tight as sardines." When the doors opened in the city center, we burst forth into a bustling throng of locals. Greg and I had been feeling a bit homesick for a little something that reminded us of America. It turns out the Hard Rock Cafe of Cologne, was just the cure. After splitting a veggie burger and some overpriced cocktails with American music videos and memorabilia as our backdrop, we were ready to brave the crowds. We were swept up in a wave of celebrating Germans. We enjoyed looking at the high end merchandise on the main shopping lane. The streets were already littered with beer bottles and swarms of drinking groups dressed in costumes or matching t-shirts singing songs off key and staggering through the streets. It seems they had started the celebration much earlier in the day. We did learn that the celebration began eleven years ago, but never really figured out what this day of drinking and watching fireworks is in celebration of, but who needs an excuse for a good party. Around 10:30 pm, boats drenched in twinkling colored light paraded down the river and fireworks showered from the sky. It was the Fourth of July we had missed, so two cravings for home were fulfilled in one night. On the bus back to the motel, Greg and I engaged in a debate about how long it would take to clean up after all that partying. I suggested it would take days of hard working crews to clean the city and Greg expected all the trash to be picked up by the morning. Regardless of how long it takes to clean up their mess, the people of Köln had a great deal of fun partying in their city streets.