Whirlwind Cologne...

Wow it has been a lonnnnnnng day, but wonderful :)

I started it off around 9AM, leaving the hostel in a tank top and jeans, thinking it would warm up. WRONG. By the time I had gotten to my first destination, the Dom Cathedral, it had gotten super cold, windy and rainy, so I spent the next hour looking for somewhere open to buy a jacket, luckily finding a place around 10 and buying a jacket after receiving many disapproving glances from middle aged women and mothers with children.

From there I was off.... I first went to the Dom Cathedral, and let me tell you, I actually had to brace myself. There was so much intricate detail in one place I almost cried. The church itself is from the 13th century, but inside there were many treasures from much earlier, especially in the Treasury, which housed amazing things from the ages. I have little internet time today, so I wonät go into great detail, but google it and see for yourself. It is unbelievable.

From there I went to the Romisch-Germanisches museum, which housed prehistoric artefats and Roman and German ruins, treasures and amazing pieces of culture and history. There were pieces in there from the first century AD. I almost died when I sat there staring at things 2000 years old. It was amazing!

From there I decided I wanted to go to the Perfume Museum, as Cologne is where the first perfume was invented in 1709 by Johann Farina, an Italian who had emigrated here. It was amazing to see all the progress and hear the stories of how something we take so lightly came about... there was huge scandal and prestige associated with Eau de Cologne. I got a little bottle of the 'original' so I can remember it by.

After this I decided to go to the Schokoladenmuseum (Chocolate Museum) where I literally saw what happened once the cocoa arrived. This was super exciting as I saw the cocoa harvesting part back in Ghana, and now I got to see what actually happened to the crude product to make it into such a delight. I watched it being made in front of my eyes and took it all in. There were chocolate fountains and machines everywhere... honestly Willy Wonka would have been proud. Mom you will probably die of jealousy while reading this haha.

From here I decided it was time to head back to the hostel, but stopped at the Ludwig Museum instead and looked at art from the 20th and 21st centuries, and saw a plethora of Picasso's work - I didn't really like his work but it was cool to say I have seen in person. There were some really cool exhibits, but there were also some that were frankly quite frightening. There was a little room that was creaky and weird and had this weird moving broom with a speaker in a tube on the neck of it... there was weird German spewing out, I couldn't understand, but I hated it. It was so scary! It was a really cool museum to see though!

I am back at the hostel now, sorry I can't give better descriptions of what I did and saw today, but my internet time is limited and costs an arm and a leg here. Tomorrow should be just as busy, but I know my way around pretty well now, after nearly 8 hours of walking today. I have the train system down pretty well, and I am even able to recognize some German. When people speak it to me or I read it I can pick things out, but asking me to speak it will never happen.

I hope all is well at home,
I am fine - happy, healthy (well actually I have quite the cold, it is freezing here and has been raining since I got here, quite a difference from the weather I had the last 2 months. Today I went into a greenhouse just to feel normal hahahah) and enjoying myself immensely.

I will try to write again shortly.

Love Krystle