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Germany Old Market

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  • TravelerGermany 2025
    Day 3

    Rhine, Sunshine and Tapas

    March 29 in Germany ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C

    After breakfast, even though I was already buzzing from caffeine, I couldn’t just walk past Bensons Coffee—they were practically down the street, and skipping them would’ve felt like a crime. Bensons, or as they call themselves, “Badass Coffee,” takes a no-nonsense approach to coffee. No sugary frappés, no over-the-top drinks—just pure, expertly crafted coffee. And they know their stuff. After the visit, I walked away very impressed.

    Fully caffeinated (maybe even a little over-caffeinated), I made my way to Cologne’s river promenade. Since I moved away, the city has put a lot of effort into making it more inviting, and it shows. The space is perfect for a stroll or just sitting in the sun, taking in the incredible view of the river and, of course, the iconic Kölner Dom in the distance. And with today’s blue sky, warm sun, and light breeze, it was Cologne at its absolute best.

    From there, I wandered into the downtown core, which was absolutely packed. Note to self: Hohe Straße on a Saturday? Never again! I made a quick shopping stop for some essentials before heading to the next big event: dinner.

    At El Alli Oli, a cozy tapas bar that has become a bit of a tradition for me, I met up with Sandra, Carola, Chris, Tobi, Alex, and Timo. We settled in for a long evening of catching up over delicious food and wine. I’ve been coming to this spot for over 18 years now, and every time, I walk out happy and full.

    Then, about an hour into our meal—another surprise! Michael and Felix had made reservations completely unbeknownst to me. More familiar faces, more unexpected reunions, and even more catching up.

    Hours later, we finally wrapped up the night, saying our goodbyes, stomachs full, and hearts even fuller.    Read more

  • TravelerGermany 2025
    Day 3

    Graffiti, Beans and Friends

    March 29 in Germany ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C

    Day two of my Germany adventure started the best way possible—with a craving for coffee. After last night’s amazing schnitzel, I woke up ready to explore Ehrenfeld, one of Cologne’s coolest neighborhoods, and check out its local coffee scene.

    The weather was perfect, so I took my time strolling down Venloer Straße, soaking up the sun and stopping often to admire the street art. Ehrenfeld is packed with graffiti and murals, and every corner seemed to have something new to look at—bright colors, bold designs, and little details that made the walk feel like a mini art tour.

    My first coffee stop was Schamong, Cologne’s oldest roastery. It’s a small, super cozy spot that somehow blends old-school charm with a modern touch. The staff really knew their stuff, and the coffee? Absolutely spot on. Great service, great vibes—definitely the kind of place I could’ve hung out in for hours.

    Next up was Cologne’s Roastery, which had a more modern, spacious feel. The coffee was just as good, but something about it didn’t quite click for me the way Schamong did. Maybe it was the atmosphere? The warmth? Hard to say, but I found myself missing that little extra personality.

    With two coffees down, it was time to find breakfast. Wandering through streets lined with trees and blooming flowers, I ended up at Café Franck, where I met Lisa, Alex, and Chris. Good food, great company, and a slow morning—exactly what I needed. Then, completely out of the blue, another good friend, Franzi, showed up. She had a reservation there too, with visitors of her own. Totally unplanned, but such a fun surprise. And as it turned out, not the only surprise of the day…

    To be continued.    Read more

  • TravelerGermany 2025
    Day 2

    But first… Schnitzel!

    March 28 in Germany ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    Here we go again - I’m off on a 4 week trip to Germany. It’s a crazy mix of remote work and free time, with mixed in hikes, sightseeing, rural charm and lots of food! Come with me to see what the more rural areas of Germany have to offer.

    The journey started off with bubbles at the airport, which I think is always a great way to start any kind of travel. The flight with Lufthansa was rather uneventful - minus the gentleman next to me, on the middle seat, whose width unfortunately led to him occupying 1/3 of each neighbouring seat. I tried to make the best of the time on board with the remaining 2/3 of my seat.

    Touchdown in Frankfurt, ICE to Cologne and eventually arrival in Ehrenfeld - the neighborhood that feels like you stepped into a contrast program of village vs city, Istanbul vs Köln, 60s vs 2000s, old school vs modern thinking - but always with this openness and heart that Cologne is known for.

    For the next few days I moved into the guest apartment of my friends Karl and Lydia. Karl and I went for lunch to Kebapland - a Turkish bbq hut in the middle of bustling Venloer Street - where I had my first Dürüm in ages! Oh how I missed that!

    The early evening was spent with Kölsch and Catch up with some other friends, before heading out to the first big highlight of the trip: Schnitzel at Oma Kleinmanns! This restaurant is a staple when it comes to Schnitzel! Massive sizes and decently priced! What you see on the picture is not one, but two plate sized Schnitzel on top of each other and the fried potatoes. As I won’t have a chance to get back to Oma Kleinmann any of the other days, I had to squeeze a visit in, besides the jet lag.

    A successful - and yummy - start into the trip for sure!    Read more

  • TravelerEurope
    Day 47

    Köln

    October 20, 2024 in Germany ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    Brief history: established by the Romans in 50CE it has been a merchant city ever since. The Cathedral took 600 years to build and narrowly avoided being flattened in WWII with the rest of the city which required massive rebuild.
    Music scene is healthy and diverse. We found ourselves in an Irish pub listening to Aussie music and a quirky Jazz bar that has had live music every day for 1,400 consecutive opening days.
    Transport hub on the river, by road and rail. The train bridge over the Rhine has 6 tracks. The quality of the train services that we have used are amazing.
    Very large Turkish population here. It the largest ethnic minority in Germany. Thank for bringing yummy food here.

    Trivia: our first train stop into the Netherlands was Arnhem. The town gave its name to a ship that sailed into the Gulf Of Carpenteria in 1623 and in turn gave its name to the massive land mass we now know and love as Arnhemland.    Read more

  • Fuseta ll
    Day 13

    Abschied von Fuseta

    October 4, 2024 in Germany ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    Heute fliegen wir zurück nach Deutschland. Wieder mit ein bisschen Wehmut, da die beiden Wochen Auszeit einfach schön und chillig waren.
    Abgesehen von der stoppeligen S-Bahn Fahrt verlief die Rückreise problemlos und flott.
    Zuhause wurden wir mit einem tollen Racelette-Abend empfangen, der uns über das schlechte Kölner Wetter hinweggetröstet hat.
    Der Vollständigkeit halber soll erwähnt sein, dass das Event nicht für uns, sondern von den Geschwistern nachträglich zu Max Geburtstag ausgerichtet wurde 😉.    Read more

    See translation
  • The Rhine Getaway
    1
    Day 8

    Beer tour of Cologne

    September 4, 2024 in Germany ⋅ ☁️ 66 °F

    Tonight we signed up for a Brauhaus tour with dinner and sampling local beer from Cologne. None of us are real beer drinkers but our traditional German dinner at Peter's and the beer at the other establishments was tasty. Even had Schnapps at one!Read more

  • Traveler2024 Travels in Europe
    Day 43

    Wolfgang and Uli’s Village

    August 26, 2024 in Germany ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    Uli and Wolfgang live in a small village which is now part of Cologne. I think the old village name is Weiß. On Monday Uli walked us around it.

    There is a very old church; massive of the outside; simple on the inside.

    The village is in a bend on the Rhine which has a lot of barge traffic. Container barges go by all day and night.

    After touring the village, we stopped in the local bar for a drink.

    The whole scene was so different and so much calmer than downtown!    Read more

  • Traveler2024 Travels in Europe
    Day 41

    The Big Day

    August 24, 2024 in Germany ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    Saturday was the Big Day! And big it was!

    It all started with champagne at 11:00 at Uli and Wolfgang’s house. We walked the 3.8k (2.3 miles) along the Rhine. The house is spectacular. They largely rebuilt it on an existing site and both the inside and the outside are beautiful.

    After everyone had a glass of champagne, Edward and Lena spoke to the family and friends from the neighbor’s roof. Not sure what they said since it was in German, but it was well received by the crowd and Edward sounded very fluent.

    After a lavish lunch, the musical members of Lena’s family (which is pretty much all of them) sang, accompanied by Lena’s uncle, Christoff, on the flute. (He and Lena’s aunt, Heimi, are professional musicians who play for the Munich opera.) the song was an adaptation of a very popular song in the kölsch dislect the about Cologne, adapted by Uli (I think) to refer to Edward and Lena. (I’m working on getting a translation to post). Lena’s cousins, Billig and Jacob, dressed up as Lena and Edward. It was a great performance!

    Everyone then gathered for group photos.

    All this time lots of beverages were available; so many that Uli and Wolfgang brought in a refrigerator trailer to keep everything cold. Jacob tapped the keg of Kölsch.

    The party continued until the next event, cake at 4:00. Two huge cakes. We made short work of them.

    And the party continued until the final food event, reinekuchen, brought to the house by a food truck. Reinekuchen are potato pancakes similar to latkes. The guests ate them as fast as the truck could fry them up and they definitely filled up any empty spaces in our stomachs!

    By 9:30 or so we were all partied out and had to call it a day, although the party went on until the wee hours. Patsy and Steve walked back to our hotel with us. Since it looked like a thunder storm was brewing, we tried what was supposed to be a shortcut through the fields and woods but a wrong turn slowed us down. We hurried through the fields as the lightening and thunder began. The rain burst down just as we got in.

    We never thought that, on a trip which included crossing the alps, our most exciting walk would be in Cologne!    Read more

  • Traveler2024 Travels in Europe
    Day 40

    Chocolate and Kölsch

    August 23, 2024 in Germany ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    Friday was a day for chocolate and Kölsch! Apparently, Germany consumes more chocolate than any other country in Europe, both per capita and in total, and there is a large chocolate museum in Cologne. We met up with Karl R and Emma to visit it. The museum, which is run jointly by the city and the Swiss chocolate company, Lindt, has exhibits covering all aspects of chocolate (except for one my sister, Patsy, brought up later in the day) and had a complete production line for small chocolate bars. The visit was interesting, and, since they gave out samples, tasty!

    Later, my sister Patsy and her husband Steve arrived by train. We all had dinner at the oldest brewery in Cologne, the Früh. Karl and Leslie Ruth had kölsch, a Cologne beer which must be brewed within sight of the Dom (cathedral) to be called Kölsch, and comes in small, 0.2 liter (6.7 oz) glasses. Kölsch, like many German beers is available alcohol free (this comes in larger bottles)..

    We reported on our visit to the chocolate museum and Patsy asked whether the museum mentioned that chocolate had cadmium and lead in it! Who knew? We said the museum did not, but did have an extensive exhibit on other issues such as child labor, poverty, and how little the people at the bottom of the chocolate making process get out of chocolate, and what companies such as Lindt are doing to combat this. But, nothing about cadmium and lead.

    It looks like there are limits to how much social consciousness the museum felt it could exhibit. But, we still love chocolate and will continue to eat it in moderation!

    We then returned to our hotel to rest up for Saturday, the Big Day!    Read more

  • A Year of Living Awesomely
    3
    Day 221

    The Rhein

    August 18, 2024 in Germany ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    Today we strolled along the Rhein across from the Dom. Lovely gardens with a great many geese relaxing on the grass. We then took the Seilbahn across the river, and continued our journey by tram to the Dom. Coffee across from the Dom’s front entrance.Read more

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