So far my travels have taken me from Berlin to Dresden to Leipzig to Nuremberg to Rothenburg to Munich to Mittenwald to Salzburg to Berchtesgaden to Stuttgart to Gengenbach to Heidelberg to Frankfurt, and today I add another.

Took the morning train today to the not too far away city of Köln, known in the English and French world as Cologne. The city is almost 2000 years old and sits on the Rhine river and is the 4th largest city in Germany.

I got to my hotel, checked in and headed to the Eigelstein Tor, an old city gate. Next I headed to a secret location with a very cool, if also very morbid and creepy feature which I shall reveal tomorrow (if I am able to do it). It was aleady closed by then. Next I headed down to the main city attraction, the massive and ginormous and gargantuan world famous Cologne Cathedral. It is far more amazing than what the pictures show and is apparently Germany’s number 1 most visited place. It was begun in 1248 and finished in the mid 1800s. The bad news is it was damaged in WW2. The good news is it was not serverely damaged, the roof had burned completely but the walls and massive gothic spires remained; which is amazing considering all the buildings around it were ruduced to rubble and dust. A few unfortunately placed bombs could have brought down the twin 516 foot spires that stick out far above all else. There is a crypt of all the arch bishops underground, and on display is a large ornate gold chest, believed to hold the bones of the 3 wise kings, who visited baby Jesus. The stained glass windows, and statue and stone mason work is just too much to describe. Although it is listed as the 20th largest cathedral, its size should not be underestimated!

Next, was the sole reason for my trip to Germany. The one, the …not only… Chocolate museum! A super fun and exciting museum on the history, production and sweet deliciousness of chocolate. There is a mini factory, and the Oompa-Loompas began unionizing so the factory drowned them all I the Rhine river. There is a cool fountain where a guy hands out gooey chocolate samples on a stick. You get a chocolate bite with a ticket, and there is a place to custom order chocolate bars, what type of chocolate, milk, vanilla and others, with what kinds of fruits, or nuts or toppings you want mixed in. And of course the giftshop where I loaded up. There are tons of displays and interactive exhibits, with old old packaging, and even ancient Central American relics on display, though much cocoa was grown there, the figures seemed a bit random. It also has an old vintage chocolate bar vending machine, a portion of which it said goes to some kind of childrens charity, and I was only more than happy to support the cause. Ghana and Liberia alone produced 35% of the world’s cocoa bean supply, all of Africa accounts for 70%. The factory is partnered with the Swiss chocolate company Lindt, so everything is Lindt. Why Lindt? Because Lindt. I think I am going to come back tomorrow. And probably again the next day. On second thought, I think I am just going to spend the remainder of my trip there.

Anyways, nothing ever has been or ever will be as exciting as this, so I may as well come home now.

After that was a walk down Cologne’s fancy shopping street Hohe Straße (high street). I find it rather funny there is a Subway sandwich, and Dunkin’ Donuts sharing the same room of a buiding, and the Subway is in the back. Anyways, that is about it for today, so I will leave pictures and a video link as I get back in line at the chocofac.

Video from the chocfac: https://youtu.be/9Hvw1PQWaOE