Our adventure continued with a 2-day stop in Cologne, Germany. It was about a 3 hour train ride from Brussels, and another train hub point to decide to go north or south into Germany.
We’d both watched Anthony Bourdain’s episode about Cologne and the endless beer that magically keeps appearing on the tables, but that’s jumping ahead a bit…
Walking off the train, we were greeted by a staggering view of the humongous church, the Cologne Cathedral. It is just across the street from the train station and the glass windows showcase the entire building. It’s huge! It has been under construction for some 700 years and is a major focal point from all around the city.
We checked into our hotel, just next to the train station, and wandered down the main shopping area to see one of the medieval city gates of the old town. Unlike Brussels, Cologne had basically zero English on signs or being spoken. It was 99% German. It was a really daunting as we knew minimal German between us. We both had thoughts of “what did we get ourselves into?” in those first few hours – and fears of how to navigate our time there and beyond.
But we joined a beer tour (in English) that night and that really helped ease our tension.
Just as the official classification of “Champaign” mandates that the sparkling wine be produced in a specific region of France, the type of beer called “Kolsch” must be produced withing a certain area around Cologne/Koln. Kolsch is a tasty, fairly light beer that is best enjoyed fresh. It is produced in fairly small batches to ensure freshness. There are 24 “brauhauses” making their own spin on Kolsch spread throughout Cologne. Our tour took us to 4 of them and Scott and I visited another 2 the next day.
While they all have slightly different beers, menus, and atmospheres, the gist is the same: you get reasonably-priced, tasty food and fresh Kolsch that keeps coming. Kolsch is served in small glasses, 200ml, and the “Kobes” or servers bring you a fresh beer when you empty your beer. They keep bringing beers until you give the unspoken symbol of being finished. Drinking anything other than beer at these places is either impossible or highly frowned upon – and will get you ridiculed. A table next to us ordered a soft drink and the “Kobes” brought them a coloring page with crayons. Each place has just one beer, their house Kolsch. It’s elegantly simple.
While the menus at the various brauhauses varies a bit, Cologne is known for a few dishes:
- Methappen: raw ground pork topped with onions served on a rye roll
- Himmel un Aud (Heaven and Earth): blood sausage topped with cooked onions served with mashed potatoes & applesauce
- Halve Hahn (“Half a Hen”): Rye roll, slice of Dutch cheese, spicy mustard, & raw onions
- Pork Knuckle
- Saurbraten: Beef stewed in raisin sauce served with applesauce & mashed potatoes
I took a major step away from being vegan during our Cologne trip. I ate the methappen, or raw ground pork. While I’ve always been an adventurous eater, I’ve never been a fan of raw meat other than sushi. But the methappen was amazing! I also had the “Himmel un Aud”, blood sausage, and Halve Hahn. The only dish that caused me any issues was the cheese – the other ones tasted great and didn’t give any issues.
We climbed up to the top of the church, some 600+ steps in a small, winding staircase. It was worth the climb, but had a few scary and daunting points where we questioned our sanity.
We also visited the highly renowned chocolate museum in Cologne. It was far superior to the one in Brussels. We learned the history of chocolate and how it’s made today.
Also notable in Cologne was seeing a bunch of various Roman ruins including a Roman wall now inside of an underground parking garage and a Roman road from basically year 0.
Our time in Cologne wrapped up with a final walk through the shopping district, Scott eating some Doner, and me sampling more of the local Kolsch beer.
What started as a really scary, daunting place due to the language barrier wound up being a super fun and welcoming city. The quality of food & beer and the really affordable prices was both shocking & welcoming. We loved our time in Cologne and I’m excited to visit again in the future!