Deutschland

While we had already stepped into Munich at the beginning of our journey, the rest of the Germany journey was yet to begin. One of the largest countries in that part of Europe, it has stood witness to so much history and change, that it has continued to fascinate people from all over the globe. And we were no different.

We were driving across the Netherlands from the western most edge of the continent, right to the heart. Via Dusseldorf, very pleased with the light drizzle, we stopped at Cologne where the famous Cologne Cathedral sits.

Better known as the Kölner Dom, construction of this magnificent cathedral began in 1248, but was only completed in the nineteenth century. The single largest spire of any church in Europe belongs to the Cologne Cathedral and the moment you lay eyes on it, you will be transported to the medieval times. The interiors are as fascinating, if not more, with the innumerable stained glass decorations, the really high ceilings. It is said that the cathedral suffered fourteen hits by aerial bombs during World War II – however it did not collapse, but stood tall in an otherwise flattened city. Sitting on the banks of what is Germany’s most popular river – the Rhine, the gothic cathedral was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List of culturally important sites and even though I wasn’t able to capture all of its might in a photograph, it left me feeling satisfied.

The city of Cologne is equally delightful. It was our first time exploring Germany on foot and although it didn’t feel too different from the European cities we had visited previously, Cologne had a characteristic charm, reflected through its people – all of whom we met were always friendly and smiling. Ma and Baba got a couple of beers, I grabbed some lunch for all of us and we sat basking in the Sun on the steps of the massive cathedral – people watching. The main train station was just on the other side of the square and you could see such diversity of people and of course, dogs!

After some souvenir shopping and of course getting our hands on the most famed original Eau de Cologne number 4711 (best remember the number and the turquoise and gold bottle), we were ready to explore the rest of the country. 

Travelling through oh-so-beautiful German countryside, it was impossible to stop oneself from exclaiming aloud at every expanse of emerald meadows, connected by what is probably the best motorway network in the world – the Autobahn. You could only sigh and wonder what life would be like, in places like these – and the tranquillity that the proximity to nature would bring.

Crossing the erstwhile capital of the fatherland – Bonn, we drove inland towards the Rhine gorge, to the little town of Boppard from where we would start our Rhine cruise. This part of the great river is known as the upper middle Rhine and has gained in popularity due to the beautiful valley created by the twisting and turning waterway.

It was a daunting drive in a large coach, winding downwards to the river, but most of us were captivated by what we saw around us – the point where the greatest bend of the Rhine can be seen – almost as though it were taking a U-turn!

After an hour of exploration, it was time to take our vessel from K.D. Cruises which would take us to yet another beautiful town of St. Goar in an hour and a half. Soon we found ourselves on the upper deck where we settled down with a couple of Becks and Magnum!

Magnum!

Those vistas. You could gape endlessly at the green mountains, with speckles which were mansions, castles, abandoned fortresses and anything you could pull up from your imaginations of a Knights Templar time. Most of the banks had flowers planted in neat little pots and as the cruise ship floated past slowly numerous guesthouses, pastel coloured homes and vineyards came into view. Wind in hair, we reached our destination and drove to Weinheim , which was our stop for the night.

Next morning, we had another long drive to the other end of Germany, bordering France; a land of cuckoo clocks and cherry gâteaux – the Black Forest region. It was like we were almost in Switzerland – the mountains had more snow on them, the air seemed to feel cleaner with every breath and little brooks were flowing on both sides of the perfect roads. Let’s not even talk about the green, please. 

Must have had over 30 of these throughout the trip!

Personally I feel that we didn’t see much of Germany at all, hence there is much more to do on the next trip to the absolutely stunning Bundesrepublik Deutschland!