Cologne Marathon

Things have stayed pretty busy around here as we gotten further into fall. I’ve now been in German class for six weeks and it’s still going well. The course goes at a pretty fast pace and there are a lot of new things taught each day. I think I’m making progress and have come a long way from the simple “Ich heiße Krista. Ich komme aus den USA.” that we learned on the first few days. At least I hope I have!

Two weekends ago was the Cologne Marathon and we got to watch it for a little bit while we were in the city. Maybe next year I’ll sign up for the half marathon since I had several years to practice in Pittsburgh.  

Cologne Marathon

Running through Hohe Straße

Pittsburgh Marathon 2013

Next weekend we are going on a mini-trip to Hamburg. October 3 is a national holiday commemorating the reunification of Germany in 1990. I don’t have school, Will doesn’t have work, and we’re going to meet up with some friends there as well. Definitely something to look forward to!

Here are a few more photos from around town:

"Love Locks" on the Hohenzollern Bridge

Some German creativity from the barista

Neighborhood of my German school

Streets in the Altstadt

Fall is in the Air

The time has certainly gotten away from me and I can’t believe that it’s almost been a month since I’ve posted anything. We have been keeping really busy for the past month—Will with work, me with school, and trying to catch up with friends.

My German class has been going very well and I really like it a lot. I obviously still have a long way to go, but just a few weeks have made a huge difference. German doesn’t sound as “foreign” anymore and now I know some basic phrases that are important for getting around. The one other English speaker from Ghana switched to a different class, so now I am the only one! We just finished up our first month and have five more to go.

After our busy summer of traveling, we have been catching up with some of our friends during the past few weeks. We finally had time to have some people over for our first dinner here last weekend. 

Getting ready in the green kitchen

The next day, some friends took us to the Kölner Bierbörse (translated to “Cologne Beer Exchange"), which was a festival with different types of beer from Germany and around Europe. Interestingly, they didn’t have any Kolsch from Cologne, so we tried something from Munich.

Kölner Bierbörse

Prost!

Media Park

Later in the week, two of Will’s coworkers took us to a restaurant that had live jazz music—very cool! It made us feel right at home…if our home was New Orleans. We can pretend, right? One of the most interesting things about this restaurant was that it was built over Roman ruins.  Right inside the entrance, there was a glass window in the floor that looked down to some ancient artwork.  

Papa Joe's Jazzlokal

Roman Artwork

The band

I think the next two weeks will be pretty quiet and our next trip is to Hamburg over a long holiday weekend at the beginning of October. No Oktoberfest trip this year! ;)

Because you can never have too many pictures of the Dom.

More Photos

Here are some more miscellaneous photos that don't follow any specific order or story:

Müllheim Bridge

Rhine

Köln-Mülheim

Building damaged in WWII

Sunset over the Rhine

Back to School

Sometime last week, in the blink of an eye, it became autumn in Cologne. It seems like one day it was in the 90s and the next it was windy, rainy, and 50. It’s not too bad though. I much prefer bundling up in scarves rather than sweating, especially with the lack of air conditioning here. I don’t know if this cooler weather is here to stay or if it will get warmer one more time before fall/winter.

This cooler weather also means…….BACK TO SCHOOL! Remember this post where I was rejoicing being done with school after 21+ years? That joy (and all that boring free time I was so excited about) lasted about three months. As part of the immigration process, I was enrolled in an “Integration Course” which is a six-month intensive language and culture class for immigrants. The course is sponsored by the government, but offered at many different schools, public and private. The goal of the class is to help newly arrived immigrants reach a conversational language level so that they can more easily live and work in Germany.

My class meets Monday through Friday for four hours per day in downtown Cologne. I am the only American and one of two native English speakers.  It will certainly be interesting to lernen Deutsch together!

Back to school!

Cold weather calls for warm soup.

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

When I was writing the post on our trip to Düsseldorf, I was reminded that I wanted to write a post on public transportation in Cologne. I am a huge fan and avid rider of public transportation. I took the bus to work nearly everyday in Pittsburgh and quite often to other places as well. Let someone else do the driving while I relax!

As elsewhere in Europe, public transportation is very widespread in Germany and I don’t think there are many places where it can’t get you. I have a monthly pass for Cologne, which allows me to take unlimited, rides on the buses, trams (like Pittsburgh’s “T”), and local trains (real trains…choo choo). I can take a guest for free after 7pm on weekdays and all day on weekends and holidays. If we’re planning to go farther out, an additional €3.50 ticket extends my pass to include the surrounding region to some of the smaller, countryside towns. There are also long-distance and high-speed trains that connect Cologne to just about every other major city in Europe. We’ve taken these trains to Paris, Frankfurt, and Heidelberg.

One of the most interesting aspects of public transportation in Germany is that a lot of the ticketing is done on the honor system. When riding the local buses, trams, and trains there is no one that checks your ticket or pass before you get on. There are no turnstiles or scanning machines prior to entering the vehicle.  There are ticket-checkers who go through regularly, but I have never been checked on the local system.  Although it would be very easy to get away with illegally riding public transportation, I don’t think that many people do—a mix of good conscience and a fear of being fined, I suppose.  

Afternoon in Düsseldorf

Last weekend we took the train to Düsseldorf, which is about a half hour north of Cologne. Düsseldorf is like Cologne’s younger, trendier sister while Cologne clings to its “old world” charm. The two cities have a bit of a rivalry that I think is akin to Pittsburgh and Cleveland. One of the main sources of this rivalry is their beer: kölsch in Cologne versus alt in Düsseldorf. Kölsch is a lighter beer that served in tiny 0.2 liter glasses (think juice glass size).  Alt was a darker beer that was served in a slightly bigger glass, maybe 0.3 or 0.4 liters. I’m not much of a beer connoisseur, but I preferred kölsch, but maybe I’m just biased.

After lunch and trying some alt, we walked along the Rhine and went to the top of an observation tower. We seem to be making a habit of going to the top of tall buildings when we go to a new city.

Rhine River

Observation Tower

Don't look down!

Düsseldorf

Can you see Cologne in the distance?

Düsseldorf