Köln Volksfest and Museumsnacht Köln

Last weekend, we went to two traditional Köln events in one evening: the Köln Autumn Carnival and Museum Night. Before the citizens of Köln pull out all the stops for the "real" Karneval in February (think Mardi Gras cranked up 1,000 notches), there's a small fall carnival on the banks of the Rhine. From the top of the ferris wheel, we got some great shots of the skyline.

That night was also the Köln Museum Night, an annual event where most of the city's museums are open late and visitors can buy one ticket for entry into all of them. We took advantage of the extended hours and swung by the Schokolade Museum café for some DELICIOUS cake. 

Lille and Bruges

Oh my— time has gotten away from me again! I have been composing several posts in my mind, but haven’t had time to write anything down for a few weeks. We have been so busy, but were able to get away to Lille, France a couple weeks ago for our last trip of 2014.

Lille is in the far northeast corner of France and is only about three hours away from Cologne by car. We spent a long weekend there and also took a day trip to Bruges, Belgium. Lille definitely had a much different feel than Paris and was unique in it’s own “small provincial town” sort of way. Bruges was also really interesting compared to Brussels (Dutch-speaking vs. Francophone) and was really beautiful.

Most of our time in Lille was spent strolling through the cobblestone streets and window shopping in all of the stores. We also visited the Basilica of Notre Dame de la Treille, where half of the church's façade has been renovated into a more modern style.

Streets of Lille

Original side of Lille Cathedral

Renovated side of Cathedral

In Bruges, we took tons of photos along the canals and listened to the town's 700 year old bell tower. Will was delighted to find some of his favorite Belgian Grimbergen beer, which is served in a rather ornate chalice. 

Bruges Town Square

Belfort

Bruges Canals

On a side note--this trip to France was totally different for me language-wise than before. While there in the summer, I was able to use French, but this time I felt like German had taken over my brain. I could understand everything that people were saying to me, but I just couldn't wrack my brain fast enough to come up with a response. Often when I did try to say something back, it was half-French, half-German. I guess all these German classes are paying off!

October Activities

After our Oktoberfest excursion, things haven’t died down much and there’s still been a lot going on!

Deutschkurs

My German class is going very well. Each month is a new module and every two months we will reach one of the Common European Framework of Reference for Language level milestones, which range from A1-C2. By the end of my course in February, we will finish B1.

We just finished the A1 module and according to the Goethe Institute, that means I can do the following:

“Can understand and use familiar, everyday expressions and very simple sentences, which relate to the satisfying of concrete needs. Can introduce him/herself and others as well as ask others about themselves – e.g. where they live, who they know and what they own – and can respond to questions of this nature. Can communicate in a simple manner if the person they are speaking to speaks slowly and clearly and is willing to help.” (http://www.goethe.de/lrn/prj/pba/bes/enindex.htm#A1)

Kölner Philharmonie

When we were in Pittsburgh, one of our favorite things to do was to see the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. Last weekend we went to our first concert at the Kölner Philharmonie. The concert ended up featuring opera singers the whole time, which is not quite our taste, but it was still fun. The concert hall is also beautiful and the symphony has a free practice session open to the public every Thursday morning.

Dinner in Düsseldorf

On Thursday, we rode the train to Düsseldorf to have dinner with some friends. We ate at What’s Beef , which is a NYC-inspired burger restaurant. The burgers were probably the best we’ve found in Germany, but still just not quite the same as home.

After dinner, we walked around and got a mini-tour from one of the guys who is a Düsseldorf native. The big, built-up, modern city presents a definite contrast to Köln.

Oktoberfest

Probably one of the most well-known (and most stereotyped) German activities is the infamous Oktoberfest. Since we are closer to northern Germany and Oktoberfest is primary celebrated in the south (No, not all Germans wear lederhosen all the time), I didn’t think we’d have a chance to experience it this year. However, one of Will’s colleagues organized an excursion to the Cannstatter Volksfest in Stuttgart for some visiting Americans and invited us to go along. It was definitely a new experience and very interesting!

The first Oktoberfest was celebrated in 1810 in Munich for the wedding of King Ludwig (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oktoberfest). It has since become a favorite fall tradition in southern Germany with many towns hosting smaller events than the original in Munich.

The train ride to Stuttgart took about three hours and went down the castle-dotted Rhine. Once in Stuttgart, we navigated to a huge carnival in the middle of town. Our ticket got us admission to the Stuttgarter Hofbräuzelt for their lunch/afternoon seating. There was a band, music, dancing, singing, and, of course, a lot of beer. What impressed me the most was the huge amount of attendees. Again per Wikipedia, the capacity of this restaurant is 5,000! (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannstatter_Volksfest).  The dining area was enormous and it was packed to the brim with people. We sat shoulder-to-shoulder on picnic table benches and bumped into our neighbors every time we moved. Nearly everyone was wearing the traditional lederhosen and dirndls as well. More information on the Hofbräuzelt can be found here: http://grandls-hofbraeuzelt.de/de/

All in all, it was a very fun day and hopefully we’ll be able to go back in future years. Maybe one day we’ll make it to Munich for the real Oktoberfest!

Stuttgarter Hofbräuzelt

Roast Chicken

Prost!

Hamburg

October 3 was a federal holiday (commemorating the unification of Germany in 1990) and we were able get away from Cologne and take a mini-trip to Hamburg. Hamburg is normally about a four-hour drive away from Cologne, but with all of the holiday traffic, it took us almost seven hours and included detours through farmlands! The city is located in the north of Germany and is major port with access to the North Sea via the Elbe River.

We met up with some friends from Cologne who were visiting Hamburg at the same time and we also suspect that Lady Gaga was staying at our hotel! One of the main attractions in Hamburg is the Minatur Wunderland, which is a museum of miniature trains and model towns. We spent several hours wandering through the exhibits. Most of the rest of our time was spent wandering through the well-maintained streets and window-shopping in the expensive shopping districts.

Hamburg by night (after our 7 hour journey)

Miniature Wonderland