It all started in the Valencia airport, where I was waiting to board my flight to Cologne (Köln), and I was really nervous about the plane ride, and waiting for my friend at the airport, because I cant speak more than 4 words of German! I started thinking how much I am infatuated with languages, they are all so gorgeous!
I can't lie, I used to think German was probably the ugliest language, it might have to do with all the WW2 movies, they always sounded so harsh and mean. But listening to friendly conversations, or families speaking with their children, I realized how warm German can sound, and all I could think is that life isn't fair- why can't I just speak any language I want, at the drop of a dime? I wanted to understand the language of the country I was about to visit and fall in love with- I wanted to be able to communicate with the Germans!
My friend Julian met me at the Cologne airport. He is like an angel from above! I met him at SUNY Cortland's Leadership retreat, where we bonded over hikes in the woods and long meals in the dining hall. He lives in Düren, about 40 minutes from the city of Cologne and was my official tour guide and translator for the weekend!
So when Julian picked me up, he gave me a nice little overview of the city and its history, as well as a brief tour of some of the city. He told me that unfortunately, 95% of Cologne was destroyed during WW2 and as a result, the city has a very old, original center surrounding the Cathedral, and the rest of it is more modern, due to the recent rebuilding after the war. The breathtaking cathedral was lucky enough to stand, because as Julian explained to me, the Allies used the cathedral as a landmark of where Cologne was, and therefore did not destroy it. It is a blessing that the Cathedral survived (along with some Roman ruins) but disheartening that you can no longer see the antique beauty that used to surround the city.
So anyway, Julian also took me into a few Breweries in the city, and I got a look at the traditional German breweries and pubs.
After that, we hopped onto the Autobahn in the Volkswagon, and mom skip over this part... but we hit 190 km/hr which is about 120 mph... and we were still being passed by other drivers! I was very nervous, but Julian assured me that Germans are very good drivers, they have a lot of required training, an hour long driving test, and 2 year probationary period- you mess up once, you loose your license! (good thinking, germans!)
The next day we woke up early for a day of German touristy activities. But first, a nice breakfast consisting of 2 coffees, delicious German rolls, meats, cheeses, and jams. We lingered over our breakfast for an hour, and then we were off.
First stop, we went to a castle near Julian's home. His father told me that there are about 1600 castles in Germany! Thats 1600 more than in America!
After the castle, we went to a picturesque German town called Monschau. The town is in a valley, and the houses are very "German" with the wooden structure, like the bones, and the concrete/slate filling.
So in this cute town, we did some walking around, and did some mustard sampling. They were all so good I could barely choose which to buy! In the end i decided on a Riesling mustard (of course), a Fig, Honey mustard, and the Original German recipe (how could i not get those two?... and in the large jar!)
We did some more walking around, and visited some more stores. Then we stopped at the bakery and picked out some baked goods for lunch (aka why i love europe)
So we went back to Düren for coffee and baked goods (including waffles!), then hit the road to Aachen. Aachen also has a lovely cathedral, and they also started their Christmas Market- something I would normally HATE in the USA, but loved in Germany. It was such a happy christmas feeling, not a stressful one. The market was set up in a way that reminded me of the north pole or santa's workshop (FYI the translation of german "santa claus" is really "Christmas man"!)
We took a look at the cathedral in Aachen, and walked around the christmas market, and I tried a mulled wine called "Glühwine", which was quite delish and really warmed me up on that chilly German evening.
Although I'm not normally one to even slightly enjoy the cold, it was a nice change for me, and I didn't mind the 40 degree weather- it kind of reminded me of home, and of Cortland. It also put some christmas cheer in my soul.
That night after my first and quite yummy schnitzel dinner (at a non-spanish hour of 7:30pm), Julian took me to his friends' house party where we had a really fun time playing "Loopin Louie" and chatting it up with germans (thankfully in english!) But it was around 1 am this night that I decided I was going to live in Germany in the summer as an Au Pair, let's see how that works out!
We had quite a night, that lead to a late morning. We did not wait up until noon! OOPS! Thats ok, we deserved it. So we gradually had our breakfast, and made our way to the city of Cologne again. I got a look inside the cathedral, and then we went to.... the CHOCOLATE MUSEUM!
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| Julian and I walking along the Rhine to the Chocolate museum |
The chocolate museum was a dream come true, and very fun and interactive. We learned all about the Cocoa bean, and tree, and about the production and manufacturing of Chocolate. We spent about 1.5 hours wondering around learning about one of my favorite topics! (which also included a few free samples!)
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| a Lindt Chocolatier dipping wafers into liquid milk chocolate |
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| A woman WOULD write this |
It was also really nice to spend time with Julian's family. They really took me in as if I were their non German speaking daughter, and made me feel right at home. They were so accommodating and so helpful. It was nice to be in a family atmosphere again, and to feel apart of it, even though it was difficult to communicate. Luckily, Julian is an excellent translator and had a lot of patience with us and our multi-lingual conversations.
Although I absolutely LOVED Germany, I felt sad quite often, hearing Julian tell stories. For instance, he told me that his town Düren was completely destroyed during the war, and they had to quickly rebuild, which is the reason he thinks his city is "ugly".
It also made me feel somewhat downhearted to hear whenever he talked about the war, and brought up the Americans. I almost felt like I had to apologize for my country doing damage to such a beautiful place!
I then felt sorry for Germany as a whole, when Julian pointed out a German flag hanging in the front of a house. He said to me "you see that? that is very uncommon here in Germany, no body EVER hangs flags outside". I found it kind of strange, probably because of Americans being somewhat "over proud" of their country. When I asked why, he said he is not 100% sure, but it probably has something to do with Germans feeling ashamed of their flag and their history due to WWII and Hitler. I felt bad for Germany, because although I may not be the most proud American walking this earth, people should not feel ashamed of their heritage that they won't even bear their flag in their own country.
Being American in Europe, people know so much about my country, or my culture, or may have an idea of it, possibly skewed (like the Topless Bar in Cologne whose logo was written in American flag colors- or the American manikin dressed like a rodeo cowboy) But we have this image because of the excessive pride. Even in Valencia where Americans are hard to find, our mark is still left everywhere with Yankee gear, NYC clothing lines, and red white and blue everywhere. I almost feel like our culture is forced upon the world-maybe more Americans should be out educating themselves about other great, fascinating, and enjoyable cultures throughout the world- ones that don't push themselves into the limelight
P.S... I love German gastronomy so much, that I needed to buy an extra bag to bring home all of my German products!
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| About 100 Euros worth of Germanness! |
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