Cologne, Germany

This past weekend, we were fortunate to take a trip to Germany with the Westercamp family.  They were transferred here shortly after us with Caterpillar.  You may remember them from their house hunting trip and our visit with them on my birthday.  A little geography for you...on the way to Cologne, Germany, you pass through the Netherlands, so the kids were super excited about being in three countries in one day!

First up on our trip was a tour of the Lindt Chocolate Factory.  

Prior to watching the chocolate bars being made, you learned everything you would ever want to know about cocoa.  There is even a greenhouse area where you can see the trees and plants of the rainforest up close.

Here is the chocolate fountain and the highlight of the tour.  Each visitor received a wafer dipped in this delicious chocolate.

We have Flat Stanley visiting us, and he thought the chocolate was divine!

The kids picked out chocolate soccer balls (footballs), but I couldn't resist the gold Lindt bunnies.  I'm saving them for an Easter treat.

Here's my girl all dressed up for St. Patty's Day...but we found it wasn't celebrated whatsoever in Germany!  Bummer!

We took several strolls down the Rhine River.  Next trip, I would like to take a boat tour.  I've heard great things about them!

Next stop was the Dom!  This is the Cologne Cathedral, and WOW!  It was magnificent.  I wasn't prepared for just how massive it would be.  Here are a couple of friendly gargoyles.  I guess one positive to having a broken camera lens is that I was forced to leave my bigger lens on the whole time, so I got some close ups I would have otherwise missed.  But for the close up shots, I had to use my iPhone.

Enjoying a little treat in front of the Dom.

I wonder what that lady is thinking there watching Thomas.

Thomas had a late birthday party on Friday night, so he was really tired.  This was one of the few smiles we saw most of the weekend.  He was exhausted!  But, I got a smile with TEETH!  What a rare occasion!

I read before our trip that couples bring a lock to attach to the bridge to show their love and commitment.  You then take the key and throw it in the river.  I wasn't prepared for the number of locks that would be on there.  Holy Cow!

Here are the Westercamps putting their lock on the bridge...

and launching their key in the river.

Time for the Vastines.  We decided to lock it on as a family...to avoid uncontrollable amounts of whining...see comment above about tired boy.

We had two keys, so each happy child threw one in the river.  Thank God for equal numbers.

A shot from the bridge of the Dom at night.  Breathtaking!

And, my boy...with another smile! Yay!!! :)

Looking out over Cologne.

Okay, still the same day, but these are the shots taken with my phone.  This is how they uploaded, so if you don't mind, I'm just going to leave them that way.

This is a shot of the side of the Dom.  The tower on the left is absolutely gigantic!

Family shot!

This is the lower part of the cathedral.  You can see just how small the people look.

And, this is the top half.

This is a replica of a spire at the top of the cathedral.  Whoa!  It was placed in front of the cathedral to commemorate its completion in 1880.  The cathedral was started in 1248 and was left unfinished in 1473. It was then started again in the 19th Century.

The inside of the cathedral

I really like this shot.

I loved all of the outdoor cafes.

Of course, we had to stop at the Lego store.  This is what I look like when strolling through the towns. :)

We ate a traditional German lunch, but burgers were calling our name, so we had dinner at Hard Rock Cafe.

And finally, more of the cathedral at night.  What a masterpiece!

On Sunday morning, we left cologne for Monschau, Germany.  I'll post those pics tomorrow.  I'll post more Cologne pictures on Facebook and Shutterfly as well.  Happy Monday to you all!

Until next time,

Wendy