Traveling Europe – Alone – Part 2
Cologne, What a fun city! I decided to book an Airbnb instead of a hotel, just because it always seems easier and more comfortable to me. The Airbnb I stayed in was also a lot cheaper. If you’ve never booked through Airbnb before you have the option of booking an entire home/apartment, a private room in a home, or a shared space. I’ve done both an entire apartment and private rooms in the past. I decided to book a private room for my trips to both Cologne and Amsterdam. The main reason, because it was cheaper, but it also allows you the opportunity to meet new people and get tips from the hosts.
In Cologne I stayed in Julia’s apartment. Some of the reviews said it was an entire apartment, but the listing said private room. The reviews were all great, so I decided to give it a go. It actually ended up being a private room in the apartment, but it was only a one-bedroom apartment. Julia was in and out of the apartment for most of my stay, so she was around, but she didn’t stay at the apartment. I was also in and out most of the time as well. It worked out very well, and my last evening I was able to spend some time speaking to Julia, and I learned a lot more about her as well as the area in general.
I did a lot of window shopping in Cologne, because I was walking around exploring the city. I did have one place I had to go to though, and that was 4711. It’s kind of humorous, but I had to go here. 4711 is the “original” cologne, hence why cologne is named after the city of Cologne, Germany. It was apparently first made in 1792 as a gift, at the time it was only available to the wealthy. Now a days you can buy it for $20. I personally don’t enjoy the scent of the original 4711 Eau de Cologne, but the remix and other scents were decent. I bought the Acqua Colonia, Coffee Bean and Vetyver, which is odd because I really don’t like the smell of coffee that much. It seemed the least potent to me though. It was something to say I have and that I’ve been to the original House of Cologne.
Cologne seemed like a friendly city. Most people speak English, so it wasn’t too difficult to get around, and the food was good. Like Holland there are people on bicycles everywhere. There are also bike lanes so it makes it so incredibly convenient. People still weren’t wearing helmets though!
The Cologne Cathedral is something Cologne is very proud of, and it does have a pretty amazing story. Cologne was bombed pretty badly during WWII, and the cathedral suffered 14 hits by aerial bombs. It was heavily damaged, but somehow the cathedral survived. There was significant repair, and in 1944 an emergency repair was done using bricks from another destroyed building. Those bricks were left in place until 2005! As with most cathedrals, repair and maintenance work is always being done on the facility, and this is true for this cathedral. I’m not sure it’s possible to get a picture of a European cathedral without scaffolding from repair work. The cathedral is directly adjacent to Koln HBF, so even if you are just stopping through you have the opportunity to see this amazing structure!
It is a Catholic cathedral and is often studied for it’s Gothic architecture. It is the tallest twin-spired church, and I can attest that it is a massive cathedral. I’ve seen many others all over Europe, but this one really stands out. It also gets very crowded during the day. I, along with many other people, sat on the steps to relax and have a little snack. I could think of was worse places to hang out!
Cologne also has an amazing “lock bridge,” that crosses the Rhein River and unlike the one in Paris this bridge can structurally support the thousands of locks attached to it. There is a nice walking area beside the river with many places to find something to eat. There is a ton of shopping Cologne, and the main streets seem very touristy and crowded.
I never felt scared or worried walking around the city by myself. To me it seemed relatively safe. I really didn’t venture out into the wee hours of the morning, mostly because I was exhausted from walking around for a week. Overall, I’m glad I spent a couple days in Koln and I learned a little more about the German culture. On Sunday morning I took the ICE train back to Amsterdam. I was sad to go so soon, and felt a little bit of sadness as I saw the cathedral slip away into the distance as the train pulled away from the station, but I was excited for my next adventure. Next stop…Amsterdam Central!
I arrived back in Amsterdam and got some help finding my way to my Airbnb. I dropped my bags off and met my hosts. I stayed for about 30-40 minutes and then went to meet Iris near the Olympic Stadium. To be honest I didn’t even remember that there was an Olympic Stadium there. I had messaged Iris months ago when I found out I would be in Holland, because I had to make sure we met. (If you don’t know Iris and I both did the same workout, Fit Body Guide, and that’s how we originally met) It was so great to meet Iris in person, after knowing her for about a year and a half. It’s like we were old friends catching up. We went to Keukenhof, which is a tulip garden. The funny thing is, both Iris and my Airbnb hosts had never been there. It was a rainy dreary day but it was amazing to see the tulips. I honestly thought it would be giant fields of tulips, but it was so much more than that. There were some large fields of tulips around the area, but inside the tulips were arranged in amazing flower beds, all different colors, shapes, sizes, and a variety of other flowers mixed in. It is seriously one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen. I highly recommend you go if you are ever near Amsterdam.
After the tulips I went back to my Airbnb where I got a great recommendation for dinner. At this point I had eaten pretty much every meal by myself for the last 3.5 days, but it still seems a little odd. It was nice though. I went back to my Airbnb and chatted with my amazing hosts. It’s such a wonderful experience when someone else invites you openly into their home. Cem and Danka were seriously amazing hosts, they even invited me to eat dinner with them my second night. We had some good conversations, and it was just so nice to meet new people. I never would have met them had it not been for this trip. Travel really opens your eyes and your mind to the world, and not having anyone else that I already knew to rely on, opens you to really meeting new people.
It was raining and windy and terrible weather on Monday, so instead of biking the city like I originally planned, I spent the rest of my time in Amsterdam at the RijksMuseum and then walking around, eating, and buying the rest of my needed souvenirs. I highly recommend the RijksMuseum, especially if the weather isn’t great. You can spend hours in the museum, and they even have free tours/guides on their free app. It was a nice refuge in the city.
I had asked Iris if ducks were a thing in Amsterdam because I saw a bunch of rubber ducks. She said “Ummm I don’t think so” and then pulled out a keychain with a rubber duck on it and said “maybe.” There is an entire store of rubber ducks called “The Amsterdam Duck Store.” They have every kind of rubber duck you could ever want, except for an Engineer ;-). I bought a gift for my project assistant here because I told her I would buy her something unique. I also bought two for myself, one regular sized and one tiny little guy. It was so cute I couldn’t help myself.
On Tuesday morning I had an early start and braved the wind and rain to get to the airport. I was stuck somewhere between never wanting to leave, and ready to be home.
All in all, I’m so incredibly happy that I decided to travel on my own. I was a little worried at first, but I honestly think it was one of the best things I could have done. I’m a very independent person, but I’m also have pretty high stress levels. Traveling alone is kind of nice because you aren’t on anyone else’s time schedule, so If you want to spend 5 hours in a museum, or 5 hours just walking around enjoying the sights, there’s no one complaining or getting bored. One of the things I really loved about the places I went, was how many bicycles there were. There are bike lanes and it’s part of their lifestyle to use a bicycle as a mode of transportation, which we don’t have here in the US. Venturing out on my own gave me confidence in myself and was worth every penny.
