My first trip to Germany was a circular route starting and ending in Dusseldorf. The home of Alt beer. I will talk about this more in a future post. On our drive back to Dusseldorf for our departing flight, we stopped off in Koln (Cologne) for a bite. We had no ideas of what to see/do in Koln so like most cities, you go to the Altstadt, or Old Town. Growing savvy, we looked for a Brewery type pub. Paulener for example had bar restaurants around Bavaria so figured there would be something like that. One thing noticeable when heading into Koln, is the old cathedral. Like most European cities, there is at least one that dominates but not always visible. Well Kolner Dom is very noticable.
Google maps worked but not as well as today. We parked and found ourselves walking towards the cathedral looking. While we did not find a brewery sponsored spot, we found outdoor dining around the cathedral plaza. Location has since turned into a five story building so the view is gone. But many spots still can be found.
We did not know about the serving Kolsch beer. Turns out, the servers just keep bringing them till you say stop. We just though we must have looked like the type to drink all day. Well after some hours of sitting we realized we better get going since we still had a drive and our DD was getting tired of watching us enjoy the nice easy beers.
We told the waiter we were ready to go and he looked at us puzzled. We said we have a drive to which he pointed to the cathedral. He said you need to wait. We thought he just wanted more sales and said we don't need any more beer, he said that ok but you have to wait and see the cathedral light up.
I will encourage anyone visiting the area to take time to see this transformation. The gothic cathedral. Yes it is very old and has been built and rebuilt over the centuries. Each night, slowly, lights come on in stages to illuminate the cathedral. While photos do not do justice, here are a few but there are many lighting scenes to enjoy.
So why a Kolsch style.... well drink ours and enjoy but once you expirience a beer from its homeland the bond becomes a memory that brings you back each sip. So we give you a taste... You will have to make the journey your own.
Prost!
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