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I have visited Cologne lots of times in the eighties. It is the only city in Germany that I know reasonably well.

Cologne, Germany

Gaby
2004-01-25 12:44:54

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I have visited Cologne lots of times in the eighties. It is the only city in Germany that I know reasonably well.

This was once the home of my first pen pal, who moved to the US before I had a chance to visit him. It was also the home of my friend Petra, who has recently moved to France.

The Altstadt is very beautiful and there are plenty of nice places to taste the local brew (Kölsch). Visit the Dom and the Ludwig Museum. It is said that the carnival here can rival with that in my home town of Aalst, but that may be an exaggeration...

June 1997

The small hotel where Petra had reserved a room for Jack and me was near her flat. On the outside wall was a huge poster of Don Camillo eating spaghetti and the lovely modern interior was done up in turquoise and purple.

The owner took care of us as if we were his own family. When he found out that I was Belgian, he told us his mother was Belgian, and his sister-in-law was Belgian and how very fond he was of Belgians in general. In the morning when we had finished our excellent breakfasts, he came up to us and asked us in four different languages if we wanted anything else. Could he fry us a couple of eggs? Bacon? More croissants?

On Saturday evening we dined with Petra and Georg in an Indonesian restaurant which had a piano bar in the cellar (A la Nyonya).We spent Sunday morning walking along the Rhine and enjoyed the lovely weather.

May 2000

Ever since I have known Petra, she has talked about how much she wanted children. Her wish has now been granted. The father of her child is French and she has left her dear Cologne to found a family in France.

In 2000, I have visited her for the last time in her home town. It had been 3 years since I had been to Cologne and we had a lot of catching up to do - major life changes and gossip.

In the evening we went to the theatre, a very entertaining interactive play called "Viaje con Dios".

On Sunday we went to the Museum für angewandte Kunst: design made in Cologne: an impressive display of furniture, jewellery and household items from different centuries.

We had our pasta lunch and tried to spot German television celebrities in the excellent restaurant Campi, near the WDR studios.

I regret now that I haven't visited her more often in Cologne. It was so easy by train from Brussels. Her new home will be a lot more difficult to get to.