Köln and the Mosel

I started Fall Break today. I was at the S-Bahn station for my 04.51h train to the airport at about 04.40h... and no trains came until 05.32h. I'd only given myself a one hour window to make my flight and was starting to really worry! When my train finally made it to Unter den Linden station and I started waiting on the express bus to Tegel, I saw that the Deutsche Bahn strike was back on--from 02.00h-11.00h. German law prevents unions from striking enough to "cripple" the nation and the rail strikes are typically structured (it is Germany--they're carefully structured) to affect only the morning rush hours and result in severely limited and delayed services.

I got to Tegel Airport at 06.40h for my 06.50h flight but wasn't too worried because of the incredibly small size of the airport. Tegel is a bizarre airport to American's because you go directly to your gate to check in, check your baggage and pass through security but then walk directly from security to your plane (less than 10m). I started to check-in and the airline agent started to lecture me on how late I was and the trouble it could cause--I simply cut her off with a "yes, yes, I know, blame the strike" and she let it go. After her attempt at a lecture, she still checked my bag and handed me my boarding pass and told me (one more time) to hurry. I walked the few meters to security (no line!) and then got on the plane. As soon as I was seated, the plane started to pull back from the gate and took off.

Once I got to Köln, I had to take a cab to the central train station (Hauptbahnhof) because I was meeting my Aunt Ginna and two of members of her church--Mark and Julie. A fun attempt at a conversation in the cab about how annoying the bahn strikes were and how bad traffic construction was. After waiting a few minutes at the Hauptbahnhof, Ginna, Julie and Mark arrived and we began our exploration of Köln.

Immediately outside the station was the Kölner Dom (Cologne Cathedral) in all its Gothic splendor. I absolutely love the Gothic (and Neo Gothic) style of architecture and such a magnificent example was wonderful. It was built from 1248-1880 and then it's been under restoration pretty much ever since. It was nearly totally destroyed during the War but was quickly rebuilt afterwards.

After that was a lot more walking throughout the city center and just enjoying the city. In the early afternoon, we got in the car and drove out to where Mark and Julie had rented a house in the Trier area along the Mosel River (Landal Sonnenberg). This area is most famous for Riesling wines and the land was covered in vineyards along steep hills leading to the river. All the little towns in the area were in the postcard-esque half-timber style with narrow, winding cobbled roads. Absolutely beautiful. The afternoon/evening was spent in the little town of Bernkastel-Kues. After a great dinner in Leiwen where a cat randomly wandered into the restaurant, we called it an early night. We needed to leave the house by 04.00h the next morning to make it to the Frankfurt in time for Ginna's flight to Wien.