Germany
I'm not going to lie, coming into this trip I was least excited to travel to Cologne, Germany. For no particular reason either. I guess maybe because Cologne is a lesser known city in comparison to Berlin or other German towns, or because I knew more about the other regions we were going to travel to.
Germany of course exceeded my expectations. Cologne is an amazingly historical city, yet a large majority of it was destroyed during World War 2. Since then, most of the city has had to be completely rebuilt. Never the less, you can still see and feel its distinct culture. I love walking down the old town with the cobblestone streets, where there is a large market area filled with restaurants and stores. We were even lucky enough that this weekend part of this area was a wine festival!
A huge part of Cologne is it's main cathedral, you simply can't miss it. It is a massive cathedral, but there is still so much attention to detail throughout the building despite it's scale. There is so much to look at and take in about this wonderful piece of the city, and it has been one of my favorite parts. A group of us walked all the way to the top of one of the spires, with a total of 535 steps. By the time we got to the top, we were all winded to say the least. The views were beyond worth it and being able to see some of the structures of the outside of the top of the church from that far up was truly incredible!
I was also surprised about how much I seem to love German food, I have not had a meal here that I have not loved! We also have really enjoyed the price difference between here and Switzerland :)
We have been staying at the German Sports University guesthouse, and yesterday we got a tour of the facilities and the area surrounding the school. Because the university is sports focused, in order to get into the school the students have to pass a physical aptitude test in which they have to pass assessments of 20 different disciplines. These tests last 14 hours in one day. When our guide said that I think my mouth dropped! I cannot imagine having to do that to get into my college. These skill tests range from gymnastics to swimming to running, and it blew my mind to think that all the students I had seen walking around campus passed this test. I think I’d maybe be able to pass two of the disciplines! I think it says a lot about the school as a whole. In order to study sports, you have to be able to play them in order to fully understand and relate to what your learning about and the people you interact with. I really admire this requirement of their school and I think it really displays that they practice what they preach!
I’ll certainly miss Cologne, but off to Amsterdam we go!
Germany of course exceeded my expectations. Cologne is an amazingly historical city, yet a large majority of it was destroyed during World War 2. Since then, most of the city has had to be completely rebuilt. Never the less, you can still see and feel its distinct culture. I love walking down the old town with the cobblestone streets, where there is a large market area filled with restaurants and stores. We were even lucky enough that this weekend part of this area was a wine festival!
A huge part of Cologne is it's main cathedral, you simply can't miss it. It is a massive cathedral, but there is still so much attention to detail throughout the building despite it's scale. There is so much to look at and take in about this wonderful piece of the city, and it has been one of my favorite parts. A group of us walked all the way to the top of one of the spires, with a total of 535 steps. By the time we got to the top, we were all winded to say the least. The views were beyond worth it and being able to see some of the structures of the outside of the top of the church from that far up was truly incredible!
I was also surprised about how much I seem to love German food, I have not had a meal here that I have not loved! We also have really enjoyed the price difference between here and Switzerland :)
We have been staying at the German Sports University guesthouse, and yesterday we got a tour of the facilities and the area surrounding the school. Because the university is sports focused, in order to get into the school the students have to pass a physical aptitude test in which they have to pass assessments of 20 different disciplines. These tests last 14 hours in one day. When our guide said that I think my mouth dropped! I cannot imagine having to do that to get into my college. These skill tests range from gymnastics to swimming to running, and it blew my mind to think that all the students I had seen walking around campus passed this test. I think I’d maybe be able to pass two of the disciplines! I think it says a lot about the school as a whole. In order to study sports, you have to be able to play them in order to fully understand and relate to what your learning about and the people you interact with. I really admire this requirement of their school and I think it really displays that they practice what they preach!
I’ll certainly miss Cologne, but off to Amsterdam we go!
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