Thursday, 27/11/14
Day 9, Cologne

We were in a shopping mall, after a nice train ride to Cologne (the trains are very nice here!). We were just about to leave the mall, when suddenly, "STOP!" shouted Mr. Jäckisch. "Wait a second," he said stretching his arms out, forming a wall. "Before you exit the doors, I don't want any of you to look up until I say so." We had no idea what Mr. Jäckisch was on about. So, he made us form a file, each person with hands on the shoulders of the person in front on them and heads facing down. Slowly, 14 teenagers shuffled toward the doors of the mall, like we were all condemned prisoners. In the corner of my eye, I could see that people were just standing there, just as confused as we were! We got outside, and "Wow!" was all we could say, as we gazed in amazment at the colossal, 140 meter high brick cathedral.

As we walked closer to the architectural wonder, it sort of loomed over us, as tall buildings sometimes do, as if they are just ready to unfold. The people who weren't feeling up for climbing 509 stone steps went shopping and the rest of us went into the cathedral church. It was absoloutely amazing! The church had incredible stained glass lining all the walls, and a 30 ft tall roof! The stone spiral staircase gradually got thinner and thinner the higher we went. Once we got to the top, we were rewarded by a fantastic eye-opening view of Cologne. For miles and miles, full of shopping centres and buildings.

Next, we went to Cologne's Hohenzollern bridge. It was packed with locks belonging to couples as proof of their love. It went for 100 meters and literally every fence was smothered by indented love locks! There were some locks that looked at least 20 years old!

After that, we spent some time loading candy into our bags (and mouths) at the official Haribo retail store outlet, right next to the Haribo factory! It was a paradise. We were overwhelmed by the shear amount of gummy bears and the different possibilities there were. It. Was. Awesome. I did have a sick stomach, but it was soooo worth it.

Cologne and Düsseldorf are close cities, and are old rivals. Cologne may have an old battle-worn cathedral, a Haribo factory and a bridge, but in my opinion Düsseldorf is greater!

~Charlie