Cologne Cathedral and the City Along the Rhine

Comment

Germany UNESCO World Heritage
12525640_10206264352869091_6548219802416685245_o

By the time my family and I departed the hotel to visit Cologne Cathedral, the northwestern German city had already left a sour taste in our mouths.  As seasoned travelers, Kevin and I have experienced a number of unpleasant encounters while on the road, from getting ripped off at a state park in California to having our rental car held hostage at a dodgy parking garage in Mexico City.  Bad travel experiences have always been the exception rather than the rule to a locale, however; overwhelmingly, we’ve always left a place feeling welcomed by generous and hospitable locals.

Suffice to say, Kevin and I experienced a first in Cologne, Germany.  We visited Cologne in March 2016, and it’s taken me months to collect my thoughts on the city.  I needed some distance to separate my experience of the church from my disillusionment towards the city and its horrific service industry.  Part of me hopes we simply were unlucky, that most outsiders traveling to Cologne leave after enjoying pleasant and friendly locals.  But seeing as how everyone in my group ate dinner at different restaurants and reported similar attitude issues, I suspect it may be more of a pattern than coincidence.

Here’s what gets me: Cologne has, for centuries, enjoyed a healthy dose of tourism thanks to the eponymous cathedral, yet I didn’t encounter one service worker who wasn’t completely turned off to assisting me or my group of seven family members.

The night we arrived in Cologne, Kevin and I stopped for dinner at a small Italian sit-down about five minutes from our hotel.  The waiter’s attitude was downright horrible from the moment we took our seats.  Kevin asked him if the restaurant served tap water (in Central Europe, many restaurants do not serve tap water, making it something of a luxury in the region), and the waiter responded “yes.”  Kevin told him that we’d each take a water, but the waiter shook his head.

“No, you can’t just order water.  You must order a paid drink off our menu,” he explains with a hint of hostility in his voice.  “One tap water per glass of wine or soda.”  Defiant, Kevin and I informed him we would not be ordering any beverages.  He stormed off and barely looked at us for the rest of the night.  When it came time to pay for our meal, he thoughtlessly threw the check at the table and refused to make eye contact as he ran our credit card.  Talk about childish!

This all happened roughly one hour after we checked into our hotel, CityClass Residence am Dom, where the front desk clerk made it quite clear to Kevin that she did not want to go out of her way and explain to him the location of the hotel’s off-site parking.  The mediocre and borderline snobby service, which continued the next morning as well, overshadowed what was otherwise a wonderful hotel.

I’ll stop ranting now, I apologize.  I must say my favorite view of Cologne Cathedral – the sole reason for our visit to the city – was at night, spectacularly lit in all its Gothic grandeur.

Cologne Cathedral At Night

The next morning, Kevin and I returned to the church with our six family members, ranging in age from fourteen to fifty-nine.  Six of us decided to climb the spire to enjoy a birds-eye of Cologne, and this turned out to be one of the best decisions of the trip.  While the panoramic view of the city stole the show, we all also enjoyed checking out the cathedral’s massive bells; fitting, of course, given its imposing size.

Cologne Cathedral, Cologne, GermanyCologne Cathedral, Cologne, GermanyCologne Cathedral, Cologne, GermanyCologne Cathedral, Cologne, Germany

One of my great travel dilemmas is my undying love of panoramic views of European cities, despite the fact I’m also terribly claustrophobic.  Like many great churches and landmarks, the stairwell leading to the top of Cologne Cathedral is narrow.  I had to stop a few times to calm my growing panic, but I made it and am sure thankful I stuck it out!

Also, here’s a pro tip: if you’re traveling with a teenager, keep a close eye on them.  We definitely lost Kevin’s fourteen-year-old brother at the top of a German cathedral.  Oops.  The important thing is we did find him, but please, learn from our error.

After scaling the great spire, we headed inside.  The interior of the church is massive, and compared to the ornate Gothic exterior, rather tame.  For me, the highlights were certainly the kaleidoscopic ceilings and ornate stained glass windows.

Cologne Cathedral, Cologne, GermanyCologne Cathedral, Cologne, GermanyCologne Cathedral, Cologne, GermanyCologne Cathedral, Cologne, GermanyCologne Cathedral, Cologne, Germany

After visiting Cologne Cathedral, my older brother-in-law wanted a dessert, so we stopped at a small crepe and ice cream shop about five minutes from the church.  He was the only one out of the eight of us who ordered something, and the clerk at the shop told him he’d have to pay more to eat inside.  This is common in Europe, especially Paris, so the clerk simply told us to sit outside on a picnic bench.  A few minutes later, the clerk brought out my brother-in-law’s dessert, and when he started to eat it, the clerk told us we had to go away!  He actually shooed us.  Now, we obviously weren’t being loud or ill-behaved – honestly, most of us were too tired to even talk.

Completely disillusioned, we meandered back to our rental car and drove straight to Amsterdam, desperate to put Cologne in our rear view mirror.  I debated whether or not to write this harsh a critique of the city, but I feel it’s important as a travel writer for me to share my experiences as honestly as I possibly can.  I’m also not claiming my experiences are the norm; all I can do is attempt to be as straightforward and honest about my travels as I possibly can be.  I’m sure some of what we interpreted as rudeness could be chalked up to cultural differences, but I’ve been to Germany a few times now and I’ve never had a check thrown at me in a restaurant.  I’m pretty sure this is universally rude in the West.

Don’t let this dissuade you from visiting Cologne Cathedral, however.  As a historical wonder and UNESCO World Heritage Site, I understand why it often tops those “100 Sights To See Before You Die” lists.  A number of my travel companions were also Catholic, and they appreciated the opportunity to kneel and pray in one of Christianity’s most famous houses of worship.  As an architecture nerd, I personally could have stared at the church’s magnificent exterior for hours.

Would I visit Cologne again?  No, probably not.  Everyone in my family loved Amsterdam, our next stop on our great European adventure, and coming from Cologne, everyone in Amsterdam seemed infinitely more friendly.  The fun of Amsterdam essentially left us with an even more negative view of Cologne, which emphasized my need to put some time in between my visit and this article.

Thankfully, Cologne Cathedral was, as us born-and-bred New Englanders say, wicked beautiful.

Pin It

Leave a Reply