Cologne, or Köln in German, is a vibrant, hip city in North Rhine-Westphalia, just two hours from the Frankfurt area. A friend once described it as the Hollywood of Germany – it’s young, fresh, and you see a lot more colorful hair, tattoos, and biker gear than in other German cities, even Berlin. Cologne is famous for having a very festive annual Carnival celebration, and it was during Carnival 2020 in Cologne that COVID found its foothold in Germany. We happened to be there the week before those festivities started!

To me, Cologne is synonymous with its fabulous Gothic cathedral. Its outer walls are layered with years of soot and grime, giving it an otherworldly feel set against Cologne’s modern backdrop. Inside the cathedral, the ceilings arch so high above as to take one’s breath away. When I was younger, I went to Europe for several weeks and made my friend’s apartment in Cologne my home base – and every day I was in town, I went to the cathedral, just to sit in awe at this amazing culmination of engineering, spirituality, and perseverance.

Of course, our family is big on comparing the merits of the chocolate, coffee, and french fries of every place we go, and Cologne had a strong showing of all three (Cara is trying to eat the chocolate cathedral).

20 Days, 20 German Cities: Bad Nauheim – Rüdesheim – Königstein – Travemünde – Cologne