Third time in Cologne

Yesterday I spent the day in Cologne, the fourth largest city in Germany (after Berlin, Hamburg and Munchen), which has one of the most magnificient cathedrals in the world. I must admit that after three visits I still think that Cologne is a large city in number of inhabitants but that it still misses something to compete in the same level than the other three large German cities. My intention in today's post is not to talk about the cathedral, which for sure is well-known to all of you (if not, refer to my previous post on Cologne: http://antsanch.blogspot.com/2008_07_01_archive.html).

Germany is currently having severe high waters and the Rhine in Cologne was quite high: more specifically around 8m60cm, as displayed in the picture below. Consequently, we could not repeat the nice walk close to the Rhine.Cologne has something more to offer to the visitor than the cathedral. His Carneval is considered as the best one in Germany and one can always find some party mood (Abba included) in the streets around Fischmarkt. Lindt has there a Chocolate Museum, which deserves a visit (especially the shop and the panorama view from the terrace). Next to it, one can find the German Olympic Museum but in this case I cannot say much about it, since I have never been so interested in visiting it.

Cologne has also given its name to the perfums (eau de cologne) and the story is really nice. During the occupation by French troops in the last years of the XVIIIth century, all the houses had to be registered with a number. In house 4711, some kind of aromatic water was produced. It started to be exported to Paris, to the court of the king, where it got a huge sucess, which marked the beginning of a more extensive production.

Last but not least, Cologne is a very rich and dynamic city. Impressive treasures can be hidden under the ground...