Cologne

Arriving in Cologne after a three-hour drive we arrived at the campsite we’d planned to use only to find it looked like it was pretty full. Out of a group of men waiting just inside the entrance, one was quite helpful and he suggested we wait for the manager as he would be back in a couple of minutes. We didn’t even have to wait that long before a little white-haired old man came walking in and helpful guy asked him something in German. English was the only word I understood as the manager waved him away with an obviously derogatory remark about the English which the whole group had a good laugh about. We laughed this off at the time and in spite of helpful guys suggestion that we wait to see if a place becomes available we drove away. It was only later when I thought about the managers reaction that I realized how angry I was about it. Normally German people are very friendly and this was the first time I’d come across that sort of nasty anti-British attitude. There’s nothing I can do about it but it didn’t stop me being pissed off about it. Thankfully he seems to be in a tiny minority!

After that little episode we drove out and decided to go to another site just up the road where we could wild camp even closer to the city. Unfortunately the sat nav had different ideas. Instead of taking us to the camping spot we found ourselves almost all the way into the city. This was not what I wanted at all. I’m quite comfortable driving anywhere in a car, but driving through a strange foreign city in a motorhome is definitely not my idea of fun. Having driven through the city and out the other side we continued along the river to where I knew there to be another place we could camp. Like a fool, instead of following the sat nav I thought I knew better and ignored it. Five minutes later we were completely lost.

I pulled over in a residential area to check the map on google earth to try to see where we were. We’d been there about 30 seconds when an old dear pulls up alongside us gesticulating that she wants the space to park in. Fair enough, I give her the thumbs up to say I’ll move on and she just sits there blocking me in. After a minute or so of varying hand signals I’ve eventually reverted to type and I’m saying to her, as if she can hear or understand me, “I can’t move while you’re blocking me in can I you stupid German bint!” Eventually she gave up and drove off and we were left wondering what all the fuss was about. I actually followed her up the road before doing two left turns that took us back the way we had come, As luck would have it this took us right where we needed to be and we were on the one side of the road that allowed us to make the turn into the car park we were intending to camp on. It’s always a relief to arrive at a place and find other motorhomes there. This means, obviously, that it’s ok to camp and also that it will be relatively safe. We immediately went off in search of a supermarket so we could get some provisions. It’s a huge relief to be back in Germany where we can buy grocery’s without having to remortgage the house!

Later on as we were sitting relaxing, a woman approached the front of the van and asked if she could speak to us. I said yes of course and opened the door. She wanted to inquire about the green emissions sticker we had in the window. It seems they had spent months if not years travelling in Germany and had no idea you must have the emissions sticker. She spoke perfect English but originated from Barbados although her and her husband lived previously in the north east of England. We had a long conversation with this lovely lady who it turned out had been living with her husband in a motorhome for five years. And there I was thinking we were being daring being away from home for ten weeks. After a while her husband turned up on a bicycle and we sat and chatted to the two of them for probably an hour in total. They certainly had some story’s to tell from their travels. Their names were Gail and Alan and they had been on this car park in Cologne for almost a month. I was amazed as the most we’ve stayed anywhere was four nights in Copenhagen and they only ever go back to the UK to get the MOT renewed on their motorhome.

The following day (two days in one blog again) we went out reasonably early to go into Cologne. We got a tram without knowing exactly where it would take us. More by luck than judgement though, it took us into the Hauptbahnhof which is right by the cathedral. As you leave the station, the cathedral is right outside. It’s somewhere I’ve wanted to go for years and I have to say, the wait was worth it. The cathedral although adorned with scaffolding in places is still breathtaking! We couldn’t go in though as there was some kind of children’s fun run going on all around the periphery. We walked across the railway bridge to the other side of the river to where the most popular view of the bridge and cathedral is. This was just a scouting mission to see whether I’d be able to come back later and photograph it at dusk. The answer was yes, so with a couple of stops along the way for a sandwich and ice cream we made our way back to the van for the rest of the afternoon and sat out in the sun. Who would have believed it could be that warm on October 6th. It was forecast to be 25 degrees and it certainly felt like it.

At about 4.30 p.m. we started to make our way back into the town. We caught a train hoping it wouldn’t be too busy but as usual it was packed and we endured quite an uncomfortable journey into the city. We did have a kind of half-hearted walk around the shops but I don’t think even Lynne was very interested so we made our way across the bridge to find a spot to do some photography. I was amazed to see so many people young and old (but mostly young) who all seemed to be there to just take in the view of the cathedral and the bridge. We got there at about 6.00 p.m. and knew we were in for a long wait for conditions to be just right as sunset wasn’t till 7.00 p.m. What I was really waiting for was for it to be dark enough for the lights on the bridge and the cathedral to come on. Just after 7.30 we were still waiting when I decided to google about the cathedral lights. I managed to find an entry on Trip Advisor that suggested that they hadn’t been putting the lights on just lately. My heart sank, that was the only reason we were sitting here waiting. However, within a minute or so of me reading that entry, the lights on the bridge came on followed swiftly by the cathedral. What a relief!

I leapt into action, and eventually arrived at an eight second exposure which gave the result you see below. I have to say in all modesty, I’m quietly pleased with it although its been done a million times before and there’s absolutely nothing original about it.

To sum up Cologne, we had a great single day here helped massively by the unseasonably warm weather. Once again we did lots of walking but not to the point where we thought our legs were going to drop off like in Amsterdam the other day. Cologne looks like a great city and the cathedral is breathtakingly beautiful. The only slight downside for me is that I get the feeling that people in the north of Germany aren’t quite as friendly as we’ve come to expect. There also appears to be a large non-German population a lot of whom, in my humble opinion don’t really fit in very well. However, that’s a whole other can of worms and not for this lighthearted blog/record of our travels in Europe!