Week 2: Goodbye Köln

Köln is a beautiful city, and I regret that my time here is quickly coming to an end. Tomorrow I will take the train down to Kaiserslautern to finally settle into my home away from home for the summer.

I had a short week here, only Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. And every one of those days it was supposed to storm all afternoon. I can happily report that the weather forecasting in Köln is about as accurate as Cincinnati— sometimes it rains on schedule, maybe it doesn’t. With the forecast in mind, it was a great week to hit up some of Köln’s museums.

But first an update on the grocery shopping situation: I got some kefir on accident thinking it was a tiny milk drink. Nope... when it first hit my tongue I thought it was sour milk because it was a little yogurt-y and fizzy. But it turns out it's some sort of fermented milk beverage (thus the fizz). If I ever bought it again intentionally, I'd enjoy it.

The first museum stop was the National Socialism Documentation Center. It is housed in the old Gestapo HQ. From the outside, I would have never guessed what was inside. The upper floors detail the rise and fall of the Nazi party in Köln. The personal accounts of different Köln residents were chilling— stories of forced sterilization and euthanasia, children brainwashed by the Nazi Youth and the ramifications they faced after, and the resistance to the Nazi Party. Part of the motivation to conform was simply that not all resistance was punished equally- some resistors met only light repercussions while others were forced into labor camps or even executed. Later in the war, the focus of the Nazi Youth was to remove them from the cities into “safe houses” in the country, but the exhibit showed how the propaganda and promises did not come close to the reality of their dreadful conditions.

Then in the basement we saw the actual Gestapo holding cells, some of them with inscriptions from the prisoners still on the walls. Honestly it was incredibly heartbreaking to read the messages left behind. Some didn’t even know why they were being held, only that they were facing almost certain death. I am so thankful not to live through such tribulations. It was a powerful reminder that we are all humans in the end and need to look out for one another. I don’t want to say it was a good museum, since it was more disturbing and simply depressing, but it was informative and an appropriate remembrance to what transpired.

Wednesday we went out to Bonn just to see the town. I thought it was neat, but there wasn’t too much to do. Beethoven’s birthplace is there, but we did not actually get to go inside.

We did however to the LVR Museum, which was some sort of archaeological museum that housed much history of the Rhineland. The downside was that everything was in German, so I had to rely on my basic basic German and general knowledge of European history. Surprisingly it turned out better than I thought. It was an interesting museum with really cool exhibits and artifacts.

While we walked around the town, I said I was going to put on sunscreen and walked over to a tree to put it on. A little girl was playing by the tree and her face lit up when she heard us speaking English. Her family had moved to Bonn for a few years just under a year ago, and I could tell she was overjoyed to speak to us for a few minutes. I bet it must be difficult for her at such a young age to be in such an unfamiliar environment, but I’m glad we were able to make her day just by walking by!

Then taking the train back was a complete nightmare. The first train was delayed by about 30 minutes, and the next train was so packed that I didn’t think anyone else could get on (I was wrong, of course). The way back was supposed to take 30 minutes but the train kept stopping randomly so it took an hour to get back. It was what I will call a novelty experience: totally packed train, many severe delays, no air conditioning. My only solace was the little hand fan I brought from my time in Korea. Luckily, though, I made it eventually :)

My last Saturday night in Köln, some of my classmates and I stumbled upon my first public soccer viewing. It was for the Liverpool vs Real Madrid in the Champions League match. Even though Germany wasn't playing, it's a big enough game that they all wanted to see it. It was really crowded, but looked like a fun time. I'm excited for the World Cup later (but first I should learn something about soccer).


Today I went to the Schokoladenmuseum to punctuate the end of my time here with a smile. On the way there, I met a recent PhD graduate from Ghana who studied International Relations. We had a super interesting discussion about how confusing the US political situation is, and how much the US news is influencing how people are thinking. I'm really starting to love these brief encounters I have with super interesting strangers. I think if I didn’t love chocolate so much it wouldn’t necessarily be a good museum, but given my love for chocolates I thought it was really interesting. And the super nerdy part of me was really pleased to see the chocolate production line, complete with some diagrams explaining the process. The truth is, it wasn't the most impressive museum but I'm very happy I went. And the chocolate fountain at the end did not disappoint.

More on the rest of the weekend/weekend later, since I took off for Barcelona Thursday after class.

I’m definitely going to miss Köln, but luckily it’s only a 2 hour train away! Of everywhere I’ve been in Europe so far, it’s definitely a favorite. I am definitely ready to move in to someplace more permanent for the rest of the summer. Next stop: Kaiserslautern. But first I should go get packed up....