" /> Why I love Cologne - nonsoloamore
Friday, 29 March, 2024

Read this in: German

A Thursday morning in Cologne. The weather is rather like that, but I do not really care, because I have to sit down and work anyway. Of course we could have done that in Airbnb, but there’s this shy cat that bothers me at work, because all the time she was staring at me reproachfully, while ic was in the keys. Somehow I was in the mood for Smoothie Bowl, my last one was months ago. So we went to a crowded, cool Smoothie Bowl shop, which was way too loud to work, but found a nice coffee around the corner.

The armor was to the point, a velvety coldbrew with tonic that did not taste too sour ran down my throat in this unusually warm weather in early October. While I was unpacking my laptop, my husband had gone to the bathroom. When he returned, he stared wide-eyed at the next table. He stared and stared. At some point it was uncomfortable for me. “Why are you staring like that?” I hissed. He pointed to the next table. “They’re shooting there, for watching TV, about menstrual cups.” A shrug my part. “Well, we are in Cologne.”

It was nothing new to me. Every time I’m here in Cologne, I see every corner of the camera crew. I do not find that surprising either, as many media are at home here. A friend from Hamburg, who wants to gain a foothold in the field, I always preach that it would be best if she went to Cologne.

A little like home

Cologne is a little bit my city. Somehow not so petty-bourgeois, down to earth and yet a little crazy. I’m so little stared at in Cologne, I like that somehow. When I recently bought a shelf in Oldenburg and realized that school holidays are, I was surprised once so many people staring at me. We’ve been to Cologne so many times before and will be back a few times in the near future, so I’m not used to it anymore. The people here are just nice and helpful. But that’s not all, of course. I’ll tell you in this blog post what Cologne and I have already experienced together and tell you my favorite places.

It does not always have to be downtown in Cologne. I like to travel like my sister-in-law and walk a lot. So you can discover the most amazing things.

Ehrenfeld

That we landed on our first Cologne vacation in Ehrenfeld, was actually an accident. My husband only read “centrally at the station” for our Airbnb, but read the Ehrenfeld. The apartment was really cool, annoying was just the fact that the tenant had probably left us the apartment for an Appel and an egg, because in the antique shop under a rotation took place in the time we were there. I’ve distributed relatives all over Germany and I do not know why it pulls everyone to the Rhine. Probably that’s what comes closest to our native Elbe. Before we drove further to the Sauerland to our Digital Detox holiday house, we wanted to breathe a bit of urban air.

And what should I say? Ehrenfeld did not disappoint. Especially the streetart walls and the industrial look pulls me back to this part of the city but you can party and eat there or see the biggest mosque in Germany. As for the food: I’m straightforward. My favorite food is Cigcöfte. With us in Lower Saxony one finds the rather rare and if, the sauce is unfortunately often not to the point. Here in ehrenfeld already. And also some photo series we have already done here.

Honestly, nobody looks at you in Ehrenfeld or in Cologne, if you make photos somewhere, whom wirbelst for sound or film. I think that’s really nice. The only problem in Ehrenfeld is that there are many cool walls to take pictures of, but just as many cars park. So it happened that my husband and I cautiously struck cars for a photo shoot on coats at 23 degrees in September to make sure that no alarm goes off when he leans against the white Opel for good photos with full body use.

A district with history

When I think of Ehrenfeld, I have a slight feeling of London Camden Market. My husband, on the other hand, thinks it’s Berlin Neukölln, only cooler. I think the truth is somewhere in between. This district is just a bit rough and not so chic and noble. But it does have its charm with old industrial buildings in clinker-look, tangled courtyards and the Live Music Hall in the middle of the lanes, in which there is so much to discover.

Everybody feels down-to-earth or does something with media, many realize themselves and make it easy, instead of saying for 2 years, that they are writing a screenplay. From the beginning I found the Helios lighthouse particularly fascinating. A lighthouse in the middle of Cologne-Ehrenfeld, far and ready no water. What is that supposed to do? Of course, I googled and discovered what was going on with this lighthouse on the old premises of Helioswerke. He was almost a demonstration model and enlightens the night until today.

f you’ve ever seen Neo Magazine Royale, you might also have noticed that the Heliosleucht Tower can be seen behind the desk as well. And if not: Not bad either. I also noticed it only in the studio and only in the second recording, in which I was there. I was so fascinated by this realization that I had smoothly forgotten my job as an applause clapper.

Cards for the applause clapper spectacle

If you are fortunate enough to be lucky with Neo Magazin Royale’s ticket lottery then you should take advantage of this offer as well. But the photos from the photo box, even if they take days, sometimes weeks, to be published then, are so good that many friends and acquaintances of mine alone want the photos for the Neo magazine Royale. The price is moderate, spoilers, a free drink is included and of course you can get a Kölsch if you want. Also, the sense of achievement is, of course, much greater if you get cards within the lottery than if you buy tickets for a record somewhere that is still in abundance.

Cologne and its towers. Unfortunately far too few photographs compared to the Cologne Cathedral, but certainly as well worth seeing. If you go from Severinstor in the direction of Friesenplatz (please do not along the railway line, in the side streets there is much to discover), there can discover some.

Find good coffee in Cologne is not a search for the needle in a haystack. At the Friesenplatz I found my favorite roast at Kaffeesaurus. Definitely try a coffee with tonic.

My theory with good coffee

Since childhood, I’m one of those people type Duracell bunnies. I did not really know the weekend, I like to hang up a lot of work and in between I still have these creative outbursts that sometimes catch me at 5am or 1am. I did not learn until the mid-twenties that I needed recovery periods and enough sleep. Previously, my remaining time was almost asleep – whoever worked in the catering business at night and incidentally had big creative projects, knows what I’m talking about.

And with good coffee it’s like this: Especially in the phases where I just lived for work, I learned to appreciate and appreciate this bitter, caffeine-containing drink and, like others at Wine or Single Malt, became a real coffee-breaker Speicherstadt or in the cafe of his confidence brings.

What brings me now to my theory: The cities with great coffee are the cities where the media are at home. I’m not talking about well-known coffee chains, but of own roasting and real barista craftsmanship. Anyone who works in the media is also willing to spend a little more on good coffee art and so I think that you get the best coffee in the media capitals of Germany. There are so many great cafes and it’s really worth exploring there. Maybe soon a blog post will follow for the best coffee in this city. I’m definitely looking for more.

Everywhere in Cologne you will meet city walls and small towers. You just have to dare to go outside for a while. Some towers contain a chapel, in the Severinstor in the south of the city center you can even marry or book corporate events.

Of course, a picture of Cologne Cathedral may not be missing in this blog post. But these beautiful Gothic towers tower over much of the city center. So you can also admire them at any time from afar. A street canyon towards the cathedral is enough.

More than just the Cathedral of Cologne

Of course, the cathedral knows each of us and my husband and I have in the meantime during our visits always the habit to go before leaving briefly on the cathedral plate and shoot embarrassing selfies. Since we mostly travel by train, we still get as food a delicious vegan porridge at the central station and then get on our train. One thing you have to keep the Rhine metropolis to the good: you always have plenty of seating around the cathedral and the Rhine. That is not self-evident! Look in Hamburg for a bank that is often more of an act …

Of course, once in the cathedral and on the cathedral, that should be, but in the frequency, in which we visit Cologne visit, the photo motive is rather exhausted sometime. What I would like to recommend to you, however, is not just to go shopping, but just walk along the old city wall and get to know Cologne beyond the big shopping street and the Rhine.

Streetart and Cologne somehow belong together. Not only in Ehrenfeld you meet artfully decorated walls.

The places you should know

Nor may a walk to the Media Harbor and the Hohenzollern Bridge with its love locks on a visit to Cologne be missing. If you do not know it, I can recommend the Chocolate Museum directly on the Rhine. My visit is 11 years ago, but chocolate is chocolate, right? At that time I was together with my best friend for the first time on a foray through Cologne. 2007 for the Kirchentag, we had many, many performances with our choir and went only on foot, of course visited the cathedral and I ran through two pairs of shoes. I remember how much annoying me back then Cologne, but that was probably because my buddy was at least a head taller and I just had to run to keep up with his quick pace.

At that time I already loved that you can buy costumes around the year. The alternative fashion scene is not coming too close. At the time I was something between Gothic and Punk and ordering was always so expensive. In Cologne I found great clothes. The everyday pieces I have partly until today. At that time Cologne was an adventure, so far away. Today it has become more normal to go to Cologne or to another city a few hours away. That may also be because since 2007, technology has made a good leap forward. When I recall that back then on the bus everyone wanted to hear Discman with me and I also had an mp3 player with me. Today I can just sit down at my laptop, have Wi-Fi on my travels almost everywhere and work from anywhere.

Unfortunately, there is often not much time left to explore Cologne a bit outside appointments. There are also beyond the city great opportunities for a day trip.

Culture is not too short in Cologne

Of course, Cologne also has a lot of cultural history to be found. In addition to art exhibitions of all kinds, I have visited there with my relatives and friends museums such as the Roman-Germanic Museum. Also, the Museum Ludwig I find highly recommended. If you’re not into the Cologne Zoo or the Fantasy Land, you can also take a trip to the castles of Augustusburg and Falkenlust. These are decorated in 18th century Rococo attire and have beautiful gardens. Generally, I also recommend you to just download an offline map of the city center. Then you can just relax in downtown on exploration. And there are so many beautiful truss corners that remind me of Göttingen.

Traveling is not just a strict bucketlist to follow. There is never a “You must have seen that.”. I am writing this blog post in Hildesheim. Much more beautiful than the Sugar Loaf or the market place I like individual doors in the old town. I’m excited about taking pictures in the beautiful, sunny Sunday weather and we’re just making a little stopover for Wi-Fi. Each of us has our own bucket list. And it’s much cooler to find great places instead of searching for them.

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