I woke up on Friday to 11 beautiful pink roses and such a thoughtful Daddy got two for each kid and one for Leila (I think Leila's was my extra pink one from the dozen...wink, wink!) Leevi took a half-day at work and we headed out for an overnight getaway and my friend, Dawna (Ava and Ella's mom) came over with her girls to watch the kids. We hadn't been to Koln yet, so I figured it'd be a perfect time to check it out during their Christmas Market season. It's a super cute city a little over 2 hrs from us.
Driving in...the last standing gate to the city...
Hotels in Europe just don't compare to ones in the States, but we were pleasantly surprised and the location was absolutely perfect to walk to the 8 Christmas markets (we
found 4 of them)
This picture of the Kolner Dom (the cathedral) doesn't come close to doing it justice! We didn't know much about the cathedral since we basically went to Koln for the Christmas markets, but it's the most visited landmark in Germany (20,000 people a day!!!!! I'm glad we made it before we moved!!!) This
website is worth the quick read on it's history...construction began in 1248 and continued until 1473 and then it SAT UNFINISHED FOR 400 YEARS!!!!! Work began again in 1842 (when the original plans/blueprints were amazingly found!) and it was finally completed in 1880.
It was really dark inside, but amazing...
Once I started planning our trip, I found that they have a Love Lock bridge (the real name is the Hohenzollern bridge and it was right next to the cathedral)...I didn't tell Leevi about it and carried around the lock I bought in my purse for the past month because I was scared that I was going to forget it! :) It was crazy...supposedly the locks have added over 2 TONS and city officials aren't sure how much longer the practice is going to be allowed to continue! :)
The locks started appearing in 2008...
1 Corinthians 13:13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
Locking up our love...
and tossing the key into the river below! (the Rhine river)
Our lock is the silver one almost at the top below the middle of the green graffiti...I bought the silver one because it was the cheapest at the BX, but I'm glad I did because it stands out among the pink, red and gold ones!
Looking back on the bridge...
We had dinner at a cozy outdoor restaurant near the river with heat lamps to sit under...and then started walking around the markets...my first cup of Gluhwein! It definitely warmed me up!
We didn't try this one, but it's a sugar cube doused in alcohol and then lit on fire!
It was PACKED at each market...the weekend we were there was the last weekend of the markets and the weather was fairly decent (no rain and mid 40's)
The markets were open until 10pm and then we looped back to the hotel room and I was determined to sleep in...we didn't have to check out of the hotel until noon and while I didn't sleep amazingly I didn't completely wake up until 9:45! We found the perfect all you can eat brunch at a restaurant nearby and then started the drive back to K-town, but we didn't head home and stopped by a furniture store instead! We've been searching for a wine cabinet and I'd been eyeballing this one for awhile now. The sale was too good to pass up! I love it!!! It was the perfect ending to a perfect much needed getaway!
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