Outside Köln Cathedral
I had a very exciting start to my first day in Germany. This is my first time in the country and I managed to find a way to my first stop in the country and that is the city of Köln or Cologne as it is spelled in English speaking countries. I’m using the German spelling Köln because it would be the spelling that would be commonly used within the country. I learned this the hard way when I couldn’t find Cologne in the automated ticket kiosk and I found out that I needed to use Köln to search. The train only passes through the city of Köln so I needed to pay attention to the on board signs to tell me where I need to get off. I also had Google Maps ready to make sure that I am going the right way.
Details of Köln Cathedral
As you would expect, Köln is large and very busy. You get an idea of how large it is just from the number of platforms it has. The central station is right at the heart of the city and I was actually surprised to convenient the location was. Of course, it needs to be convenient right so people would use it.
My accommodations is actually just a stone’s throw away from the train station so I thought to dump my stuff first and start exploring. However, it seems that I got in a bit early and my room wasn’t ready yet. I still managed to leave the heavy stuff behind and got back out. By this time, I have a good idea of where I needed to go. Just as the train was pulling into the station, I saw the massive Köln Cathedral. I had no idea everything was so close together. I was just glad that I didn’t have to do much searching soon after I arrived in the city. The cathedral is literally just outside the train station, I just needed to get back in the train station and head out to get to the cathedral.
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