Unexpected information about a few markets in Cologne opening up during my stay in Germany. Here is the view north down river to Dus
I hopped on a regional express and went south for about 25 minutes. Before long, we are crossing the Rhine to Koln HBF
Like Dus the official opening of the markets was Nov 23 @ 11am. There a number of them in Koln, a few more than Dus. Also, many are within walking distance of each other but public transit may be the way to go in between the 2 furthest markets.
Pulling in to the city's main train station.
The front of the station is located at the same location as the city's Cathedral
The plaza in front of the Cologne Cathedral facilitates one of the if not most well known sites in the city for seasonal festivities
Apparently, this is the largest gothic cathedral in all of Europe.
It also has the second tallest spires as well.
Pigeon:"Nooooo! No pictures! I dont know who that other pigeon is!"
Because of the time of year, I first thought this was a brown Santa hat adorning the building. In reality, its an upside down ice cream cone
In the nearby Neumarkt is the site for Markt der Engel, Angel's Market
It was still early in the day so I took a quick stroll around the compound and will return later
At this point, Ive seen most of what is on offer except for 1 or 2 vendors. There was a new food item called handelbrot. Its some kind of rolled baked bread with different fillings
Waffles shaped as the cathedral
Moving on to the next place was just one stop down. Had I known, I would have just walkd the few blocks. Nikolausdorf is named after St Nikolaus.
At one end is this draw bridge like fortified entry
Large stars adorned with leds will be lit up as the sun sets and it starts to get darker to accentuate the effect
These are seats but they are shaped in one of the more famous souvenir mugs in the shape of boots. Behind the boots is a reindeer head named Rudi. He was not animated when I was there but I have seen Youtube videos of Rudi being as lively as Charly
Drinking out of footwear is a German thing. I remember going to a German restaurant and you could order beer in a glass mug shaped like a boot.
Nutcrackers. For people who like the ballet or for those who associate certain items with the season, this is definitely one of those items. Varying sizes and colors spur the imagination who see them. I dont believe I have ever tested the utility of this decorative piece
A pork steak sandwich with stringy grilled onions
A bit more chew than expected. Its good but not as good as the pork roast sandwich I had at Burg Platz. The jaw muscles will get a workout before you are done.
After leaving Nikolausdorf, I went over to the Chocolate museum over by the Harbour Christmas market, closed for a few more days. That will be posted after this one. Speaking of waiting to open markets, this is the Heinzel Winter Fairytale market at Heumarkt
This is the first of a few sites that will open in a few days.
There's acurling rink as well as some ice skating as well but its more of track rather than an open oval..
Came back to the Angel's market to finish out the day. The accent lights are on later in the evening
At dusk they started coming on but did not have the same impact. There were two ladies dressed in golden robes as angels were seen ambling about. Not sure if they are promotional but same visages were noticed in Youtube videoes
The cup for this location showing location and year inside the mug under the spires. For some reason there is a white redheaded angel that looks like it has a clown face. Tell me if Im wrong or the significance
I dont recall where I saw these mugs
Heading back to Dus, I decided to take a look at the set up at the cathedral since it is so close to the train station. The dark gothis facade looks even more ominous at night.
Sellers are setting up in anticipation of day they open. Many of these will be open everyday up to Christmas and some my even go beyond.
Would have been nice to walk amongst the people under the canopy of lights in a festive time of year. Although somewhat wet, it would not have dampened spirits
