อ่านภาษาไทยคลิกที่นี่
In the first year of my student life in France, my friends
and I who were homeless, um…. I mean familyless in France and didn’t go back
home during Christmas, had some activities to be less bored or lonely;
and one of such activities was a ‘one day trip’. Since we were in Lille, the hub of Western Europe, we decided
to visit the famous Christmas markets in Cologne, Germany.
From Lille, we spent around four hours in the bus before
arriving in Cologne. Despite being drowsy from a long nap in the bus, I grabbed
my friend's hand and a map to explore the city in a ‘rushy-style’ tour under gloomy
clouds. The first destination was, of course, the most striking landmark of the
city: Cologne Cathedral. With its pointed arches and large windows, you can
tell right away that it’s a Gothic style. Started being built in the 13th
century; the cathedral was completed in the 19th. Today the Cologne Cathedral is declared a World
Heritage Site. With the height of 157 meters, it was recorded as the highest twin-spired
church in the world and the third tallest church in the world.
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The famous Cologne Cathedral
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Another side of the cathedral
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The cathedral by night
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After had admired the beauty and the height of the cathedral
for a few moments, we continued the walk (I told you, it’s a rushred tour) to
another side of the cathedral, where the first Christmas market was. (I just
have learnt while I was hunting for some sources that there are six Christmas
markets in Cologne!) Weihnachtsmarktam Kölner Dom
is the name of the market, which means Cologne
Cathedral Christmas Market. It was too early at that time, so most of the shops
were still closed. My friends and I then visited first other sightseeing in the
city. We had reached the river bank where there’s a man making the most
gigantic bubbles I’ve seen. His works didn’t attract only the tourists, but
also all the passed by pedestrians.
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Cologne on drizzled day
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Weihnachtsmarktam Kölner Dom's entrance
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Gigantic bubbles attracted easily people passing by
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Under cold
wind and drizzle, we arrived at the Hohenzollern Bridge,
which crosses the river Rhine. Being on this bridge made me realized about the
new trend of tourism; indifferent from the Pont des Arts
in Paris or Namsan Tower in Seoul, many lovers or couples locked
their ‘love locks’ to the metal fences to symbolize eternal love. The whole Hohenzollern
Bridge was crowded with love padlocks in various colours and sizes, from far
away sight you might think “What strange colours this bridge have!” While my
friend was having a difficulty as much as when playing ‘Where's Wally?’ to find some room for her padlock,
I, as a non-believer and unromantic person, strolled along the bridge,
observing some strange padlocks. There were some old, rusty padlocks (but
looked so sacred), some super-sized padlocks (that you won’t have any
problem to find it later when coming back here), and some weird stuff like bike
locks and name cards of the padlock shops! In 2015, the year of our visit, it
was claimed that there’re around 500,000 padlocks on the Hohenzollern Bridge!
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Hohenzollern Bridge locked to tons of colourful padlocks
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Someone had put their business card here!
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Rhine River from the view on the bridge
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Key...to infinity… and beyond!
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We continued
our journey in the old town area until we bumped into another Chirstmas market
whose I forgot the name. 😅 Most of the shops here gave us a magical atmosphere
like we were doing a shopping in a wizard world. Plus, they provided some too
cute toilets here.😆
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Pastel coloured buildings in the old town area
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| Bimmelbahn, the tourist train |
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Cool alcohol shop with cool dressed shopkeeper
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Colourful drinks in chic potion bottles
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What a lovely toilet.
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It still
drizzled and sipping hot drink couldn’t protect us much from the coldness. We
then decided to go on our march till we found the third Christmas market. From
its sign, the market was called ‘Wintermärchen Kölner Altstadt’ which means fairy tale market in the old
town area of Cologne. It was claimed to be the biggest Christmas market of the
city, which was created from a limitless imagination. Aside from a bunch of food
and drink stands, the fairy market provided as well, some zones for winter activities
such as an open-air ice rink and alleys for playing ice stock curling where children and even adults can have some
fun.
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Getting crowded despite the drizzle
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Wintermärchen Kölner Altstadt's entrance
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Ice stock curling
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Outdoor ice skating rink packed with people at almost all ages
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Small cafe in the market
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The
expression ‘Time flies’ always works when you enjoy something, so it does in
our situation. To get the most out of the trip, before taking the bus back to
Lille, we profited the last moment to see the last market, Markt der
Engel or the
Angel Market . I’m not sure if
it’s the perfect moment of the day when we made a visit or the market
organizers did so well their job; I found that this market had the most
beautiful lighting setup comparing with the others I’ve seen. Even though you
are not a big shopper, just walking in there while sipping hot wine and
admiring the lights is already merry enough. The market also arranged a
traditional nativity scene, but with some model figures’ modern outfits. Moreover,
the upper atmosphere of the market was decorated with almost a thousand of
starry lights giving an even more impressive moment to visitors.
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Charming lighting decoration at the Markt der Engel's entrance
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The nativity scene that I can't watch alone
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Lovelily decorated shop
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Thousand of star lights shining above the Angel Market
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Unfortunately,
the Covid 19 crisis we are facing has pushed most of the Christmas markets in
Cologne to be canceled. I believe that soon there will be a brighter day. So,
before that moment comes, please take care of yourself and your love ones. I
wish you all were happy for this year end and as well for the next coming year.
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!
อ่านภาษาไทยคลิกที่นี่
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