Originally Cologne was to be a day trip from Bonn but I decided I wanted to spend more time here than in Düsseldorf. Also, there is one Christmas market (and it is huge) that has gnomes as its theme: Heinzels Wintermärchen Weihnachtsmarkt Kölner Alstadt and down into the old market.
I have been seeing the salmon cooked on big planks on an open fire for several markets. Today was the day and it did not disappoint. I also wanted to go to this market with the gnomes and found a mug with a goat on it. Fitting since I am a Capricorn. I did have to search a few stalls to find one that had that mug.
Petrusbrunnen is the fountain of St. Peter of which the cathedral is named. The fountain wasn’t always here nor had a water source since 1870 and was nicknamed Dry Peter. Now in its location it has water and he is said to be holding keys to heaven.
Edith Stein Denkmal was executed in the Holocaust. The scenes are from her life and the shoes represent what was left from her and all those massacred.
The Dom of Cologne. This is actually not aligned to the Catholic Church and is owned by the people of Cologne. It is free to enter.
Inside the cathedral is a huge, golden reliquary — the Shrine of the Three Kings — built in the 12th–13th century. The relics arrived in 1164, brought from Milan by Archbishop Rainald von Dassel. The Dom is a major pilgrimage site as a result.
Other Christmas markets
Instead of a regular walking tour I decided to go in a beer tour as the Kölsch beer here is regulated much like champagne is in France and only found in Cologne. It is crisp and light and a too fermented beer which can go flat relatively quickly. Because of this it is served by köbes (waiters) in tall narrow glasses called a stange, not like the big mugs we are used to, to prevent it from going flat. The köbes will keep bringing beer unless you put a coaster on top of your glass.
These are three popular beer Haus.
Any effort to tax alcohol leads to revolt and there are a few statues on buildings that show displeasure.
This statue is of a popular old comedian duo (Tünnes and Schäll) here in Germany and it is said that you can have luck, love, or money by stroking the nose or sliding your hand across the chest of the one on the left.
