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Shopping:-
The shopping centre fans out from the southwest corner. There is a wide selection of shops and stores within comfortable walking distance of the centre. Leading off the cathedral square, Hohe Strasse is traffic free and offers many small shops. There is a wealth of fabulous shoe shops including Raphael and Manfield on Hohe Strasse. Mittel Strasse boasts designer shops but the young, hip shops are in Ehren Strasse. The larger department stores are located along the broader Schildergasse, with specialist shops interspersed. Feldhaus is excellent for toys, in particular model railways. For wonderful wooden toys including hand painted wooden Easter eggs and typical German-style Christmas decorations head for Sweetheart (34-36 Am Hof).
In the Kolner Ladenstadt there are around 40 small shops featuring jewellery and leather. If it's pottery or antiques you're after, the Altstadt has many specialist shops. Close by the Bazaar de Cologne is a glass domed shopping mall with chic boutiques.
Restaurants:-
There is no shortage of places to eat in the city. Go to Em Krutzche (Am Frankenturm 1-3, tel 258 0839) for traditional Cologne cuisine. If you are bored of German food try the highly recommended Japanese restaurant, Daitokai (Kattenburg 2, tel 120048). Other recommendations include Holtmanns (Am Bollwerk 21, tel 257 6330), Campi (Am Frankenturm 5, tel 258 0717) and Weinhaus Im Walfisch (Salzgasse 13, tel 257 7879
Entertainment:-
You are unlikely to get much business done, but if your trip falls about seven weeks before Easter you may be in Cologne for the Carnival, when the city lets its hair down for a week of festivities.
Otherwise, Brauhauser beerhalls that serve food and drink and are the most authentic way to spend an evening in Cologne. Try Alt-Koln (Trinkgasse 7-9) for quality food and drink in impressive surroundings.
The most popular drink served in these beer halls is Kolsch beer which is an integral part of Cologne life. It is taken very seriously. So much so, that to the amusement of beer drinkers from elsewhere in Germany, it is usually served in a tall thin glass holding only one fifth of a litre.
Even if you don't normally drink beer give this one a try as it has a lovely clean taste.
A trendy bar that comes recommended is Rosebud (Heinsbergstrasse 20). It serves "Wodka" coktails for around €8 and has its own signature cocktail called Rosebud which contains Kahlua, Baileys and cream (€7). For more conventional bars head to the Gross St Martin area in the Altstadt. Also try Alterwartesaal, located next to the train station and Espsiel (Neuhoefferstr 32). A good place to take a client is the Piano Bar at the Excelsior Hotel Ernst. The staff are friendly, effcient and always on hand to help you. Dom Kolsch costs €3 but there are also more fun drinks like champagne cocktails. Customers are entertained Monday to Saturday by a pianist from 6pm to 1am. For sports fans Cologne boasts a popular ice hockey team called Kolner Eishockey Club (KEC) which play in Kolnarena (Cologne Arena, Willy-Brandt-Platz, tel 0221 - 8020) and a football club, First FC Koln, which play at the Mungersdorfer Stadion (Aachener Strasse, tel 0221 - 949 831). Tickets are also available from the KolnTicket-Callcenter, tel 0221 - 2801.
Local Attractions
The must see sight is of course the cathedral. The Dom took over 600 years to build and is home to the remains of The Three Wise Men, a variety of paintings including some by Peter Paul Rubens, who spent his youth in Cologne, and impressive stained glass windows. It is one of the largest gothic buildings ever constructed and was once described by Lewis Carroll as "the most beautiful of all the churches I have ever seen". Tours in English leave at 10.30am and 2.30pm and cost €3.5. You can climb the 509 steps to the top of one of the steeples – if you're feeling fit.
The best and most relaxing way to see the city is on a boat trip along the River Rhine (tel 121 600). The boats leave every hour for the one-hour tour from a pier in front of the Musical Dom. The trips cost €4.5.
Cologne boasts multiple museums the newest of which is the Wallraf-Richardz Museum (Martinstrasse 39, tel 2212 1119). This modern building houses everything from medieval art to works from the 18th and 19th century including Rubens, Monet and Munch (€5 entry).
Other museums include the Ludwig Museum (Bischofsgartenstrasse 1) features Andy Warhol's Marilyn Monroe print and the Romisch-Germanisches Museum (Roncalliplatz 4, tel 2212 2304) which has an extensive collection of Roman glass as well as other archaeological exhibits.
But if you want to do something a little different then head for the Imhoff Stollwerck Museum, a chocolate museum (Rheinauhafen, tel 9318 880) with a mouth watering smell of cocoa wafting through the rooms of exhibits. It is very informative but the highlight is the chocolate fountain. |
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Well, the cathedral is right next to the train station. It used to be the tallest structure in all of Europe. It's a decent climb to the top with a great view (weather permitting,of course). There is a sport museum and a chocolate museum north from the train station along the Rhein. There are also remnants of the old city (city walls and gates) dispersed through out the city, too. |
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