Cologne | Koln

I have to admit, it's hard to complain too much about stress at work when one of your assignments is to travel to Cologne (Koln) for a tradeshow. :-)

Heath and I flew into Frankfurt and then took the train to Cologne. Our hotel, the Dom Hotel, was right around the corner from the train station and right next to Cologne's primary landmark, the cathedral.

The first few days of the week I was pretty busy at the show and with various press conferences, dinners, receptions, etc. I spent a good amount of time in the press room (see below) which had plenty of plugs and laptops (although I'd brought my own) as well as food and meeting areas.

[the DPR booth ... very plain, I know]

[press room]


[the view of the Koelnmesse convention center from the train stop]

[me at the show]


Mostly though, I walked through the halls featuring hundreds of dental manufacturers from around the world. It was very overwhelming.

The last few days in the city I tried to get out a little early so that Heath and I could actually enjoy Cologne together. Most mornings he spent at the Colner Cafehaus doing research or working on his German (yes, Heath is teaching himself German). I'm sure no one reading this is surprised, but Heath made two German friends during his time at Colner—Axel and Briggita. The man can befriend anyone!

[heath's temporary office]


When we were together, we tried to check out as many little bakeries as we could. We also went to two museums: The Kolumba, a mix of classical and modern art; and The Nazi Documentation Center,a vivid memorial of the role Cologne played in Nazi rule, housed in the former Gestapo headquarters for the city. Both museums were amazing!

[bakery]




[museums]



[heath drinking Kolsch, Cologne's microbrew. me drinking coffee]



Of course you can't "do" Cologne without seeing the Cathedral. When Americans were bombing the daylights out of Cologne at the end of World War II, the Cathedral was spared since it made such a perfect point of reference for the pilots. It is extremely ominous on the outside, but with a gorgeous interior. Heath and I even braved the 509 steps up a windy staircase to catch the view from the tower—scary!

[exterior]



[interior]



[climb]






[views]





All in all, we had a wonderful time in this charming little city. We were, however, eager to put my work behind us and head to Paris.