Cologne and Other Adventures

Two weekends ago, on Saturday, May 16, our group took a school sponsored trip to Cologne with our group advisor, Cornelia. There we visited the Kölner Dom, which is the biggest cathedral in Germany and the emblem of the city. It was quite an impressive structure for both size and aesthetic reasons.

We also visited Schokoladen Museum or The Chocolate Museum together. The museum was interesting, with displays and information about how the coco-bean is grown, harvested and processed, coco farming and free trade organizations and a small Lindt chocolate factory where visitors could actually watch chocolate candies being made. The highlight of the visit was definitely the gift store at the end of the tour which featured many different types and flavors of chocolate. The consensus of the group was that the Chocolate Museum was worth the visit; however more free samples would have been nice.

While the rest of the group went back to Marburg, two friends and I stayed in a hostel and further explored Cologne. We checked out the nightlife, sampled the local brew and explored museums (which happened to be free because of some type of city promotion) the next day.

The next week we had a long weekend, so I decided to make use of my special ticket and travel around the state a bit. Every student enrolled in the Phillips University- Marburg receives a card that allows them free public transportation in all Hessen’s cities and free regional and intercity train rides.
One day I traveled to with some friends to Eisenach, which is located in the state of Thüringen, but is free with our cards. In Eisenach we toured Wartburg castle, which was where Martin Luther first translated the bible into German. We were able to see the very room and desk upon which Martin Luther sat as he worked, which was pretty cool.

Another day I traveled to Kassel and spent the day exploring the Schlosspark Wilhelmshöhe, a very large park, visiting the large statue of Hercules, enjoying the wasserspiel and touring the Löwenburg castle. I definitely want to go back to Kassel to explore more of the park in the future.

S.N.


First image: Tom and I posing next to an advertisement in Cologne.

Second image: Me posing by the Wartburg in Eisenach.

Third image: Alyssa, Richard and I enjoying the wasserspiel in the Schlosspark Willhelmshöhe.