Cold in the streets of Köln

The Cologne Cathedral

Stefano and I in front of the Cathedral



The towers dominate the skyline

Alter Markt

Old Roman gate

Old roman watch tower

Stefano in front of a Steffie sign

Stefano and Francesco with Tunnes and Schal

View of St. Martin

The three of us in front of the Cathedral

I could see my breath even though I stood in the heated hallway of the Nachbahrhuis, waiting for Francesco to run back to his room to get his camera. The sliver of cold air, which snuck through the crack in the door, crept up the small of my back, sending goose bumps down the center of my spine and into my legs – not a good sign. It was about the time I was mounting my bicycle and turning on the light, seeing as how we were up before the sunrise, that I became fully aware of my surrounding and realized a common theme that would be at the heart of my day-long trip: it was going to be freakin’ cold.

Cologne (Köln in German) was the name, and a daytrip was our game. Two of the Italian students (Francesco and Stefano) and I had decided at the last minute to have a spur-of-the-moment trip to see Cologne. They had wanted to go see the city and I had wanted to take one last trip with Stefano who will be going home at the end of finals and won’t be with us for second semester.

As a result, we set out bright and early on the morning of the 27th in an attempt to take a daytrip to see the western German city. After three trains, and three hours, we arrived at the central station in Cologne, which lies right next the city’s most recognized landmark – the Cologne Cathedral. Taking up the panorama view through the windows, the dark gothic spires of the Cathedral cut into the misty overcast that we were welcomed with as we walked out of the clear glass doors. We had crossed into the land of snow – something I noticed between naps on the train ride in as the frost covered Belgian countryside turned into the snow covered German woodlands.

Though Cologne lies geographically almost due east of Leuven, the weather in the fourth largest German city was significantly colder than that of the Belgian college town. I’m not sure whether it’s the stone cities, or the twisting winds, but the cold weather in Europe, especially I suppose for a traveler who is outdoors trying to see as much as possible, has a way of seeping into your core, almost freezing you from the inside out. As a result, a majority of our five hours in the city (that’s right if you’re doing math we spent a total of 6 hours in transit for 5 hours of touring – the price of being a cheap college student I guess) was spent dodging between famous indoor and outdoor landmarks to warm our limbs and extremities.

Though the cold had a way of numbing your feet as they touched the ground outside, we managed to see a decent amount the city, which dates it roots back to 50 BC when it was founded under the Roman Empire. My two paisanos and I chose to see as much of the historical city as we could. Of course the Allied Forces made that a little bit easier for us, as most of the city was decimated during the bombings in WWII. Aerial photographs from 1945 are haunting to look upon as you stare at the skeletons of the buildings that once made up the center of the city.

Our tour of Köln mainly consisted of churches and ancient city walls. We started with the outside of the Cathedral, though we had to bypass the inside in the beginning due to the mass that was going on. We then traveled through the Alter Markt, which was the old city’s main town square. From there we headed to the Rhine river and walked along the waterfront for a bit, admiring the three famous bridges, Hohenzollernbrucke, Deutzer Bruck, and Severinsbrucke. We passed by the famous statues of Tunnes and Schal – two comical German folklore characters. Following the shops and smells of Hohe strasse, we wandered through the main shopping area of Cologne, dropping in and out of shops to warm up – I say smells because the perfume shops were overwhelming, each selling an “original” Cologne cologne. From the shopping center we headed over to the El De house (the Gestapo headquarters during WWII), the Cologne City museum, the City hall, and some of the remnants of the old Roman walls. After wandering past the tower, we made a quick trip up to the media park to admire some old bits of ancient roman city wall, and the tallest modern sky scraper in Cologne.

However, the beauty of the city revolved around the spires of the cathedral which could be seen from just about any point on our journey. It also made it easy to find our way back to the train (I wish all European cities were required to build landmarks next to their train stations). We popped into the poorly lit, and poorly heated, cathedral before we left. The dark towering insides were magnificent in their simple beauty. After having wandered through the crypts and interior of the Cathedral, we headed back to catch our train. Though the interior design was worth the wait, the beauty of the dark spire structure was found in its simple addition to the main skyline. It was as if the spires stood out distinctly in the skyline, but fit perfectly into the feeling of the city.

After our romp through the cold Köln streets, both physically and mentally tired, we headed back to the train station, in preparation of our 3 hour ride home. Coupled with studying and napping, the train brought us back to Leuven just before 9, and soon enough, we were warming ourselves back in the confines of the one and only Nachbahrhuis. With the weather behind us, we concluded our spur-of-the-moment trip – a trip worth the weather.

Time Flies When You're Having... Finals

Sunset from Brussels National Airport - we were up for our flight home before the sunrise and came back before the sunrise

Marc opening his Genova jersey - Jenna admiring

That's my Godson


Grandma

Mom and dad opening their Triple Karmeliet

Kevin opening his Genova jersey

Jack opening his sweet 3 piece, laser scope, Nerf gun (I love shopping for toys because I pick out the thing I think is the coolest - and then spend my fair share of time playing with it)

Ali and Jake

Ali with her Hopus set

Kevin, Casey, & Jake

Aunt Berta, Suzanne, & Kevin

Monique and I freezing in front of tree

Hello again! It’s me Andy – back in Leuven.

Has it really been a month since my last blog post? It’s amazing how fast time flies (and how uninspired you can be to write a blog post) when you’re in the midst of finals. That’s right, me, and the rest of the Loyola Luevenites have been stationed mainly in our rooms or study rooms for about the past 3 weeks. It’s finals season in the biggest Belgian university, and for the past month, most of us Americans have remained indoors. However, with the finish line in sight, and with the whole crew making it through, the Loyola gang has slowly begun to emerge from the cocoon of finals fever (some already traveling). But I suppose I should touch you up on the past couple of weeks’ events.

Let’s face it, the Christmas season is too short. Every year it seems like the family chores and traditions that we cherish – putting the decorations up around the house, perfectly placing (or in some cases intentionally misplacing) the ornaments on the tree under the watchful eye of my father, and watching (I mean helping) my mom make ravioli’s – just finish up, and then just as quickly it’s time to start packing things away. However, I guess I never fully appreciated the value of Natale time as much as I did this season, being a college student home from Europe for 2 and half weeks, with a full 4 months of family and friends to catch up with (try saying that 5 times fast).

My time home was a blur of catching up, opening presents, enjoying good company, and eating good food. It seemed like I opened my eyes on the plane ride home, blinked once, and was on my flight back. My time in New Jersey was sandwiched between trips to both Massachusetts and Connecticut – the result of having family and girlfriend in the north east. I spent some time visiting friends, catching up with high school buddies, and seeing a college roommate or two. In addition, I ventured into New York City for one day to see the Christmas tree in about 15 degree weather – the things we do for love.

With all that traveling, it seemed like before I knew it I was packing back up to head back to Europe (though to be honest, I never fully unpacked to begin with). On January 6, we headed collectively as a group back to little land of Leuven – except this time with much trepidation, seeing as how we were now in exam period. If there’s one way that the Leuven study abroad group is tested in fire, it’s the trip back after Christmas break. We arrived at 7 am, having been up for 24 hours, on January 7th, and some of us were expected to take exams as early as the 9th. Battling jetlag, poor sleeping habits, and a semesters worth of information (in Leuven there’s no test during the semester just a win-or-go-home final worth all the credit) we hit the ground running during the month of January.

Thus, my blogs have been lacking over the past couple of weeks, mainly over the fact that I haven’t done much but wake up, study, eat, and go back to sleep. However, with the end of exams in sight, and a long awaited trip to Slovakia, Hungary, Czech Republic, and Austria – hosted by our current Slovakian roommate “Mister” Martin, who sadly will not be returning for spring semester – I am confident that in the upcoming weeks I should be able to keep you entertained with a couple of blog posts. Until then, I wish you a happy rest of January, and hell a great February as well – and I’ll talk to you soon in the upcoming weeks. Tot ziens!