Cologne

After taking an hour-long boat ride through the canals of Amsterdam, we boarded a train destined for Cologne.
The first thing you notice outside of the train station is the massive Cologne Cathedral, which towers over the city with its Gothic-styled twin towers.
The church is humongous.
Because it’s in the center of the city, we passed by it several times, and each time we found something new on the building that we hadn’t seen before.
Another thing we saw a lot of in Cologne is Kolsch-style beer, which is the specific beer brewed in Cologne that comes in 0.2 liter glasses.
In Cologne we met up with Paul’s German friends—Daniella, Bjorn and Heinz-Josef—that were in town to show a couple of Americans a good time in Germany.
Boy did they ever.
Heinz-Josef took us to a traditional German restaurant where we got our first taste of German food.
For starters, we ordered the following appetizers: blood sausage, liver pate, aged gouda cheese, a huge semi-sweet pickle and raw pork sausage topped with onions served on a halved roll.
What you’re thinking now is exactly what Sam and I were thinking when the raw, open-faced sausage sandwiches arrived.
Raw sausage for an appetizer? There’s no way we’re eating that.
But when three Germans tell you it’s OK and nothing bad will happen to you later, you have to try it.
The verdict: delicious.
I never thought I’d eat raw pork, but I’m glad I did in Cologne.
Our main course was even better though.
Because the plate was so big, Sam and I shared an oven roasted, 4-inch thick pork chop covered in sautéed onions with a huge helping of French fries.
That also was superb, though not a meal you’d want to eat while on a diet.
I’d shutter to think how many calories were in that main dish.
After dinner, we walked back to the main part of Cologne, and entered another couple of bars for some more Kolsch beer.
The night ended at about 2 a.m. back at our hotel, which doubled as a bar on the ground floor.
What a night.