My friends and I stayed at a hotel next to the Cologne Cathedral.
That beautiful gothic cathedral was something to behold, both inside and out,
containing treasures that date back to the tenth century. When I saw a man walk
past the front, moving his cane from side to side, I thought of the Raymond
Carver story, Cathedral, and how
difficult it would be to describe this breathtaking sight to someone. My friend
Kelley and I walked along the Rhine and over Hohenzollern Bridge at night and
noted how different Cologne looks in the moonlight versus the daytime.
We felt right at home in Cologne and spent a great deal of
time sightseeing and window shopping. The Christmas Market and most of the
shops were closed, something we couldn’t wrap our capitalistic, American brains
around. The town was full of consumers . . . er . . . people and there were
very few businesses open. Luckily for us, the restaurants were open. The servers
were congenial and drank freely on the job, a variation of customer service
that came as a surprise.
I ate like a queen, and every bite I confessed to My Fitness
Pal, an online calorie counter. Congratulatory messages popped up anyway, commending
me on my willpower. No wonder I’m pals with my fitness pal. I can never go
wrong, even after consuming a pork chop, a stein of kolsch, and a piece of cherry
cake, which were all to die for. I also ate one green bean before remembering
that I hate green beans, and that I did not come to Germany to eat green beans.
Ice skating was more difficult than I remembered and I ended
up with bruises on my arms from slamming into the wall encompassing the skating
rink. Atop the wall was a ledge where spectators outside the rink rested their
glasses of beer and apple punch spiked with rum. I had counted on grabbing the
ledge for support but that was impossible without perhaps crashing into all
their glassware.
Some people on the ice took to it so easily. I was impressed
by the number of parents who could skate backward while helping their kids
skate forward, or hold onto their kids’ hands while they flailed around. Ice
skating isn’t for me, but that was just one lesson I learned while traveling.
I think next year, I will go somewhere in Europe the weekend
before Christmas, so I can walk around a Christmas market when it’s actually
open. That was the most important lesson I learned, but Cologne was still fun,
even in hibernation mode. 
