Travel Diaries: Cologne, Germany

This month my mother and I traveled to Germany for a little respite from work and to visit my sister Rona and niece Malaika. I was literally living between London and Germany for most of 2011 so I was excited to go back after almost 4 years.

Interestingly enough there was almost no holiday as we missed our early morning flight, which left me in a very rotten mood and I vowed to go back to Wales. The situation was a complete disaster - the cab driver came really late, the self service bag drop wouldn't register our bags so we had to take them as hand luggage, I had almost all my liquids thrown in the bin at security, as we rushed to the gate we forgot one bag at security and had to turn back and then my mother and I ended up going to two completely different departure gates...it was awful! But I guess you live and you learn. That day I learnt the true meaning of the phrase "Character is not formed in a crisis but rather revealed". Running late, missing our flight and being extremely stressed really showed me how dreadful I can be when under huge amounts of pressure...hmmm this is probably a discussion for another blog post so let's get back to the holiday. 

So we finally arrived in Germany and were greeted by Rona, Stephan and Malaika. When I saw my sister I realised that I hasn't seen her in almost two years but it felt like I just saw her the other day. My niece on the other hand didn't remember me at all, even after showing her pictures of us having fun times together. Despite forgetting who I was she greeted me which such affection and warmth. I realised how important it is to be active in a young child's life and to make an effort to be there as children will forget who you are if they hardly or never see you. It's nothing personal, I guess so much happens in a young child's life and they are constantly making new memories who those around them. 

Malaika and I - Creating new memories

When I was last in Germany my sister was living in a modern apartment in Bonn but since moved to a house in a small village in Cologne. The village isn't too far from an apple farm so we spent most of the trip in the house enjoying the sunshine with freshly squeezed organic apple juice.

Mum, Niece and Sister

On Sunday we visited the historic town of Aachen which is still in Germany but borders Belgium. Almost everything is closed in Germany on a Sunday, but the town's main attraction, Aachen Cathedral, was open. I only managed to get one decent picture of the outside (the cathedral is much bigger than pictured) and I wasn't too sure if I was allowed to take photos of the inside, but definitely look it up on the internet as it is quite an interesting building. The outside of the Cathedral had a very gothic and medieval feel but the inside was quite bright and had some very detailed artwork - especially on the ceiling. Overall I would describe the interior as being quite spectacular. It's strange because even though I found some parts of the Cathedral very  beautiful, I couldn't help but think how much money was spent on the interior and the ornaments and wondered whether it could have been put towards a more needy cause. 

Aachen Cathedral 

Well, that pretty much sums up my trip to Germany, I think this short holiday really ignited my love for travelling. I want to do a lot more traveling in the future and explore the world that God created. One thing is for certain, I will definitely be making trips to Germany more often than not. 

Be ready for more travel diaries.

Love, your girl forever,

♥ Miss Daisy ♥