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Articles Tagged ‘Cologne’

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Trip to Germany for Gay Games VIII in Cologne

Friday, September 10th, 2010

Dan and I spent three weeks in Germany this summer, where we visited Berlin, Leipzig, Nuremberg, Cochem and, then, performed with Team Band in Gay Games VIII in Cologne.  Team Band performed a field show for the Opening Ceremony as well as a concert during the week of the games.  I played percussion for both performances, and Dan was in the color guard for our field show.  I would eventually like to blog more about our experiences, but would at least like to post a link to our photos:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/timdan2/sets/72157624733635200/

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Biking in Amsterdam

Saturday, November 4th, 2006

“The guidebook says we can get on a ferry right behind the main train station,” I said with an “irrational exuberance” that Alan Greenspan would be alarmed by. We just got into Amsterdam the previous day and barely knew our way to our hostel. The main train station was a huge construction zone with closed roads, bikeways and sidewalks, and we had just been stopped and warned by an Amsterdam cop for accidentally finding our way onto a pedestrian-only way. She firmly told us that we needed to walk our bikes in that area. But, since renting bikes this morning, I was feeling a certain freedom that naturally comes with bicycling. I was riding a bike in a city again — something I hadn’t done since leaving Minneapolis last March. And, the bike is KING of transportation modes in Amsterdam — everyone bikes! By renting bikes, we had become a resident of Amsterdam and had, effectively, reduced the size of the city.

“Let’s follow the crowd to the right of the station and see where it leads us.”
“I see a ferry.”
The line of cyclists rode right onto the ferry deck. Hmmm… I wonder if there’s a charge? Well, let’s ride on, as well, and find out.

We rode on with the crowd and minutes later, the boat took off for the other side of the River Ij (pronounced like EYE). We reached the opposite shore, and everyone rode off the ferry onto a feeder bikeway. We were on our way again. To where? We weren’t sure. But, it didn’t matter. We were biking!

After our visit to the Rhine River valley in Germany, with all its river barges and castles, we spent two nights and one full day in Cologne, Germany. What was most striking to me was the nearly total lack of buildings older than the 1950’s — at least in the city center where we spent our time. The post cards and picture books we flipped through in gift shops confirmed the obvious; the area of the city around the Cologne Cathedral was obliterated by bombings in World War II.

We toured the massive and impressive Cologne Cathedral — still undergoing renovations — and, then, the Chocolate Museum — an interesting and fun look at Theobroma — “food of the gods.” Later in the day, we met and chatted for a good while with our new hostel roommates, a fun couple from Australia on their way to Ireland to find work. Then, we went our for a couple drinks at some nearby bars and, the next morning, we got on a morning train to Amsterdam.

Amsterdam is beautiful and fun, and — with its spirit of “live-and-let-live” — we spent five nights here in an effort to live a liitle less like a tourist and a little more like the Dutch do. Sure, we visited the Dutch Resistance Museum, the Rijksmuseum — with all its Rembrandts, Anne Frank House and the Amsterdam Historical Museum. But, we also attended an excellent, solo, alto saxophone recital by a student from the Conservatory of Amsterdam and went to see a singer/songwriter from Newfoundland, Canada who plays Americanna/Alternative Country/Folk-type music with a local (Dutch) backing band. This is generally one of my favorite types of music, so it was a lot of fun. And, later in the week, we attended an Evensong Service at the gorgeous St. Nicholas Church, where an excellent choir sang both acapella, free-style chants as well as hymns accompanied by a massive (and, magnificent looking and sounding) pipe organ. The entire service was beautiful!

We ate our share of simple and cheap meals in our hostel lounge (with food that we picked up at a nearby grocery store), but also searched out the little gems of restaurants or cafes to have a bite and hang out in. We found one such place after the alto sax recital — a teeny, gay-owned and operated, second-story pannekoeken restaurant with a very steep staircase and just three tables. The one worker — presumably the owner — was our host, server and cook — and eating guide, of sorts, encouraging us to try the molasses-like sauce sitting on our table and, later, bringing out another bottle, saying, “..and when that one’s gone…” We ate our pannekoekens covered with meats, vegetables and cheese (and sauce!) while looking out over a narrow and cobbled, yet bustling street of Amsterdam.

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