After a very lengthy and exhausting 7 hour flight, a 2 hour search for our rental car, and a 3 hour ride to the hotel, we were expecting some form of a lucky break when it came to our hotel and neighborhood. Thankfully, the odds were in our favor as our hotel was situated in the most convenient and perfect location possible. Cologne, the fourth largest city in Germany, has such a calming and nostalgic atmosphere to it, as the nearest mall in the area I stayed in was fifty minutes by car. The specific area I stayed in was called Hue Market, a close knit neighborhood, surrounded by dozens of small cafes and shops, and I loved every part of it. From the simplistic outdoor decor, to the cozy cafes and restaurants, and the gorgeous monument ‘The Dom’ that overlooked the whole area.
Moving on to my housing arrangement, my family and I did a lot of extensive research on the most affordable and family friendly hotel. It took us a while, but City Class Caprice fit all of our needs, even though we did have to sacrifice not having two rooms for five people. Even though our family did share one room, it had a perfect layout where it had the illusion of two rooms without a conspicuous partition. It included four beds; three singles and one double, which was perfect for my family. The bathroom had a mediocre size, the shower had plenty of room for hanging towels without getting anything wet, and had numerous means of storage units and working compartments.
After I settled in, we decided to get as much done in first day as possible, as we were only staying in Germany for 3 nights. After we woke up and got ready, we took a short five minute walk to a small cafe, and had a simplistic breakfast of cheese and veggie sandwiches. Warning! Food portions in Germany are abnormally large, even on kids meals, and unfortunately, I found out the hard way. So, if you know you’re not one to normally finish an adult mean, go for the alternative option. After walking fifteen minutes out of town, we ended up at the Lindt chocolate factory, only paying 31.50 euros, as we went for the family deal, which offered us a discount of over 15 euros.
Even though this is a guide for teenagers, and is not supposed to include museums or anything remotely educational, this is the only museum I will recommend. The Lindt museum opened my eyes, and truly showed the genius and cleverness behind chocolate. I was able to take a chocolate making and crafting class, learn the riveting history behind suppliers of cocoa beans and their fruits, and sample some world class chocolate. I recommend spending from one to two hours there, as the factory gets busy at a quick pace and changes the atmosphere from calm to chaotic.
After we wrapped up our newly made chocolates, we rushed back to the hotel parking and spent 45 minutes driving to a small town outside of Cologne. My family’s always enjoyed botanical gardens and nature based activities, which helps me stay down to earth and appreciate the small and meaningful things in life. We went to Nord park, a small, but breathtaking park, filled to the brim with stunning flowers, insanely high trees, and the perfect lake for feeding ducks and pigeons. We spent about forty five minutes to an hour slowly cruising the gardens. We bought small pieces of bread and fed them to the small pigeons and ducks, which are severely underfed, so I definitely recommend helping them out any given moment.
Surprisingly, our trip took a weird, but eventful turn. We ended up discovering a park within the park (inception!) called ‘The Japanese Flower Garden’. I don’t know how, but somehow this garden was more beautiful than the previous one, as the flowers were planted so neatly, but perfectly dispersed throughout the view. From my point of view, it was a flawless and ideal opportunity for social media photos, as most teenagers stick to themes that have to do with beauty and nature. Now, here comes the twist. It turned out that we were in the presence of an anime cosplay convention. I took many photos and even ended up talking to some of the teenagers. They told me it was the ultimate chance to let loose, not care about anybody else, and be yourself in a carefree location. Most of these people hadn’t met each other ever before, and this opportunity let them make new friends and take pictures, play games, dance, sing in a place where they felt comfortable, while also dressing up like iconic anime characters.
And for last stop on our agenda, we took a small ten minute detour to Grafenberg Wildlife Park, a small, but entertaining park based on deer and pigs. That was my reaction too. Pigs and deer? A very weird combination, but honestly one of the funniest experiences I had on this trip. The park only took forty minutes to cover the full perimeter, but it truly depends on how much fun you want to have. Buying a full cup of food for the animals costs one euro, and is very easy to refill anywhere due to dispensers located in every corner. We weren’t allowed to hand feed the pigs, due to some signs scattered throughout the park, but we were thankfully permitted to hand feed the deer, which can be such a giving experience and lets you interact with other beings in a soothing way.
And the very, very last stop of the day was dinner. Something I was very looking forward to after a very jam-packed day of non stop activities. Since we would’ve rather spent money on activities, we usually go for meals on the less expensive scale, so we resulted in eating at ‘Bob and Mary’ a small German burger joint, that ranged from different bread choices, to different meat and vegan choices, and different sides variations, all fitting to the need of meat eater, vegetarians, vegans, pescatarians, and so forth, creating one of the most versatile shops in the area.
Freaky Flydays 