Today was our last day in Cologne, and after an “Austrian” breakfast we headed for Altenburg, home of a beautiful Cistercian church & abbey, and the “fairy tale woods.” We attempted a try at the fairy tale woods, but not only was the whole complex mainly for children, but the only living thing in site was a black rabbit that was sitting as still as possible. But the church held more promise for us, and the church for Mum reminded her of England. Cistercian monks were a silent order with their days characterised by work and prayer, and as such were often located away from town centres in wooded valleys, such as the one in Altenburg. For me, the stained glass windows were a highlight, as they (in the Cistercian tradition) did not depict biblical scenes, but rather geometric and natural patterns with leaves and branches in swirling formations.
With Altenburg behind us, we made tracks for Aachen (pronounced with a glottal sound - ie. the “c” is silent and the “h” is made with the throat). The former capital of Charlemagne, the Frankish Emperor, Aachen is today a spa-town and there were many historic spas and hotel dotted around the city. It was much larger than I’d first imagined, and Aachen is really a city as opposed to a town, with all the amenities of a much larger one too.
We stopped at a German bakery for lunch, and its popularity with the locals proved for somewhat of a difficulty, with people pushing for the freshest bread and torte (cakes). I managed to order a sandwich in German - ich hette gern eienen (points towards thing I wanted). The girls then tried this themselves, and we were able to order lunch without speaking a word of English! What an accomplishment for us all - and so early on in the trip too!! The pastries were all delicious, and it turned out the bakery was attached to a chocolaterie (chocolate shop) where there were various Aachen themed chocolates on display and for sale. Unfortunately reader, we did not purchase any of them, though I personally was not opposed to a “cheeky” purchase - as Annabelle would say.
We booked our tickets for the tour of the Palatine Chapel, and set off around the town, exploring what we could before the tour began. A little walk around the shops, including Aldi (which not surprisingly, looked much the same as the one in Ashgrove) gave us some time to stretch our legs after being in the car. Emily, who has been finding the trips on the autobahns without speed limits a bit stressful, had a chance to be able to be in control of her movements. At 2:00pm, we began our tour of the Chapel with the second guide that has so far been called Tim (the other one being at the Fragrance Museum - obviously all the cool, knowledgable people are called Tim…). Charlemagne, the Frankish conquerer had an empire that stretched from Barcelona, Milan and to Warsaw, and is regarded as the first ruler of what is now known as “Europe.” He based his capital in Aachen (a practice which was unusual then) because it was the centre of the Empire, and was easily reachable from all points of it. In the year 800, his design of the of the Chapel (which was one tiny part of his whole palace, which has since been razed and reconstructed over) was octagonal, another highly unusual and original construction. In its day it was the highest structure north of the Alps, and knights used to claim that they would see the Cathedral of Aachen as they came down the Alps in reverence for their Holy Roman Emperor.
Charlemagne’s original chapel was simply painted white, a far cry from the ornate and beautiful mosaics that exist today and which were added in later centuries. His chapel became a site of pilgrimage, not just because it contained his bones inside an ornate gilded box, but also holy relics such as the loincloth of the baby Jesus and a dress worn by the Virgin Mary. In the 14th century, the caretakers of the Chapel were forced to construct a choir for the Chapel, and a beautiful Gothic structure was built as an add-on. This is today where the bones of Charlemagne and the other holy relics are located. Unfortunately, the stained glass windows of the Choir were destroyed in World War II, amazingly the only part of the chapel that suffered any damage at all. Churchill had vowed to “raze Aachen to the ground” in response to the German bombing of Coventry - Aachen is highly symbolic for the German people. The original Chapel of Charlemagne escaped unscathed, as did his simply marble throne, which was boxed in and covered in sand to save it from fire or bombings in case they might occur.
The Chapel was Germany’s first ever UNESCO World Heritage Site, something the people of Aachen treasure dearly, as many more tourists visit Cologne Cathedral, which was added to the list later on.
Leaving Aachen, Mum proceeded to test the Autobahns, eventually hitting a top cruising speed of 150kmh, which was still paled by the Audis and BMWs racing part at what must have been well over 200kmh. 150 just doesn’t feel that fast when everyone is doing that speed or faster as well! But it was a thrill to be legally driving as fast as many of us ever will, even if Emily later revealed she was holding on for dear life. The other problem with driving is that it is like doing everything in a mirror - not just the steering wheel on the left, but the gear changing is with the right hand, the indicator on the left, and awareness of the right side of the car is challenging, which makes the passenger feel as of we are going to hit every object on their side, which we would if they were not constantly reminding the driver to move over. Mum says it is what we deserve after all the time she spent teaching us to drive and telling us we were going to hit the kerb, another car or a pedestrian. There is only a small scratch so far, from the first car park.
Arriving at the Intercontinental in Dusseldorf (which is located along the Konigsalle - King’s Avenue - easily the most beautiful street in Germany) we checked in and all had a bit of a rest after our long day. Unfortunately for us (though you could probably view it as being very helpful), the guide book of “Culture, Shopping and Sights” in the room recommended only “exclusive” places to eat along the Königsallee, so we decided that since we’ve had a light lunch, we’d splash out a little for dinner. We chose the Michelin-starred Victorian, and the deceptively simply menu offered meals such as “Risotto” and “Scallops with Salad” - perhaps this was just a translation thing, but what was placed in front of Annabelle was substantially more than just “risotto”. A simple plate was brought to her, with the characteristic white arborio rice in its wine in a shallow dish. Slightly confused, we waited, until a glass case was brought out, with four truffles on a bed of rice (to keep them dry) was brought out. The waitress conjured a scale (yes - a scale, almost certainly a very accurate German one), a shaver and some gloves, and asked Annabelle how many grams of truffle she wanted - one? Two? Three? - “Two” Annabelle replied. Carefully, the waitress chose one of the truffles, weighed it, and then proceeded to shave the truffle over Annabelle’s risotto!! At 8 euros a gram, we were certainly getting the whole experience!! Mum and mine Atlantic Fish and gnocchi broth was also delicious - but Annabelle’s dish took the cake for artistic flair - and something we hadn’t seen before - so it was definitely worth us seeking out this find. Deserts were just as decadent, with a creme brulee with cassis (blackberry) sorbet for Mum and Emily and an almond/chocolate tart for me.
We walked back along the moat of the Kö, and with the trees all lit up, it was a great end to what had been a pretty special day!
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