Sunday, September 09, 2007
Saturday 4th August
We head back to Germany to a campsite next to the Rhine and spend a couple of days not doing much but enjoying the sunshine. Tuesday we head into Cologne itself, as we emerge out of the train station in the middle of Cologne and see the huge Cathedral dominating the skyline, I suddenly realise I have been here before; some 12 years earlier. The Cathedral is the largest gothic cathedral in Germany and is truly massive, there are some original 14th Century stained glass windows, lots of ornate mosaics and the gargoyles are pretty interesting.
After lunch at the sinful McDonalds, we meander through the town and go into the Globetrotter outdoor shop. Well what fun we had in there! First of all we discovered the ice room. The room is kept at a steady -7.5 degrees and there are benches and tables carved out of ice, you can also turn on a wind machine, all of this is of course for testing out their extreme weather gear and we just had to have a go. On another level we found the rain room where you can don the wet weather gear and go into a room where the heavens open, we didn’t try this out but there was someone in there getting drenched as we walked by. There was a ball pit for the boys to play in, as well as a moving image of a pond with fish projected onto the floor, when you walked over it you caused ripples and the fish swam away from you. On the top level there is a corridor full of climbing walls and on the bottom floor there is an indoor pool where you can try out boats and diving gear, of course Jon had to try out the canoe and gave the boys a ride each as well. All in all the shop was really cool and we had lots of fun there and I would definitely recommend a visit if you ever come to Cologne, oh the Cathedral is worth a look too!
We head back to Germany to a campsite next to the Rhine and spend a couple of days not doing much but enjoying the sunshine. Tuesday we head into Cologne itself, as we emerge out of the train station in the middle of Cologne and see the huge Cathedral dominating the skyline, I suddenly realise I have been here before; some 12 years earlier. The Cathedral is the largest gothic cathedral in Germany and is truly massive, there are some original 14th Century stained glass windows, lots of ornate mosaics and the gargoyles are pretty interesting.
After lunch at the sinful McDonalds, we meander through the town and go into the Globetrotter outdoor shop. Well what fun we had in there! First of all we discovered the ice room. The room is kept at a steady -7.5 degrees and there are benches and tables carved out of ice, you can also turn on a wind machine, all of this is of course for testing out their extreme weather gear and we just had to have a go. On another level we found the rain room where you can don the wet weather gear and go into a room where the heavens open, we didn’t try this out but there was someone in there getting drenched as we walked by. There was a ball pit for the boys to play in, as well as a moving image of a pond with fish projected onto the floor, when you walked over it you caused ripples and the fish swam away from you. On the top level there is a corridor full of climbing walls and on the bottom floor there is an indoor pool where you can try out boats and diving gear, of course Jon had to try out the canoe and gave the boys a ride each as well. All in all the shop was really cool and we had lots of fun there and I would definitely recommend a visit if you ever come to Cologne, oh the Cathedral is worth a look too!
