Köln

Köln had a lot of overwhelm. The filthy chaos of the station. The immense cathedral. The volume of people (and especially angry/drunk/yelling people). The construction. Clouds of bakery wasps. Thunder skies and humidity.

Hohenzollern Bridge is heading for half a kilometre long with over 500,000 love locks (padlocks and the occasional bike lock) attached. (Estimates range to over a million locks… it’s genuinely hard to convince seeing so many of one thing).

My main reason for fancying a trip over to Koln was to see the Paolozzi fountain sculpture “Paolozzibrunnen – Wasserspielplatz (1986)” - a giant outdoor piece that is like no other play area. The water is deeper than anything that would be allowed in a UK play park for a start, and there is no nod to safety from sharp edges or hard surfaces - so that’s refreshing. It’s both industrial and playful and it was very cool to see it in person after last year’s project. The bronze acts as multi-layer seating and a climbing frame, and the stepping stones, big pools and places to hide were the stuff of dreams for kids.

I took a huge riverside walk along the Rhein. The honey vending machine Honigautomat an der Drehbrücke made me happy.

Looking over to the city from Poller Wiesen was great - huge industrial cranes, cantilever buildings, much wasteland and a near-flood level of water. I first saw this place on a Laura Kampf video and it was nice that that’s where my walking desires took me.

Despite not needing one I do long to own a cargo bike… and the Muli cargo bikes with fold-out cargo area look so well engineered. It would have been cool to get a longer-term rental and bike around the city. I was disappointed not to explore further, drink Kölsch and eat Heaven and Earth (Himmel un Ääd - fried onions, mashed potatoes, apple compote and black pudding sausage). I’ll be back. And I’ll hit Wuppertal’s suspended railway too!