COLOGNE CALLING
Don’t wait for summer to enjoy Europe. Kev Raymond headed to Cologne for a spring city break to remember
WHY DID WE decide to go to Cologne? Well, my wife Carole and I had never been there when she had to go for work. She could have gone on her own quite quickly but I opted to tag along, making a trip of it, because I fancied a beer and a sausage.
We take an evening crossing to France and stay at Béthune, an hour or so inland, ready for an early start the next day. We’re staying off the motorways where we can and the contrast between France and Belgium is a surprise – suddenly the road surface is a lot worse (this is the poor bit of Belgium - the coal mining and faded industry of Mons and Charleroi). At first, every other building is either a betting shop or a discount fags warehouse. Stick with it, though, because the rest of the trip through Belgium is ace – there are so many good roads around Spa and Malmedy.
But we’re headed for Germany. We’ve booked a hotel near the centre of Cologne, getting there in plenty of time to have a look round. The centre of the city is compact, easy to explore and hard to get lost in. Apart from the huge, brooding cathedral, though, there aren’t many historic buildings in the centre - the whole city was more or less bombed out of existence during the war and the regeneration process is still ongoing. It has its fair share of Sixties monstrosities, as well as a painstakingly recreated ‘Old Quarter’ with narrow cobbled streets and old-style gabled buildings. But mostly it’s modern, airy and has a young, studenty feel to it, especially along the riverfront. If you (or someone you know) likes to hit the shops, Cologne’s not a bad place to do it - the Schildergasse and Hohe Strasse are two of the most-visited shopping streets in Germany and lead on to even more shops in two adjoining shopping centres. Happily, all the shops are closed by the time we see them...
Carole is due to speak at an academic conference the next day, because she’s clever. I’m not, because I’m not. That means I’ve got the day off, so I can fit in an extra loop out into the countryside to the south and east (the north is endless industry and suburbs until it merges with Dusseldorf, so best avoided). Pretty much the whole area has great roads, but Overath to Much and Wilberhofen and then on to Neustadt is outstanding.
A short ferry crossing (it runs every 15 minutes or so) takes me across the river from Linz am Rhein to look at the site of the only Rhine crossing to fall intact to the allies in 1945. It was a stroke of luck that probably shortened the war by months, and was immortalised in the George Segal film The Bridge at Remagen. There’s no bridge at Remagen now - it collapsed just 10 days
after it was captured and was never rebuilt. Only the two main towers survive – there’s a low-key museum in the southern tower, which is worth a look. Then on for a quick shufti at the Nürburgring for old times’ sake (I haven’t ridden there since 1993) and, more importantly, for a lovely bit of bend-slinging on the switchbacks of the 258 between Mayen and Virneburg. Then I get a bit lost in the back roads west of Bad Munstereifel, and I’m glad of it - the L113 turns out to be a great road. A quick late afternoon coffee at a biker-friendly crossroads café near Kurtenburg, then I head back to Cologne in time to scrub up and head out for something to eat.
I love curry and I love sausages, so why have I never sampled the famous German Currywurst before? There are plenty of corner kiosks selling them, so it’s rude not to. Turns out it’s not a curried sausage, just a normal sausage slathered with cheap, goppy curry sauce and mayonnaise – I’ll just be rude next time. Fortunately there’s plenty of other culinary choice - and plenty of beer, including the local brew, a light lager called Kölsch. And very nice it is too. Hic.