A few friends and I took a day trip to Aachen, the westernmost German city, last weekend. Even though there was quite a bit of snow on the ground, it was quite fun. Aachen is a beautiful city. There are all sorts of medieval buildings around, such as these two gates:
What's really strange and rare for Germany is that you can also see a random Roman archway in the middle of the city. It was like being in Greece again -- minus the fantastic weather!
Interestingly, the cold weather doesn't stop people from keeping palm trees!
Aachen is famous for its many fountains. Here is one that is very interesting indeed. It's part of a building and the water is from a spring or something. Only the water has sulphur or something in it, so the water smells like rotten eggs! Ewww!
Aachen is also famous because it was the seat of Charlemagne in the early Middle Ages. He built its famous Cathedral and is buried there. Here is a view of the outside:
The cathedral is interesting because it is dome shaped. It's quite stunning inside!
A few minutes away from the cathedral, you can find another stunning piece of architecture: the Rathaus, or city building. Here is the back side as you come from the cathedral:
The front of the building is even cooler!
So those are some of the main sights in Aachen. On the way back, we had to transfer trains in Cologne and we had time to snap some photos of another very famous German cathedral:
Well, that's it for now. In a couple weeks there should be a new post about my next destination: Hamburg.
What's really strange and rare for Germany is that you can also see a random Roman archway in the middle of the city. It was like being in Greece again -- minus the fantastic weather!
Interestingly, the cold weather doesn't stop people from keeping palm trees!
Aachen is famous for its many fountains. Here is one that is very interesting indeed. It's part of a building and the water is from a spring or something. Only the water has sulphur or something in it, so the water smells like rotten eggs! Ewww!
Aachen is also famous because it was the seat of Charlemagne in the early Middle Ages. He built its famous Cathedral and is buried there. Here is a view of the outside:
The cathedral is interesting because it is dome shaped. It's quite stunning inside!
A few minutes away from the cathedral, you can find another stunning piece of architecture: the Rathaus, or city building. Here is the back side as you come from the cathedral:
The front of the building is even cooler!
So those are some of the main sights in Aachen. On the way back, we had to transfer trains in Cologne and we had time to snap some photos of another very famous German cathedral:
Well, that's it for now. In a couple weeks there should be a new post about my next destination: Hamburg.
