Yes, I do have a favorite Cathedral

Once Matthew woke up from his train naps, our first stop was Aachen. You might recall that I've been to Aachen a few times before (pretty much every time I've ever had visitors), so I know that it's a fantastic little city. But, hands down, my favorite site it offers is the Aachener Dom - or the cathedral, if you will.

 

Cool story: the cathedral is the oldest one in northern Europe and holds the remains of Charlemagne. That's pretty legit, if you ask me. But even beyond the fun facts, this cathedral is absolutely amazing. I've collected my best pictures, but still, none of them really do it justice. It's average, bordering on small in size, but is the most ornate building I've probably ever seen (and I say this even after having been to the Vatican). Even Matthew was gushing about it's awesomeness the entire time he was there. 

how to know you're leaving Germany

After a good week tearing up Germany, Patrick, Karrie, and I hopped a train to Brussels. Well, actually first, we spent a day in Aachen, wasn't it pretty?

Aachen is right on the border to Belgium, so we only took a regional Belgian train from there instead of the fancy ICEs. Since Deutsche Bahn pretty much runs the world in Germany (and charges you a fortune for it!), I got really used to my trains being red and silver with blue seats inside and a DB logo on the sides. Something more or less like this:

Of course, I forgot to take into account that Deutsche Bahn does not run the world outside of Germany. So I was caught completely off guard when our purple and yellow Belgian train rolled into the station. And in addition to the awesome color scheme, the trains also looked super old fashioned in comparison to my spoiled Deutsche Bahn standards. 

But I love old-fashioned things - especially trains. I think, as an American - from the land of no public transportation - I always associate trains with olden times and such (wasn't the last train in the US on the transcontinental railroad??). And we all know how excited I get when things live up to their stereotypes! So I basically spent the entire train ride like this. 

Achin' for Aachen

What can I say, I'm a sucker for corny titles, especially those using alliteration. 

Aachen has been on my list of German cities to visit after hearing so much about it last year. Maybe it was just the people I hang out with, or maybe Aachen really is that popular, but this city I had never heard of before was suddenly becoming the destination to visit for many of my friends.

So when I found myself with a 2 week break from school and a ticket to get me anywhere in Nordrhein-Westfalen, I thought I would make the journey. 

And it was definitely worth it. 

Now, I've been to a lot of German cities, a lot of VERY German cities, and sometimes it can get a bit repetitive. Oh look, another castle. What an ornate cathedral you have in the middle of your city. Your market square is just so... open. It tends to lose it's excitement after a while.  But there was something about Aachen that I just found charming. The city center is connected by tiny pedestrian zone streets lined with an array of unique stores and restaurants. The cathedral and city hall stand out beautifully, yet still fit in perfectly. There is a gorgeous park leading to the spa of natural hot springs. 


All in all, I really enjoyed my trip to Aachen, and could be easily persuaded to go back. I mean, just look at the place...