After finishing up my first day of developer training in the office on Monday, walked around the city of Cologne with a friend, my own personal tour guide. Walked through the Schildergasse shopping mall, supposedly the most popular mall in all of Europe. Then headed down towards the River Rhein, which was scattered with outdoor restaurants and people enjoying the nice weather. Many of the streets in the older part of the city and the sidewalks are made from cobblestone (or some sort of stone), which is killing my feet and destroying my shoes. Nearly all of the sidewalks have a designated bicycle lane as part of the side walk. Hard to get used to not walking in or crossing through the red bicycle lane. If you’re not paying attention, you will get clipped by a bicyclist. They own the road.
We enjoyed dinner and drinks at an outdoor restaurant, früh, which is also a Kölsch brewery. It is common to share a table with other people if none are available, so we shared with a family from Düsseldorf. As the menu was not fully in English, I managed to get myself roped into eating Schweinshaxe. Ham Hock, Pork Knuckle, Leg of Pig. I must admit, it was very very good!