Welcologne to the family

I would personally consider it a crime, to waste a 4 day weekend by staying at home. Sure, I get unlimited annual leave in my current job, but bank holidays are still a precious commodity that have to be made the most of! And what better way to make the most of the Easter weekend, than by finally taking a trip that we were meant to first take in 2020; Cologne. So, when me and my family first booked Cologne, Ollie and I had only been together for a few months, were still a secret and certainly weren’t at the holidaying-with-the-parents stage. But weirdly, he was meant to be in Cologne on the exact same weekend (even on the exact same flight) as us, on a stag do with his friends. Fast forward two years and the stag from said stag do is already married, Ollie and I live together and he’s very much a part of my family. So much so that we couldn’t plan a Cologne do-over without making sure he was part of it. So it was the five of us who headed off to Germany for the long weekend!

After landing in the late afternoon, we checked into the Hotel Lyskirchen, where we’d booked 3 apartments. The rooms were so beautiful and spacious and we had the loveliest view over the city. We didn’t hang around to enjoy it for long though, as we were straight out in search of beer.

The weather was meant to be gorgeous all weekend and it didn’t disappoint. I’d worn a denim skirt, graphic print t-shirt, pink faux suede jacket and pink trainers as it was sunny and warm but not scorching hot, so I was trying to strike a nice middle ground. It was warm enough for the only thing that mattered though; having a few drinks in the sun. We wandered into the old town, which was only a stone’s throw from our hotel and was so pretty. Everything was kind of centred around the cathedral which was honestly a sight to behold, and there was a giant row of bars and restaurants with big outdoor seating areas. Because the day was pressing on, we decided to keep the exploring for the next day and instead had a chilled afternoon in a sunny spot we found. Naturally, we had to get a few giant steins, before grabbing a bubble waffle on our way back to the hotel. Interesting fact actually: the custom in Cologne is that when your beer is empty, they’ll automatically bring you another one unless you put a beer mat on top of your empty glass. So you basically have to ask for them to not bring you one, rather than the other way around, which is certainly my kind of drinks service.

Then after a quick turnaround, we were pretty much back in the same spot; this time on the search for dinner. And this time, I was wearing brown leather pants, black wrap top with gold chain, black square toe heels and a statement red lipstick. Although it’d been sunny in the daytime, it was still cooler in the evenings so you’ll see I didn’t go for overly summery night time outfits. When in Rome (or Germany), I always like to sample some of the local cuisine (hence all the beer drinking too). So a few of us ordered pork for dinner (in schnitzel form and otherwise) and it was lovely! There’s nothing better than being sat outside in the evening with heat lamps and blankets in a beautiful European city, and plenty of drinks. Good Friday indeed!

The next day was just as beautifully sunny so I went with a very Spring-appropriate outfit; cream jeans, black bardot top with floral lace (florals for spring? Groundbreaking, I know), cropped black jacket and black espadrilles. I don’t tend to like going out for breakfast when I’m on holiday because you end up feeling full and sluggish when you’re trying to explore. Luckily, everyone else was on the same wavelength so Dad had gone out in search of pastries and juice which we enjoyed on Mum and Dad’s cute little sun trap balcony (as the ones paying for the trip, we were gracious enough to let them have the biggest, best room).

Like mother, like daughter and while I’m normally the itinerary decider on all my trips with Ollie and my friends, I got it from my momma. So this time, she’d planned out the day for us to ensure we hit all the hotspots. And while I got my love of holiday planning from her, I’ve certainly taught her a thing or two over the years too. She used to be absolutely hopeless at taking photos; no lie, we have approximately 25 holiday photos of a random family on a ride that she kept missing me, dad and Aidan on! But being one of my preferred instagram/blog photographers in more recent years has upped her skills and so now she’s got a great eye for photos. Naturally then, when we knew we were heading to Cologne in cherry blossom season, she made sure that the first stop on our list was a perfectly pretty in pink one. The main cherry blossom street (which is pretty famous) is in Bonne, which is around half an hour away from Cologne. If you’re either an influencer or a loser (or both) then you might prefer to drive all that way to take a few photos and come back, but we managed to find an equally lovely spot near the library, which was lined with loads of cherry blossom trees. We’d timed it perfectly as the petals were only just starting to drop; a week later and I don’t think it would’ve looked as lovely!

And then we headed towards the main event: the cathedral. On the way we had a lovely wander through the town, going through the seedier looking part near the library (LOTS of sex shops), the more cosmopolitan shopping area and the quainter more old-fashioned bits. Cologne was a real eclectic mix of styles and I loved the culture clash that seemed to come together perfectly in one giant melting pot. The centre of which was the cathedral, which was simply stunning; I love gothic architecture. And we managed to bag ourselves a perfect spot for a drink, staring right up at it, before heading inside for a look around (it was free to enter, you just needed to pop a mask on).

By this point we were about ready for some lunch and it doesn’t matter where I am in the world, what the season is or what I had for lunch the day before; I always want pizza on holiday. So after a bit of wandering around a lovely big open square with lots of bars, cafes and restaurants, we found a pizzeria. One of my favourite parts about being in a couple is that there’s always someone guaranteed to be able to split food with, which comes in especially handy when it’s Italian because how one earth is one supposed to choose between pizza and pasta? It’s like Sophie's choice. So Ollie and I shared a pizza and pasta dish while we all sat basking (and burning) in the sun.

The other main famous area of Cologne is the Hohenzollern bridge - there were quite a few lovely bridges crossing the river but this one is like a hundred years old and very striking. It’s also become a lovelock bridge; I don’t know what it is about European cities that makes people want to add a padlock with their name on to the local infrastructure but most major cities seem to have one nowadays and it always makes a nice tourist attraction. So we had a wander across, peeking at some of the locks as we went (the earliest dated one I could find was 2001), walked along the river on the other side and then crossed back over on the next bridge to head back to our hotel.

Our hotel was made up of two buildings; one was the apartment style block where our rooms were and the other was a more classic hotel (with slightly smaller rooms) with a pool. Even though we were only away on a short break, it was lovely to have a pool to come back to after a long day of walking (5.7 miles worth) for a relaxing dip.

Saturday night was our main night out so I went with my slightly dressier outfit; bright pink padded shoulder top, black and white heart print wrap skirt and black square toe heels. Even in my less dressy outfits though, I was still probably the most dressed up person in Cologne; it was a very casual city. But we had something worth dressing up for as we were heading to a rooftop bar (duh, it’s like a must-do on every holiday for me!). 

Monkey bar was about a 10 minute taxi away and was located at the top of the 25 Hours Hotel. I’d wanted to sample this jungle-themed spot since attempting to go to the one in Berlin a few years ago and finding it shut. Well, after finally making it to one, it didn’t disappoint. We got there at about 8pm which translated as the most perfectly timed sunset spot ever, and we didn’t have a table booked or anything but were shown straight in. The decor was really cool and it had an outdoor terrace that wrapped around the whole place, meaning you could either sit outside or just nip out for photos and to admire the view. The cocktail menu was really cool too; I always prefer a selection of cocktails that are unique to the bar I’m in. My camera app was barely closed for the entire hour or so that we were in there, because the view honestly just seemed to get more and more beautiful with every passing minute. Then once the sun had fully set, we headed off in search of dinner.

Although we’d gone to Cologne with a general idea of things we wanted to tick off, we hadn’t pre-planned or looked at any restaurants really, instead preferring to see where the day took us. Since we were already a little further out to go to Monkey Bar, we thought we’d explore the surrounding area for a restaurant, rather than heading back to the old town where we’d been up until that point. On google it looked like there were two main streets of restaurants nearby but as we walked up, they seemed to be more pubs/takeaways. Just when we were giving up hope, we found a little tapas place that we thought might even be closed from the outside, but it was more of a bar in the front and then the restaurant was at the back down a little corridor. It was so cute and had very authentic Spanish vibes; we just basically got one of everything on the menu and all the food was incredible.

The next morning, Dad did even better on the pastry front than he had the day before (a creme pat and strawberry flaky pastry, can you get any better than that?) and so after another balcony breakfast, we were off again! I was alternating my bare legs and jeans outfits so this time I chose a daisy print sundress, layered over a white t-shirt to make it more spring than summer, and I again added my pink trainers and pink faux suede jacket.

Our plan was to go up to the panoramic rooftop viewing platform of the Triangl building on the other side of the river. However, after getting there at around 11am, we noticed it didn’t open until 12pm! So what else are a bunch of Brits supposed to do to pass the time other than to grab a drink in the sunshine? Once we did make it up to the top, the view was incredible (especially on such a beautiful day) and I liked that there were little sketches of what buildings you were looking at on the glass; kind of like a mini built-in tour of the city.

And then we got our walking shoes on! We walked along the river, down through Rheinpark, swooned over more cherry blossoms, admired the scenery, and then caught the cable car back across to the other side of the river. A cable car which hilariously travels over a nudist section of an outdoor spa - it certainly made quite the view!

Then it was time for another walk back in the other direction (we walked 7 miles in total that day) before ending up in the old town again, where we managed to secure another gorgeously sunny spot for lunch. You know how I said earlier that it doesn’t matter what I had for lunch the day before, I’ll always want pizza? Well, I’m sure you can guess what I ordered.

We had initially been planning to do a little river cruise while we were in Cologne as I love a boat trip (even the ones that don’t particularly go anywhere). But when we turned up at the ticket office, they said the next boat was fully booked and the one after didn’t go until 6pm (which was later than we wanted to still be doing stuff really). And what else are a bunch of Brits supposed to do in the face of a change of plan? Grab a drink in the sunshine, of course! We kind of stumbled across this adorable little courtyard that was home to a handful of restaurants and a little water fountain feature, and it was the perfect place to finish up our day (and get a tiny bit more sunburnt for good measure).

My brother, Aidan, is a person of simple pleasures. He’s not one to be demanding or commandeering (we’re essentially exact opposites) but the one thing he’d wanted to do in Cologne off the back of a recommendation was to get a currywurst (german sausage with curry sauce). So me, him and Ollie went on a little street food sampler on the way back to the hotel; him to get the currywurst and Ollie and I to get a gelato (which was amazing).

We started out our last night in Cologne with a bit of a pre-drinks session with games and bargain prosecco thrown in. I would say I was back in a more casual outfit for the Sunday night but I don’t know if this mega boujee cobalt satin feather shirt can be considered casual. I kept the rest of the outfit fairly simple though; black jeans, white cami top and black square toe heels. I’d been using my mustard ted baker clutch bag every night as it’s the perfect holiday bag; super light, super flat and adds a gorgeous pop of colour to any outfit. 

Having spotted a couple of nice-looking steakhouses on our earlier travels, we’d made a mental note to check them out in the evening. We ended up at the second one we looked at as their menu looked lovely and they had a gazebo-style front section with heaters and blankets. We all got steak and various forms of potato (baked, wedged and gratinated) and the food was incredible! It was definitely a great way to end our trip on a high.

Getting up at 4am the next morning for our super early flight may have been no fun at all, but every other minute of the trip was filled with lots of fun and laughter and love. Having not been on a family holiday since before the pandemic and having never been on a family holiday with Ollie too, it was so lovely to be surrounded by (almost) all my favourite people on one trip. Not to mention discovering a new city, being blessed with the perfect weather and getting through enough beer to sink a ship. That’s what I call the perfect way to spend a 4 day weekend.