Ypres, Aachen and Cologne
Our trip to Ypres began with the short journey to Brussels from London St Pancras. The high speed Eurostar shot through the Kentish countryside towards the tunnel, and into Brussels in just 1 hour 51 minutes. On arrival in Brussels we took advantage of the free connection to any Belgian station as we settled back in our seats for the journey through to Ypres.
Before we knew it we had arrived in Western Flanders and were disembarking to discover the town centre. A short walk through the cobbled streets took us to the welcoming and warm lights of the Novotel Ypres Centrum; handily located close to the Menin Gate and everything else Ypres has to offer in the evening. After the moving Last Post ceremony we had time to investigate a few of Ypres hostelries and have a walk around the Grote Markt before returning to the hotel, eager for the next day to begin.
The next day began with a hearty breakfast at the Novotel before we went off to visit the Flanders Field Museum and Saint Martin’s Cathedral. The morning’s cultural activities concluded, we headed off to the train station once more to travel back to Brussels for our high speed Inter City Express to Aachen. We stretched out in our seats as we headed towards the Belgian/German border, taking welcome advantage of the at seat service provided in the First Class carriages. In no time at all we were in Germany and, feeling adventurous, we decided to walk the 15 minutes or so to the Novotel Aachen City.
After checking in to our spacious rooms we decided to explore the Old Town, which was only a five minute stroll away. The cathedral, which dates back from the time of Charlemagne, was particularly impressive, with the treasury within well worth a visit in particular. We spent a relaxing afternoon in the charming Old Town, and were glad we had decided to stop off in Aachen en route to our main destination, Cologne.
After a quiet evening in the hotel restaurant, we departed for Cologne the following morning. Again, the high speed connections meant that we were soon flying through the German countryside and soon we could glimpse the twin spires of Cologne’s famous cathedral as our Thalys train approached the city. We soon had a much closer look on exiting the station as the Cathedral is right next to it. The gothic structure is a truly impressive building, but, as we soon found out, there was plenty more to explore in Cologne.
As a keen chocolate fanatic the Chocolate Museum was to Simon’s taste, particularly the tasting session at the end of our tour, while I enjoyed our wander through the Old Town area, where we had lunch at Peter’s Brauhaus, tucking into some local specialties. We spent the night at the stylish Marriott in Cologne, again only a few minutes walk from the station. Of course it is impossible to visit Cologne without sampling one (or two) of the many varieties of Kölsch, the local beer. Uniquely this served in a small thin glass called a Stange, to preserve the cool fresh taste!
The following morning we had decided to make a quick trip to Frankfurt before returning home. The main purpose of this trip was to take the regional train journey along the Rhine, which was without doubt one of the highlights of the trip. Simon was glued to the window as fairytale-esque castles and small villages appeared at regular intervals, as we followed the route of the river passing Koblenz and Boppard on the way. All too soon we had arrived in Frankfurt, where we headed for the airport to board our British Airways flights home to London. As we left Germany behind, we both felt we had made the most out of three nights away, and were eagerly planning our next venture….
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