Thursday 28 July 2011

firework night in cologne

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A couple of weeks ago we headed over to Cologne (about 40 minutes from Bonn on the train) to see their Fireworks night.

First though, we stopped for dinner in Bonn at this excellent Thai restaurant I'm so glad to have discovered. I had a "Drunken Apricot" cocktail.

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And shared some noodle-y thing and some mouth-watering fish (I think it was red snapper). Sheesh, as a Vancouverite I should know the names of all these things, but I've never gone for much Thai food, for no good reason!

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Then off to Cologne on the train. We were supposed to meet up with some people, but couldn't find them in the crowd along the riverside:

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People were waving sparklers in time to the fireworks, which I found pretty endearing. Later they were all singing very patriotic-sounding Cologne-centred songs (some to stolen melodies, I might add--ahem-"Loch Lomond" ahem--I found that part just a bit strange. ; )

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Very nice, though not a patch on the Vancouver yearly firework festival (sorry).
Afterwards there were so many crowds that they closed the main station for an hour or so due to overcrowding, so we went and got a night time view of the stunningly beautiful Kölner Dom instead.

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P.S. Thanks for all the great debate-sparking comments yesterday! I love it when the conversation gets going!

23 comments:

X said...

Great pics...sounds like such a lovely evening!

www.theheadlessmannequin.blogspot.com

Tomz said...

nice to see the pix..celebration time..

Closet Fashionista said...

Sooo much fun! I want to go ;)
http://www.closet-fashionista.com

gee said...

oh man, i love thai food. there isn't a place that serves it here in WV so i have been craving it for forever.
looks so yummy.
looks like an amazing time..fireworks are always a good idea. (except when i am around..i have a slight fear of them.. :P i know, i am odd.)

Emily, Ruby Slipper Journeys said...

@ gee: No, I get it. I always am slightly preoccupied that fire might rain down on my head, which would certainly be a biblical way to go!

Closet Fashionista said...

Haha I did NOTHING to the bag except for use it every week day for work XD ...sad sad

Amrit said...

I wish I could swap lives with you guys. You always seem to enjoy somewhere....:))))) I am so envious.

Seems like you had great time.

Emily, Ruby Slipper Journeys said...

@A: You just have to enjoy where you are! Or, if you can't, get out!

caitlin said...

wow, what a gorgeous night, starting with that mouthwateringly delicious looking dinner (and all those garnishes on that cocktail--i'm totally a garnish-eater, everyone makes fun of me ;p). i think what i miss most about europe is all of the beautiful old cathedrals lit up at night. and drinking bottles of limoncello (choose your locally-appropriate poison) on the steps, of course :)

gbgb said...

oh my goodness, you have me craving thai like crazy right now, that looks so good!!! haha

Deppa said...

Comida y fuegos artificiales? increible! que ambiente más festivo!
Las fotos están muy lindas.

Nos vemos :)

Ashley said...

Beautiful! God I love fireworks.

BTW, I thoroughly enjoy the picture of you about to dive into your food :)

Amber said...

you got some really great fir work shots. I always have a hard time snapping pics of those fireballs.

Carol said...

Wonderfull event!!!Those foods look very nice!!

LapindeLune said...

A place that I would dearly love to visit. And I adore the braids by the way:)

Anonymous said...

A very close friend of mine came from this city. I only heard it was beautiful as she never bothered to take many photos, but now I see it.

In response to your previous post I have only one thing to say....I saw this on twitter "If the value of a life is based on amount of time the media covers it than: Amy Winehouse > Norwegian Terror Victim > African Famine Victim"

Rings a bell?

:)

SOJOURNED IN STYLE said...

great images. the firworks look marvelous. The thai food looks scrumptious!

Anonymous said...

I'm impressed by your fireworks photos, which in my experience are very difficult to take. And the huge portions on the Thai food. Had meant to come back and leave a comment on yesterday's rant. It was a paragraph from Foreign Policy magazine on why famines in countries that have been taken over by uncooperative terrorists are hard for the world community to address.

Monique said...

Fireworks are so much fun. I can never get enough. Sounds like you had a great train ride out. The Thai dinner you had sounds delicious.

Virginie's Cinema said...

Shis kebab those food pictures just made me way hungry! That drink is a feist for the eyes for sure and has quite the catchy name! Seems like you had a great time and I always love seing that pretty shirt!

Virginie ♥

Emily, Resplendent Tranquility said...

I've been craving Thai food for the longest time. I must make consuming some happen asap!

I love fireworks and sparklers. I keep meaning to buy sparklers at the flea market, but I always get preoccupied looking at other things. And what a little rebel I will be when I actually remember to snag some. All commercial fireworks are illegal in New York state. Lameee.

While I can totally understand the patriotic-songs-with-borrowed-melodies thing (one only needs to look at the American patriotic song arsenal), it does seem strange that a German song would be set to the tune of "Loch Lomond"!

Emily, Ruby Slipper Journeys said...

@Emily: illegal fireworks is totally lame! Although I kind of wish they were illegal in Barcelona around Sant Joan. I wanted to kill all the neighbourhood kids!

Dus of Cuddly Cacti said...

Incredible cathedral picture! Thanks for sharing this, I always enjoy seeing festivities like this, leaves me remembering Spain & wishing we had more like this in the Western US.