Category: Life

I have been in Cologne, Germany for a week, for a gaming event that I am attending for work. Normally, these events take a lot out of me. Even this year, Gamescom has taken a lot out of me, however, I went with my brother. Going to Gamescom with my brother meant shorter days at the venue, as his feet hurt and I didn’t want to overwork him. In a lot of ways, this was amazing for me, even if my legs are still sore and my feet hurt after medium sized days walking across a maze of a show floor. Going with my brother also meant site seeing, like going to the Lindt Chocolate Museum with him and Dann.

Inside the Chocolate Museum

The Chocolate Museum is what you’d expect – a huge museum and factory of chocolate goods that are produced by Lindt. When entering the Chocolate Museum, you are shown a lot of information on the process of creating chocolate from cocoa beans. Countries that export these goods, how they are harvested and information about the plants themselves are dotted around, to give you a better understanding of chocolate. There are a few interactive screens and devices dotted around – one that you can roll a wheel to watch a cocoa tree grow, another where you must push on a metal hand in hopes of understanding how hard they compact the chocolate.

Once you are done with those, you can walk out into a small garden, which contains a cocoa tree and various other plants. This room is very warm! There is an option to go to an area above the garden, if you are on the next floor. As you continue around, you’ll find metal chocolate molds everywhere you look. There really is a lot to see in the Chocolate Museum as chocolate has been around for ages and made into many shapes.

Continue reading “A Day at Schokoladen Museum Lindt (Chocolate Museum)” →

Gamescom is located in Cologne, Germany. But games are not the only thing I like to do with my time. This year, I dragged my brother with me to Gamescom and actually spent some time checking out this part of Germany. In previous years, you could find me at the event hall from morning till dusk, but this year having my brother meant we needed to explore. With Dann in tow, we booked a day of adventure.

Street market along the Rhine river

Whenever possible, we traveled along the Rhine river. The Rhine is a pretty big river going through Cologne, Germany, providing for a pretty thing to look at with some beautiful bridges in the distance. On Saturday, loads of market stalls had set up along the river, selling antiques, paintings, furniture and more. We took our time looking at the various bits and bobs each stand had. My brother was mainly interested in the old clown items, for whatever reason. These stalls had such a variety of items from glass statues to jewelry to strange clown statues. Along the river, you could see boats and cruise ships making their way down the tide. It was a pretty warm day, so walking around the stalls by the water was very welcome.

Continue reading “4 Things to do in Cologne, Germany” →